approaches

Question 1

views on development

comparison of approaches

Answer 1

Behaviourist approach and social learning theory do not offer coherent stage theories of development and see learning as continuous in comparison to other approaches e.g biological and cognitive(schema).

Question 2

nature vs nurture

comparison of approaches

Answer 2

For nature:biological approach

For nurture:social learning theory and behaviourist approach

Question 3

reductionism

comparison of approaches

Answer 3

The cognitive approach has been accused of machine reductionism by presenting people as information processing systems and ignoring the influence of emotion on behaviour.

Humanistic approach supports the opposing view of holism which investigates all aspects of the individual ,including the effects of interaction with others and wider society.

Question 4

what is reductionism

Answer 4

Reductionism refers to the belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into constituent parts.(behaviourist approach,biological approach,psychodynamic approach)

Question 5

what is determinism

Answer 5

Suggests that all behaviour has an external or internal cause and is thus predictable.

Question 6

determinism

comparison of approaches

Answer 6

Hard determinism- behaviorism and biological approach

Soft determinism-humanistic approach

Question 7

Explanation and treatment of abnormal behaviour

comparison of approaches

Answer 7

Behaviourist approach-arises from faulty learning and treated by systematic desensitisation

Social learning theory-arises from modelling and vicarious reinforcement

Cognitive-CBT

Humanistic therapy-counselling

Biological theory-drug therapy

Question 8

general overview of the humanistic approach

Answer 8

-an approach to understanding behaviour that emphasises the importance of subjective experience and each person’s capacity for self determination.

Question 9

free will

humanistic approach

Answer 9

The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external factors and act as active agents.Humanistic psychologists reject scientific models that establish general principles of human behaviour as everyone is unique.

Question 10

self actualisation

in humanistic approahc

Answer 10

The desire to grow psychologically and fulfil one’s full potential.All four lower levels have to be met for self-actualisation to occur.Personal growth is concerned with developing and changing as a person to become fulfilled ,satisfied,and goal orientated.

Question 11

order of maslows hierachy of needs

Answer 11

1. self actualisation
2. self esteem
3. love/belonging
4. safety
5. physiological

Question 12

The self,congruence and conditions of worth

in humanistic approahc

Answer 12

Rogers argued that for personal growth to occur an individual’s self(the way they see themselves)has to be in congruence with their ideal self.If the gap is too big ,the person will experience incongruence and negative feelings meaning that self-actualisation can’t be reached.

Conditions of worth-when a parent places limits or boundaries on their love of their children.

Question 13

eval of humanistic approach

cultural bias

Answer 13

the humanistic approach would be applicable to individualist cultures more than to collectivist cultures which may not easily identify with the ideas of humanistic psychology.

Question 14

eval of humanistic approach

not reductionist

Answer 14

Humanists reject any attempt to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components,instead they advocate holism(the idea that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person).This approach has more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real-life context.

Question 15

How does the Humanistic approach differ from other psychological perspectives in A-Level Psychology?

Answer 15

The Humanistic approach differs from other psychological perspectives in A-Level Psychology, such as the psychodynamic and behavioral approaches, by emphasizing the subjective experiences of the individual and their potential for self-growth and self-actualization, rather than focusing on unconscious processes or external stimuli.

Question 16

overview of psychodynamic approahc

Answer 16

-a perspective that describes how behaviour is affected by unconscious forces that operate on the mind.

Question 17

role of the unconscious

psychodynamic approach

Answer 17

Freud suggested that most of the mind is made up of the unconscious:a vast store of biological drives and instincts that has a large influence on behaviour and personality.The unconscious contains threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed.The preconscious contains thoughts and memories which are not currently in conscious awareness but we can access if desired.

Question 18

3 aspects of personality

psychodynamic approaxh

Answer 18

1. the id
2. the ego
3. the superego

Question 19

expain the id

Answer 19

he primitive part of personality and operates on the pleasure principle.Throughout life the id is selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs.

Question 20

explain the ego

Answer 20

works on the reality principle and mediates between the other two parts.Develops around 2 years.Reduces conflict between the demands of the id and the superego through defense mechanisms.

Question 21

explain the superego

Answer 21

formed at the end of the phallic stage around 5.It is the sense of right and wrong and is based on the morality principle.It punishes the ego for wrongdoings through guilt.

Question 22

overview of psychosexual stages

Answer 22

Freud claimed that child development occurred in five stages ,each of which is marked with a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress successfully to the next stage.Any psychosexual conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation where the child carries out certain behaviours associated with that stages through to adult life.

