The behaviourist approach

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  • All behaviours are learnt from our environment.
  • Focus on observable behaviour (behaviour that can be seen).
  • Animals and humans learn in the same ways so behaviourists carry out experiments on animals and extrapolate the results to humans.
  • Psychology should be scientific and objective therefore behaviourists use mainly laboratory experiments to achieve this.

Classical conditioning: learning by association (AO1)

key study

Classical conditioning is learning through association and was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that they were given food.

First, the dogs were presented with the food, they salivated. The food was the unconditioned stimulus and salivation was an unconditioned (innate) response.

Then Pavlov sounded the bell (neutral stimulus) before giving the food. After a few pairings, the dogs salivated when they heard the bell even when no food was given. The bell had become the conditioned stimulus and salivation had become the conditioned response.

The dogs had learnt to associate the bell with the food and the sound of the bell and salivation was triggered by the sound of the bell.

pavlov classical conditioning diagram

Operant conditioning: learning by consequences (AO1)

Skinner argued that learning is an active process. When humans and animals act on and in their environment consequences follow these behaviours. If the consequences are pleasant they repeat the behaviour but if the consequences are unpleasant they do not repeat the behaviour.

  • Positive reinforcement: is receiving a reward.
  • Negative reinforcement: occurs when acting stops something unpleasant happening. For example in one of Skinner’s experiment a rat had to press a lever to stop receiving an electric shock.
  • Punishment: this is an unpleasant consequence. For example, being grounded for not doing…

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