BEHAVIOURISM: BASIC ASSUMPTIONS
 Associationism : Simple associations of stimuli or stimulus-response
are the building blocks of all behaviour, no matter how complex.
 Behaviourism is only concerned with observable behaviour because
behaviour can be objectively and scientifically measured.
 Psychology should be seen as a science. Theories need to be
supported by empirical data obtained through careful and controlled
observation and measurement of behaviour. Subjectivity should be
eliminated from psychology and methods like introspection abandoned
to be replaced with more objective methods.
 Behaviour is almost entirely determined by the environment (rather
than by heredity/genes), so is learned (hence the term learning
theory).
 People have no free will – a person’s environment determines their
behaviour
 Laws of learning are the same for all species and can be seen in any
environment so research carried out on animals can shed light on
human behaviour. (Behaviourists would agree that WHAT animals learn
is different to humans but the process of HOW they learn is the
same.)
 Learning can best be understood in terms of external causes rather
than internal causes. Mental activities are useless as data.
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BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF BEHAVIOURISM.
Assumptions:
Give an example of associative learning
Why do behaviourists only focus on the study of behaviour??
What is an objective approach?????
What are the characteristics of a science?
Identify some of the environmental influences on your behaviour.
Do humans have free will????
Do animals learn in the same way as humans? (Behaviourist would agree that WHAT
animals learn is different to humans.)
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Why do behaviourists think that mental activities are useless as objective data?
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