The Behaviourist Perspective
The behaviourist perspective which psychologists used to explain all human behaviour came from two main authorities Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) and Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990). Both Pavlov and Skinner believed that all types of behaviour were as a result of the learning process. This process of learned behaviour includes personality traits, like confidence, shyness, optimism, pessimism, happiness and depression. Pavlov’s theory of learning is called classic conditioning. In his work with dogs, he attaches monitors to the dog’s mouths and stomachs so he could look at the production rate of saliva so that he could understand their digestive systems. During his work one of his assistants brought some food into the room and Pavlov saw that the dog began to salivate. Until then salivations was believed to be a reflex response and didn’t occur until the food entered the mouth and touched the tongue. Pavlov suggested the dog’s reaction was because he was due to his learned association that the laboratory assistant as the response of salivation was linked to the food and salivation is not a learned response Pavlov referred this as unconditioned response (UR). Because the reaction was caused by the food he referred to this as an unconditioned stimulus (US). To test this theory Pavlov gave the dog food whilst ringing a bell over a period of time, Pavlov wanted to test to see if the dog would learn to salivate when the bell rang, after a number of trials or tests, Pavlov’s theory was proved correct and the dog salivated when the bell was rang without food being given. The dog had learned to give a conditioned response (CR) to a conditioned stimulus (CS) therefore salivating at the sound of the bell.
Operant conditioning
Burrhus Fredric Skinner’s theory was developed working with rats and pigeons and he discovered a number of main principles for learning new behaviours. In his work, he used a box now known as a Skinner box which has a lever which, when the rat or pigeon pressed the lever a food pellet dropped into the box therefore the animal learnt that when the lever was pressed it would release food. Initially when first out in the box the rat ran round sniffing the different parts and pressed the lever which released the food pellet without intention. After continuing to run around the box for some time and repeating the same action, the rat learned that by pressing the lever the food pellet would be released automatically. As the rat likes food pellets, it would keep repeating the process to gain more food. This process of reinforcement had a positive effect on the rat however, a similar experiment can have a negative effect. To test the negative reinforcement theory, Skinner ran a low electrical current across the base of the box and when the rat pressed the lever, the current was stopped so the rat did not feel pain. Over time the rat learned that by pressing the lever, the result took away the negative reinforcement i.e. pain.
An example of this theory could be demonstrated in a nursery situation where each child is given stars based on the amount of time they sat quietly and listened to the story. Each child would receive a star but those that sat longest would receive more stars. At the end of each week the number of stars each child had gained was then replaced with a treat, perhaps free play outside or fruit pieces.

Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory demonstrates how our social behaviour is influenced by those we come into contact with each day; our peers, siblings, parents, television, famous personalities and celebrities.
Although we learn new behaviours from all these people, we are most likely to replicate behaviours shown by one person in particular, a person whom we believe behaves in a certain way which we see as acceptable. This person is called a role model.
Imitating a role model can be both good and bad as not all role models behave in a way which is acceptable to society in general and this could then have an effect on the person imitating them. They are seen to be behaving in the same way as the role model and as such the imitator could receive negative attitude from their peers and parents, for example.
An example of role model behaviour is someone who may live in an area of high social housing, low wages with high crime and gangs. Those involved in crime or drugs may have all of the latest technology, fashion items etc. and will appear to be happy and confident. Whereas an impressionable young boy living on the same estate with parents on low wages, could feel that that is the lifestyle he wants to have and so tries to join the gang. They believe that they can only be happy by imitating someone else’s life.
Group Behaviour
In the 1950’s Soloman Ash, a social psychologist, believed behaviour of individuals was not the only cause for people to change how they act. He believed groups of people could affect an individual’s behaviour by what he called majority behaviour. By observing a group of people in a predetermined situation with some candidates being aware of the experiment and some candidates who have no knowledge of the experiment, it was shown that in group situations, normally confident people can be swayed by the view of the majority. A recent real life event showed this theory to be true after the 2011 riots when a youth worker, army recruit and fork lift driver were prosecuted for looting in London in response to a shooting in Tottenham. This event was mirrored in major towns across the UK.
Culture and Society behaviour.
Culture and society also play a part in someone’s behaviour. Watson (1970) at candidates from Africa, East Asia, India & Latin America and found that the first two countries didn’t like high levels of eye contact as in their culture, it is disrespectful whereas in India and Latin America, candidates preferred high levels of eye contact.
In European/USA culture, children are brought up to be individuals, self-reliant and confident to prepare them for adult life where as in many Eastern/Asian cultures, family are more important than the individual so they learn to put others before themselves.
In the UK where there are many diverse cultures which could affect how someone sees their life progressing. For example, a girl from an Asian family may want to do well in her schooling because she wants to go to University and become a doctor/lawyer however her family may believe that she should have an arranged marriage and look after her family. This would put an enormous amount of pressure on the child as she wouldn’t want to go against her cultural beliefs and she would be torn between what is expected and what she wants.
The self-fulfilling prophecy
The self-fulfilling prophecy has a big impact on the way we behave towards others and how we would want them to behave towards us. If we believe ourselves to be kind, generous likeable people then we are more likely to polite and cheerful towards someone we meet therefor creating a likeable impression. If we behave in a negative way however through aggression and believe everyone is against us or confrontation or argumentative way then that is how we will be responded to.
Role theory
Role theory explains that depending on the role we take at that particular time is the role we portray because of the role we have to take. For example a nurse will have to be sympathetic towards a child who has accidently hurt themselves to show care to show characteristic however after their shift they’re able to act as themselves as they please.
Alburt bandura developed the social learning theory of our behaviours by how we observe other people, in real life or in the media. This is called observational learning. Bandura explains that we learn from a person such as a role model and the manner of copying is called modelling. We don’t imitate all the behaviour we observe and remember as if someone was being punished for something they did wrong we are less likely to imitate their behaviour.
The Psychodynamic Approach
The Psychodynamic approach was founded by a psychologist called Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). He was an Austrian neurologist and he developed his theory in the 20th century. This theory suggests the idea of the unconscious mind being behind some of an individual’s actions and the unconscious inside a person’s mind determines physical or verbal actions. In contrast to the behaviourist psychological approach, the psychodynamic theory ignores some parts of science in order to focus on and understand the unconscious mind of people to make sense of their relationships, general experiences and how they see the world. The Psychoanalysis was the original psychodynamic theory, but the psychodynamic approach as a whole includes all the theories that were based on his ideas, for example Jung, Adler and Erikson all played a massive part. Sigmund Freud, writing between the 1890s and the 1930’s, put together a collection of theories which have formed the basis of the Psychodynamic approach. His theories are based on what his patients told him during therapy and what he has taken from that. The psychodynamic therapist would usually be treating the patient for depression or anxiety related disorders.

