Approaches

Classical conditioning principle

Learning through association, where a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

Pavlov (1927) canine conditioning experiment

Demonstrated that repeatedly pairing a metronome or bell (neutral stimulus) with food (unconditioned stimulus) eventually caused dogs to salivate (conditioned response) to the sound alone.

Operant conditioning principle

Learning through consequences, where actions are shaped and maintained by reinforcement or punishment.

Skinner (1953) Skinner box experiment

Demonstrated operant conditioning using rats and pigeons that learned to press a lever to obtain food pellets (positive reinforcement) or to avoid electric floor shocks (negative reinforcement).

Positive vs negative reinforcement

Positive reinforcement increases behaviour by providing a pleasant reward; negative reinforcement increases behaviour by removing an unpleasant stimulus.

Punishment in behaviourism

An unpleasant consequence or removal of a pleasant stimulus that decreases the likelihood of a behaviour recurring.

Behaviourist approach: Strengths (Evaluation)

Relies on highly controlled, objective laboratory experiments and provides practical applications such as systematic desensitisation and token economies.

Behaviourist approach: Limitations (Evaluation)

Enforces environmental determinism by ignoring conscious thought or free will, and over-relies on animal research that may not reflect complex human behaviour.

Vicarious reinforcement

Learning that occurs indirectly by observing another person receive a reward or punishment for their behaviour, influencing whether the observer imitates it.

Four mediational processes (Bandura)

Cognitive factors mediating between stimulus and response: Attention (noticing the behaviour), Retention (remembering it), Motor reproduction (ability to execute it), and Motivation (the will to perform it).

Identification and modelling (SLT)

Identification occurs when an observer associates with a role model who shares similar traits; modelling refers to the demonstration and imitation of that model's behaviour.

Bandura et al. (1961) Bobo doll experiment

Children who observed an aggressive adult model hitting and verbally abusing an inflatable Bobo doll displayed significantly more aggressive behaviour than children who observed a non-aggressive model.

Bandura and Walters (1963) Bobo doll variation

Demonstrated vicarious reinforcement: children who saw an aggressive model rewarded imitated the aggression most, whereas those who saw the model punished showed the least imitation.

Social Learning Theory: Strengths (Evaluation)

Provides a more complete explanation than classical behaviourism by recognizing the role of mediational cognitive processes in social behaviour.

Social Learning Theory: Limitations (Evaluation)

Heavily reliant on artificial laboratory experiments that risk demand characteristics, and underestimates biological factors such as testosterone in aggression.

Internal mental processes

Private cognitive operations such as perception, attention, thinking, and memory that bridge environmental input with behavioural output.

Schema

A cognitive mental framework based on past experiences that organizes and interprets incoming environmental data.

Theoretical and computer models

Theoretical models represent abstract mental steps in flowcharts (e.g., Multi-Store Model); computer models draw analogies between human cognitive processing and computing hardware/software.

Cognitive neuroscience

The scientific discipline studying the biological structures that underpin cognitive operations using neuroimaging methods such as fMRI and PET scans.

Bugelski and Alampay (1962) 'rat-man' experiment

Demonstrated how schemas and perceptual sets bias perception: participants primed with animal pictures saw a rat in an ambiguous image, whereas those primed with human faces saw a man.

Cognitive approach: Strengths (Evaluation)

Employs rigorous, objective scientific research methods and has established successful real-world treatments such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Cognitive approach: Limitations (Evaluation)

Subject to machine reductionism by ignoring the influence of emotion and motivation on thinking, and lab-based memory tasks often lack ecological validity.

Genotype vs phenotype

Genotype is an individual's actual genetic makeup; phenotype is the observable physical and behavioural expression resulting from the interaction of genes with the environment.

Twin studies in biological psychology

Compare concordance rates between identical (monozygotic, $100\%$ shared genes) and non-identical (dizygotic, $50\%$ shared genes) twins to isolate the genetic contribution to behaviour.

Neurochemistry and biological structures

Explains psychological phenomena through neurotransmitter and hormone balances (e.g., serotonin, dopamine) and localized brain areas (e.g., the amygdala or frontal lobes).

Evolutionary explanation of behaviour

The principle that adaptive behavioural traits evolve over generations through natural selection to enhance survival and reproductive success.

Biological approach: Strengths (Evaluation)

Relies on precise, empirical techniques (scanning methods, drug trials) and has produced effective pharmacological interventions such as SSRIs for depression and OCD.

Biological approach: Limitations (Evaluation)

Promotes hard biological determinism by assuming genes and neurochemistry control all actions, making it difficult to fully separate nature from nurture in twin studies.

Role of the unconscious mind (Freud)

A vast mental reservoir containing biological drives, instincts, and repressed traumatic memories that unconsciously govern human thought and behaviour.

Tripartite personality structure

Id (primitive, driven by the pleasure principle), Ego (rational mediator, driven by the reality principle), and Superego (internalized moral conscience, driven by the morality principle).

Psychodynamic defence mechanisms

Unconscious Ego strategies to manage anxiety: Repression (forcing traumatic memories out of awareness), Denial (refusing to acknowledge reality), and Displacement (redirecting feelings toward a substitute target).

