approaches in psychology☑️

origins of psychology

-often referred to as the founder of modern psychology

wilhelm wundt (1879) opened fist ever lab solely dedicated to psychological enquiry in leipzig germany, significant in marking the beginning of scientific psychology, seperating it from its philosophical roots. 

-his aim was to try to analyse the nature of human consciousness and represented the first systematic attempt to study the mind under controlled conditions: introspection; breaking up conscious awareness into the basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations to develop theories about mental processes like language and perception, after reaction to different objects or sounds 

isolating the structure of consciousness this way is called structuralism 

origins of psychology

evaluation

-some of wundt’s methods were systematic and well-controlled; all introspections were recorded in controlled lab environments, ensuring possible EVs were controlled. procedures were standardised so all p’s received the same information and wer tested in the same way.

-some work would be considered unscientific: he relied on p’s set-reporting their mental processes, subjective (influenced by personal perspective). some could’ve hidden some of their thoughts, difficult to establish meaningful laws of behaviour from such data so some efforts to study the mind would’ve been flawed and wouldn’t meet the criteria of scientific enquiry seen today (no temporal validity).

origins of psychology

the emergence of psychology as a science

-science is a means of acquiring knowledge through systemic and objective investigation with the aim of discovering general laws. what has made psychology the science it is today:

-introspection was questioned early 1900s for producing subjective data, rather than objective, so general laws are hard to establish. watson and skinner proposed that a truly scientific psychology should only study phenomena that can be observed and measured (for this reason, the behaviourist approach focused on observable behaviours and dominated psychology for the next 50 years

-1950s: digital revolution gave new generation of psychologists a metaphor for studying the brain (cognitive psychology linked to computer) and allowed them to test predictions about how memory and attention work (MSM) using experiments. cognitive approach ensured study of the mind was a legitimate and highly scientific aspect of the discipline

-1980s: biological approach to scientific psychology to a new level by taking advantage of advances in technology to investigate psychological processes as they happen (eg fMRI and EEGs to study the brain) and study link between genes and behaviour

origins of psychology

the emergence of psychology as a science

evaluation

-modern psychology is scientific as has the same aims of neutral science - to describe, understand, predict, and control behaviour. the learning approaches, cognitive approach and the biological approach rely on the use of scientific methods to investigate theories in a controlled and unbiased way (evidence psychology has established itself as a science)

-not all approaches use objective methods: the humanistic approach rejects the scientific approach and the psychodynamic approach can be considered pseudoscience.

-thomas kuhn says any science must have a paradigm: a set of principles, assumptions and methods that all people who work within a subject can agree on (psychology doesn’t have this as there’s lots of internal disagreement)

the behaviourist approach 

a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and measurable, and in terms of learning - not concerned with investigating mental processes of the mind

-early behaviourists rejected introspection as it involved vague and different concepts to measure, so behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies as the best way to achieve this 

-believe all behaviour is learnt and describe a babys brain as a ‘blank slate’, written on only by experience. they suggested basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species so animals can replace humans as experimental subjects.

-behaviours are learnt through interaction with the environment, the way we behave is just a response to environment stimuli (something that provokes a specific reaction)

the two important forms of learning suggested by behaviourists

• classical conditioning

• operant conditioning

the behaviorist approach

classical conditioning and pavlov’s research

-idea that we learn through association; demonstrated by ivan pavolov (1927) showed dogs conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if the sound was repeatedly present at the same time as they were given food

1.pavolov rings bell before conditioning, bell ringing has no response (NS)

2.pavlov showed dogs meat (US) making them salivate (UCR)

3.pavlov rings bell while introducing meat, causing salivation (UCR); done multiple times to condition them

4.pavlov only rings bell (CS) which causes dogs to salivate (CR)

(gradually pavolov’s dogs learnt to associate the sound of the bell (a stimulus) with the food (another stimulus), and so would produce the salivation response every time they heard the sound. thus, pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus can come to elicit a new learned response through association (new behaviour is learnt)

classical conditioning: watson and raynor

little albert case study (on behaviourism)

