History and approaches

Origins of Psychology

Wundt founded first ever psychological lab in Germany in 1879.

Aimed to document and describe the nature of human consciousness.

Developed introspection

Introspection

Involved recording own conscious thoughts.

Aim was to break these thoughts down into their constituent parts.

Isolating the structure of consciousness in this way is known as Structuralism

Origins of psychology - Evaluation

-Wundt's methods were unreliable:

• non observable responses
• hard to reproduce

-Introspection is inaccurate

+Scientific approach

• Brought objective systematic methods

-Lab studies produce low ecological results

Assumption of the behaviourist approach

Blank slate

All behavior is learnt other than survival instincts

Animals can be used in research

No difference between man and brute

Rejection of introspection

Reliant upon lab experiments to maintain control and objectivity

2 forms of learning: classical and operant conditioning.

Classical conditioning

Learning through association

Pavlov research - dogs associate sound of bell with food if bell is rung consistently before feeding.

Classical conditioning procedure

Before conditioning:
Unconditioned stimulus (Food) = unconditioned response (Salivation).
Neutral stimulus (Bell) = no conditioned response (No salivation).

During conditioning:
Neutral stimulus (Bell) + Unconditioned stimulus (Food) = Unconditioned response (Salivation).

After Conditioning:
Conditioned stimulus (Bell) = Conditioned Response (Salivation)

Operant conditioning

Learning through consequences

Skinner (1953) suggested that learning is an active process where humans and animals operate in their environment.

There are 3 types of consequences of behaviour: Positive reinforcement, Negative reinforcement, punishment.

Positive reinforcement

Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed.

Example - Praise from a teacher for answering a question.

Negative reinforcement

Performance of a behaviour to avoid something unpleasant.

Example - Handing in homework to avoid being told off.

Behaviourist Approach - Evaluation

+Influential in giving psychology greater credibility and status as a result of its largely lab based research.

+Real life application - Token economy systems

-Mechanistic view of behaviour - humans seen as passive machine like responders with no conscious insight into own behaviour.

Assumptions of social learning theory

People learn through observation and imitation of others within a social context.

Behaviour is learned

Learning occurs directly through classical and operant conditioning but also through indirect means (observation)

SLT - Vicarious reinforcement

Indirect reinforcement

Learner observes a behaviour

Imitation occurs if the learner sees the behaviour being reinforced rather than punished

The learner observes the consequences of a behaviour

SLT - Mediational processes

Cognitive factors involved in learning

Attention - Extent to which we notice certain behaviour

Retention - How well the behaviour is remembered

Motor Reproduction - The ability of the observer to perform the behaviour

Motivation - The will to perform the behaviour

SLT - Identification

People (especially children) are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people they identify with.

These are called role models

A person becomes a role model if they are seen to have similar characteristics to the observer and if they have high status.

Social Learning Theory - Research

Bandura (1965)

Children were most likely to perform aggressive behaviour when they observed an adult act aggressively and be rewarded.

Social Learning Theory - Evaluation

+Provides comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising role of mediational processes.

-Over reliant on evidence from lab studies

-Underestimates influence of biological factors such as testosterone on aggression.

Assumptions of Cognitive approach

Internal mental processes should be studied scientifically

Studies area of human behaviour neglected by behaviourists

These include memory, perception and thought

These are studied indirectly by making inferences based on a person's behaviour.

Cognitive approach - Models

Theoretical models used to study internal processes.

Computer model - Input -> Process -> Output

Information processing approach suggests information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that includes input, storage and retrieval, as in the MSM

Cognitive Approach - Schema

Packages of ideas and information associated with a certain object/idea developed through experience.

Helps us respond to the object in question appropriately

Schema are flexible and differ from person to person

Can lead to stereotyping of certain groups (Jews)

Cognitive neuroscience

Scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes.

In the 1860s Broca identified that damage to a certain area of the brain permanently impaired speech.

In last 20 years, technology has advanced to allow brain imaging scans.

Scientists are able to systematically observe neurological bases of mental processes

Cognitive Approach - Evaluation

+Scientific and objective methods - Highly controlled in a lab setting. Reliable and objective data produced.

-Machine reductionism - ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system.

-Application to everyday life - Can be too theoretical and abstract therefore can lack external validity.

-Schema can lead to prejudice

+Computer models help in advancement of AI

Assumptions of Biological Approach

Everything psychological is at first biological

To fully understand behaviour, biological structures within the body must be examined

These structures include: genes, nervous system and neurochemistry.

