The Behavoiural approach Flashcards
What does the behavioural approach believe about behaviour?
> Abnormal behaviour is the consequence of abnormal learning from the environment
> There is no different between normal and abnormal behaviour; they are learned in the same ways
What are the 3 methods of learning behaviours according to the behavioural approach?
- CLASSICAL CONDITIONING – learning through association
- OPERANT CONDITIONING – learning through consequences
- SOCIAL LEARNING – learning through observation
What Research supports classical conditioning?
Pavolv’s dogs 1901
Little Albert - Watson and Rayner (1920)
What is operant conditioning?
Learning by consequences
>Organisms operate on their environment
>The likelihood of them repeating any given behaviour depends on its consequences:
- Reinforcement = more likely to repeat
- Punishment = less likely to repeat
>Positive reinforcement – Adding something to the environment to encourage the desired behaviour, e.g. merits
> Negative reinforcement – taking something away from the environment to encourage desired behaviour, e.g. revising for an exam
> Punishment – Adding something to the environment to discourage unwanted behaviour
Explain Anti social personality disorders using operant conditioning
- If childhood aggression is rewarded then the behaviour is more likely to be repeated
>Sometimes, the behaviours may appear maladaptive to other people but may be useful or adaptive to others: - E.g. Depression or anxiety may be rewarded by attention and concern from others. The more attention received, the more likely the behaviour will be repeated
Who researched Social learning?- behavioural approach
Bandura
Explain Bandura’s social learning theory
[behavioural approach]
Bandura – learning by observation
>People observe the behaviour of other people (models) – role models
> They may imitate the behaviour they observe
> Whether or not they do so depends on the observed consequences:
-Vicarious reinforcement – witnessing a reward/prize
-Vicarious punishment – Witnessing a punishment
> A child may learn antisocial behaviour by observing that others are rewarded for similar behaviour, e.g. bullies/ disruptive students receive attention for teachers
Evaluate the behavioural approach
Focus on Behaviour:-)
- Overcomes the ethical issues raised by the medical model od labelling/stigmatizing someone as ‘abnormal’. Instead it concentrates on the concept of adaptive/maladaptive behaviour on the assumption that maladaptive learned behaviour can be replaced with new adaptive learned behaviours
Focus on Functioning :-)
- Providing the behaviour presents no problems to the individual, or to other people, there is no reason to regard the behaviour as a mental illness. It is the behavioural model that lead to the definition of abnormality; ‘failure to function adequately’
Underlying Causes :-(
- Those who support the psychodynamic model claim the behavioural model focuses only on symptoms and ignores the causes of abnormal behaviour. They claim that ‘symptoms are an outward expression of an underlying issue’ and whenever symptoms are treated without ascertaining the deeper causes then the problem will manifest in another way, presenting different problems/symptoms. This is called SYMPTOM SUBSTITUTION. Behaviouralists reject this criticism and claim ‘we do not need to look beyond the behaviours, because the symptoms are the disorder’. Thus they believe there is nothing to gain from looking for internal causes (psychological or physical) instead they celebrate the success of therapies treating disorders, such as phobias (1994 Emmelkamp)
Reductionism :-(
- Accused of being reductionist and simplistic because it seeks to explain complex behaviours in very narrow terms: Through the process of conditioning and observation but ignoring the roles of biology, emotion and cognition (thinking)
:-) - The model states that mental disorders shouldn’t be classed as an illness, people have learned it