-john watson and rosalie rayner (1920) created a phobia in a 9month old baby in a lab study, who prior- didn’t show a negative response to the white rat (NS). when a metal bar was struck everytime albert went to reach for the rat (UCS + UCR) behind his head, he became fearful of the rat and developed a phobia (CS + CR)

he also developed a fear of other white furry objects (eg a santa beard)

classical conditioning

evaluation

-highly conducted experiments (both studies were in labs allowing all extraneous variables to be controlled and a clear cause-and-effect relationship to be developed (eg watson and raynor were able to demonstrate how phobias are developed)

-real life application: phobia treatment (systematic desensitisation), demonstrates external validity

-ethical considerations: no protection from harm for the baby (little albert)

-animal research limits generalisability: humans are much more complex, as are their behaviours, means limited application and external validity (animal extrapolation / anthropomorphic bias: the extent to which we can use animal studies to understand human behaviour)

learning approach: the behaviourist approach

operant conditioning

-idea that we learn from consequences

-positive reinforcement: receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed (praise from teacher for answering question correctly in class)

-negative reinforcement: when we avoid something unpleasant and the outcome is a positive experience (to prevent getting a detention, you hand in the essay homework)

-punishment: unpleasant consequence or behaviour (being shouted at by the teacher for talking in class; finding a way to avoid that (by not talking again in class) would be negative reinforcement)

positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated, punishment decreases the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated

operant conditioning: skinner’s research

-idea that we learn from consequence

B.F. Skinner (1953) conducted an experiment with rats, where they move around in a simulation called the ‘skinner box’ and receive a food pellet (as positive reinforcement) when a certain behaviour is performed, in this case when they press the lever. skinner found the hungry rats pressed the lever more frequently.

-skinner found rats (and pigeons) could be conditioned to perform the same behaviour to avoid an unpleasant stimulus (eg an electric shock)

the behaviorist approach

evaluation: strengths

-well-controlled research: focuses on measurement of observable behaviour within the highly controlled lab settings. by breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, EVs were removed allowing a cause-and-effect relationship to be established

counterpoint: behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process by reducing behaviour to such simple components, they may have ignored human thought as an important influence on learning (unlike social learning theory and the cognitive approach) - suggesting learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone, and that private mental processes are also essential.

-principles of conditioning have been applied to real world behaviours and problems: token economy systems for institutions like prisons and psychiatric wards rewarding good behaviour for tokens that allow privileges- increases value of approach as widespread application. (study on schizophrenic patients)

the behaviourist approach

evaluation: limitations

-sees all behaviour as conditioned by past conditioning experiences: skinner suggests everything we do is the sum totoal of our reinforcement history, which ignores any possible influence of free will on behaviour (an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour.)

-ethical issues for keeping the rats in boxes

social learning theory

assumptions

-people learn new behaviours through observation, imitation and modelling of others, who we consider to be role models (idea that we learn from the environment)

-suggests learning occurs directly though conditioning (similar to the belief of behaviourists (association and consequence) but also indirectly through vicarious learning)

social learning theory

vicarious reinforcement

reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour 

-imitation only occurs if behaviour is seen to be rewarded, rather than punished 

thus the learner observes a behaviour and the consequences of that behaviour

social learning theory

the role of mediational processes

1.attention: the extent to which we notice certain behaviours

2.retention: how well the behaviour is remembered

3.motor reproduction: the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour

4.motivation: the will to perform the behaviour, determined by whether it was rewarded or punished

social learning theory

bandura’s research

(1) bandura et al (1961) recorded behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave in an aggressive way (hit with hammer and shouted abuse) towards a bobo doll - findings showed the children behaved more aggressively towards the doll than children who observed a non-aggressive adult

(2) bandua and walters (1963) showed videos to children of where an adut behaved aggressively to a bobo doll, where in one group the behaviour was praised, another it was punished, and one where there was aggression without consequence. findings showed the first group was the most aggressive, followed by the last, with the second group showing the least aggression

social learning theory

identification

people are more likely to imitate people they identify with

-the person they identify with is called a role model, and the process of imitating a role model is called modelling