Question 23

what are the psychosexual stages

Answer 23

oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital

Question 24

what are the consequence of the oral stage

Answer 24

underfed- oral passive = trusting, dependency
overfed- oral aggressive= aggressive and dominating

Question 25

what are the consequence of the anal stage

Answer 25

harsh toilet training- anal retentive= tidiness, obsessiveness, mean, stubborn
lax toilet training- anal expulsive= untidiness, generosity

Question 26

what are the consequence of the phallic stage

Answer 26

unusual relationship with mother/father= vanity, self-obsession, sexual anxiety, inadequency, inferiority, envy

Question 27

what are the consequence of the genital stage

Answer 27

settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another= well adjusted, mature, able to love and be loved

Question 28

what are the defence mechanisms

psychodynamic approach

Answer 28

1. repression
2. denial
3. displacement

Question 29

what is repression

psychodynamic approach

Answer 29

forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

Question 30

what is denial

psychodynamic approach

Answer 30

refusing. to acknowledge some aspect of reality

Question 31

what is displacement

psychodynamic approach

Answer 31

transferring feelings from true sources of distressing emotion onto a substitute target.

Question 32

eval of psychodynamic approach

untestab;e

Answer 32

Karl Popper argued that this approach does not meet the scientific criterion for falsification,as it can’t be tested through empirical methods as they are said to occur at an unconscious level.So it can be seen as a pseudoscience.

Question 33

eval of psychodynamic approach

case study

Answer 33

Freud’s interpretations were highly subjective and critics have said that it is not possible to make universal claims about human nature based on studies of such a small number of people who were psychologically abnormal.

Question 34

what did Wilhelm Wundt do

Answer 34

• introspection
• Wundt founded the first psychology laboratory – the Institute of Experimental Psychology – in 1879
• often called the ‘father of experimental psychology’
  *

Question 35

strengths of wundts role in psych

Answer 35

Scientific: Wundt tried to apply the scientific method to his studies. For example, controlling the environment where he conducted his introspection experiments would prevent this extraneous variable from skewing the results. Further, training subjects to adopt the same state of mind and report back specific data should, in theory, produce more reliable results.

Influential: Introspection and Wundt’s focus on the importance of inner mental processes can be seen to have influenced the cognitive approach to psychology.

Question 36

weaknesses of wundts role in psych

Answer 36

Unscientific: Despite Wundt’s attempts to study the mind scientifically, his research can be considered unscientific in many ways. Science is about what is objective, measurable, and repeatable but the private thoughts examined during introspection are subjective and can’t be measured. As such, Wundt was unable to replicate his findings. Because of this, Wundt’s research can be said to be unreliable and unscientific.

Question 37

EMERGENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE

timeline

Answer 37

1. Behaviourism emerged in the early 20th century and remained the dominant approach to psychology until the 1950s. It rejected Wundt’s introspective approach as too subjective, instead focusing only on externally observable and measurable data – behaviour.
2. The ‘cognitive revolution’ of the 1960s saw renewed interest in inner mental processes. Although thoughts and feelings are private and unobservable, the cognitive approach sought to make inferences about these inner mental processes from experiments.
3. Advances in technology (particularly in the early 21st century) have progressively increased the power of a biological approach to psychology. For example, the discovery of fMRI brain scanning in 1990 enabled psychologists to measure brain activity and correlate it with mental processes. Elsewhere, advances in genome sequencing since the early 2000s have enabled psychologists to identify a genetic basis for some psychological disorders.

Question 38

what are the learning approaches

Answer 38

1. behaviourism
2. social learning theory

Question 39

basic assumptions of the behaviourist approach

Answer 39

• The mind is a blank slate at birth and behaviour is learned from experience.
• The study of the mind should focus on external behaviour, not internal thought processes, as behaviour is the only thing that can be objectively measured and observed.
• The same processes that govern human behaviour also govern the behaviour of non-human animals (particularly mammals e.g. rats and dogs). As such, experiments on animal behaviour can yield valid conclusions about human behaviour too.

Question 40

parts of behaviourism

Answer 40

classical and operant conditioning

Question 41

classical conditioning

Answer 41

Classical conditioning is a key principle of behaviourism. It explains how behaviours are learned from experience via (subconscious) association.

The earliest and most famous documentation of classical conditioning is found in Pavlov (1927). Pavlov demonstrated how dogs could be conditioned to salivate (a natural response to food) in response to a bell ringing (a neutral stimulus) by ringing the bell at the same time as presenting the dog with food. The repeated occurrence of the bell ringing at the same time as the food meant the dogs learned to associate the bell with food. Eventually, this association produced a conditioned response in the dogs, who would salivate at the sound of the bell even when there was no food.

As mentioned, a basic assumption of behaviourism is the validity of animal studies in explaining human behaviour. And, in the case of classical conditioning, there are plenty of human examples like the one above. For example, hearing a phone notification go off (even if it’s someone else’s with the same tone) may cause you to instinctively reach into your pocket for your phone.

Other examples of classical conditioning in humans can be seen in the behaviourist explanation of phobias.

