Behaviourist therapy knowledge organiser:
Behaviourist assumptions
Behaviourist assumptions knowledge organiser
Assumption 1: Blank slate
According to the behaviourist approach,
when we are born our mind is like a
‘tabula rasa’ - in other words, a blank slate.
We are not born equipped with the ability to think, and
emotions/feelings have no influence over our
behaviour. What we learn through our interactions
with the environment determines our behaviour. We
are completely passive and do not have any conscious
thought about our behaviour.
This line of thought stands firmly on the nurture side of
the nature-nurture debate. The term ‘nurture’ refers to
the fact that behaviour is determined by factors
external to the individual (overruling any innate or
biological factors such as genes, hormones, evolution,
etc.) - environmental determinism.
Evolutionary psychologists explain human behaviour
based on Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. This
theory states that species survive through ‘NATURAL
SELECTION’: a process where those who adapt to their
environment tend to survive and produce offspring.
Blank slate psychological example:
Bandura (1963) demonstrated how children learn
aggression through external, environmental factors.
Bandura exposed children to a number of aggressive
/ non-aggressive role models and found children who
observed the aggressive role models learned this
behaviour and behaved aggressively towards the doll
themselves. Children who observed a non-aggressive
role model did not behave aggressively towards the
doll themselves.
Assumption 2: Behaviour learnt
through conditioning
1. Classical Conditioning – Associating
two things together to give the same
response to both. E.g. Pavlov - 3 steps:
Pavlov presented his dogs with food (US) which
resulted in the dogs salivating (UR). Pavlov then
introduced a bell (NS) at the same time as presenting
the food (US). Over time, the bell and the food
became associated in the dogs’ minds until
eventually, when Pavlov rang the bell (CS), it resulted
in the dogs salivating (CR).
2. Operant Conditioning - Reinforcement refers
to something that will increase the likelihood of a
behaviour occurring again. Reinforcement can be
positive or negative. In punishment, this weakens
behaviour and therefore decreases the chance that
behaviour will happen again (this is the opposite of
reinforcement).
Behaviour learned through conditioning
psychological example:
Reinforcement Affect Model suggests that
relationships develop through conditioning:
Classical Conditioning (learning by association) leads
us to like those who are nearby when we feel good.
We will associate these people with the good feeling.
Operant Conditioning (learning by consequences)
leads us to like those who reward us.
Assumption 3: Humans and animals
learn in similar ways
According to the behaviourist approach,
the principles by which animals and
humans learn are the same. Behaviourists believe
that the only difference between animals and
humans is quantitative and regards structure such
as brain size. As a result, findings from animal
studies can be applied to predict and make
generalisations about human behaviour. For
example, Pavlov used dogs to develop the concept
of classical conditioning and Skinner used pigeons
to develop the principles of operant conditioning.
Humans and animals learn in similar ways
psychological example:
Lorenz explored the concept of imprinting in his
research on goslings. Lorenz found that geese follow
the first moving thing they see (a process known as
imprinting). This research clearly shows that the
findings from research can be applied to explain
human mother-child relationships.