Psychodynamic Assumptions
There are quite a few psychodynamic approaches that focus on the following aspects, such as a person’s behaviour and feeling are highly affected by unconscious motives. An individual’s behaviour as an adult, and psychological problems, can stem from childhood experiences. All behaviour has a cause and is usually from the unconscious, therefore all behaviour is determined. An individual’s personality is made up of three parts, called the id, ego and super-ego, and these parts of the unconscious mind are in constant conflict with the conscious part of the mind. Personalities are shaped as drives are modified by different conflicts at different times in childhood, which are called Psychosexual Stages.
Psychosexual stages
Freud suggests that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of fixed stages. These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of the libido on a different area of the body. Each of the psychosexual stages are associated with a particular conflict that must be resolved before the person can successfully reach the next psychosexual stage. An individual can be fixated at one stage for the rest of their life. The first stage the Oral stage, which is 0-1 years, the second is the anal stage, which is 1-3 years, then there’s the Phallic stage which is 3-6 years, the fourth stage is the Latent stage which is the ages of 5/6 until puberty, the last stage is the genital stage which starts at puberty and goes on until adulthood.
Below is a graph, explaining the effects of the psychosexual stages:

The Id, Ego and Super-ego.
The psyche is the structure of the mind which consists of three dynamic parts – the id, the ego and the super-ego. The id is part of the psyche we’re born with, it operates on the pleasure principle and when it wants something, it wants it right away and doesn’t care about consequence. The super-ego is roughly the equivalent to a conscience, the superego consists of an internalisation of all the values of right and wrong we have been lead to believe, it also contains an image of our ideal self. The ego is the part of the mind whose function is to moderate the demands of the id and prevent the superego being too harsh, it operates on the reality principle.
(http://www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.html)
The psychodynamic approach can help work to change human behaviour in a health and social care setting, as if a patient is stressed, then the approach can be used in the form of one to one therapy sessions that would allow the individual to express their feelings, thus becoming relaxed in their surroundings by being able to trust people more, feel comfortable talking about their problems and therefore becoming happier with themselves.
Strengths and weaknesses
The behaviourist approach
Strengths
* The behaviourist approach uses scientific methods of research. The experiments are objective, measureable and observable. * Its successfully applied classical conditioning and operant to its theories
Weaknesses
* It focuses too much on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate. It implies that our behaviour is learned but cognitive and biological elements have been proved to affect behaviour. * The approach raises ethical issues by using animals in experiments. Animals
Cannot consent to take part and are unable to withdraw.

Social learning theory
Strengths
* Bandura verified his first concept that children copy aggression via his experiment with the bobo inflatable doll. A child would witness another person play aggressively and violent towards the doll afterwards the child would also mimic their actions in being aggressive and violent towards the doll. * The social learning theory seems to be less deterministic and reductionist than the behaviour approach. Bandura talked more about the interaction between environment and behaviour.
Weaknesses
* The theory does not specify how the observed behaviour is reproduced or stored * Some children or people are naturally aggressive despite playing violent video games etc. therefore it cannot be defined as learnt behaviour which is what the social learning theory explains.
Psychodynamic theory
Strengths
* Focuses on effects of their childhood experiences and what they have on the developing personality. Realises the importance of childhood and it led other psychologists to develop theories on childhood. * It takes both nature and nurture into account. It emphasises the importance of both. Weaknesses * The approach cannot be proven false nor true. The assumptions cannot be scientifically measured or proved wrong. * The approach is deterministic. It’s a weakness because it implies that behaviour is predetermined and people do not have free will.
The psychodynamic theory is the one I prefer because it explains that all our behaviour has a cause, therefore all behaviour is determined. Also parts of the unconscious mind, id and superego, are in constant conflict with the conscious part of our mind, the ego. This theory explains that our behaviour and feelings are affected majorly by unconscious motives. And stresses the importance of childhood and what personality could develop when older.
The behaviourist approach is good because it can help those with a phobia and overcome that phobia by using the behaviourist approach. It is used for those within a counselling setting, therapist and psychologist.
The social learning theory is bad because it only looks at our behaviour from what we experience such as a child copying violence however it does not look at those who are naturally aggressive and why their behaviour is that way. Its shows that our behaviour is not just learned.
The psychodynamic theory is good because it focuses more on children and their experiences relating to their behaviour this then can be used with the behaviourist theory to help counsellors therapists and psychologists to understand why they behave the way they do and to then try change that behaviour by using the theories.