Question 42

operant conditioning

Answer 42

Operant conditioning is another principle of behaviourism. It explains how behaviours are learned from and reinforced in response to consequences.

An example of operant conditioning is found in the research of Skinner (1948) and Skinner (1953). Skinner’s experiments involved putting animals (rats and pigeons) in cages

In one variation of the experiment, pressing the response lever caused food to come out of the food dispenser. The rat quickly learned this consequence and so would repeat the behaviour to get more food. This is an example of positive reinforcement.

Another variation of the experiment demonstrated learning through negative reinforcement. In this setup, an electrified grid would cause pain to the rat but pressing the response lever turned the electrified grid off. Similar to the other experiment, the rats quickly learned to go straight to the response lever when put in the box.

These experiments demonstrate how learning through positive and negative reinforcement increases the chances of a behaviour being repeated.

Question 43

what are the 3 types of consequences for behaviour

Answer 43

Positive reinforcement: Behaving in a way that gets rewarded/praised/you get something good in response for.
* E.g.: Doing your homework because it gets praised by the teacher

Negative reinforcement: Behaving in a way to avoid negative/unpleasant/bad consequences.
* E.g.: Doing your homework to avoid getting told off by the teacher

Punishment: Negative/unpleasant/bad consequences for behaviour.
* E.g.: Getting told off by the teacher for not doing your homework

Question 44

strengths of behaviourism

Answer 44

Scientific: Behaviourism focuses on what is observable, measurable, and repeatable, which lends credibility to the study of psychology as a science.

Practical applications: Behaviourism has been successfully applied in several psychological contexts to produce desirable behavioural results. One example of this is the **behaviourist treatment of phobias, including flooding and systematic desensitisation. **However, there are also more ethically dubious applications of behaviourism, such as use of operant conditioning to make social media algorithms, gambling machines, and similar such activities more addictive.

Question 45

weaknesses of behaviourism

Answer 45

Ignores the internal mind: By focusing only on environmental inputs (stimulus) and behavioural outputs (responses), behaviourism neglects the mental events in the middle such as thoughts, reflections, and emotions. This makes it difficult for behaviourism to explain behaviours such as memory, which happen internally and so cannot be observed. These internal aspects of the mind may be better explained by other psychological approaches such as the cognitive approach or social learning theory.

Validity of animal studies: A basic assumption of behaviourism is the use of animal studies to explain human behaviour. But humans are very different to animals such as pigeons and rats – both physically and cognitively. As such, the conclusions drawn from studies on animals (e.g. Pavlov and Skinner) may not transfer to human psychology.

**Ethical concerns: **There are several ethical questions that can be raised against behaviourism. For example, it may be argued that many animal experiments (e.g. Skinner’s) caused distress for the animals involved. In humans, it may be argued that certain applications of behaviourism (e.g. the social media and gambling machine examples above) are ethically wrong.

Question 46

basic assumptions pf social learning theory

Answer 46

• Like behaviourism, social learning theory says behaviour is learned from experience. But whereas behaviourism focuses on classical and operant conditioning, social learning theory adds a social dimension: We learn not only from consequences of our own behaviour, but by observing and imitating other peoples’ behaviour.
• People imitate the behaviours of role models who they identify with. Behaviours may be reinforced vicariously, i.e. by seeing someone else be rewarded for that behaviour.
• Social learning theory is not entirely behaviourist: It allows for the inclusion of cognitive elements (e.g. mediating processes) in explaining behaviour.

Question 47

aim of bandura bobo doll experiment

Answer 47

The aim of another study, Bandura et al (1961), was to see if this behavioural imitation continued even when the role model was no longer present.

Question 48

procedure of bandura bobo doll experiment

Answer 48

• Subjects were 36 boys and 36 girls aged between 3 and 6 years old
• They were each put into a room with an inflatable doll (Bobo) and observed an adult role model interact with the doll for 10 minutes
  The subjects were separated into groups as follows:
  1. Aggressive: Role model hits the doll with a hammer and shouts abuse at it
  2. Non-aggressive: Role model does not hit the doll or shout at it
  3. Control: No role model
• Half of the subjects had a role model of the same gender, while the other half had a role model of the opposite gender
• After observing the role model for 10 minutes, the participants were taken to a room with toys but told they couldn’t play with them (the aim of this was to increase aggression)
• After 2 minutes, the participants were taken to a room with lots of different toys (including a Bobo doll) and left to play with them for 20 minutes

Question 49

results of of bandura bobo doll experiment

Answer 49

Children who had observed an aggressive role model previously acted more aggressively than children who had observed a non-aggressive role model

Boys acted more aggressively than girls in general

The child was more likely to imitate the behaviour of the role model if the role model was the same gender as them

Question 50

what do results of bandura bobo doll experiment tell us

Answer 50

These results illustrate many key concepts of social learning theory:

People imitate (copy) the behaviours of role models they identify with (i.e. people they are like or want to be like). For example, the fact that children were more likely to imitate/model the behaviour of the role model if they were of the same gender could be because they were more likely to identify with the role model.

