Psychology- Approaches

Who introduced psychology?

-1879 Wundt- marked beginning of scientific psychology

-his method is known as intorspection

-main objective: try and develop theories about mental processes

-divided observations into categories: thoughts, images, scenarios

-structuralism- structure of consciousness

explain the emergence of psychology as a science

-1900s behaviourists:

-Watson questioned introspection as it produced subjective data

-Watson and Skinner proposed psych should only study what can be observed and measured - controlled experiments and beahviour they could see

-1950s cognitive:

-likened the mind toi a computer

-1980s biological approach

-using scanning techniques such as fMRI and EEG

-relationship between genes and behaviour

evaluate the origins of psychology (Wundt)

STRENGTH: some methods were systematic and well controlled

-controlled environment of a lab, extraneous variables were not a factor

-standardised

LIMITATION: other aspects of his research would be considered unscientific today

-relief on participants self reporting their mental processes - subjective and inaccurate

evaluate the emergence of psych as a science

STRENGTH: research in modern psych can claim to be scientific

-learning approaches, cog and bio all rely on scientific methods

LIMITATION: not all approaches use objective methods

-humanist rejects scientific, psychodynamic uses case study, demand characteristics

what are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

-studying behaviour that can be observed and measured

-behaviourists such as Watson rejected introspection they try and maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies

-they believe all behaviour is learned

-classical and operant conditioning

Explain Pavlov's research into classical conditioning

-association

-food for dogs is an unconditioned stimulus and the dogs response of salvation is also unconditioned response, the bell ringing is a neutral stimulus and the dog will have no response

-then he rings the bell while giving the dog food and the bell becomes conditioned and the response is conditioned

Explain Skinner's research into operant conditioning

-positive reinforcement is receiving rewards for a certain behaviour

-negative reinforcement occurs when they avoid something unpleasant, outcome is a positive reinforcement

-punishment is an unpleasant consequence of behaviour

Evaluate the behaviourist approach

STRENGTH: it is based on well controlled research. Focuses on the measurements of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings by breaking down behaviour into stimulus-response units, so they have scientific credibility

HOWEVER- may be oversimplified , reducing behaviour to simple components

STRENGTH: principles of conditioning have been applied to real world behaviours and problems for example operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been used successfully in prisons etc , widespread application

LIMITATION: it sees all behaviour as conditioned by past conditioning experiences. this ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour this is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision making

what are the assumptions of social learning theory

Bandura agrees with behaviourists hat behaviour is learned from experience however his SLT proposed that people learn through observations and imitation

explain the 3 components of SLT

-Vicarious reinforcement:

-for indirect learning to take place an individual observes the behaviour of others, imitation only occurs if behaviour is seen to be rewarded, rather than punished

-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 observers to perform behaviours

4) Motivation- the will to perform the behaviour which is determined by whether the behaviour

-Identification

-the person they identify with is called a role model. and the process is called modelling

evaluate the SLT

STRENGTH: it recognises the importance of cognitive factors

-neither classical. or operant conditioning can offer an adequate account of learning on their own, humans and animals store information about the behaviour of others and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions

HOWEVER: SLT has been criticised for making too little reference to the influence of biological factors on social learning, recent research suggests that observational learning may be the result of mirror neurons in the brain

LIMITATIONS: lab studies, many of Bandura's ideas were developed through observation of young children's behaviour

in the lab, this is artificial and trigger demand characteristics , in the bobo doll research,the children were simply behaving in a way they thought was expected

STRENGTH: SLT principles have been applied to a range of real world behaviours. SLT has the advantage of being able to explain cultural differences in behaviour. SLT principles can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societes, this has proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours, increase value

what are the assumptions of the cognitive approach?

