The Behaviourist Approach

?
View mindmap
  • Behaviourist Approach
    • Assumptions
      • All behaviours are learnt from our environment
      • Focuses on observable behaviour
      • Animals and humans learn in the same way so behaviourists carry out experiments on animals and apply it to humans
      • Psychology should be scientific and objective - use mainly lab experiments
    • Types of Learning
      • Classical Conditioning is learning through association
        • Pavlov and his dogs - dogs salvate when seeing food, and Pavlov attempted to match this behaviour when a bell rang
        • UCS (Food)-> UCR (Salvation)
        • NS (Bell)
        • UCS (Food) + NS (Bell) -> UCR (Salvation)
        • CS (Bell) -> CR (Salvation)
      • Operant Conditioning is learning through reinforcement, both negative and positive
        • Skinner's Box - Hungry rat placed in cage, when he activated lever a food pelet fell out and the rat learned to go straight to the lever
        • Other Condition - a rat placed in a cage which they were subjected to electric shock when it hit the lever the electric shock stopped and the rats learned to go straight to the lever (negative reinforcement)
    • Evaluation
      • Scientific Credibility - used language and methods that are replicable, objectifiable and measurable by highly controlled lab settings - increasing reliability and credibility
      • Has real life application - practical application - systematic desensitisation based on two process model using both classical and operant conditioning
      • Environmentally deterministic - it dissociates the use of free will within a human and suggests all behaviour is determined by past experience
      • Humans learning is more complex than animals, our brains and the way we see things are more complicated and therefore we cannot apply the research to humans

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Psychology resources:

See all Psychology resources »See all Approaches resources »