-a person becomes a role model if theyre seen to possess similar characteristics to observer, or are attractive and have higher status. role models may not be physically present in the environment, which may have important implications for the influence of media on behaviour

social learning theory

evaluation: strengths and 1 counterpoint

-SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes (the importance of cognitive factors as humans and animals store information about the behaviour of others and use it to make judgements about when its appropriate to perform those actions) - counterpoint: has been critisised for under-emphasising biological influences on social learning: he claimed learning itself was determined by the environment, but recent research suggests observational learning may be the result of mirror neurons, which allow to empathise with and imitate other people

-principles have been applied to a range of real world behaviours (increasing the value of the approach) as it can explain cultural differences in behaviour; its mediational processes can account for how children learn from those around them (including the media) and can explain how norms are transmitted through particular societies (useful in understanding how children come to understand their gender role)

social learning theory

evaluation: limitations and other evaluation

-findings gathered in observational lab studies involving young children (conditions prone to demand characteristics/ participant reactivity). it has been suggested that because the main purpose of the doll is to strike it, they simply behaved in a way they felt was expected of them, suggesting it may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life.

-bandura emphasised reciprocal determinism: the sense that we are not merely influenced by our external environment but we also exert an influence upon it through the behaviours we choose to perform. this element of choice suggests there is some free will in the way we behave.

the cognitive approach

-direct contrast of the behaviour approach

-argues mental processes can and should be scientifically studied (how our mental processes affect behaviour)

-these processes (memory, perception, thinking etc) are private and cant be observed so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences about cognitive processes on the basis of behaviour

the cognitive approach

the role of schema

schema are packages of ideas and information developed through experience and act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information (we have mental representations of everything from what happens at a restaurant to what a typical zombie looks like)

they enable us to process lots of information quickly as a mental shortcut that prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli, however they may also distort our interpretations leading to perceptual errors.

the cognitive approach

theoretical and computer models

-there are overlaps between the two, but theoretical models are abstract and computer models are concrete

-an important theoretical model is the information processing approach, which suggests information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages (eg MSM) -

-a computer model is based on the way a computer functions; involves programming a computer with instructions, it would produce a similar output to humans. (has proved useful in the development of AI)

the cognitive approach

the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

-the scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes. eg mapping brain areas to specific cognitive function (eg emergence of broca’s area). with fMRI and PET scans, scientists have been able to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental process, and mental disorders. 

-has allowed new technology (computer-generated models to read the brain - brain fingerprinting), can be used to analyse brain patterns of eyewitnesses to determine if theyre lying in court

the cognitive approach

evaluation - strengths

-uses objective, scientific methods; employ highly controlled and rigorous methods of study so researchers can infer cognitive processes at work (lab studies to produce reliable, objective data) ~ and the emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enabled biology and cognitive psychology to enhance the scientific basis and credibility of the study

counterpoint: relies of inference of mental processes rather than direct observation of behaviour and so can occasionally suffer from being too abstract and theoretical in nature. may lack external validity as research studies of mental processes are carried out using artificial stimuli that may not represent everyday stimuli

-practical application - dominant approach in psychology today and is applied to a wide range of practical and theoretical contexts (important contribution to AI and development of robots, cognitive behavioural approach, the (enhanced) cognitive interview (improved reliability of EWT)

the cognitive approach

evaluation - limitations

machine reductionism weakens the validity of the cognitive approach: although there are similarities between the human mind and operations of a thinking machine (computers), the computer analogy has been critisised for ignoring the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system and information processing (research found to show emotional factors can influence memory (eg anxiety on EWT)). 

soft determinism- view that human behaviour may be determined by internal and external factors but we can still exert out free will at times.

the biological approach

key assumptions

suggests everything psychological is at first biological 

belief that the mind lives in the brain meaning that all thoughts, feelings and behaviours ultimately have a physical basis

merges the mental processes of the mind with the physical brain

the biological approach

neurochemical basis of behaviour

neurochemistry relates to neurochemicals in the brain that regulate biological and psychological functioning (imbalance of neurotransmitters can lead to mental disorder, like overproduction of dopamine causing schizophrenia and low levels of serotonin causing OCD)

the biological approach

the genetic basis of behaviour

psychological characteristics (eg intelligence) are inherited. twin studies are used to investigate whther certian psychological characteristics have a genetic basis by analysing concordance rates - the extent to which monozygotic twins share the same characteristics - if a characteristic is solely genetic we would expect the identical twin to share that same characteristics, where in both cases the environment is assumed to be constant.

the biological approach

genotype and phenotype

genotype is genetic makeup whereas phenotype is the way that genes are expressed through physical, behavioural and psychological characteristics, determined by both genes and the environment. 