Question 51

bobo doll variation to show vicarious reinforcement

Answer 51

Another key concept is vicarious reinforcement, which is where a person is more likely to imitate a behaviour if they observe the model being rewarded for it. Vicarious reinforcement is demonstrated in Bandura and Walters (1963), which was another variation of the Bobo the doll where the model was either praised or punished for acting aggressively towards the doll. Children who saw the model praised for their aggression toward the doll were more likely to imitate this aggressive behaviour.

Question 52

who describes the mediating processes in SLT

Answer 52

bandura

Question 53

what are the 4 mediational processes

Answer 53

1. attention
2. retention
3. reproduction
4. motivation

Question 54

what is attention

mediational processes

Answer 54

The behaviour has to be important/significant so as to grab our attention.

Question 55

what is retention

mediational processes

Answer 55

The observed behaviour has to be remembered/retained. If you don’t remember a behaviour then you can’t imitate it.

Question 56

what is reproduction

mediational processes

Answer 56

Our abilities may influence our decision to physically reproduce the behaviour. For example, an elderly lady might desire to reproduce breakdancing behaviour, but won’t attempt it because of a lack of physical ability.

Question 57

what is motivation

mediational processses

Answer 57

If we think through and conclude that a potential behaviour will be positively rewarded (e.g. because of vicarious reinforcement), this motivates us to imitate the behaviour.

Question 59

strengths of social learning approach

Answer 59

• Offers a more complete account than behaviourism: Whereas behaviourism is limited to stimulus and response only, the social learning approach allows for cognitive processes in explaining behaviour. For example, Bandura’s mediating processes allow that someone could internally reflect on what they’ve observed and make a judgement on how they will behave. This can explain why people often act differently in response to similar stimuli.
• Explains cultural differences: If children learn behaviours by modelling those around them (as social learning theory claims) then this explains different behaviours between cultures because the children imitate the behaviours of the culture. The biological approach, in contrast, may have difficulty explaining these variations because the biology is essentially the same between cultures but the behaviour is different.

Question 60

weaknesses of social learning theory

bobo

Answer 60

• Biological approach: Although the Bobo the doll experiments support social learning theory, they also support a biological approach. Bandura and colleagues consistently found that boys showed more aggression towards the dolls than girls independently of other conditions. This suggests that biological factors (e.g. testosterone levels) also play an important role in explaining behaviour and that the social learning approach is not, by itself, sufficient.
• Questions of ecological/external validity: The Bobo the doll experiments were conducted in an unfamiliar (laboratory) setting. Because of this new situation, the children might simply have been behaving in the way they thought they were expected to in this situation (copying the model). Further, the children would have known the doll was just a doll and so it is unclear whether the children would model aggressive behaviour towards, for example, other children in a real-life scenario.

Question 61

basic assumptions of the cognitive approach

Answer 61

• Inner mental processes (e.g. thoughts and perceptions) can and should be studied in a scientific way.
• Although a person’s inner mental processes can’t be observed, they can be inferred from their external behaviour. So, the cognitive approach is kind of in between behaviourism and introspection: behaviourism is wrong to focus only on behaviour, but introspection’s focus on private mental states alone is too subjective to count as proper science.
• Mental processes can be modelled like a computer program: inputs (e.g. sense data) get processed in the mind (like a computer program) to produce outputs (i.e. behaviour). Whereas behaviourism focuses only on the inputs and outputs, the cognitive approach acknowledges on the thing in the middle: the mental process.

Question 62

definition of schemas

Answer 62

• They are cognitive frameworks, mental models, patterns of thought and behaviour.
• They are mental short-cuts, ways of organising information and understanding the world.
• Schema are formed from experience
• and can be chnaged over time

Question 63

examples of schemas

Answer 63

Self-schema, e.g. physical “I’m tall” and personality e.g. “I’m kind”
Stereotypes/generalisations, e.g. “dark alleys at night = dangerous”, “revision is boring”
Social roles, e.g. “customers join the queue before paying”, “police catch criminals”
Motor schema, e.g. how to walk, babies are born with schema to feed

Question 64

research evidence for schemas

Answer 64

Allport and Postman (1947) Conducted an experiment which participants were shown a picture of 2 men talking in an underground station, in the picture a black man wearing a suit was talking to a white man in overalls, who was holding a razor. They were asked to describe it to another participant (serial reproduction, a bit like Chinese whispers). They found that white participants tended to reverse their appearances and some even described the black character as holding a knife. This study concluded that expectations based on stereotypical schemas could distort memory

Question 65

theoretical models in cognitive approach

Answer 65

One way in which cognitive psychologists study internal mental processes is through theoretical models. One important theoretical model is the information processing approach. This approach suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval. An example, of a theoretical model is the multi store model of memory by Atkinson and Shiffrin

Question 66

computer model in cognitive approach

Answer 66

The cognitive approach also uses computer models to make inferences about internal mental processes. They compare the mind to a computer, suggesting there are similarities in the way information is processed. This is known as the computer analogy.
They both use the central processing unit (brain), the concept of coding (to turn information into a useable format) and the use of stores to hold information. Such computational models of the mind have proved useful in the development of ‘thinking machines’ or artificial intelligence.

