Approaches Flashcards
Outline the origins of psychology timeline
1879:
-Wundt opened first experimental psychology lab
-before this, psychology was only regarded as an experimental branch within philosophy
1900:
-Freud established psychodynamic approach
-highlighted importance of unconscious mind on behaviour
-developed his own therapy called psychoanalysis
1913:
–Watson and Skinner established behaviourist approach
-criticised Freud and Wundt, arguing that true scientific psychology should restrict itself to studying directly observable and measurable phenomena
-believed all behaviour is learnt
1950s:
-Rogers and Maslow developed humanistic approach
-rejected psychodynamic and behaviourist approaches
-emphasised importance of free will by trying to understand the whole person
1960s:
-cognitive approach emerged with the introduction of the computer
-study of mental processes
-cognitive psychologists believe that we can make inferences about how the mind works based on results from laboratory experiments
1980s:
-biological approach became the most dominant approach
-due to advances in psychology (e.g. brain scans = increased understanding of human brain)
2000:
-cognitive neuroscience has emerged in the forefront of psychology
-brings together biological and cognitive approaches
-investigates how biological structures influences mental states
significance of Wilhelm Wundt and introspection
Possible content:
-Wundt founded the Institute of Experimental Psychology -Wundt published one of the first books on psychology, helping to establish the subject as an independent branch of science
-description of Wundt’s approach – structuralism
-the use of the scientific method to study the structure of sensation and perception * the use of introspection in controlled studies * use of controlled environments to establish general theories about mental processes
-Wundt’s identification of higher mental processes (learning, language, emotions, etc.) that could not be studied in a strictly controlled manner * the development of the field of cultural psychology based on general trends in behaviour of groups of people.
Evaluate introspection, including Wundt’s role in the emergence of psychology as a science
-discussion of the subjectivity of Wundt’s methods in contrast to the objectivity of the scientific process and the difficulty modern psychologists have trying to objectively study unobservable matter
-introspective methods were not reliably reproduced/Wundt’s difficulty with replication due to subjectivity * focus on mental processes through introspection can be seen as a forerunner of the cognitive approach *
-discussion of the validity of introspection – many aspects of our minds are outside of our conscious awareness, eg research by Nisbett & Wilson, 1977; however, it is still sometimes used in modern scientific psychological research, eg Csikszentmihalyi & Hunter, 2003
greater contributions to the development of psychology by early behaviourists, eg Pavlov, than by Wundt, as they produced reliable findings with explanatory principles that were generalisable – much more in keeping with the scientific approach.
What are the key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
psychologists should only study observable, quantifiable behaviour
–all behaviour is learned
-humans are no different to animals ad should not be regarded as more complex
-research on animal behaviour is directly relevant to humans
Explain what classical conditioning is, in terms of Ivan Pavlov’s method
-type of learning in which an existing involuntary reflex is associated with a new stimulus
-tested theory using dogs
-conditioned dogs to associate the sound of ball (neutral stimulus) with food (unconditioned stimulus)
-led to dogs producing a salivation response (conditioned response) at the sound of a ball (conditioned stimulus)
-was seen even in the absence of food
-therefore, repeated exposure to an event leads to a learned and uncontrollable behaviour
-can be used to explain how phobias are acquired and how attachments develop
Explain operant conditioning in terms of Skinner’s research. Include the different types of reinforcement
-learning through the consequences of our actions
-3 types of reinforcement affect behaviour
-positive reinforcement: behaviour followed by reward is likely to be repeated
-negative reinforcement: behaviour followed by removal of adverse consequence it is likely to be repeated
-punishment: behaviour followed by unpleasant consequence is less likely to be repeated
-Skinner created the Skinner box to examine operant conditioning in rats/pigeons
-animal would move around cage
-when it pressed the lever by accident, it would be rewarded with food pellet
-animal learned through positive reinforcement that pressing lever will give it food
-hence learnt a new voluntary behaviour that is repeated to receive reward again
evaluate the behaviourist approach
Strength - significant contributions to the emerging recognition of psychology as a science
-experimental methods used by Pavlov and Skinner rejected the earlier emphasis in psychology on introspection
-encouraged research that focused on more objective dimensions of behaviour
-According to behaviourists, this emphasis on the scientific method has led to an increasingly valid and reliable understanding of human behaviour
-these methods have also helped psychology gain credibility and status as a scientific discipline
-hence attracts more funding and research opportunities.
Strength - behaviourists were influential in encouraging the use of animals as research subjects
-they believed that the learning processes in humans and animals are very similar
-consequently, Pavlov conducted research using dogs, and Skinner used rats and pigeons
-furthermore, using non-human animals in research gives experimenters more control over the process, without demand characteristics or individual differences influencing findings
-however, many consider using animals in experiments to be unethical as there is less concern about protection from harm for non-human subjects
-furthermore, some argue that findings from animal experiments are not generalisable to human behaviour
-Skinner’s operant conditioning theory may provide an understanding of rat behaviour, but little about human behaviour.