An understanding of brain structure and function can explain our thoughts and behaviour

Genetic basis of behaviour

Studying whether behavioural characteristics are inherited

Twins and concordance rates

MZ twins - Identical twins with 100% same DNA

DZ twins - Non identical with 50% same DNA

Twin studies are used to determine the likelihood that certain traits have a genetic basis

Done by comparing concordance rates

If concordance rates are significantly higher for MZ twins than DZ twins, this is evidence that there is a genetic basis of behaviour

Genotype

The person's actual genetic makeup

Phenotype

The way that a person's genotype is expressed through environmental factors

Identical twins may look different despite sharing same genotype

Evolution and behaviour

Genetically determined behaviour that enhances an individual's ability to survive and reproduce will be passed on to the next generation.

Nervous system

Carries messages around the body using neurons which transmit nerve impulses in the form of electrical signals

The Brain

The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain

The outer surface of the cerebrum is called the cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex is responsible for functions such as language thought

The cerebrum is divided into 2 hemispheres which are then divided into 4 lobes

The frontal lobe is used for emotion

Neurotransmitter

A chemical released when a nerve impulse reaches a synapse

The neurotransmitter defuses across the synapse

Excitatory or inhibitory

Excitatory neurotransmitter

Triggers nerve impulses in the receiving neuron and stimulates the brain into action

Example - Dopamine associated with motivation

Inhibitory Neurotransmitter

Inhibit nerve impulses in order to calm the brain and balance mood

Example - Serotonin stabilises mood

Hormones

Chemicals secreted into the bloodstream by endocrine glands in response to a signal from the brain.

Travel to their target cells and exert their influence by stimulating cell receptors

The presence of a hormone causes a physiological reaction in the cell altering the cell's activity

Biological approach - Evaluation

+Based on reliable data - uses precise highly scientific methods not open to bias

+Real life application - Drug therapy

-Evolutionary explanation - Culture impacts behaviour, society moves faster than evolution, irrelevant in modern world

Assumptions of Psychodynamic approach

Behaviour determined more by psychological than biological factors.

Behaviour largely controlled by unconscious part of the mind

The role of the unconscious

Most of the mind is made up of the unconscious (80%)

A vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that influence behaviour and personality

Structure of Personality

3 Components:

id

ego

superego

The id

Primitive part of the personality.

Operates on pleasure principle

Seething mass of unconscious drives and instincts

Selfish, demands instant gratification of its needs

Present at birth

The ego

Works on the reality principle

Mediates between the id and superego

Develops around the age of 2

Reduces conflict between id and superego

Employs a number of defence mechanisms

The superego

Based on the morality principle

Our internalised sense of right and wrong

Develops at end of phallic stage (around 5 years old)

Represents the moral standards of the same sex parent

Defence mechanisms

Repression

Denial

Displacement

Repression

Unconscious forgetting.

Disturbing thoughts not allowed to become conscious.

Example - Not recalling a traumatic childhood event such as abuse.

Denial

Reducing anxiety by refusing to see the unpleasant aspects of reality.

Example - Student with poor grades telling themselves that grades don't matter

Displacement

Transferring Impulses and feelings to an originally neutral or innocent target

Example - Blaming Jews for society's problems

Psycho sexual stages of development theory

Child development occurs in 5 stages, each of which is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve to pass to the next stage.

Any unresolved conflict leads to fixation and certain characteristics of that stage will be carried through to adult life

Psycho sexual stages of development

Oral

Anal

Phallic

Latent

Genital

Oral Stage

0-1 Years

Focus of pleasure is the mouth

The mother's breast becomes the object of desire as feeding reduces the child's negative experience of hunger

Consequence of unresolved conflict - Oral fixation (Smoking, biting nails, sarcasm, critical)

Anal Stage

1-3 years

Focus of pleasure is the anus. The child gains pleasure form retention and expulsion of faeces.

Consequence of unresolved conflict

• Anal retentive (perfectionist, obsessive)
• Anal expulsive (thoughtless, messy)

Phallic stage

3-6 years

Focus of pleasure is the genital area. Boys experience the oedipus complex, girls experience the electra complex. Resolution of these complexes form their gender identity and moral basis.

Consequence of unresolved conflict - Phallic personality (narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexuality)

Latent Stage

Earlier conflicts are repressed. Sexual drive is present but dormant.

Freud stated that the sexual energy is focussed towards peer friendships.

Genital Stage

12+ years

Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty. Focus is directed to gaining heterosexual pleasure through intercourse.

Consequence of unresolved conflict - Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships. Sexual perversions may develop if fixated at earlier stage.

Oedipus Complex

During phallic stage, boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and murderous hatred for their father as he is their rival.

Fearing their father will castrate them, boys repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values.

Electra complex

During phallic stage, girls experience penis envy.

They desire their father as the penis is the primary love object and hate their mother as she is their rival.

Girls will give up the desire for their father over time and replace this with a desire for a baby, identifying with their mother in the process.

Case study of Little Hans

Offers support for oedipus complex.

Hans' phobia a result of displacement in which his repressed fear of his father was transferred onto horses.

Horses were a symbolic representation of Hans' real unconscious fear of castration.

