Approaches in Psychology

Describe Wundt’s role in the development of psychology. (6 marks)

• Wundt known as ‘the father of psychology’ – moved from philosophical roots to controlled research.

• Set up the first psychology laboratory in Liepzig, Germany in 1870s.

• Promoted the use of introspection as a way of studying mental processes.

• Introspection – systematic analysis of own conscious experience of a stimulus.

• An experience was analysed in terms of its component parts e.g. sensations, emotional reaction etc.

• His work paved the way for later controlled research and the study of mental processes e.g. by cognitive psychologists.

Outline the emergence of psychology as a science. (4 marks)

• in 1879 Wundt opened a laboratory designated to the scientific study of psychological enquiry under controlled conditions facilitating accurate measurements and replication

• in the early 1900s behaviourism emerged where researchers such as Watson and Skinner conducted controlled experiments on observable and thus objective behaviour

• in the 1950s the cognitive approach legitimised the study of the mind using controlled experiments. Cognitive psychologists used concrete computer models to help explain mental processes

• in the 1980s the biological approach used controlled measures like fMRIs to study observable behaviours and to objectively measure physiological processes as they happen. Advances in technology also allowed genetic testing to investigate the relationship between genes and behaviour.

A television advert for a new cleaning spray, called ''Tiger'', shows an England rugby player vigorously scrubbing a stain on the carpet.
The rugby player gets tired and gives up. A small boy says, ''Only Tiger power will get that out'' and hands the rugby player a bottle of Tiger. The rugby player draws tiger stripes on his own face, roars and the little boy laughs. The rugby player easily wipes the stain from the carpet using Tiger.
The boy claps and the advert ends with the text, ''Anyone can battle stains with a Tiger on their side.''
Explain how the Tiger advert might influence viewers' mediational processes. (6 marks)

• The tiger advert could influence the viewers' mediational process through attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation.

• To begin with, the advert may be seen as funny or unusual when ''the rugby player draws tiger stripes on his face, roars and the boy laughs'' which may capture the viewer's attention. The use of an England Rugby Player may also grab attention.

• Furthermore, this humorous approach may make it more likely to be stored in the viewer's LTM, thus helping with the retention of the memory and the slogan at the end ''anyone can battle stains with a Tiger on their side'' is easy to store, again ensuring more retention

• When considering motor reproduction, the action demonstrated in the advert is easy to imitate and therefore viewers can easily perform the behaviour shown in the advert, e.g. ''the rugby player easily wipes the stain from the carpet using Tiger.''

• Finally, the behaviour demonstrated in the advert is rewarded, e.g. ''the little boy claps'' giving positive vicarious reinforcement which will motivate the viewer to want to to perform the behaviour.

Steph and Georgie are both working mothers. Steph enjoys being challenged at work. Steph’s daughter listens to her mother’s colleagues praising and admiring Steph’s work and sees the awards she has been presented with in recognition of her effort. Steph’s daughter is an enthusiastic student who is keen to be challenged at school.

Georgie hates her job. Her daughter has heard her boss shout at her down the phone for missing deadlines and sees how tired Georgie is after staying up late working. Georgie’s daughter feels anxious when she is given difficult work and does not want to go to school.

How might vicarious reinforcement explain the different attitudes of Steph’s and Georgie’s daughters to their schoolwork? (4 marks)

• Steph’s daughter has observed her mother receiving praise/admiration/positive consequence and awards for her work (positive reinforcement)

• Steph’s daughter is feeling enthusiastic about doing more work at school as she has indirectly experienced the positive reinforcement her mother experienced when doing work

• Georgie’s daughter has heard her mother being shouted at by her boss for missing deadlines and sees her looking tired and staying up late as a result of being pushed too hard at work (punishment)

• Georgie’s daughter is feeling anxious about doing difficult work at school as she has indirectly experienced the punishment of being pushed too hard at work

• Steph and Georgie both act as role models for their daughters making vicarious reinforcement more likely.

