The learning approach: Behaviourism

• Focus on observable behaviour only
  • the behaviourist approach is ony concerned with studying behaviour that can be observed and measured
  • it is not concerned with mental processes of the mind
  • introspection was rejected by behaviourists as its concepts were vague and difficult to measure
• controlled lab studies
  • behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies to achieve this
• use of non-human animals
  • behaviourists suggest the processes that govern learning are th same in all secies, so animals (e.g. rats, cats, dogs and pigeons) can replace humans as experimental subjects

Classical conditioning (Ivan Pavlov's research):

• learning throgh association
• Pavlov's research-conditioning dogs to salivate when a bell rings
• Before conditiioning:
  • UCS=food   UCR=salivation   NS=bell
  • UCS =  UCR and NS = no response
• During conditioning:
  • Bell and food occur at the same time
  • NS + UCS
• After conditioning:
  • CS=bell and CR=saliation
  • CS = CR
• Pavlov showed how a neutral stimulus (bell) can come to elicit a new learned response (conditioned response) through association

Operant conditioning (BF Skinner's research):

• Learning is an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment
• Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences
• Skinner's research:
  • rats and pigeons, in specially designed cages (skinner boxes)
  • when a rat activated a lever (or a pigeon pecked a disc) it was rewarded with a food pellet
  • a desirable consequence led to behaviour being repeated
  • if pressing a lever meant an animal avoided an electric shock, the behaviour would also be repeated

3 types of consequences of behaviour:

• positive reinforcement
  • recieving a rewward when behaviour is performed-increase liklihood of repeat of behaviour
• negative reinforcement 
  • when a animal or human produces behaviour that avoids something unpleasant-increase liklihood of repeat fo behaviour
• punishment
  • an unpleasant consequence of behaviour-decrease liklihood of repeat of behaviour

• A strength of behaviourism is that it gave psychology scientific credibility:
  • the approach focused on the careful measurement of observable behaviour within controlled lab settings
  • behaviourists emphasised the importance of scientific processes such as objectivity and replication
  • this brought the language and methods of the natural sciences into psychology, giving the subject greater credibility and status
• The laws of learning developed by behaviourists have real-life application:
  • the principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real-wrold behaviours and problems
  • token economy systems reward appropriate behaviour with tokens that are exchanged for privileges (operant conditioning). successfully used in prisons and psychiatric wards
  • treatments like these are suitable for patients who lack 'insight' into thier condition and are not capable of talking about their problems

• A limitation is that the behaviourist approach portrays a mechanistic view:
  • animals and humans are seen as passive and machine-like responders to the environment, with little conscious insight into their behaviour
  • other approaches, such as social learning theory and the cognitive approach have plaed much more emphasis on the mental events that occur during learning
  • the processes that mediate between stimulus and response suggest that humans play a much more active role in their own learning
• A limitation is behaviourism is a form of environmental determinism:
  • the approach sees all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned and ignores any influence that free will may have on behaviour
  • Skinner suggeste that free will was an illusion. when something happens we impose a sens of having made the decision but our past conditionin determined the outcome
  • this is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour (as suggested by the cognitive approach)