-internal mental processes can be studied scientifically

-these processes are private and cannot be observed so when they are studied it is indirectly with inferences

explain the role of the schema

-'packages' of ideas and information developed through experience

-act as a mental framework for interpretation of incoming info

-babies are born with a simple motor scheme for innate behaviours and as we get older it gets more detailed and sophisticated

-schemas allow us to process lots of info quickly and this can be a good mental shortcut and prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

-however may distort our interpretations leading to perceptual errors

explain theoretical and computer models

-theoretical models are abstract whereas computer models are concrete things

-theoretical model: information processing approach suggests info flows through cognitive system in a sequence of stages input, storage and retrieval as in MSM

-this is based on ways computers function

-but a computer model would involve actually programming a computer to see if such instructions produce a similar output to humans

-this has developed 'thinking machines' and AI

Evaluate the cognitive approach

STRENGTH: uses objective, scientific methods, cognitive psychologists employ highly controlled and rigorous methods of study so they can infer how cognitive processes work

-this involves lab studies which produce reliable info

-emegence of cognitive neuroscience has enabled bio and cognitive psychology to come together to enhance scientific basis of study

-so credible scientific basis

HWV: relies on inference of mental processes rather than direct observation, can be too abstract and theoretical carried out artificially

STRENGTH: practical application

-important contribution to AI and development of thinking machines

-applied to treatment of depression and improved accuracy of EWT

LIMITATION: machine reducitonism,

-simoilaritioes between human mind and thinking machines (computers) however it ignores human emotion and influence of cognitive system and how this may affect ability to process inffo

describe the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

-1860s Paul Broca identified how damage to an area of the frontal lobe could permenantly impair speech production

-last 25 years fMRI and PET scans that scientists have been able to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes e.g. in tasks requiring episodic/semantic memory, Buckner and Peterson showed diff types of LTM may be located on opposite sides of prefrontal cortex, central executive resides in similar area

-scanning techniques have shown a link between parahippocampal gyrus and OCD that plays a role in processing unpleasant emotions

-focus on cognitive neuroscience has emerged due to use of computer generated models that are designed to read the brain leading to brain fingerprinting

-apply to analyse brain wave patterns of EW to determine if they are lying in court

what are the assumptions of the biological approach?

-suggests that everything psychological is first biological

-the mind lives in the brain

-all thoughts feelings, behaviour have a physical basis

what is the neurochemical basis of behaviour in the biological approach

-neurochemistry refers to the action of chemicals in the brain

-much of our thought and behaviour relies on chemical transmissions in the brain, which occurs using neurotransmitters

-an imbalance of neurochemicals in the brain has been implicated as a possible cause for mental illnesses eg low levels of serotonin in OCD

explain the genetic basis if behaviour and gene/phenotype in the biological approach

-psychological characteristics are inherited

-twin studies are used to investigate whether certain characteristics have a genetic basis which is achieved by concordance rates (the extent at which twins share the same characteristic)

-if a characteristic is genetic we would expect monozygotic twins to be concordant (100% same), whereas dizygotic to have around 50%

-genotype is their actual genetic make up whereas phenotype is the way that genes are expressed through physical, behavioural and psychological characteristics

-despite having the same genotype identical twins phenotype may be different

explain evolution and behaviour in the biological approach

-Darwin proposed the theory of natural selection

-any genetically determined behaviour that enhances an individual's survival will continue in future generations

-the possessor is more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass on these traits

-if individual survives but does not reproduce, the traits do not remain in the gene pool

evaluate biological approach

STRENGTH: real world application

-increased understanding of neurochemical processes in the brain is associated with the use of psychoactive drugs to treat serious mental disorders

-for example, promoted treatment of clinical depression with antidepressant drugs that increase levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin at synapses in the brain

-HOWEVER although antidepressant drugs are successful for many, they do not work for all

-Cipriani et al compared 21 antidepressant drugs and found wide variations for effectiveness

-most drugs more effective than placebos, but researchers concluded that the effects of antidepressants were 'mainly modest' so brain chemistry alone may not account for all cases

STRENGTH: uses scientific methods of investigation

-makes use of a range of precise and highly objective methods such as fMRIs and EEGs

-so s possible to measure physiological and neural processes in ways that are not open to bias

LIMITATION: it is determinist

-it sees human behaviour as governed by internal, genetic causes over which we have no control

-however genotype is expressed is heavily influences by environment , not even identical twins look the same and think the same

-purely genetic argument is problematic when considering crime so therefore approach is too simplistic and ignores mediating effects of environment

what is the role of the unconscious in the psychodynamic approach?