In what ways might the biological approach explain the different attitudes of Steph’s and Georgie’s daughters to their schoolwork? (4 marks)

• Steph’s and Georgie’s daughters’ different responses to their schoolwork may arise from their differing genotypes

• Steph’s daughter may have inherited genes from her mother which make her more resilient/resistant to stress, etc. The different set of genes Georgie’s daughter received from her mother may account for the different attitudes the girls have to their schoolwork

• differences in neurochemistry may cause Steph’s daughter to receive higher rewards for succeeding in her schoolwork than Georgie’s daughter or may make Georgie’s daughter receive higher levels of anxiety

• differences in biological structures may account for the differing attitudes.

Grace’s room is always messy. Her older sister, Lily, keeps her room very tidy. The next time Lily tidies her room, the girls’ mother gives Lily five pounds. Using your knowledge of social learning theory, explain why Grace might be more likely to tidy her room in the future. (5 marks)

• observational learning may occur as Grace observes Lily’s behaviour/tidy room

• if Grace sees her mother reward Lily for tidying her room, she is more likely to tidy her own room in the future (vicarious reinforcement)

• Grace may identify with her sister and see Lily as a role model

• Grace may start to imitate Lily’s tidiness and tidy her own room

• mediational processes may be involved, eg Grace notices her mother rewarding Lily, this increases Grace’s motivation to replicate the behaviour etc

• eventually internalisation may take place/Grace may continue to tidy her room because she wants it to be tidy

Briefly describe one role of the unconscious according to the psychodynamic approach. (2 marks)

Possible roles:

• the unconscious is the driving/motivating force behind our behaviour/personality

• the unconscious protects the conscious self from anxiety/fear/trauma/conflict.

Possible elaboration: • traumatic (repressed) memories drive our behaviour

• defence mechanisms, eg repression, denial, displacement, are used unconsciously to reduce anxiety

• the underlying unconscious drive is sexual

• if a conflict is experienced during the development through the psychosexual stages, eg oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital, a fixation (that resides in their unconscious mind) can affect an adult’s personality

At a local school, teachers took part in Active Lifestyle Week to encourage students to become more active. The week involved daily staff netball matches during breaktimes and a step count challenge.

Two of the teachers were talking at the end of the week. Miss Honey said, “That was such a great week! I felt proud to win the staff step count challenge and receive the medal in assembly and demonstrate the joy of sport. My students loved watching us compete, I really think it will inspire them to be more active themselves!” Mrs Wilson replied, “It’s alright for you, you’re young and the students like you. My students were so embarrassed to see me tripping over in netball. I think I may have put them off sport forever!”

Apart from mediational processes, use your knowledge of social learning theory to explain Miss Honey’s and Mrs Wilson’s comments. (6 marks)

• observational learning – both teachers’ comments suggest that they believe their behaviour will influence their students’ behaviour eg, Miss Honey says, “I think it will inspire them to be more active themselves!”

• imitation – Mrs Wilson does not feel students will want to imitate her – “I think I may have put them off sport forever!”, whereas Miss Honey feels students will want to imitate her – “I really think it will inspire them to be more active themselves!”

• modelling – the teachers will act as role models for their students as they have higher status in school

• identification – students are more likely to identify with Miss Honey (than Mrs Wilson) as Mrs Wilson said to Miss Honey, “you’re young and the students like you”

• vicarious reinforcement − when students see Miss Honey rewarded for adopting a more active lifestyle, eg, Miss Honey says, “I felt proud to win the staff step count challenge and receive the medal in assembly”. When students see Mrs Wilson “tripping over” in netball they will not want to imitate her and so will not adopt a more active lifestyle

At a local school, teachers took part in Active Lifestyle Week to encourage students to become more active. Whether or not students learn to be more active could depend on mediational processes. Explain how mediational processes might be involved in the students becoming more active. (4 marks)

• attention – students will notice their teachers demonstrating a more active lifestyle, eg competing in staff netball matches during breaktime/Miss Honey receiving the medal for the step count challenge in assembly/Mrs Wilson falling over, etc

• retention – students’ memories will be strengthened through seeing repetition of the activities, eg daily netball matches and/or emotional/funny event, eg Mrs Wilson tripping over in netball

• reproduction – the active behaviours being modelled can be reproduced by the students, eg step count challenge is a simple activity that does not require inaccessible equipment/fitness to be able to perform

• motivation – students are more likely to adopt the demonstrated active lifestyle if the perceived rewards (eg winning the step count medal or as seeing the ‘joy of sport’) outweigh any costs (eg tripping over in netball)