Question 67

cognitive neuroscience

cog approach

Answer 67

advances in brain imaging techniques has enabled researchers to understand how the brain supports a variety of different cognitive activities and emotions in illustrating which parts are activity during specific tasks.
For example, Tulving was able to show how** different types of long-term memories (episodic and semantic) were located on different sides of the prefrontal cortex**. As well as this, the central executive – part of the working memory model, is thought to reside in a similar area of the brain.
Cognitive neuroscience also includes the study of brain damaged patients to reveal information about the function of different areas of the brain. For example, looking into cognitive functions that may be impaired as a result of brain damage such as memory and language. Patients may be asked to undergo cognitive tests while scanning of the brain takes place. The patterns of activity shown in the scan can be compared with activity in those without brain damage to make inferences about how cognitive processes normally function.

Question 68

practical application of cog approach

A03

Answer 68

The cognitive approach has had significant applications. For example, further understanding has led to a particularly effective treatment – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which is used successfully to treat a range of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and OCD. The basis of CBT is to change the way an individual processes information. This matters because this supports the cognitive approach due to the fact that a very effective treatment exists, which is based on its exact principles and demonstrates the contributions of the approach to wider society and potentially the economy.

Question 69

scientific

a03 cog approach

Answer 69

The cognitive approach has always employed highly controlled and rigorous methods of study in order to enable researchers to infer cognitive processes at work. This has involved the use of lab experiments to produce reliable, objective data. This means that the study of the mind has established a credible scientific basis

Question 70

crit of resreach for cog approach

Answer 70

However, most of the research for the cognitive approach has been conducted in lab settings. The studies conducted by cognitive psychologists often ecological validity because of the artificiality of the tasks and environment so it might not reflect the way people process information and the influence of internal processes on behaviour in their everyday life.

Question 71

Incomplete Explanation - Machine Reductionism

a03 cog approach

Answer 71

However, one criticism of the approach concerns the computer analogy, arguing that it is machine reductionist. This is because although there are similarities between the human mind and the operations of a computer (inputs and outputs, storage systems, the use of a central processor) the computer analogy has been criticised by many. Such machine reductionism ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system and how this may affect internal mental processes.

Question 72

link cog approach to nature/nurture

Answer 72

The Nature-Nurture debate considers the role of genetic and environmental influences on behaviour. The cognitive approach would support both sides of this debate as it asserts that we are born with innate schemas (nature) but our memories develop and change due to our interaction within our environmental (nurture). In this respect, the cognitive approach would support both sides of the debate.

Question 73

link cog approach to free will/determinism

Answer 73

The free will-determinism debate considers the role of choice within our human experiences. The cognitive approach is founded on soft determinism – it recognises that our cognitive system can only operate within the limits of what we know, but we are free to think before we respond to stimuli. This is a more reasonable ‘interactionist’ position than the hard determinism suggested by some other approaches.

Question 74

assumptions of the bio approach

Answer 74

• The biological approach believes that all that is psychological is first physiological and so to understand human behaviour must look at biological processes and structures such as genes, neurochemistry and the brain. Therefore, all thoughts, feelings and behaviour have a physical basis.
• The biological approach draws on concepts from the hard sciences and research tends to be highly scientific in nature e.g., laboratory experiments, twin studies, drug trials and brain scans.

Question 75

genetic basis of behaviour

bio approach

Answer 75

Psychologists are interested in trying to determine and provide evidence for the extent to which behaviours/characteristics such as intelligence, personality and mental disorders are the product of inheritance (genes) or whether they are due to environmental influences.
Biological psychologists believe that the genes an individual possess determine behaviours and characteristic

Question 76

what is a genotype

Answer 76

genotype is an individual’s actual genetic make-up, which occurs at conception and provides the genetic code for how that individual will develop. The genotype dictates characteristics such as eye and hair colour.

Question 77

what is a phenotype

Answer 77

phenotype of an individual is the product of what happens when the genotype interacts with the environment. It is the way the genes are expressed. For example, expressed themselves (phenotype) is different. For example, an individual may have a genetic predisposition to a behaviour that may not present itself due to the environment. E.g., a person might have a genotype that includes a gene that encodes for schizophrenia but whether or not they actually go on to develop schizophrenia might depend on exposure to stresses in the environment.

