behaviourist approach

Question 1

what are the basic assumptions of behaviourism?

Answer 1

• concerned with observable behaviour that can be objectively and scientifically measured
• psychology is a science so behaviour must be measured in highly controlled environments to establish cause and effect
• mind is born as a blank slate (no genetic influence)
• little difference between learning in humans and animals (so animal research is fine)
• all behaviour is learnt from the environment

Question 2

what are the strengths of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 2

• focus on being scientific - use of highly controlled lab studies like Pavlov and Skinner mean findings remain objective, which increases psychology’s credibility as a science
• the approach’s methods done from this research can be applied to real life
• for example, operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been in institutions like prisons where reinforcement and punishment is used to reward and punish behaviour, showing how behaviourism is valuable in society

Question 3

what are the weaknesses of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 3

• criticised for being too environmentally deterministic as it suggests can only be learnt through experiences
• suggests free will is not important in playing a role in how we choose to behave whereas other approaches like cognitive approach and SLT prove how internal mental processes play an active role in our behaviour, proving the behaviourist approach is limited in how we decide to react to certain things as it doesn’t acknowledge the role of cognitive factors