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The Behaviourist approach

The Behaviourist approach. Main Assumptions :. The behavioural approach is investigated using EXPERIMENTS and ANIMAL STUDIES. 1. Emphasis on behaviour

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The Behaviourist approach

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  1. The Behaviourist approach

  2. Main Assumptions: The behavioural approach is investigated using EXPERIMENTS and ANIMAL STUDIES • 1. Emphasis on behaviour • Behaviourists believe that our actions are determined largely by the experiences we have in life, rather than by underlying pathology of unconscious forces. • Abnormality is therefore seen as the development of behaviour patterns that are considered maladaptive for the individual. • 2. All behaviour is learned through: • - Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning • Social learning • 3. Learning environments • Learning environments can reinforce problematic behaviours • Our society can also provide deviant maladaptive models that children identify with and imitate.

  3. Classical Conditioning • Learning occurs through association: • A neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus, resulting in a new stimulus-response link • The neutral stimulus is now a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response. • - E.g. Pavlov (1901) taught dogs to salivate when they heard a bell UCS (presentation of food) --------- UCR (salivation) UCS + NS (bell) ----------------------- UCR (salivation) CS (bell) --------------------------------- CR (salivation)

  4. Classical conditioning and abnormality • Classical conditioning has been said to account for the development of phobias. • The feared object (e.g. spider or rat) is associated with a fear or anxiety sometime in the past. • The conditioned stimulus subsequently evokes a powerful fear response characterised by avoidance of the feared object and the emotion of fear whenever the object is encountered.

  5. Little Albert (Watson and Rayner (1920) - Wanted to prove that fear responses can be learned - Worked with 11 month old named ‘Little Albert’ - First tested his response to white fluffy objects – he showed no fear - Next created a conditioned response to these previously neutral objects. They made a loud noise behind Albert’s head every time he went near a white rat in order to startle him. - Repeated this until whenever the rat was shown to Albert he would cry because he associated the rat with a loud and frightening noise – they had conditioned a fear response in him. The responses then generalised to all fluffy animals. - Activity: in pairs consider the methodological issues of this study.

  6. Operant Conditioning • Learning occurs through reinforcement • We respond to our environment through reinforcement and punishment • Responses that are reinforced are more likely to be repeated. Those that are punished are more likely to be avoided. • Skinner (1974) demonstrated that rats could be taught voluntary responses by reward and punishment of behaviour. • - Different patterns of behaviour are taught through use of different schedules of reinforcement.

  7. Operant conditioning and abnormality - Psychological disorders are produced when a maladaptive behaviour is rewarded or goes unpunished. • E.g. an individual may be rewarded for being having panic attacks by receiving attention from family and friends – this would lead to the behaviour being reinforced and increasing in later life.

  8. Social Learning • This is an extension of skinner’s work and suggests that we learn through observing another’s behaviour and it’s consequences. We imitate behaviour that we see being rewarded – vicarious reinforcement. • - People observe and imitate the behaviour of other people (models). • Social learning and abnormality • Abnormal behaviours can therefore be learned and imitated. • E.g. If an individual grows up in an environment where their mother has a phobia of mice. If the behaviour is unpunished, they may imitate the behaviour which may lead to developing the phobia themselves. • However, it is difficult to separate the effects of genetics from the effects of social learning (Kendall and Hammen, 1995)

  9. Evaluation of the Behaviourist Approach • + Treatments can be effective as they have practical application. • Reductionist: The approach ignores the role of biological factors and suggests that humans are simple mechanisms at the mercy of stimulus-response behaviours • + The approach is concerned with the present symptoms rather than concentrating on the past. • Only treats the symptoms and not the causes • + Scientific and empirical support through experiments. This means it has been objectively measured. • Large amount of supporting research is based on animal studies which can’t be generalised to humans. S T R E N G T H S WEAKNESSES

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