-despite having the same genes, the way identical twins express their genes can be different, illustrating that much of human behaviour depends upon an interaction between inherited factors (nature) and the environment (nurture).

the biological approach

evolution and behaviour

theory of natural selection is that any genetically determined behaviour that enhances an individuals survival (gives them certain advantages) and therefore reproductive chances will continue and spread, and remain in the gene pool for successive generations.

-eg the long necked giraffe adapted physically in response to its environment, attachment in primates to primary care giver that is adaptive, human memory evolving to provide advantages.

the biological approach

evaluation - strengths

-practical application: increased understanding of neurochemical processes has allowed development of psychoactive drugs to treat serious mental disorders (antidepressants to treat clinical depression by increasing levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin at synapses, so people with depression can manage their condition and live in the community

counterpoint: they dont work for everyone and have wide variations in their effectiveness, although there were found to be more effective than placebos in comparative trials, challenging the biological approach as it suggests brain chemistry alone may not account for all cases of depression

-uses precise and highly objective (reliable) scientific methods of investigation to investigate the genetic and biological basis of behaviour, including fMRIs and EEGs to accurately measure psychological and neural processes in ways that arent open to bias.

the biological approach

evaluation - limitations

biological determinism: sees human behaviour as governed by internal genetic causes over which we have no control, although we see gene expression (phenotype) is heavily influenced by environment - not even identical twins look and think the same.

purely genetic argument becomes problematic (eg could a violent criminal excuse their actions by claiming their behaviour was controlled by a ‘crime gene’, suggesting biological view is often too simplistic and ignores the mediating effects of the environment.

-critic of natural selection (karl popper) says we can only deduce evolution has taken place as we cannot show its happening other than through fossils.

the psychodynamic approach

the role of the unconscious

sigmund freud suggested the conscious mind is the part of the mind we know about and are aware of but is merely the tip of the iceberg

suggested most of the mind is made of the unconscious - storehouse of biological drives and instincts that have significant influence on behaviour and personality. it contains repressed trauma that can be accessed through dreams or parapraxes.

the psychodynamic approach

the structure of personality

the id is the primitive unconscious part of our personality; operates on the pleasure principle (it gets what it wants). he suggests only the id is present at birth and throughout the life the Id is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs.

the ego works on the reality principle and mediates between the other two parts of the personality. it develops around the ages of 2 and its role is to reduce the conflict between the demands of the Id and the superego, by employing defence characteristics (see other fc)

the superego is formed at the end of the phallic stage at around 5, and is our internalised sense of right and wrong. based on morality principle and represents moral standards of the child’s same-gender parent and punishes ego for wrongdoing through guilt. 

the psychodynamic approach

psychosexual stages

freud claimed child development occurred in five stages - and each stage is marked by a problem that the child must resolve in order to progress successfully to the next stage: where if any psychosexual conflict is left unresolved, the child will become stuck and fixated and carry certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that stage through to adult life.

oedipus complex

theory based on little hans that claims little boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and a murderous hatred towards their father (a rival in love). fearing that their father will castrate them, they repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father taking on his gender role and moral values

theory that girls experience penis envy and also feel the same point as above towards their mother (electra complex) - where they give up their desire for their father over time and replace this with a desire for a baby.

