Evaluation of Behavioural Approach to Abnormality

1. Evaluation of Behavioural Approach to Abnormality

2. Strength or Weakness? • Behaviourist explanations of mental disorders have been criticised for offering an extremely limited view of the factors that might cause abnormal behaviours • For example, the approach tends to ignore the role of cognition in the onset of psychological disorders and the treatment of abnormality

3. Strength or Weakness? • The behavioural approach provides convincing explanations for certain psychological disorders • For example classical conditioning in phobias and SLT to explain eating disorders • Therefore the approach has some worth when explaining psychopathology

4. Strength or Weakness? • The treatments based on the behavioural approach have been found to be successful • For example, systematic desensitisation is an effective treatment for phobias • Therefore this supports the idea that behaviour that is learned can be unlearned

5. Strength or Weakness? • The model exaggerates the role of environmental factors in abnormal behaviour and other factors may be involved • For example, it is difficult to explain schizophrenia using the behavioural approach as it is likely to have a genetic basis

6. Strength or Weakness? • The behavioural approach is deterministic • This is because it suggests humans have no free will by assuming human behaviour as simply a product of stimuli, rewards and punishments