- S – Thorndike – trial and error with cats – shows behaviour learnt through reinforcement
- S – Skinner – positive reinforcement – shows behaviour learnt through reinforcement
- C – animal research – cannot generalise – different cognitive abilities
- C – high reliability – standardised procedure – replicable
- O – ignores inherited and cognitive factors – Kohler: found primates solve problems in a flash of insight rather than trial and error – incomplete explanation
- O – Tolman – rats learn mazes without reinforcement – incomplete explanation
- D – Social Learning Theory – learn through observation – no need for trial and error
- A – treatment (token economy programmes) – giving secondary reinforcers for primary reinforcers – could be used in classrooms, prisons or psychiatric hospitals
- A – explains behaviours – superstition, addiction, mental illness – form treatments
- + – animal testing – more controlled conditions – do not show demand characteristics
