Behaviourist Approach

Main Points: 

- Behaviour can importantly be learned indirectly by observation as well as directly through experiences. - Observational Learning. 

- Role models are observed and their behaviours are imitated, through process of modelling. 

- Vacarious reinforcement- consequences of behaviours can be learnt by watching people be punished for a certain behaviour, 

- Banduras Bobo Doll Experiment-

• 1961- 2 groups of children, aged 3-5. 
• One group watched adults act aggresively towards the bobo doll, e.g hittting with mallet, saying POW! 
• One group watched adults play non voilently with the doll. 
• The group who observed agressive behhaviour by adults, also showed signs of aggresive behaviour, group who saw non voilent adults, also acted non voilently. 

• Aim: To remove a fear response from a phobia and substitute a relaxation repsonse. 
• Used for treatments of phobias. Example of counter conditioning. 
• Slowly introduces patient to object of fear in several stages, each stage getting closer to the fear. E.G.: Fear of heights, step 1 climbing the stairs ............ step 10 going on a airoplane. 
• Uses classical conditioning and operant conditioning. 
• Pairs a feeling of relaxtion with object of fear. Relaxation outweights anxiety- Reciprical Inhibition. 

Links to Assuptions: 

• - That mental disorders are learned, like any other behaviour.
• - New stimulus responses are made using classical conditioning, in order for the undesirable behaviour to be suppressed. 
• Varaitions: 

• In vitro sensitisation- feared object is imagined using pictures or thought. 
• In vivo sensitisation - fears are directly confronted. - more successful - Menzies and Clarke
• Modelling- watching someone else deal with feared object, while practsing relaxation.

2 Strengths: 

- A scientific approcah - uses lab experiments, control over extraneous variables.- cause and effect can be clearly established.

- Successfull applications is psychology in real world - used to treat phobias- sytematic desensitisation. 

2 Weaknesses: 

- The comparison of animals and humans- research may be more relevent to animals, can't be generalised to humans- Pavlove classical condtioing- Skinner -operant conditioning. 

- Determinist approach-( behaviour shaped be external or internal forces rather than the individual's choice) ignores the factors of free will of an individual- E.G Behaviourists say that a peros would not steal or murder, because of the punishments associated, not because the person may think it is morally wrong. 

1. LAB EXPERIMENTS: 

• Links to assumptions: approach seeks to use scientific approach to understand behaviour. 
• Operationalisation: Approach involves the manipulation of operationaised variables. 
• Cause and Effect: Can be established how the IV affects the DV 

Strengths: 

• Control- Extraneous variables can easily be controlled e.g. Bandura's experiment was well controlled. 
• Replication- Bandura carefully recoreded the method- other researchers can replicate experiment. 

Weaknesses: 

• Ecolgoical validity- Bandura's study was in a lab setting- lacks mundane realism. 
• Demand characteristics - In Bandura's study some children thought Bobo doll was for hitting. 
• Experimenter Bias- Resracher may accident;y give particiapnts cuses on how they should be behaving. 

2. Use of Animals in Research

How it Links to the Approach: That behaviour of all animals are built on the same building blocks (e.g. stimulus and respnse)  - Can link animal behaviour to human behaviour. E.g. Pavlov's dogs.

Strengths-  

• Real life applications - principles of operant and classical conditioning- started as animal research (e.g. therapies for mental disorders)
• Easier- Easier to do conditioning animals with animals- fewer ethical issues, no demand characteristics.

Weaknesses:

• Generalsiability- some behaviours (e.g. aggression) may be the same, but human behaviour is also governed by thought- animal research cannot be fully generalised.
• Ethical Issues- Animals cannot give informed consent- moral debate.