Topic Summaries

The learning approach – behaviourism

A-Level > Psychology > AQA > A-Level Psychology Topic Summaries > Approaches in psychology > The learning approach – behaviourism
Previous Module
Next Module

Addiction

  • Key principles:
    • All behaviour is learnt, not innate.
    • Psychology should only be studied in a scientific manner.
    • Focus should be on controlling observable and measurable behaviour, not internal things like thinking and emotions.
    • Animal studies can and should be generalised to humans as learning is the same across species.
    • Leaning takes place through classical and operant conditioning.
  • 👥 Skinner (1948): conducted experiments with rats and pigeons in specially designed cages called Skinner boxes. Every time a rat activated a lever (or pecked a disc in the case of the pigeon) within the box, a food pellet was released. This would result in the animal performing the behaviour again and again to gain the food pellet, therefore reinforcing that particular behaviour from the animal. He also conditioned the animals behaviour to avoid an unpleasant stimulus (using an electric shock).
    • Scientific credibility: by emphasising the importance of the need for objectivity and reproducibility, behaviourism played a key role in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline.
    • Real world application: the principles of operant conditioning have been applied to real world situations (e.g. schools using a sticker reward system to incentivise good student behaviour).
    • Deterministic: Skinner claimed that humans have no control over their own behaviour, and argued that all behaviour was as a result of past experiences and conditioning. He argued that free will is an illusion, which many view as excessively deterministic.
    • Ethical issues: some argue that Skinner’s experiments constituted animal cruelty by causing both physical and psychological harm to animals in breach of psychological guidelines.

Unlock The learning approach – behaviourism

Subscribe to SnapRevise+ to get immediate access to the rest of this resource.

Premium accounts get immediate access to this resource.

Previous Module
Next Module