Approaches

Question 1

What are two key points to remember with the origins of the cognitive approach?

Answer 1

• Gestalt Psychology - examines how elements of experience are organised into wholes
• Instead of breaking down into elements ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’

Question 2

What does social constructivism mean and this is under the modern cognitive approach?

Answer 2

Social constructivism - what we consider “reality” is really our own mental creation

Question 3

What are some key points to remember about the Psychodynamic approach?

Answer 3

• One way psychodynamic therapists can understand the patients unconscious is through FREE ASSOCIATION which is used to understand unconscious motives , this is where patients express anything that comes to mind
• Jung extended Freud’s ideas where he stated that freud missed out the importance of introversion and extroversion
• Remember it is called the psychoDYNAMIC approach as DYNAMIC refers to ongoing and constant conflict drives

Question 4

What does Functionalism mean?

Answer 4

Functionalism - psychology should study the functions of consciousness rather than it’ structure, focused on How and Why, still looks at the unconscious but not in specific structures like Wundt believed - developed by James

Question 5

What is the Law of effect and who proposed it?

(comes under the behavioural perspective)

Answer 5

• Proposed by Thorndike

Law of effect = Positive consequences will increase the likelihood of a behaviour and vise versa

In essence the same as operant conditioning

Question 6

What is meant by the terms ontogenetic and phylogenetic explanations?

Answer 6

Ontogenetic -the study of the psychological aspects of the biological development of the individual as opposed to that of the species

Phylogenetic -
Phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relationships among biological entities