lOMoARcPSD|59658805
Approaches in psychology essay plans
A-Level Psychology (University of Oxford)
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OUTLINE AND EVALUATE THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH IN PSYCHOLOGY
AO1
ASSUMPTIONS (not needed in 16 marker)
• ONLY interested in studying behaviour that can be OBSERVED AND MEASURED
• Rejected INTROSPECTION as it involved concepts that were VAGUE and DIFFICULT TO MEASURE
• Relies on LAB EXPERIMENTS
• the basic processes that govern LEARNING are the SAME in ALL SPECIES
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING – PAVLOV
• LEARNING through ASSOCIATION
• DOGS learned to associate the sound of the BELL with the FOOD and would produce SALIVATION response
every me they heard the SOUND
• PAVLOV was able to show how a NETURAL STIMULUS can associated itself with a new condi oned
response
• LITTLE ALBERT study by WATSON AND RAYNER
OPERANT CONDITIONING – SKINNER
• POSTIVE REINFORCEMENT: receiving a REWARD when a certain BEHAVIOUR is performed
• NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT: when an animal/human AVOIDS something UNPLEASANT
• PUNISHMENT: an UNPLEASANT CONSEQUENCE of behaviour
• THE SKINNER BOX: every me the rat ac vated the lever it was rewarded with a food pellet
AO3
• SCIENTIFIC CREDIBILITY: ABLE to link the methods of the natural sciences to PSYCHOLOGY without the focus
of measuring observing behaviour in a lab = by emphasising processes like OBJECTIVITY and REPLICATION
it allowed psychology to be seen as a SCIENTIFIC DISIPLINE, giving psychology more status and credibility
• REAL-LIFE APPLICATION: the ideas of condi oning can be applied to real-world behaviours such as
OPERANT CONDITIONING being the basis of TOKEN-ECOMOMY in prisons, schools and psychiatric wards –
rewarding APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOURS with TOKENS that can be exchanged for PRIVLEGES
• MECHANISTIC VIEW OF BEHAVIOUR: ANIMALS in this approach are seen as PASSIVE AND MACHINE-LIKE
responders WITH LITTLE TO NO CONSCIOUS INSIGHT to their BEHAVIOUR but other approaches such as SLT
and the COGNITIVE approach EMPHASIS the importance of MENTAL EVENTS in learning – these occur
between the STIMULUS AND RESPONSE showing that people have more of an ac ve role in their learning =
learning theory applies LESS to HUMANS than ANIMALS
• ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM: SEES all behaviour as being determined by PAST EXPERIENCES and
everything we do is based on our REINFORCEMENT HISTORY – this ignores ANY FREE WILL which SKINNER
sees as an ILLUSION, we think we’ve made our own decision but it is all based o of our past condi oning
history
• ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES IN ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS: cri cs have ques oned the ETHICS of
conduc ng inves ga ons such as that of SKINNER’S BOX and LITTLE ALBERT– ANIMALS and CHILDREN
were exposed to STRESSFUL CONDITIONS which may have e ected them in later life
Downloaded by olinder seth ()
Approaches in psychology essay plans
A-Level Psychology (University of Oxford)
Scan to open on Studocu
Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university
Downloaded by olinder seth ()
, lOMoARcPSD|59658805
OUTLINE AND EVALUATE THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH IN PSYCHOLOGY
AO1
ASSUMPTIONS (not needed in 16 marker)
• ONLY interested in studying behaviour that can be OBSERVED AND MEASURED
• Rejected INTROSPECTION as it involved concepts that were VAGUE and DIFFICULT TO MEASURE
• Relies on LAB EXPERIMENTS
• the basic processes that govern LEARNING are the SAME in ALL SPECIES
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING – PAVLOV
• LEARNING through ASSOCIATION
• DOGS learned to associate the sound of the BELL with the FOOD and would produce SALIVATION response
every me they heard the SOUND
• PAVLOV was able to show how a NETURAL STIMULUS can associated itself with a new condi oned
response
• LITTLE ALBERT study by WATSON AND RAYNER
OPERANT CONDITIONING – SKINNER
• POSTIVE REINFORCEMENT: receiving a REWARD when a certain BEHAVIOUR is performed
• NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT: when an animal/human AVOIDS something UNPLEASANT
• PUNISHMENT: an UNPLEASANT CONSEQUENCE of behaviour
• THE SKINNER BOX: every me the rat ac vated the lever it was rewarded with a food pellet
AO3
• SCIENTIFIC CREDIBILITY: ABLE to link the methods of the natural sciences to PSYCHOLOGY without the focus
of measuring observing behaviour in a lab = by emphasising processes like OBJECTIVITY and REPLICATION
it allowed psychology to be seen as a SCIENTIFIC DISIPLINE, giving psychology more status and credibility
• REAL-LIFE APPLICATION: the ideas of condi oning can be applied to real-world behaviours such as
OPERANT CONDITIONING being the basis of TOKEN-ECOMOMY in prisons, schools and psychiatric wards –
rewarding APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOURS with TOKENS that can be exchanged for PRIVLEGES
• MECHANISTIC VIEW OF BEHAVIOUR: ANIMALS in this approach are seen as PASSIVE AND MACHINE-LIKE
responders WITH LITTLE TO NO CONSCIOUS INSIGHT to their BEHAVIOUR but other approaches such as SLT
and the COGNITIVE approach EMPHASIS the importance of MENTAL EVENTS in learning – these occur
between the STIMULUS AND RESPONSE showing that people have more of an ac ve role in their learning =
learning theory applies LESS to HUMANS than ANIMALS
• ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM: SEES all behaviour as being determined by PAST EXPERIENCES and
everything we do is based on our REINFORCEMENT HISTORY – this ignores ANY FREE WILL which SKINNER
sees as an ILLUSION, we think we’ve made our own decision but it is all based o of our past condi oning
history
• ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUES IN ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS: cri cs have ques oned the ETHICS of
conduc ng inves ga ons such as that of SKINNER’S BOX and LITTLE ALBERT– ANIMALS and CHILDREN
were exposed to STRESSFUL CONDITIONS which may have e ected them in later life
Downloaded by olinder seth ()