Explain two strengths of the behaviourist approach in psychology. (4 marks)

• Focus on experimental methodology; scientific aspect of the approach

• Approach can be applied to behavioural problems eg. token economy

Discuss two limitations of social learning theory. (6 marks)

• Difficulty demonstrating cause and effect – although Bandura research controlled variables and demonstrated behaviour was imitated it is difficult to show cause and effect in real life

• Sees behaviour as environmentally determined whereas some behaviours may be innate

• Doesn’t explain cognitive processes, leaving this to cognitive psychologists

• Can explain learning of outward behaviours, SLT is not so able to explain the learning of abstract notions, eg fairness, justice etc which cannot be observed directly

Outline the behaviourist approach. Compare the behaviourist approach with the biological approach. (16 marks)

Possible content - outline:

• basic assumptions of the behaviourist approach

• the concept / theory of classical conditioning

• Pavlov’s research

• the concept / theory of operant conditioning

• Skinner’s research

Possible comparisons:

• focus on environmental causes and experience vs focus on internal influences (nature vs nurture).

• approaches to treatment (e.g. flooding vs drug therapy)

• use of scientific methods

• the issue of determinism

• the issue of reductionism

• use of animal experiments and extrapolation

Explain one assumption of the cognitive approach (3 marks)

• psychology should be the study of internal mental processes, eg memory, perception, etc

• the importance of the role of schema

• it is appropriate to make inferences about cognitive processes

• the use of models of explanation – theoretical and computer

• the possibility of combining cognitive processes and biological structures (cognitive neuroscience)

Give two assumptions of the cognitive approach. For each assumption, illustrate your answer with reference to a topic in psychology. Use a different topic for each assumption. (4 marks)

• ‘mental processes can be regarded as information processing’ for example information is stored in the LTM and then recalled when needed

• ‘mental processes can be scientifically studied’ eg locus of control - ppl with an internal will be more likely to resist social influence

John’s father suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. John wants to get genetically tested. Explain why John’s genotype will not reveal whether he will suffer from Alzheimer’s. (4 marks)

• A genetic test reveals the genotype, not the phenotype. The test will say if John is predisposed to suffering with Alzheimer’s.

• Johns genotype will only reveal genes and not their interaction with the environment. Environmental factors may contribute to the disorder.

In a study of tooth decay, researchers checked the dental records of 100 pairs of identical twins. They recorded the number of fillings for each twin and found the following data:

same no. of fillings - 48
different no. of fillings - 52

Use your knowledge of genotype and phenotype to explain the data (4 marks)

• Genotype for the tooth decay is the same for all the twin pairs as they are MZ twins so for each pair their teeth would be expected to decay in exactly the same way

• The fact that some twin pairs have different decay to each other indicates their phenotypes differ and something offer than genes affected tooth decay e.g. diet

Describe the structure of personality according to the psychodynamic approach. (4 marks)

• The personality consists of 3 parts: the Id, the Ego and the Superego

• The Id is present from birth and operates on the pleasure principle to ensure that our needs are met

• The Ego develops around 18 months and operates on the reality principle to act a as a mediator between the Id and the Superego

• The Superego develops at 3-5 years and operates on the morality principle which is our morals developed from parents and society

Briefly explain one strength and one limitation about the psychodynamic approach. (4 marks)

• A strength is that it contains real world applications by introducing psychotherapy. Psychoanalysis claims to help clients by bringing their repressed emotions into their conscious mind so they can deal with it

• This shows that it has values in creating new treatment in the modern day

• A limitation is the concepts aren’t testable as many of its concepts are said to happen at an unconscious level or are repressed memories so it cannot be proven as an established fact

• This suggests the approach has a low validity

Briefly explain one strength of the cognitive approach in psychology. (2 marks)

• It is soft determinist, so although it accepts that we are influenced by our environment, it accepts we still have free will

• This is much more realistic than the biological approach which is hard determinist

Ellie and Lucy are identical twins who were raised together in the same household and went to the same school. They both recently completed an online intelligence test and were surprised to discover that Ellie achieved a higher score than Lucy. Use your knowledge of genotype and phenotype to explain possible reasons why Ellie and Lucy had different scores. (4 marks)

• Ellie and Lucy have identical genes which code for different aspects of intelligence because they are identical twins with the same genotype

• The twins’ genotypes are not expressed in their outward behaviour/scores on the test.

