Evaluation of Operant Conditioning and Classical Conditioning - As explanation to Human Behaviour

Ethics –

• No demand characteristics informed consent

• Experiment research (labs) highly controlled confiding variable

• Consent can only be given by humans e.g. little Albert’s mum

• Language can be learnt through operant conditioning

• Phobias classical conditioning and operant conditioning because you can learn it through a unfavourable out come learnt

• Animal training done by operant conditioning and classical conditioning as behaviour can be reinforced

• Education operant conditioning because of reinforcement

Weaknesses

Mythology- small simple size often used such, as little Albert- cannot generalise so it lack validity, as not all children are the same.

Ethics –

• Unethical- little Albert was not conditioned

• Lacks ecological validity (artificial setting, e.g. Pavlov’s dog)

• Animals can not give consent so it lacks ethics

• Critics of other psychologists

• Psychologists would say ‘we inherit some behaviour (nature not nurture)

• Humans have higher/ more complex cognitive capacities so animals learning studies are not useful

• Animals and humans have different brain structures

• Social learning explains similar behaviour (i.e. imitations)