Question 78

evolution and behaviour

bio apprach

Answer 78

A key principle of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. The main principle of this theory is that any genetically determined behaviour that enhances an individuals survival (and reproduction) will continue in future generations - be naturally selected.
Biological psychologists would argue certain human
behaviours and physical characteristics exist
because they are adaptive (aid survival).
* Examples of Evolutionary Explanations
* An example, of behaviour of evolutionary explanation is Bowlby’s theory of attachment. Bowlby stated that attachment is an innate system that gives a survival advantage.
* Evolutionary factors have been emphasised as factors that may play a role in phobias. According to the ‘preparedness’ argument by Seligman (1971) phobias are adaptive because they are a fear of things that would have been of danger in our evolutionary past.

Question 79

The influence of Biological Structures on behaviour

Answer 79

One-way Biological psychologists explain behaviour by trying to relate it to the functioning of the brain.

Interactions between regions of the brain help to control different functions, which biological psychologists assume to be significant in determining our actions. The brain can be subdivided into many different areas and structures. Different brain areas are responsible for different types of thinking or behaviour and how they connect with other functions and brain areas.

Question 80

The influence of Neurochemistry on behaviour:

Answer 80

Neurochemistry is the biochemistry of the central nervous system. Chemicals in the brain are called neurotransmitters and are seen to be important by biological psychologists as they are thought to affect behaviour.

Question 81

practical appliocation of bio approach

Answer 81

One strength of the biological approach is that it has a number of real-life applications. This is because research into the effects of neurotransmitters on brain activity has led to the development of drugs to treat mental health issues such as SSRIs in the treatment of depression and OCD and Anti-psychotics for Schizophrenia. This matters because it has helped many sufferers of disorders help to manage their conditions and can contribute to the economy by meaning that individuals may not need to stay in hospital care and can go home to their families.

Question 82

scientific credibility of bio approach

Answer 82

The Biological Approach uses precise and highly controlled scientific methods. This includes brain scans, twin studies, laboratory experiments and twin studies. This means that the approach is based on reliable data, enhancing the credibility of the approach.

However, the scientific status of the approach can be questioned as it is difficult to establish cause and effect between physiological processes and behaviour because much of the research is correlational. For example, OCD is correlated with lower levels of serotonin. It may well be that OCD causes lower levels of serotonin but it could be that the OCD behaviours and thought patterns lower levels of serotonin.

Question 83

incomplete explantion of bio approach

Answer 83

The biological approach focuses on biological influences on behaviour such as genes and neurotransmitters and thus only considers the role of nature. The approach is often questioned because it ignores the influence of environmental factors on behaviour such as childhood experiences and social and cultural factors.

Question 84

Free will-Determinism debate bio approach

Answer 84

The free will-determinism debate considers the role of choice within our human experiences. The biological approach is founded on hard determinism – which suggests that free will is not possible because all of our thoughts and actions are determined by internal influences e.g. genes, brain structures and neurochemistry.

Question 85

assumption of psychodynamic approach

Answer 85

• Psychodynamic psychologists assume that our behaviour is determined by unconscious forces of which we are unaware.
• Most particularly, it is the way we are treated by our parents as children that shapes our adult behaviour and personality.

Question 86

role of the unconscious

psycho approach

Answer 86

Freud suggested that the part of the mind we are aware of (the conscious mind) is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’. Most of our mind is made up of the unconscious which we are not consciously aware of. This houses our biological drives and instincts and also threatening or disturbing memories that have been repressed, or locked away and forgotten.
Sometimes we get a glimpse of things hidden within the unconscious mind through slips of the tongue called parapraxes (‘Freudian slips’), creativity (e.g. art) and in neurotic symptoms such as anxiety.

Question 87

3 components of personality

psycho approach

Answer 87

1. the ID
2. the ego
3. the super ego

Question 88

descriptive of all aspects of personlaity

psycho approach

Answer 88

• The Id is the primitive part of our personality. It operates on the** pleasure principle and is made up of our unconscious drives and instincts**. The id is the only part of the personality present at birth (Freud described babies as ‘bundles of id’). The id is the selfish part of our personality that demands immediate gratification.
• The Ego works on the reality principle and mediates between the other parts of the personality. It develops around the* age of 2* and its role is to reduce conflict between the id and the superego. It does this by using defence mechanisms.
• The superego is formed at around the age of 5 and is our internalised sense of right and wrong. It works on the **morality principle **and is based on the moral standards of the child’s same-sex parent. It punishes the ego for wrong doing through guilt.

