Approaches

origins of psychology

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Introspection - Wundt

  • 1879 - Wundt established first psychology lab with the aim to describe the nature of human consciousness in a lab setting (controlled and scientific)

  • introspection = first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind - participants reflect on own cognitive processes and describe them

  • controlled procedures - same standardised instructions given to all participants and stimuli were presented in same order

  • structuralism - introspection led to identifying the structure of consciousness by breaking it up into basic structures - marking the beginning of scientific psychology

Emergence of psychology as a science

  • 1900s - Watson argued introspection was subjective and according to behaviourist approach, ‘scientific’ psychology should be observed and measurable

  • 1930s - Skinner brought language and rigour of natural sciences into psychology and scientific approach dominated psychology (behaviourist)

  • 1950s - study of mental processes was seen as legitimate within psychology - computer theories evolved (cognitive)

  • 1980s - recent advances in technology e.g. fMRI and EEG (biological)

AO3

+scientific aspects of Wundt - recorded introspections within controlled lab setting and standardised procedures - therefore Wundts research can be considered a forerunner to the later scientific approaches

-However other aspects were subjective - participants self reported their private mental processes - so subjective and also may have hidden some thoughts, making it difficult to establish laws of behaviour - therefore wundts early efforts to study the mind did not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry

+modern psychology is scientifiv as learning, cognitive and biological approaches all use scientific methods e.g. lab studies

-modern psychology may use subjective data - humanistic approach doesn’t formulate general laws and psychodynamic approach uses case studies - demand characterisitcs - therefore not scientific

learning approach

behaviourist approach

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behaviour is the consequence of learning from the environment

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

  • learning by association - 2 environmental stimulus occur together and we learn to associate them

  • Pavlov’s dogs:

    • unconditioned stimulus = food

    • unconditioned response = salivation

    • neutral stimulus = bell

    • conditioned stimulus = bell

    • conditioned response = salivation

OPERANT CONDITIONING

  • learning by consequence:

    • punishment - less likely to repeat

    • negative reinforcement - avoiding unpleasant consequence (punishment) - more likely to repeat

    • positive reinforcement - rewarding behaviour - more likely to repeat

  • Skinners rats:

    • rats in a specifically designed cage with a level

    • 1 condition was that pressing lever = reward with food (positive reinforcement = behaviour repeated)

    • 2nd condition was that pressing lever = avoiding electric shock (negative reinforcement = behaviour repeated)

AO3

+scientific research method - controlled lab settings = cause effect established = experiments have scientific credibility as also replicable and objective

-however - this means that it is reductionist as it reduces complex behaviours down to learning through association and consequence - oversimplification as it ignores other influences on behaviour (e.g. mental - which SLT and cognitive incorporate) - perhaps a more hollistic approach necessary

-uses animals - cognitive processes and physiology different between humans and animals - so can’t be generalised

+real world application - e.g. operant used in phobia therapy - manipulates and eradicates phobias by manipulation. Also token economies in prisons which reward appropriate bahviours with tokens that are exchanged for priviledges (operant) - increases validity of this approach

social learning theory

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behaviour is consequence of learning from environment

SLT:

  • learning by OBSERVATION

  • mediational processes (ARMM)

    • attention: behaviour is noticed - more likely to be paid attention to if role models (people similar/identify with)

    • retention: behaviour encoded in memory

    • motor reproduction: ability to replicate

    • motivation: will to perform behaviour - vicarious reinforcement (observing others behaviour and their consequence - rewarded = more likely to copy)

  • BANDURA:

    • children watched either an adult behaving aggressively towards bobo doll or non-aggressively

    • when given their own doll the children who watched aggression were more likely to be aggressive

    • children more likely to imitate acts of violence if seen in role models

    • link to a03 - supports SLT

AO3

-lacks ecological validity due to research taking place in artificial setting - bobo dolls designed to be hit (therefore children may be reacting to expectations rather than imitating) = demand characteristics

-doesn’t consider role of biological factors - boys more aggressive than girls in study - boys have higher testosterone levels than girls - testosterone linked to aggressive behaviour. Could mean that they weren’t imitating - can’t establish cause and effect as other factors involved = lack internal validity

+however can account for cultural differences as proves children learn from others around them. cultural norms transmitted through people imitating role models - e.g. gender roles different in various tribes around the world (Mead). High ecological validity

cognitive approach

cognitive psychology is the scientific study of thinking processes like attention, memory etc. - internal mental processes

mental processes cannot be observed so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences about what is going on inside people’s heads based on inputs and observable behaviour

theoretical models - information processing approach suggests that information flows through a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval (e.g. MSM)

computer models - refer to programs that imitate the human mind so psychologists can test their ideas

schemas - cognitive framework that helps organise information from the environment (‘shortcut’)

  • schemas get more detailed as we get older

  • they help us process information very quickly to prevent us being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

