The Behaviouist Approach

• Only interested in behaviour that can be observed or measured - ignores mental processes
• Basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species

• Learning by association - demostrated by Pavlov

Before conditioning: 

• food  -------> salivation 
• UCS -------> UCR
• bell ------> no salivation
• NS -------> NCR

During conditioning:

• bell + food -----> salivation
• NS + UCS -----> UCR

After conditioning:

• bell -----> salivation
• CS -----> CR

• Learning is shaped and maintained by its consequences - developed by Skinner

Positive reinforcement:

• recieving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed

Negative reinforcement:

• avoiding something unpleasant

Punishment:

• an unpleasant consequence of a behaviour

Skinner Box:

• a rat was placed in a box with a lever and a floor that provided an electric shock
• when the rat pulled the lever it recieved a food pellet - after several repetitions the rat repeated the behaviour

• Scientific credibility - evidence through experiments - easily replicated
• Real-life applications - token economy system in prisons - treatment of phobias
• Mechanistic view of behaviour - animals (including humans) are seen as passive machine-like responders to their environment - ignoring any cognitive factors
• Environmental determinism - behaviour is determined by past experiences that have been conditioned - ignores any possibility of free-will
• Ethical issues in animal experiments - animals were exposed to stressful and highly aversive situations
• Lacks ecological validity - generalises findings from non-human animals to humans