Question 89

what are defence mechanisms

psycho approach

Answer 89

The role of defence mechanism is to help the Ego balance the conflicting demands of the Id and Superego.
These mechanisms are unconscious and act to reduce anxiety and prevent the Ego from being overwhelmed by traumas, threats or guilt

Question 90

the 3 defence mechanisms

psycho approach

Answer 90

repression
denial
displacememt

Question 91

what is repression

Answer 91

forcing a distressing memory into the unconscious mind to protect the conscious from fear or anxiety

Question 92

what is denial

Answer 92

refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

Question 93

what is displacement

Answer 93

transferring distressing emotions from the true source onto a substitute target

Question 94

what are the psychosexual stages

definition

Answer 94

Freud claimed that child development occurred in five stages. Each stage (apart from the latency stage) is associated with a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress successfully onto the next stage. Any conflicts that are unresolved leads to fixation where the child is ‘stuck’ at a stage and this leads to behaviours associated with this stage being carried on into adulthood

Question 95

what are the psychosexual stages

order

Answer 95

1. oral : 0-1yes
2. anal : 1-3yrs
3. phallic : 3-5yrs
4. latency : 6-puberty
5. genital : from puberty

Question 96

when is the oral stage

Answer 96

0-1yrs

Question 97

when is the anal stage

Answer 97

1-3yrs

Question 98

when is the phallic stage

Answer 98

3-5yrs

Question 99

when is the latency stage

Answer 99

6yrs- puberty

Question 100

when is the genital stage

Answer 100

from puberty

Question 101

what is the oral stage

Answer 101

• The id’s demands are oral, or mouth orientated, such as sucking, biting, and breastfeeding.
• Conflicts in this stage can lead to oral fixation. Too little oral stimulation can lead to oral deprivation and adults may try to make up for this by smoking, biting nails or being sarcastic and critical. Too much oral stimulation can lead to being orally over-indulged where people typically are very talkative, have a tendency to overeating and drinking, and are gullible and optimistic

Question 102

what is the anal stage

Answer 102

• Pleasure is now focused on the anus and the child derives great pleasure from withholding and/or expelling faeces. There is conflict with the parents over where and when a child can go to the toilet.
• Early or harsh potty training leads to an anal-retentive personality who hates mess and is obsessively tidy and punctual.
• Potty training which is too liberal leads to an anal-expulsive personality who is messy, disorganised and rebellious.

Question 103

what is the phallic stage

Answer 103

• Focus of pleasure moves to the genitals. The child experiences the Oedipus (boys) or the Electra complex (girls).
• Boys develop sexual feelings towards his mother and hatred towards his father. Fearing that their father will castrate them as punishment (castration anxiety) they repress their feelings for their mother and identify with their father, taking on his moral values (superego develops)
• Girls desire their father and hate their mother. They experience penis envy and resolve this by identifying with their mother and replacing their desire for a penis with the desire to have a baby.

Question 104

what is the latency stage

Answer 104

Sexual impulses are repressed. The mind becomes focused on peer relationships, social and communication skills and self-confidence.

Question 105

what is the gential stage

Answer 105

• Sexual desires become conscious
• Fixation in earlier stages could lead to difficulty forming sexual relationships or sexual perversion.

Question 106

Supporting evidence for displacement and the Oedipus complex

Answer 106

Hans was a four year old boy who developed a severe phobia of horses, especially white horses with a noseband and blinkers. Freud suggested that Hans’s phobia was an example, of displacement. His repressed fear of his father was displaced onto horses. The noseband represented his dad’s moustache and the blinkers symbolised his glasses. By the time he was 5, his phobia had lessened. Freud said this showed he had successfully resolved his Oedipus complex by identifying with his father.

Question 107

supporting evidence for repression

Answer 107

Williams (1994) studied 129 adults who had been treated for sexual abuse as a child aged 10 months to 12 years in a large city hospital. The interviews were conducted about 17 years later after all had reached adulthood. 12% said that they had no memories of childhood sexual abuse and 38% said they did not recall the incident that brought them to the hospital, suggesting they had repressed the traumatic memories

Question 108

practical application of psychodynamic approach

Answer 108

The psychodynamic approach has led to the development of psychoanalysis. This therapy employs a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious mind, such as hypnosis and dream analysis. Psychoanalysis have been proven to be able to successfully treat patients with mild neuroses, however it has been criticised as inappropriate or even harmful for people suffering more serious disorders such as schizophrenia.

Question 109

scientific credibility - psycho approach

Answer 109

Freud relied heavily on the case study method. His theory was based on the intensive study of individuals (e.g. Little Hans). Critics say it is not possible to make universal generalisations about human nature based on such a small number of individuals.

Freudian concepts are untestable and his theory lacks scientific rigour as it not able to be falsified through empirical testing and is unable to be disproved. Anything that is said to be in the unconscious mind (e.g. the id or the Oedipus complex) are impossible to test.

Question 110

psycho approach - free will vs determinism

Answer 110

Freud’s theory is an example, of psychic determinism. Our behaviour is controlled by unconscious urges and childhood experiences determine adult personality.

