Operant Conditioning - Evaluation (Behaviourist Approach)

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Strength (Relied on experimental method)
Allowed use of controlled conditions. Allowed casual relationships between two variables to be established. Also allowed accurate predictions to be made
1 of 6
Weakness (Animal studies)
Rats and pigeons - v different from humans. Findings lack external validity to real work situations for humans as they have free will and behaviour is not so easily determined by positive or negative reinforcement
2 of 6
Weakness (Only focuses on observable behaviour)
W/o factoring influence of thoughts + cognitive processes. Can't account for impulsive/spontaneous behaviours. Too simplified b/c of this.
3 of 6
Weakness (Too deterministic)
As suggests we don't have control over own behaviour, act merely on reinforcement. Raises legal and ethical issues e.g. not responsible for own actions as no free will
4 of 6
Strength (Verification)
Easy to test and verify
5 of 6
Weakness (Generalisation)
Difficult to generalise to humans as contrived and no mundane realism when applied to daily scenarios humans face - may be unable to draw same conclusions outside artificial setting of lab
6 of 6

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Rats and pigeons - v different from humans. Findings lack external validity to real work situations for humans as they have free will and behaviour is not so easily determined by positive or negative reinforcement

Back

Weakness (Animal studies)

Card 3

Front

W/o factoring influence of thoughts + cognitive processes. Can't account for impulsive/spontaneous behaviours. Too simplified b/c of this.

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

As suggests we don't have control over own behaviour, act merely on reinforcement. Raises legal and ethical issues e.g. not responsible for own actions as no free will

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

Easy to test and verify

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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