Behaviourist reading prior to evaluation

The behaviourist approach throws up a number of criticisms that

stem from its stance on the origins of human behaviour. Firstly
the issue of humans being born as a blank slate. Basic observation
shows that humans are not born without behaviour. Babies are born
screaming, crying and waving their fists in the air. Without having
witnessed any prior behaviour, they suck to feed without having to
be taught or shown what to do. This occurrence is in direct contrast
to the idea that babies are a blank slate with no knowledge or
behaviour.

A second observation of the behaviourist

approach is that it assumes humans are passive
learners, learning from conditioning, without any
input from their thoughts. In a court of law, this
approach is not accepted. It is not a defence in
court to state that a criminal has been
conditioned to commit a crime. The criminal
justice system requires individuals to accept that
they have control over their own behaviour and
whatever crime they have committed has been
done so out of choice.

Both classical and operant conditioning have been successfully applied to

behaviour in the real world. Classical conditioning has been used to assist
alcoholics to give up drinking. The drug Antabuse is used to associate alcohol
intake with a sick feeling, therefore reducing the likelihood of the individual
taking a drink.

In education, operant conditioning is utilised in terms of positive

reinforcement by issuing stickers and rewards for desired behaviour.

The use of animals in laboratory experimentation is

disliked by some individuals. Not only is it ethically
questionable but It is argued that there is a qualitative
difference between humans and other animals in the way
they operate. For example animals react to stimuli such
as food but humans have individual thoughts and
motivations. Therefore we cannot apply what is learnt
from animals to humans as humans are more complex
and sophisticated than animals.