-freud suggested that most of our mind is made up of the unconscious

-contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed, locked away or forgotten

-these can be accessed through dreams or 'slips of the tongue' (freud calls parapraxes) eg calling a female teacher mum

-under the surface of conscious mind is the preconscious which contains thoughts and memories which are not currently in conscious awareness but we can access if desired.

what is the structure of personality in the psychodynamic approach?

-described as 'tripartite' composed of 3:

1) The Id is the primitive part of our personality, it operates on the pleasure principle - gets what it wants, only the Id is present at birth. throughout life it is entirely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs

2) the ego works on the reality principle and is the mediator between the other two parts. develops at age of 2yearsold and its role is to reduce the conflict between demands of Id and superego. employs a number of defence mechanisms

3) the superego is formed at end of phallic stage around age 5, internalised sense of right and wrong. based on the morality principle it represents moral standards of Childs same sex parent and punishes ego for doing wrong through guilt

what is the psychosexual stages in the psychodynamic approach?

1) ORAL 0-1 years, focus of pleasure is the mouth, mothers breast is object of desire, consequence of unresolved- oral fixation, eg smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical

2) ANAL 1-3 years, focus of pleasure is the anus, child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces consequence- anal retentive, perfectionist, obsessive or anal expulsive, thoughtless, messy

3) PHALLIC 3-6 years, focus of pleasure is genital area , child experiences the oedipus or electra complex consequence- narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual

4) LATENCY earlier conflicts are repressed

5) GENITAL sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty consequence- difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

what is the defence mechanisms in the psychodynamic approach?

-unconscious and ensure that the ego is able to prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas. however they often involve some form of distortion of reality and unhealthy as a long term solution.

evaluate the psychodynamic approach

STRENGTH: it introduced the idea of psychotherapy

-new form of therapy, psychoanalysis, first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically

-a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious, such as dream analysis

-psychoanalysis claims to help students by bringing their repressed emotions into their conscious mind, leads to counselling

HOWEVER- although there has been claimed success for many clients with mild neuroses, psychoanalysis is regarded as inappropriate, harmful for people with serious mhd eg schizophrenia

STRENGTH: ability to explain human behaviour

-huge impact on psychology and western contemporary thought , remained a key force in psychology for first half of 20th century

-important in drawing attention to connection between experiences in childhood such as relationship with parents and later development

LIMITATION: much of it is untestable

-Karl Popper argued that the approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification it is not open to empirical testing

-if its unconscious, almost impossible to test,

-suggests it was pseudoscientific

what does humanistic psychology claim?

-human beings are essentially self determining and have free will

-psychologists such as Rogers and Maslow reject scientific models

-we are all unique and psych should concern itself with the study of subjective experience rather than general laws

what is Maslows theory in humanistic approach?

-hierarchy of needs that motivate behaviour to achieve primary goal of self actualisation

-self actualisation:

-innate desire to achieve full potential

-personal growth is an essential part of what it is to be human

What is Rogers theory in humanistic approach

-Rogers argued that for personal growth to be achieved an individuals concept of self must be equivalent to or have congruence to their ideal self

-if gap is too large between 2 selves te person will be in a state of incongruence and self actualisation not possible

-client centred therapy made to reduce the gap - issues in adulthood co0me from childhood and may be from lack of unconditional positive regard

Evaluate the humanistic approach

STRENGTH: rejects attempts to break up behaviour into smaller components

-advocate holism, the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering a whole person

-real world context

STRENGTH: optimistic, promoting positive image back into psych, all people as basically good and free

LIMITATION: culturally biased

-freedom, autonomy, personal growth associated with individualistic tendencies