-little hans had a fear of horses that freud theorised was displaced in which his fear of his father was transferred onto horses, thus, they were merely a symbolic representations of hans’s real unconscious fear of castration.

the psychodynamic approach

defence mechanisms

unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the Id and the superego - and prevents us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas, which often involve forms of distortion of reality and as a long-term solution, they are regarded as psychologically unhealthy and undesirable.

the psychodynamic approach

evaluation - strengths and one counterpoint

-introduced the idea of psychotherapy as oppose to physical treatments (psychoanalysis to treat mental disorders psychologically which employed a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious, such as dream analysis by bringing repressed emotions into the conscious mind so they can be dealt with (eg like counselling))

counterpoint: psychotherapy is regarded as inappropriate and even harmful for people experiencing more than mild mental disorders as they may have lost their grip of reality and cannot articulate their thoughts in a way required for psychoanalysis, suggesting this approach and treatment isnt applicable to all

-had a huge influence on psychology and contemporary thought - been used to explain large range from personality develpment, the origin of psychological disorders, moral development and gender identity. its also significant in drawing attention to connection between childhood experiences and later development.

the psychodynamic approach

evaluation: limitations

-includes a range of untestable concepts: karl popper deduced that this approach does not meet the requirement for falsification; not open to empirical testing and therefore the possibility of being disproved. many of freuds concepts are said to occur at an unconscious level. making them near impossible to test

-his ideas were based on the subjective study of single individual’s case studies’ like little hans which makes it difficult to make universal claims about human behaviour, suggesting freuds theory was pseudoscientific rather than established fact.

-psychic determinism critisised because it dismisses any possible influence of free will on behaviour (eg slips of the tongue being driven by unconscious forces and has deeper meaning)

the humanistic approach

key assumptions

-claims that humans are essentially self-determining and have free will, and while we are affected by external and internal influences, we are active agents who have the ability to determine our own development and are motivated to self actualise 

-humanists reject scientific models that attempt to establish general principles of human behaviour, as they believe humans are all unique and psychology should concern itself with the study of subjective experience rather than general laws (often referred to as a person-centred approach) and -focuses on the study of humans only so rejects comparative psychology (study of animals) - subjective conscious experience is more important than objective reality (how individuals understand and interpret events)

-people are instrinsically good and have an innate need to make themselves and the world better

the humanistic approach

maslows hierachy of needs

abraham maslow was interested by what motivates us and described a hierarchy of needs: in order to achieve self-actualisation, a number of other deficiency needs must be met

-at the bottom is physiological needs (eg food and water), then safety and security, followed by love and belongingness, then self esteem, and only once all these needs have been met can somebody self-actualise

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the humanistic approach

self-actualisation

self-actualisation is the innate desire to psychologically grow, achieve their full potential and become the best they can possibly be.

-humanistic psychologists regard personal growth as an innate, essential part of being human; concerned with developing and changing as a person to become fulfilled, satisfied and goal-orientated.

the humanistic approach

the self, congruence and conditions of worth

carl rogers argued that for personal growth to be achieved, an individuals concept of self worth (the way they see themselves) must be broadly equivalent or congruent with their ideal self (the person they want to be). if theyre too incongruent, self-actualisation will not be able to happen due to negative self-worth that arises from incongruence.

-client-centered approach (counselling) can help clients to cope with the problems of every day living, and most worthlessness and low self esteem stems from unconditional positive regard (lack of unconditional love).

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the humanistic approach

evaluation: strengths

-not reductionist: rejects attempts to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components. they advocate holism (idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person (may have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real world contexts).

counterpoint: reductionist can be more scientific because the ideal of science is experiment which reduce behaviour to independent and dependent variables. one issue with humanistic psychology is that there are relatively few concepts that can be broken down into single variables and measured (generally short on empirical evidence to support its claims)

-optimistic: praised for bringing the person back into psychology ands promoting positive image of the human condition. humanistic psychology sees all people as basically good, free to work towards the achievements of their potential and control their lives, offering a refreshing alternative to other approaches (eg psychodynamic saw humans as prisoners of their past and claimed we all lived between ‘common unhappiness and absolute despair’)

the humanistic approach

evaluation: limitations

-culurally-biased as many of the ideas central to it, like individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth, would be more readily associated with individualist culture countries. cultures with collectivist tendencies emphasise more the needs of the group and interdependence, and in such countries, the humanistic approach may not be as important. doesnt apply universally and is dependent on cultural context.

-limited application: relatively little impact on psychology in comparison to other approaches - not a comprehensive theory but a set of loose abstract ideas. although rogerian therapy revolutionised counselling techniques and maslows hierarchy of needs has been used to explain motivation, particularly in the workplace.

comparison of approaches

views on development

-psychodynamic approach presents the most coherent theory of development, tying its concepts and processes to specific psychosexual stages determined by age, but little further development one child enters the genital stage in the teen stage.

