Evaluation of behaviourist approach Flashcards
One limitation of behaviourist approach
P- one limitation of the behaviourist approach is that it sees all behaviours as conditioned by past conditioning experiences
E- for example, Skinner suggested that everything we do is the total sum of our reinforcement history. We may think we made the decisions ourselves, but according to Skinner our past conditioning history determines the outcome.
E+L- this is a weakness as it ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour (Skinner himself said that free will is an illusion). Psychologists who take the free will view suggests that determinism removes freedom and dignity and devalues human behaviour. Additionally, it underestimates the uniqueness of human beings and their freedom.
A strength of the behaviourist approach
P- one strength of the behaviourist approach is that it’s based on well-controlled research.
E- for example, behaviourist such as B.F.Skinner focused on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlling lab settings, the Skinner Box demonstrated clearly how reinforcement influenced an animals behaviour.
E+L- this is a strength as by breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, all other extraneous variables were removed, allowing cause and effect relationships to be established.
Counter argument+link- this means that the behaviourist approach experiments have high internal validity as they are able to reduce the impact of anomalous results caused by poor methodology or a lack of control- increasing its scientific credibility.