Psychodynamic Approach - Evaluation

+Explanatory power - The approach has provided a huge influence to western psychology and is a dominant force.

-The case study method - can't make universal claims based on an individual. The findings were also subjective. This approach lacks a scientific base.

-Untestable concepts - doesn't meet the scientific criterion of falsification, it isn't open to empirical testing. Theories in this approach are untestable.

Assumptions of the Humanistic approach

Focus on conscious experience rather than behaviour, Free will rather than Determinism, Discussion of experience than use of experimental method.

Stresses importance of personal growth and fulfilment

Humans are unique individuals and general laws should not be applied to everyone.

Humanistic - Free will

Humans are self-determining and have free will.

We are active agents

Humanistic - Self actualisation

Every person has an innate tendency to strive to achieve their full potential.

Represents the top level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

All 4 lower levels of the hierarchy must be met before the individual can work towards self actualisation.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Self Actualisation
^
Self-esteem
^
Love/belonging (social)
^
Safety + Security
^
Physiological

The Self and Congruence

For personal growth to be achieved, an individual's concept of their 'self' must have congruence with their 'ideal self'.

If too big a gap exists between the 2 'selves' the person will experience incongruence and self-actualisation will not be possible due to the negative feelings of self-worth that arise from incongruence.

Client-centred Therapy to treat incongruence

Developed by Rodgers

Rodgers claimed that issues experienced as adults such as worthlessness can be explained by a lack of unconditional positive regard.

As a therapist, Rodgers would provide clients with unconditional positive regard

Unconditional positive regard

Unconditional love.

A parent who sets boundaries or limits on their love for the child violates this and this results in the child storing up psychological problems for the future.

Client centred therapy

Centred on the person.

The individual is the expert on their own condition.

Non-directive therapy.

Client is encouraged towards the discovery of their own solutions within a therapeutic atmosphere that is supportive and non-judgemental.

Role of Therapist in Client-centred Therapy

Provides client with genuineness, empathy and unconditional positive regard.

Humanistic approach - evaluation

+Not Reductionist - This approach looks holistically at behaviour which means this approach may have higher validity than other approaches because it considers meaningful human behaviour within a real-life context.

-Limited Application - revolutionised counselling and Maslow's hierarchy is used to explain motivation in the workplace. However, has had limited application in psychology.

+Positive Approach - a refreshing and optimistic alternative. It sees all people as basically good, free to work towards the achievement of their potential and in control of their lives.

Essay Plan - Describe + Evaluate Behaviourist Approach

AO1
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Blank Slate
No difference between man and brute

AO3
Token Economy
Mechanistic view of behaviour
Extrapolation issues
Nomothetic

Essay Plan - Describe + Evaluate SLT

AO1
Learn through observation
Vicarious reinforcement
Mediational processes
Identification

AO3
Bandura Study
Underestimates biological influence
Ensure role models for children are suitable
Phillips 1986 study (boxing - homicide rates)

Essay Plan - Describe + Evaluate Cognitive Approach

AO1
Study of internal mental processes
Theoretical models
Role of schema
Cognitive neuroscience

AO3
Machine reductionism
CBT treatment for depression
Scientific objective methods
Issue with inference

Essay Plan - Describe + Evaluate Biological Approach

AO1
Behaviour is biological
Neurons + nervous system
Neurotransmitters
Hormones

AO3
Drug treatment for OCD
Manipulate neurotransmitters to reduce SZ chance
Scientific methods of investigation
Evolutionary explanation irrelevant in modern world

Essay Plan - Describe + Evaluate Psychodynamic Approach

AO1
Role of unconscious
Structure of personality
Psychosexual stages of development
Oedipus/Electra complexes

AO3
Little Hans case study
Case study method is highly subjective
Issues with falsification
Negative approach

Essay Plan - Describe + Evaluate Humanistic Approach

AO1
Self actualisation
Humans are unique
Self and Congruence
Hierarchy of needs

AO3
Client centred therapy
Idiographic
Holistic
Positive approach

Biological Approach Linked to Topics

Forensic - Bio explanation for Offending behaviour.

Schizophrenia - Drug treatment.

Psychopathology - Drug treatment of OCD.

Cognitive Approach linked to Topics

Forensic - Cognitive explanation for offending behaviour.

Schizophrenia - Cognitive explanation for SZ.

Psychopathology - Cognitive explanation for depression.

Learning Approach linked to Topics

Attachment - Learning theory.

Psychopathology - Behavioural explanation and treatment of phobias.

Forensic - Prisons are schools of crime.

Psychodynamic Approach linked to Topics

Forensic - Psychodynamic explanation for offending behaviour.

Attachment - Maternal deprivation.

Gender - Oedipus and Electra.

Humanistic Approach linked to Topics

Social Influence - Internal LoC.

Psychopathology - Client centred therapy.