Outline Two Advantages and Two Disadvantages of the Behaviourist Approach ( 12 )
One of the strengths of the behaviorist attack is that it merely focuses on behavior and behaviors that can be observed and manipulated. Consequently this attack has proved itself to be utile in experiments where behavior can be observed and manipulated for coveted effects such as the experiment Burrhus Frederic Skinner conducted on rats. pull stringsing them to press buttons and levers until they are given nutrient and the experiment Ivan Petrovich Pavlov conducted on Canis familiariss where he manipulated them to salivate to the tintinnabulation of a bell. instead than to nutrient.
The behaviorist attack besides concentrates on ‘here and now’ and what can be seen. instead than researching a person’s past like the psychodynamic attack does. This is an advantage because it is non concerned with what can non be seen and what happened in the past and many people do non cognize and believe that their past causes behavior and personalities in their ulterior life. and many people the think taking the unwanted behavior is more of import than understanding the causes of the behavior.
On the other manus. a disadvantage of the behaviorist attack is that the theories are excessively deterministic as behaviorists believe that our behavior is determined merely by environmental effects such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning which is a disadvantage as behavior can be indeterministic and there can be no causes for it. It besides undermines the sum of free will a individual has and doesn’t consider that of all time human can do picks about their behaviors and have moral duty for their behavior which is a lack in the attack as a individual can take to alter their behavior and personality at any given minute and the environment doesn’t have to consequence their determination.
Besides. the behaviorist attack emphasises excessively much on raising. It focuses merely on the environment effects on a individual. so it wholly ignores effects nature can hold on a intent and neglects genetic sciences as an account of behavior which is a disadvantage as behavior can be altered and modified by nature every twenty-four hours in different ways like where a individual lives. where they visit. even what bus path they take etc. Furthermore. a inquiry frequently put to behaviorists is ‘If acquisition is the lone factor that makes us who we are. so we should all be capable of going whatever we want to be’ and many behaviorists can non warrant this inquiry decently. the bottom line is that there are many different factors impacting our abilities other than larning.
In add-on. the theories of behaviorism have been chiefly tested on animate beings so the findings may non wholly use to human behavior. which is much more a batch more complex.