Question 111

psycho approach - nature vs nurture

Answer 111

: Freud’s theory includes references to both nature and nurture. He believes our behaviour is driven by biological forces from the ID (e.g., sexual and aggressive urges). However, he also emphasises the importance of a child’s relationship with his/her parents in influencing development.

Question 112

overall : humanistic approach

Answer 112

Humanistic psychology emerged in the 1960s and is based on the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Rogers felt that Freud had dealt with the ‘sick half’ of psychology, and concerned himself with explaining ‘healthy’ growth and development in individuals.

Question 113

assumptions of humanistic approach

Answer 113

• Humanistic psychologists start from the assumption that every person has their own unique way of perceiving and understanding the world and that the things they do only make sense in this light.
• As a result, they reject the objective scientific method as a way of studying people and reject establishing general laws/principles.

Question 114

Self-actualisation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Answer 114

Every human has an innate tendency to achieve their full potential and to become the best they can possibly be. Self-actualisation represents the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. All four lower levels of the hierarchy have to be met before the individual can achieve self-actualisation and fulfil their potential.
Humanistic psychologists regard personal growth as an essential part of being human. This is when we develop and change as a person to become fulfilled and satisfied. Not everyone will manage this and there are psychological barriers that could prevent a person from reaching their potential.

Question 115

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

order

Answer 115

1. self actualisation
2. esteem
3. love/belomging
4. safety
5. physiological

Question 116

the self [rogers]

humanistic approach

Answer 116

Rogers states that to be a healthy individual we need to have congruence (agreement) between the way we see ourselves (our self), and the person we want to be (our ideal self)
If there is a big gap between our self and our ideal self, then we will not be able to self-actualise. This gap leads to a feeling of incongruence where we will have low self-esteem because of this gap.
We are in a state of congruence when our self is closely matched with our ideal self. This makes us more likely to self-actualise and have good self esteem.

Question 117

conditions of worth

humanistic approach

Answer 117

Rogers argued that many of the problems people had in their lives came from being in a state of incongruence, where as adults we may feel worthless and have low self-esteem because of the gap between who we want to be and who we feel we are, meaning individuals cannot self-actualise. He felt that many of these problems had their root in childhood, where due to a lack of unconditional positive regard (or love) from parents we will develop these negative views of ourselves. This lack of unconditional positive regard is characterised by parents who put conditions on their love for us (“I will only love you if…”). These are called conditions of worth

Question 118

rogers on CCT

key concepts

Answer 118

• The focus is on helping the client to feel more confident and self-accepting, and reduce the level of incongruence between their self-concept and their ideal self.
• It is non-directive and tries to avoid power relationships, doesn’t call the client a ‘patient’, no pretence of being an ‘expert’
• No interpretations, no challenges. The client has the answers and the role of the therapist is to facilitate the client’s own understanding of their needs.
• Based on organismic valuing; the client knows best what is the right course of action for them and can solve their own problems

Question 119

supporting evidence for humanistic approach

Answer 119

There is evidence to support the effectiveness of humanistic therapy. Rogers recorded and analysed his therapy sessions using content and thematic analysis and found that as therapy progressed clients made more ‘statements of understanding and insight’ demonstrating that the therapy was having the desired effect.

Question 120

practical application of humanistic approach

Answer 120

The work of the humanistic approach has been very influential in regards to the development of client centred therapy. Additionally, Maslow’s ideas have been very influential in business and management because it became recognised that if employers provided food, friendships and social relationships and healthy activities as well as the opportunity for educational development, this in turn would mean their employees would become more productive at higher levels of functioning at work. This is a strength because it demonstrates that Humanistic ideas have been influential in helping individuals and may also benefit the economy.

Question 121

scientific credibility of humanistic approach

Answer 121

Concepts such self-actualisation and congruence are subjective and difficult to observe and measure under scientific conditions. The aim of client-centred therapy is to increase self-understanding, and this is also not an easy thing to measure. Therefore, the approach can be criticised for lacking scientific credibility.

Question 122

humanistic approach on Reductionism Vs Holism:

links to issues/debate

Answer 122

Humanist psychologists reject reductionism meaning that they reject any attempt to break up behaviour and into smaller components. This is in contrast to approaches such as the biological approach which reduces behaviour down to factors such as genetics. Humanists argue that subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person and their unique experiences and interactions which is known as holism. Thus, being a strength of the approach because the view of holism is more valid due to it considering meaningful human behaviour within a real-life context.

Question 123

humanistic approach on nature vs nurture

links to issues/debate

Answer 123

The humanistic approach considers both nature and nurture. The tendency to work towards self-actualisation is innate. However, factors in the person’s environment are also important such as conditions of worth from parents.

Question 124

humanistic approach on culture bias

links to issues/debate

Answer 124

The focus on self-actualisation would be seen as signs of healthy development by people from individualistic cultures, but would not be seen in the same way by collectivist cultures where the focus is on the needs of the community and as a goal to work towards.