• Ellie’s and Lucy’s phenotypes are different as they achieved different scores on the intelligence test suggesting Ellie might be more intelligent/better at intelligence tests than Lucy

• Ellie’s and Lucy’s phenotypes might be influenced by environmental factors such as different teachers at school or different learning experiences which could account for their different scores.

Karishma has very low self-esteem, even though she achieved very high GCSE grades. She would like to be a lawyer. Although she is studying A-levels, she has delayed her application to university because she does not think she will receive any offers. She does not think she is clever enough to study law. (3 marks)

• the psychologist would create a therapeutic atmosphere by offering unconditional positive regard, empathy and warmth to raise Karishma’s self-esteem

• the psychologist would use counselling/client-centred therapy with Karishma by reflecting back in a way that enables Karishma to determine the changes she needs to make in order to feel she is worthy of a place at university/would cope with a law degree

• the psychologist should help Karishma to improve her feelings of self-worth, eg by asking her about the good GCSE grades she achieved

• the psychologist might ask Karishma to complete a Q-sort at intervals to demonstrate any change in congruence; congruence will be achieved once Karishma develops a healthier view of herself/believes that she is worthy of a place at university/is good enough to study law.

Compare the humanistic approach with the psychodynamic approach (8 marks)

• determinism – the humanistic approach assumes people have free choice over their behaviour, whereas the psychodynamic approach assumes that behaviour is determined by unconscious factors (beyond conscious control)

• nature/nurture – the humanistic approach assumes behaviour is affected by desire to self-actualise (nature) and our experience can provide barriers to this through conditions of worth and varying experience of conditional positive regard (nurture). Likewise, the psychodynamic approach assumes behaviour is driven by unconscious forces, eg id/ego/superego dynamics (nature) but our coping mechanisms such as defence mechanisms arise from experience (nurture)

• methodology – both are much less scientific than other approaches (but the psychodynamic approach assumes that some aspects of behaviour can be investigated scientifically)

• therapy – Rogers believed that counselling (utilising unconditional positive regard) can be used to help clients solve their problems, overcome conditions of worth and enable their potential for self-actualisation, whereas Freud believed that psychoanalysis can lead to improvements in clients through psychotherapy.

Tatiana’s parents are concerned about her mobile phone use. She is an anxious child and has low self-esteem. Tatiana only feels good about herself when she receives messages or positive comments on social media. She feels safe when she has her phone and socially isolated without it. Tatiana’s parents worry that her dependence on her mobile phone is starting to affect her well-being and achievement at school.

Outline and evaluate the humanistic approach. Refer to Tatiana’s behaviour in your answer. (16 marks)

Possible content:

• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – motivation to achieve progression through the levels

• Rogers’ focus on the concept of self and self-acceptance

• Incongruence between self-concept and ideal self leading to negative feelings of self-worth

• person-centred approach to therapy - client led

• self-actualisation – fulfilling one’s potential

• unconditional positive regard rather than setting conditions of worth

Possible application:

• hierarchy of needs: Tatiana requires her mobile phone to meet her safety needs, ‘feel safe’, love and belonging needs, ‘socially isolated without her phone’, ‘ feels good about herself when she receives messages or comments on social media’, self-esteem needs, ‘low self esteem’/‘ feels good about herself when she receives messages or comments’

• self-actualisation – ‘achievement at school’

• conditions of worth linked to feeling the need to text friends and use social media for acceptance and friendship

• incongruence and negative feelings of self-worth applied to ‘low self-esteem’/ ‘feels good about herself when she receives messages or comments’ and/or anxiety

Possible evaluation:

• limited application of the humanistic approach due to its abstract concepts

• the humanistic approach is not reductionist which may improve validity

• humanistic approach lacks empirical evidence to support its claims

• consideration of influence eg. counselling, theoretical influence etc.

• discussion regarding whether behaviour is due to free will or environmental factors

• credit use of evidence to discuss the different explanations when made relevant to the stem

• comparison with alternative approaches in terms of evaluation and/or application