the learning approach: Behaviourism evaluation Flashcards
what does it mean when we say that the behaviourists approach has scientific credibility
Behaviourism was able to bring the language and methods of the natural sciences into psychology by focusing on the measurement of observable behaviour within a highly controlled environment
By emphasising the importance of scientific processes such as objectivity and replication, behaviourism was influential in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline, giving it greater credibility and status
what does it mean when we say the behaviourism approach has real-life application
Principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real - world behaviour and problems
e. g. operant conditioning is basis of the token economy systems that has been used i institutions, such as prisons and psychiatric wards
- These work by rewarding appropriate behviour with tokens that ca be exchanged for privileges
e.g. classical conditioning has been applied to the treatment of phobias, it has an advantage as it is less effort from a patient because the patient doesn’t have to think about their problems as they do in “taking therapies”
Such therapies are also suitable for patient who lack insight
what is the mechanists view of behaviour and why does it discredit the behaviourist’s approach
From a behaviourist perspective, animals ( including humans) are seen as passive and machine-like responders to the environment, with little or no conscious insight into their behaviour
Other approaches in psychology, such as the social learning theory and cognitive approach, have emphasised the importance of mental events during learning
This means that this learning theory may apply less to human than animal behaviour
what is environmental determinism of the behaviourism approach
The behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned
Skinner suggested that everything we do is the sum total of our reinforcement history. This ignores any possible influence that free will nay have on behaviour
Any sense of free will is an illusion. When something happens we impose a sense off having made the decision but, according to Skinner , our past conditioning history determined the outcome
This is a limitation of the behaviourist approach as this environmental determinism is not accepted by all psychologists and such reductionist explanation are not appropriate for explaining complex human behaviour
what are some of the ethical and practical issues
although experimental procedures such as the Skinner Box enabled behaviourists to maintain a high degree of control over their experimental “subject”, many critics have questioned the ethics of conducting such investigations.
The animals involved were exposed to adverse conditions which may affect how they react to the experimental situations
what issue would the social learning approach and the cognitive approach have with the behaviourist approach
the social learning theory and cognitive approach would take issue with the use of animals within experiments
This is because they recognise the complex nature of human learning and the way that cognitive factors mediate between stimulus and response
- there is danger that the anthropomorphism in applying findings from animal studies to human behaviours