-cognitive approach contributes to understanding of child development (eg as part of intellectual development, children form increasingly complex concepts (schema) with age

-maturation is an important principle in the biological approach: genetically determined changes in a child’s psychological status influences psychological and behavioural characteristics.

-humanistic psychology regards childhood in terms of unconditional positive regard and sees development of the self as ongoing throughout life.

-the behaviourist approach and social learning theory dont offer theories of developmental stages, but see processes of learning to be present at all ages

comparison of approaches

nature vs nurture

-debate of whether human behaviour is more influenced by inherited biological factors (nature) or environment and experience (nature).

-behaviourists characterise babies as blank slates at birth and suggest all behaviour comes about by learned association, reinforcement, or for slt, observation and imitation.

-the biological approach (direct antithesis) argues behaviour is the result of a genetic blueprint that we inherit from our parents, and its expression (phenotype) is environmental.

-freud believed behaviour was driven by biological drives and instincts but saw relationships with parents as playing a fundamental role in future development, and similarly humanistic psychology regards parents, friends and wider society as having critical impact on a person’s self concept.

-cognitive psychologists recognise many of our information processing abilities and schema are innate, but are constantly refined through experience.

comparisons of approaches

reductionist

-refers to belief that human behaviour can be most effectively explained by breaking it down into constituent parts (opposing holism: that phenomena are best understood by looking at the interplay and interaction of many different factors).

-behaviourism is reductionist in that it breaks up complex behaviour into stimulus-response that can be tested in labs. social learning theory reduces complex learning to a handful of key processes (imitation, modelling etc) though they recognise how cognitive factors interact with external influences.

-the biological approach is reductionist in that it explains human behaviour and psychological states at the level of genes and neurons.

-the psychodynamic approach reduces much of our behaviour to the influence of sexual drives and biological instincts, although the three personalities theory is holistic.

-the cognitive approach is accused of machine reductionism by presenting people as information processing machines and ignoring influence of human emotion on behaviour.

-humanistic psychology formulates a holistic approach to understanding human behaviour, involving investigating all aspects of the individual (including interactions with others and the wider society)

comparison of approaches

determinism

-proposes all behaviour has an internal or external cause and is thus predictable.

-the behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as environmentally determined by external influences that we are unable to control; hard determinism

-the biological approach advocates a form of genetic determinism in the assumption that much of our behaviour is directed by innate influences; hard determinism

-psychic determinism (from the psychodynamic approach) is that unconscious forces that drive our behaviour are the ultimate cause of our behaviour, and that these are simply rationalised by our conscious minds; hard determinism

-the cognitive approach suggests we choose we are the choosers of our own thoughts and behaviours, yet these choices can only operate within the limits of what we know and have experienced; soft determinism

-slt put forward the notion of reciprocal determinism- idea that we are influenced by our environment but also that we exert some influence upon our environment through the behaviours we choose to perform; soft determinism

-humanistic psychology stands alone in assertion that human beings have free will and operate as active agents who determine their own development; free will

comparison of approaches

explanation and treatment of psychological disorders

-behaviourist model sees abnormality as arising from maladaptive or faulty learning so inappropriate and destructive patterns of behaviour have been reinforced. behaviour therapies (e.g systematic desensitisation) aim to condition new more healthy responses, have been applied to successfully treating phobias

-slt has little application but principles of modelling and observational learning have been used to explain how negative behaviours (like agression) may be learned through the influence of dysfunctional role models.

-freud considered anxiety disorders to be from unconscious conflict and childhood trauma. psychoanalysis has had some success but not appropriate for all as it requires considerable input from patient (time and ability to talk and reflect on emotions)

-cognitive therapy is much more effective and applicable especially when combined with behaviour therapy (CBT for depression) which aims to identify and eradicate faulty thinking which is assumed to be the root cause of the maladaptive behaviour.

-humanistic therapy (counselling) based on roger philosophy by closing the gap between the self concept and the ideal self, which will increase self-esteem and stimulate personal growth

-biological approach has revolutionised treatment of mental disorders through the development of drug therapy which regulates chemical imbalances in the brain.