The Behaviourist and Cognitive Approaches to Psychology Essay

The basic assumption of the behaviourist approach is that all behaviour is learned through experiences a person has in their environment. From this we know that behaviourists are on the side of nature in the “nature vs. nurture” debate. In comparison bio psychologists will be firmly on the side of nurture.

In Psychology learning is seen as a change in behaviour caused by an experience. Behaviorism, is seen as a learning theory; an attempt to explain how people or animals learn by studying their behaviour. The Behaviourists Approach has two theories to help explain how we learn, Classical conditioning and operant conditioning. In this task I will attempt to describe and evaluate this approach.

The behaviourists are a school of psychology that believe that behaviour is learned. The behaviourists don’t believe that people have the innate desire to act in a certain way. They think we are born as a blank sheet that is then developed by life experiences. As we develop interactions and life lessons mould us into the person who we become. Behaviourists do not believe that behaviour has any contribution from biology. They dismiss that our biology is a decisive factor in who we are and believe that the idea is nonsense and therefore do not consider this.

Behaviourists regard behaviour as a response to a stimulus; pioneering the belief that internal cognitive processes are unnecessary when explaining behaviour. This view is supported by the behaviourist John Locke who proposed that children are born as ‘blank slates’ (‘tabula rasa’) whereby children are shaped by experience (Neaum, 2010). The behaviourist approach assumes that the process of learning is the same in all species; therefore concluding that human and animals learn in similar ways. Early behaviourists include Edward Thorndike, Edward Tolman and Edwin Guthrie conducted experiments on animals, under carefully observed conditions (Collin, 2011). However the three theorists, most associated with behaviourism are: Ivan Pavlov, John Watson and B.F. Skinner. These theorists identified two types of associative learning: classical and operant conditioning; these methods underpin the behaviourist perspective.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a short-term, problem-centered therapy that is used to address psychopathology within the individual (Beck, 1995). This model of therapy is used to address issues of depression, anxiety, eating disorders, relational problems, and drug abuse, and can be utilized when working with individuals, as well as within group and family modalities. The core aspects of this therapy include collaboration and participation by the client, a strong alliance between therapist and client, and an initial focus on current problems and functioning (Beck, 1995). The theory of CBT emphasizes the relationship between the individual’s thoughts feelings and behaviors, which is seen as being the underlying cause of

This essay will give detailed descriptions of the behaviourist and cognitive perspectives in psychology and evaluate their key assumptions. The strengths and limitations of each perspective will be discussed along with an evaluation of their applications to contemporary issues in psychology. Finally there will be an analysis of the similarities and differences between each perspective and a conclusion.

The main division in learning theories is between behavioural theorists and cognitive theorists. Behaviourists claim that people learn by trial and error through associating stimuli with responses whereas cognitive theorists believe people learn through associating memories and ideas as part of a problem-solving process (Jones 2006:411).

I. Describe: Anxiety is something I have been dealing with since I was in my childhood. I never fully understood anxiety until it started getting worse as I got into my adolescent stage. I had talked to my mom and grandma about it a lot of times to make sure I was okay. I have been through several both anxiety and panic attacks. I have been one to worry about everything. Pathological anxiety and fear was very random for me. I never understood what was going on. Growing up whenever I would learn something new an example is, my aunt had a tumor in her armpit and it started as a lump. I one time had a small bump and instantly worried myself that it was a

Behaviorism establishes basic assumptions regarding behavioral analysis. The most prevalent of these assumptions is that all behavior is learned from the environment (McLeod, 2007). The behaviorist perspective proposes two main processes whereby people learn from their environment, these processes are called classical conditioning and operant conditioning (McLeod, 2007). Classical conditioning revolves around learning new behavior via the process of association (McLeod, 2007). This means new behavioral responses are made when two stimuli are linked together (McLeod, 2007).

Psychology is a science that focuses primarily on the study of the mind, but it can also be the study of behavior. “Behaviorism is a worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli. The learner starts off as a clean slate and behavior is shaped through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. Both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent behavior will happen again." The study of only behavior in Psychology is called Behaviorism. The Psychologists who study the school of Behaviorism go by the title of Behaviorists or Behavioral Psychologists. Behaviorists have their own theories and principles that they follow in their study.

There are major differences between behaviorism and cognitive theory. Behaviorism has three components behavior analysis, stimulus-response, and the social learning theory. The first component focuses on the consequences of a behavior, in this case this the responses to Juan’s actions. Juan will eventually not finish school due to his failure to do the work. The second component is stimulus response, this is when environmental factors affect behavior.

Psychology is a term derived from two Greek words that translate to life explanation, which makes it an important element of daily life. The field of psychology can be described as a discipline that focuses on the study of mind and behavior. This discipline is characterized by several concepts and approaches that are used by psychologists in understanding human behavior. Since psychology is a broad field, psychologists not only use these concepts and approaches but also conduct scientific research that enables them to understand human behavior. Some of the most common psychological concepts that are used to modify or change an individual’s behavior include operant conditioning, positive and negative punishment,

Behaviorist’s think that you learn through a system of punishment and reinforcements. This approach was brought to light by Burrhus Frederic Skinner, but most refer to him as simply B.F. Skinner. A major contribution of this theory to psychology was operant conditioning, which is a method of learning made by rewards and punishment, for example, training a dog (Cherry & Gans, n.d.) Today, in 2018, a behavioral approach is used in our everyday life, like how we follow rules while behind the wheel and the way advertising companies use tactics to get us to buy their products (“5 Major”,

     This article is from the April 2003 issue of Psychology Today. In chapter 2, behavior is the main topic. Behavior is a bit unexplainable , but it can be put into form of patterns or predictions. Also, behavior is uncontrolled, but can be changed to a small degree with the use of medicine or a good diet. This article “Fighting Crime One Bite At A Time” tells how a good diet can maybe decrease the number of rule breaking by prisoners in jail. This article relates how changing ones nutrition can change their behavior. This article showed an experiment where 231 inmates were either given vitamin supplements and the others to fake pills to see which group would break the rules more. The vitamin group

A significant piece of several psychological theories in the late nineteenth century was introspection, which is “the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes” (Press, 2013). In retort to this theory behaviorism came about. Behaviorism is predominantly concerned with observable and measurable aspects of human behavior. In other words behaviorism does not look at the biological aspects but it suggests that all behaviors are learned habits and changes in response to the environment. It endeavors to explain how these particular habits are formed. Behaviorism claimed that the causes of behavior was not necessarily found in the complexities of the mind but could be observed in one’s immediate environment, from stimuli that produced, reinforced, and punished certain responses also known later on as conditioning. It wasn’t until the twentieth century that the scientist began to discover the actual systems to learning, thereby laying a foundation for behaviorism. A theorist by the name of Ivan Pavlov was a major contribution to the discovering of significant behavioral theories.