Apply assumptions to explain a variety of behaviours

Assumptions of Behaviourist Approach

Observable Behaviours: Behaviourism focuses purely on behaviour that can be observed and quantified. Internal feelings or perspectives are considered irrelevant in this approach.
Conditioning: Central to behaviourism is the idea that all behaviour is a response to a stimulus, shaped over time by the principles of conditioning - Classical Conditioning (learning through association) and Operant Conditioning (learning through reinforcement).
Tabula Rasa: Behaviourists believe that all individuals are born as clean slates (Tabula Rasa) and that all their behaviours are learned from the environment.

Application of Assumptions in Explaining Behaviours

Phobias: It’s believed that phobias are developed through classical conditioning whereby a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an event or situation that caused fear or anxiety.
Addictive behaviours: These can be explained through operant conditioning as an individual may engage in addictive behaviour due to positive reinforcement (the pleasurable effects of the substance) and negative reinforcement (avoidance of withdrawal symptoms).
Conforming behaviour: The tendency to adjust one’s behaviour, attitudes, or beliefs to group norms is considered a learned behaviour, often reinforced through social rewards or punishments, a concept central to Operant Conditioning.

Evaluating Behaviourist Approach in Explaining Behaviours

While the Behaviourist Approach provides a simple, clear explanation for our behaviours, learning isn’t strictly conditioned and often includes more complex cognitive processes.
Behaviourism limits the importance of individual differences, suggesting that everyone responds to conditioning in the same way, failing to consider varying responses to similar environments or experiences.
The Behaviourist Approach has been criticised for having an over-reliance on animal studies. The extent to which findings from rats or pigeans can be generalised to humans is debatable.

Behaviourist Approach in Therapies and Interventions

Systematic Desensitisation: A therapy often used to treat phobias, it’s based on classical conditioning. Patients learn to replace their fear response with a relaxation response through a hierarchical exposure to the fearful stimulus.
Token Economy Systems are used in settings such as psychiatric hospitals or prisons, and are an application of Operant Conditioning, offering a token (secondary reinforcer) as a reward for desirable behaviour.

Revising these points will help you explain specific behaviours using the Behaviourist approach. Moreover, being able to critically evaluate this perspective would strengthen your arguments and allow you to form balanced conclusions.