Psychosexual stages of development

Freud's five stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital; unresolved conflict at any stage causes adult fixation.

Freud (1909) Little Hans case study

Investigated a five-year-old boy's phobia of horses, interpreting it as displaced castration anxiety and

Positive vs negative reinforcement

Positive reinforcement increases behaviour by providing a pleasant reward; negative reinforcement increases behaviour by removing an unpleasant stimulus.

Punishment in behaviourism

An unpleasant consequence or removal of a pleasant stimulus that decreases the likelihood of a behaviour recurring.

Behaviourist approach: Strengths (Evaluation)

Relies on highly controlled, objective laboratory experiments and provides practical applications such as systematic desensitisation and token economies.

Behaviourist approach: Limitations (Evaluation)

Enforces environmental determinism by ignoring conscious thought or free will, and over-relies on animal research that may not reflect complex human behaviour.

Vicarious reinforcement

Learning that occurs indirectly by observing another person receive a reward or punishment for their behaviour, influencing whether the observer imitates it.

Four mediational processes (Bandura)

Cognitive factors mediating between stimulus and response: Attention (noticing the behaviour), Retention (remembering it), Motor reproduction (ability to execute it), and Motivation (the will to perform it).

Identification and modelling (SLT)

Identification occurs when an observer associates with a role model who shares similar traits; modelling refers to the demonstration and imitation of that model's behaviour.

Bandura et al. (1961) Bobo doll experiment

Children who observed an aggressive adult model hitting and verbally abusing an inflatable Bobo doll displayed significantly more aggressive behaviour than children who observed a non-aggressive model.

Bandura and Walters (1963) Bobo doll variation

Demonstrated vicarious reinforcement: children who saw an aggressive model rewarded imitated the aggression most, whereas those who saw the model punished showed the least imitation.

Social Learning Theory: Strengths (Evaluation)

Provides a more complete explanation than classical behaviourism by recognizing the role of mediational cognitive processes in social behaviour.

Social Learning Theory: Limitations (Evaluation)

Heavily reliant on artificial laboratory experiments that risk demand characteristics, and underestimates biological factors such as testosterone in aggression.

Internal mental processes

Private cognitive operations such as perception, attention, thinking, and memory that bridge environmental input with behavioural output.

Schema

A cognitive mental framework based on past experiences that organizes and interprets incoming environmental data.

Theoretical and computer models

Theoretical models represent abstract mental steps in flowcharts (e.g., Multi-Store Model); computer models draw analogies between human cognitive processing and computing hardware/software.

Cognitive neuroscience

The scientific discipline studying the biological structures that underpin cognitive operations using neuroimaging methods such as fMRI and PET scans.

Bugelski and Alampay (1962) 'rat-man' experiment

Demonstrated how schemas and perceptual sets bias perception: participants primed with animal pictures saw a rat in an ambiguous image, whereas those primed with human faces saw a man.

Cognitive approach: Strengths (Evaluation)

Employs rigorous, objective scientific research methods and has established successful real-world treatments such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Cognitive approach: Limitations (Evaluation)

Subject to machine reductionism by ignoring the influence of emotion and motivation on thinking, and lab-based memory tasks often lack ecological validity.

Genotype vs phenotype

Genotype is an individual's actual genetic makeup; phenotype is the observable physical and behavioural expression resulting from the interaction of genes with the environment.

Twin studies in biological psychology

Compare concordance rates between identical (monozygotic, $100\%$ shared genes) and non-identical (dizygotic, $50\%$ shared genes) twins to isolate the genetic contribution to behaviour.

Neurochemistry and biological structures

Explains psychological phenomena through neurotransmitter and hormone balances (e.g., serotonin, dopamine) and localized brain areas (e.g., the amygdala or frontal lobes).

Evolutionary explanation of behaviour

The principle that adaptive behavioural traits evolve over generations through natural selection to enhance survival and reproductive success.

Biological approach: Strengths (Evaluation)

Relies on precise, empirical techniques (scanning methods, drug trials) and has produced effective pharmacological interventions such as SSRIs for depression and OCD.

Biological approach: Limitations (Evaluation)

Promotes hard biological determinism by assuming genes and neurochemistry control all actions, making it difficult to fully separate nature from nurture in twin studies.

Role of the unconscious mind (Freud)

A vast mental reservoir containing biological drives, instincts, and repressed traumatic memories that unconsciously govern human thought and behaviour.

Tripartite personality structure

Id (primitive, driven by the pleasure principle), Ego (rational mediator, driven by the reality principle), and Superego (internalized moral conscience, driven by the morality principle).

Psychodynamic defence mechanisms

Unconscious Ego strategies to manage anxiety: Repression (forcing traumatic memories out of awareness), Denial (refusing to acknowledge reality), and Displacement (redirecting feelings toward a substitute target).

Psychosexual stages of development

Freud's five stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital; unresolved conflict at any stage causes adult fixation.

Freud (1909) Little Hans case study

Investigated a five-year-old boy's phobia of horses, interpreting it as displaced castration anxiety and