Briefly outline and compare the key features of the behavioural and cognitive approaches in psychology.

Two key approaches used in psychology are the behavioural approach and the cognitive approach. The behavioural approach sees behaviour as learned, whereas the cognitive approach sees behaviour as the result of internal mental processes. The behavioural approach includes 2 main learning principles: classical conditioning, and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning (e.g. Pavlov's famous experiment with dogs, 1889) involves learning by associating two stimuli with each other, whereas operant conditioning involves learning by reward and punishment. Comparatively, a main feature of the cognitive approach is schema; a mental system which organises information in memory into categorical and hierarchical structures. The way these schemas are organised and the links made between the information is thought to be a driver of behaviour, according to this approach. Both these approaches are integrated in a treatment approach known as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). This approach attempts to alter maladaptive behaviour by having the patient identify their thought processes which lead them to behave the way they do and help them thus alter these thought processes. Reward is often used in CBT practice; thus behavioural principles are being used as well as cognitive. CBT can be used for many mental health issues from depression to phobias to addiction.