Behaviourist Approaches

Behaviourist Approaches to Health

Overview

  • Central to the Behaviourist approach is the concept that health behaviours can be learnt and unlearnt through processes of association and consequence.
  • This approach views human behaviour, including health behaviours, as responses to environmental stimuli.

Classical Conditioning

  • Classical conditioning refers to learning by association and was first identified by Ivan Pavlov.
  • An example relating to health behaviours might be a person associating nausea with a particular food after subsequently falling ill the first time they ate it.
  • Such formation of associations can lead to certain health behaviours, both beneficial and detrimental.

Operant Conditioning

  • Operant conditioning, identified by B.F. Skinner, is learning through rewards and punishments.
  • Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of behaviour repeating (e.g., feeling energised after exercise)
  • Negative reinforcement, where an adverse stimulus is removed following a behaviour, also increases the probability of that behaviour repeating.
  • Punishment on the other hand (e.g., feeling sick after smoking) decreases the likelihood of the behaviour repeating.

Health Implications

  • Understanding the mechanics of behaviourist approaches can be employed to foster healthy behaviours.
  • For instance, cessation programmes for smoking often use negative reinforcement (removal of an unpleasant cough) to promote the desired behaviour.
  • Similarly, weight loss programmes may employ positive reinforcement, with the rewards of a healthier lifestyle and better physical fitness reinforcing consecutively healthier behaviours.

Critiques of the Behaviourist Approach

  • Critics suggest behaviourism doesn’t account for free will or internal thoughts, downplaying the complexity of human behaviour.
  • Health behaviours are also greatly influenced by social, cultural, and economic factors, something the behaviourist approach fails to comfortably accommodate.
  • Nevertheless, the understanding gleaned from behaviourist approaches helps form the foundation for many strategies employed in health psychology today.