The Behaviourist Approach

Question 1

What does it mean if we are born as a Tabula Rasa?

Answer 1

Tabula Rasa means blank slate. This means behaviourist believe that we are all born identical, and it is our experiences as a child and our surroundings that shape our personality and behaviour, rather than genes and inheritance. It links to the nature vs nurture debate and behaviourists are on the nurture side.

Question 2

What are the three key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 2

1. Our behaviour is learnt through experiences, apart from a few simple in built reflexes.
2. The mind is not important for understanding behaviour, instead we focus on behaviour that is observable.
3. Humans and animals learn in the same way. They experimented on animals as it was simpler and cheaper to test on animals rather than humans.

Question 3

What is the behaviourist approach?

Answer 3

The behaviourist approach is a way of explaining the human mind through what is observable and emphasises the importance of the role of learning in human behaviour.

Question 4

Why was the behaviourist approach made?

Answer 4

• The behaviourist approach was started in America in the early 1900s by John Watson.
• It was thought that introspection was unscientific and so set out to establish general principles of behaviour in a scientific way.

Question 5

What are the two types of conditioning?

Answer 5

Behaviourists identified 2 important ways of learning called conditioning:
1. Classical Conditioning: Involves learning through association.
2. Operant Conditioning: Involves learning through reinforcement

Question 6

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 6

• Classical conditioning refers to making an association between two stimuli.
• One stimulus produces a reflex response (SR unit).
• The other is a neutral stimulus that produces no response.
• The two stimuli are paired and presented several times before removing the stimulus which causes the reflex response, leaving the other stimulus to now produce a conditioned response.
• Pavlov investigated classical conditioning.

Question 7

How did Pavlov investigate classical conditioning?

Answer 7

Before Conditioning:
Food (unconditioned stimulus) = Salivation (unconditioned response) S-R unit
Bell (neutral stimulus) = No response

During Conditioning:
Bell (neutral stimulus) + Food (unconditioned stimulus) = Salivation (unconditioned response) x5

After Conditioning:
Bell (conditioned stimulus) = Salivation (conditioned response) New S-R unit

Question 8

How did Watson and Raynor investigate classical conditioning?

Answer 8

Watson and Raynor investigated classical conditioning through the Little Albert experiment. Little Albert was a 9-month—old baby who acquired a phobia of white rats through classical conditioning.

Before Conditioning:
Loud noises (unconditioned stimulus) = Crying/ fear (unconditioned response) S-R unit
Fluffy things e.g. a pet rat (neutral stimulus) = No response

During Conditioning:
Fluffy things e.g. a pet rat (neutral stimulus) + Loud noises (unconditioned stimulus) = Crying/ fear (unconditioned response)

After Conditioning:
Fluffy things e.g. a pet rat (conditioned stimulus) = Crying/ fear (conditioned response)

Question 9

What is an S-R unit?

Answer 9

A stimulus is detected by an organism and the organism emits a response. This is automatic.

Question 10

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 10

• Operant conditioning involves learning through the consequences of our actions (or reinforcement).
• Organisms spontaneously produce different behaviours which have consequences (good or bad). Repetition of behaviour depends on consequences (reinforced or punished).
• While classical conditioning explains simple behaviours (has to be paired with an S-R unit), operant conditioning aims to explain more complex phenomena.

Question 11

What does reinforcement mean?

Answer 11

A consequence that increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated (positive or negative).

Question 12

What does positive reinforcement mean?

Answer 12

A reward is given when a certain behaviour is performed.

Question 13

What does negative reinforcement mean?

Answer 13

This occurs when an individual increases positive behaviour due to avoidance of the negative consequences.

Question 14

What does punishment mean?

Answer 14

An unpleasant consequence that reduces the likelihood of the preceded behaviour occurring again.

Question 15

What was the method of Skinner’s study?

Answer 15

1. Skinner developed a special cage (called a Skinner box) in order to investigate operant conditioning.
2. The rat moves around the cage, and when he accidently pressed the lever, a food pellet (the reinforcer) falls into the cage.
3. In no time at all the hungry rat begins pressing the lever in order to obtain food.
4. If the food pellet stops, the rat presses the lever a few more times and then abandons it (extinction).

Question 16

What are the strengths of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 16

• One strength of the behaviourist approach is that there is real life application. For example, classical and operant conditioning has been used to explain and treat phobias through exposure therapies, where people unlearn the associations causing the phobia. This is important because it shows that the behaviourist approach has had a useful contribution to the field of psychology. This means the behaviourist approach is a credible approach that should be used to explain behaviour.
• Another strength of the behaviourist approach is that it has scientific credibility. For example, behaviourists such as Pavlov conduct experiments that have high levels of control and objectivity, allowing for the theory of classical conditioning to be tested and replicated. This means that the approach is falsifiable. This is important because we can be more confident that the behaviourist approach is both valid and reliable, due to its scientific nature. Therefore, this means that the research findings of the behaviourist approach is more likely to be correct.

Question 17

What are the limitations of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 17

• A limitation of the behaviourist approach is that it has a mechanistic view of behaviour. For example, it only measures observable behaviour rather than looking inside the mind at our internal mental processes. This is important, because the behaviourist approach is only able to explain relatively simple behaviours that are learnt through association and reinforcement, rather than a wide range of human behaviours. Therefore, the behaviourist approach may lack utility, due to it only being able to explain a narrow amount of human experience.
• Whilst the research methods employed by behaviourists are highly credible, a limitation of the approach is that they use animals in research, such as Skinner using rats and pigeons. As they do not look inside the mind, behaviourists assume animals and humans will give the same responses. However, humans are much more complex than animals, and able to give a much larger range or responses. This is important because it suggests that the research conducted by behaviourists such as Pavlov may not generalise to humans. Therefore, this may mean that the behaviourist approach lacks validity as it cannot effectively explain human behaviour through research it has conducted on animals. (Counter paragraph on Little Albert).