Comparison of Approaches

Overview:

• In terms of child development, the psychodynamic approach presents the most comprehensive theory of development, tying its concepts and processes to specific (psychosexual) stages that are determined by age

• However, Freud saw very little further development once the child enters the genital stage in the teen years

• Stage theories within the Cognitive approach have contributed to our understanding of child development. For example, as part of their intellectual development, children form increasingly complex concepts (schema) as they get older

Views on development:

• Maturation is an important principle within the biological approach whereby genetically determined changes in a child’s physiological status influence psychological and behavioural characteristics

• Humanistic psychologists see development of the self as ongoing throughout life; a child’s relationship with their parents is seen as a key determinant of psychological health

• The behaviourist approach and social learning do not offer coherent stage theories of development, but instead see the processes that underpin learning as continuous, occurring at any age

Nature Vs Nurture:

• The debate about whether human behaviour is more influenced by inherited factors (nature) or by the environment and experience (nurture) has a long history in psychology

• The biological approach and learning approaches are the furthest apart in this respect

• Behaviourists characterise babies as blank slates at birth and suggest that all behaviour comes about through learnt associations, reinforcement or, in the case of SLT, observation and imitation

• In contrast, the biological approach argues that anatomy is destiny and behaviour is the result of a genetic blueprint that we inherit

• Other approaches are less easy to categorise, although Freud thought much of our behaviour is driven by biological drives and instincts, he also saw relationships with parents as playing a fundamental role in development (suggesting an interaction of both)

• Similarly, Humanistic psychologists would recognise that many of our information processing abilities and schemas are innate, but they would also point to the fact that these are constantly refined through experience (suggesting an interaction of both)

Reductionism:

• This refers to the belief that human behaviour can be most effectively explained by breaking it down into parts. (Biological) The opposing view is Holism, which holds that behaviour is best understood by looking at the interplay and interaction of many different factors. (Humanistic)

• For example, think about the behaviour of a group of friends

  • We might want to explain why one of them begins a violent argument with one of the others

  • We could explain this through group dynamics, the result of jealousy, or we could look at the individuals themselves.

  • Maybe an aggressive personality, or we may be interested in the patterns of brain activity, or even investigate the activity of a single neuron

  • These accounts represent different levels of explanation

  • As we move from group dynamics to the activity of a single neuron, the accounts become more reductionist

• Behaviourism is reductionist in the sense that it breaks up complex behaviour into stimulus-response units for easy testing in the lab

• Social learning, however, does consider cognitive processes in learning, so it is less reductionist

• Biological is reductionist in the way it explains behaviour and psychological states at the level of the gene or neuron

• Psychodynamic reduces most behaviour to the influence of sexual drives and biological instincts, although they do argue that personality is a dynamic interaction between the three parts of the personality, so it can be seen as a more holistic view

• Cognitive psychology has been accused of machine reductionism by presenting people as information processing systems and ignoring the influence of emotion on behaviour

• Finally, and distinct from the other approaches, Humanistic is Holistic. They investigate all aspects of the individual, including the effects of interaction with others and wider society

Determinism- Behaviour is predictable:

• Behaviourists see all behaviour as environmentally determined by external influences that we are unable to control, for example, a behaviour that is rewarded will be repeated

• Biological advocates a form of genetic determinism where innate influences direct behaviour - for example, having the warrior gene means you will be violent

• Psychodynamic - psychic determinism insofar as we cannot know the unconscious forces that drive our behaviour, for example, a slip of the tongue or a Freudian slip

  • These are considered hard determinism

• Cognitive says we choose our own thoughts and behaviour, yet these choices can only operate within the limits of what we know

• Social learning suggests reciprocal determinism - the idea that while being influenced by our environment, we also exert influence on it by choosing what behaviours to perform

  • This is Soft Determinism

  • Humanistic stands alone in its belief that humans have free will and operate as active agents who determine their own development

• Although there are many differences between the approaches, there are also some areas of overlap and ways in which the approaches complement each other

• For example, Social Learning theory has been described as a bridge between behaviourists and the cognitive approach because it emphasises the importance of learning from the environment as well as the role of mediating cognitive factors

• The fusion of cognitive and biological approaches led to the development of cognitive neuroscience - a sophisticated field that links mental states to biological structures

• The psychodynamic also shares much in common with the biological approach as both see biological drives as crucial determinants of human development

• Humanistic and psychodynamic can both be described as person-centred in that they place subjective experience at the centre of their research

Idiographic and Nomothetic approaches:

• The approaches are also divided in terms of if they are attempting to establish general laws by studying large groups of people (Nomothetic) or whether they are aiming to understand what makes individuals unique (Idiographic)

• Nomothetic research generally involves using an experimental method, whereas

• Idiographic researchers are more concerned with in-depth qualitative methods, such as case studies and unstructured interviews

Explanations and treatment of abnormal/Atypical behaviour:

• Behaviourists

  • See abnormality as maladaptive or faulty learning in the sense that inappropriate or destructive patterns of behaviour have been reinforced

• Behaviour therapies such as systematic desensitisation have been applied successfully to the treatment of phobias

• Social Learning Theory

  • Has had offered very little application to treatment, but the principles of modelling have been used to explain how negative behaviours such as aggression may be learnt through the influence of dysfunctional role models

• Freud saw anxiety disorders as emerging from unconscious conflict, childhood trauma and the overuse of defence mechanisms

• Psychoanalysis had some success as a therapy, but it’s not appropriate for everyone because it requires considerable input from the patient in terms of time and the ability to talk about and reflect on emotions

• Cognitive

  • CBT or cognitive behaviour therapy

  • This is an effective and applicable therapy that aims to identify and eradicate faulty thinking, which is assumed to be the root cause of maladaptive behaviour