Assumptions:
- All behaviour is learned/acquired through experience and can be explained in terms of Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning.
- Only observable behaviour is relevant; references to mental processes are unnecessary.
- Human behaviour is qualitatively no different from non-human animal behaviour, both are built of stimulus-response links.
- In animals - Behaviourists assume they learn in the same way as people and are more convieniant to study.
- Under laboratory conditions - They allow researchers to control very precisely the conditions under which learning occurs.
- Using experimental methods - They allow inferences to be drawn about cause and effect relationships between the variables studied.