AO3

+scientific and objective - controlled study methods = reliable and objective data

-however use of inference means cognitive psyschology can occassionally be too theoretical and abstract as can’t directly observe - lacks mundane realism

-machine reductionism - although similarities between computer and human mind, comparison is criticised as they are not the same - e.g. ignore influence of emotion (accuracy of recall affected by emotion)

+march et al (2007) - CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) - 327 adolescents with depression - after 36 weeks, 81% of CBT and 81% of antidepressant groups shown improvement - shows CBT is just as effective as drugs and a good alternative. combined treatment = 86% improved

biological approach

the idea that everything physchological is at first biological - such as in genetics, brain structure and neurochemistry

  • some behavioural characteristics can be inherited in the same way that physical characteristics can (genes) - e.g. most studies for this use monozygotic twins as share 100% of DNA - MZ twins have increased concordance rate of Sz than dizygotic twins - showing the genetic components of behaviours

  • neurochemistry - role of neurotransmitters e.g. low serotonin levels linked to aggressive behaviour.

  • evolutionary - behaviours developed to help us survive - naturally selected e.g. phobias

+scientific methods - uses scanning techniques such as MRIs as well as twin studies - accurate measures = no bias = objective and reliable

+real life application - increased understanding of biochemical processes in brain led to development of psychoactive drugs to treat mental health such as depression - helped many people

-determinist - human behaviour governed by internal, biological causes over which we have no control - however phenotype expressed is heavily influenced by nuture and the environment - therefore this view too simplistic and ignores external influences

-can’t separate nature and nuture - members of family all have genetic similarities therefore biological approach argues any similarities in behaviour must be genetic. However - also exposed to environmental conditions so findings can just as easily be nuture as well as just nature

humanistic approach

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humanistic psychologists see humans as affected by external and internal influences but that we all have free will. It also suggests that psychology should be subjective rather than general laws as we are all unique

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:

  • physiological needs, safety and security, love and belongingness, self esteem and self actualisation

  • 4 lower levels (e.g. food, water, safety) must be met before the individual can meet self actualisation

  • self actualisation = innate tendency that each of us want to achieve our full potential and become the best we can possibly be

a key feature of the humanistic approach is the focus on self - referring to ideas and values that characterise ‘i’ and ‘me’

personal growth requires an individuals concept of self to be congruent with their ideal self - if the gap is too big self actualisation isn’t possible

parents who impose conditions of worth may prevent personal growth - issues such as low self esteem have their roots in childhood due to a lack of positive regard from paretns

AO3

+holistic - subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person (past, present and future) = approach has more validity than others as it considers meaningful human behaviour within its real world context

-however this makes it hard to establish cause and effect and makes it more subjective and ungeneralisable due to lack of scienfic

+free will allows people to change

-culture bias - associated with individualist cultures so not possible to apply approach universally as it is a product of the cultural concept within which it was developed

psychodynamic approach

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unconscious mind has important influence on behaviour - Freud suggested the mind is made up of conscious, preconscious (e.g. dreams) and unconscious

the personality has 3 parts which have a dynamic interaction between them:

  • Id - primitive part of the personality, ‘pleasure principle’ and demands instant gratification

  • Ego - works on reality principle and is the mediator between id and superego

  • Superego - internalised sense of right and wrong, ‘morality principle’

5 psychosexual stages determine adult personality - each stage marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve to move onto the next - any unresolved conflict leads to fixation where a child becomes stuck in a stage

  • Oral (0-1) - pleasure focus is the mouth

  • Anal (1-3) - pleasure focus is the anus (specifically faeces)

  • Phallic (3-6) - pleasure focus is the genital area

  • Latency - earlier conflicts are repressed

  • Genital (puberty) - sexual desires

Oedipus conflict = in the phallic stage, boys develop feelings towards mother and hatred towards father before later repressing their feelings for their mother and identifying with father (taking on his gender role and moral values)

Elektra complex = in phallic stage, girls develop feeling towards father and penis envy

Unconscious defense mechanisms used by Ego (reduce anxiety)

  • repression - forcing memory out of conscious mind

  • denial - refusing to acknowledge reality

  • displacement - transferring feelings from their true source onto a substitute target

AO3

+introduced psychotherapy - freuds psychoanalysis was the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically - psychoanalysis claims to help clients deal with everyday problems by providing access to their unconscious and employing techniques such as dream analysis - forerunner to modern day talking therapies

+explanatory power - has had huge influence on contemporary thought and has been used to explain a wide range of behaviours and drew attention to influence of childhood on adulthood - overall the psychodynamic approach has had a positive influence on psychology and modern day thinking

-includes untestable concepts - it does not meet the scientific criteria of falsification (can’t be disproved as it occurs at an unconscious level making them impossible to test) - lack scientific rigour