Strength - important contributions to our modern understanding of human mental illness
-e.g. many phobias are thought to be the result of earlier unpleasant learning experiences
-consequently, this understanding has helped psychologists develop therapies, such as systematic desensitisation, that attempt to re-condition a patient’s fear response
-furthermore, some addictions such as gambling can be better understood through operant conditioning
-e.g. the rewards of gambling could be seen to reinforce the destructive behaviour
-demonstrates that the behaviourist approach has many real-world applications in the understanding and treatment of atypical behaviour
Limitation - criticised for its limited view regarding the origins of behaviour
-ignores alternative levels of explanation including the role of cognition and emotional factors in influencing behaviour
-however, Skinner countered this argument
-stated that for behaviour to be investigated scientifically, it had to be directly measurable and observable, which cognitions are not
-furthermore, he said that even the most complex of human interactions could be explained using operant conditioning principles of learning by the consequences of our actions to either repeat or cease the behaviour
Outline the psychodynamic approach: role of unconscious and structure of personality
-Sigmund Freud proposed the notion of the unconscious
-three main assumptions:
-personality (psyche) has ID, ego and superego
-it is constructed by the passage through psychosexual stages of development throughout infancy and adolescence
-unconscious conflicts in the psyche are mediated by processes called defence mechanisms
Role of the unconscious:
-according to the psychodynamic approach, there are vast parts of the mind that are inaccessible to conscious awareness
-traumatic events or childhood memories are repressed into the unconscious mind and kept hidden from conscious awareness
-however, psychodynamic theorists suggest that such events or memories are never truly forgotten
-can be explored through psychoanalysis
-unco can reveal itself in several ways including dreams, fantasies and slips of the tongue
Structure of the Personality:
ID:
-pure erotic energy
-is governed by the pleasure principle
-consists of primal urges
-seeks nothing but pleasure and instant gratification
-operates on instinct and is the part of the personality which is present at birth
Ego:
-governed by the reality principle
-tames the id and balances the demands of the superego
-ego is not present at birth
-arises in response to control by others, specifically parents during the anal stage of development at around two years old.
Superego:
-governed by the morality principal: our sense of right and wrong
-characterised by the ‘inner voice’ that tells us when we have crossed into the boundaries of unacceptable behaviour
-superego is the internalised parent
-develops in response to parental discipline around five years old
Outline defence mechanisms in the psychodynamic approach
Repression occurs when a traumatic or distressing memory is forced out of conscious awareness and into the unconscious mind.
Denial involves a refusal to accept truth or reality of situation, acting as if nothing distressing has happened
Displacement is when the feelings towards a target individual cannot be expressed directlv and are therefore transferred onto someone/something else
Outline the psychosexual stages
Oral:
-0-2 years
-focus is mouth
-infant experiences pleasure through sucking and biting
-unresolved conflict = oral fixation: might engage in behaviours like smoking, nail-biting, etc.
Anal:
-2-3 years
-focus is anus
-child becomes aware that they must undergo potty training to control their bowel movements
-Ego develops in this stage
-unresolved conflict = anal fixation:
1) Anal retentive:
-might become an obsessive perfectionist
2) Anal expulsive:
-might be messy and thoughtless.
Phallic:
-3-6 years
-focus is genitals
-infant boys must overcome their unconscious sexual desire for their mother by identifying with their father. It is during this stage that the Superego develops.
Latent:
-6-puberty
-focus is hidden
-sexual energy which has driven the previous stages now becomes latent
-allows individual to focus on the world around them and form friendships
Genital:
-puberty+
-focus is forming heterosexual relationships
-psychosexual energy takes residence in the genitals, to be directed towards formation of adult relationships
Evaluate the psychodynamic approach
Strength - highly influential in both the practice of psychology and in our understanding of how culture operates
-evidence for these ideas is almost entirely clinical rather than empirical
-its scientific credibility is questionable
-but few would deny that there are, in fact, unconscious motives and demonstrable defence mechanisms
-these existential realities have allowed Freudian theory to maintain some hold on psychotherapeutic techniques, like psychoanalysis
-which is still used to treat patients with deep-seated psychological health issues today
Strength - research support for effectiveness of psychoanalysis
-Biskup et al. (2005) reported a naturalistic study of 36 patients
-demonstrated that at the end of psychoanalytic therapy, 77% of the patients showed clinically significant improvements
-Furthermore, Bachrach et al. (2000) conducted meta-analysis of every major study of the effectiveness of choanalytic treatment
-found that all studies show that psychoanalysis is an effective treatment for many patients
-suggests that despite a lack of empirical support for psychodynamic theories, psychodynamic treatments (e.g. psychoanalysis) are effective at treating a range of psychological disorders
Limitation - Freud’s ideas demonstrate a significant gender bias
-his obsession with the Oedipus complex is intensely androcentric
-many would claim this makes them irrelevant to an understanding of women
-however, female psychoanalysts like Melanie Klein have shown that even gender-biased theories can be adapted to provide useful insights into female behaviour
-hence, while demonstrate a significant gender bias, his work has been used to develop important and influential theories that apply to women
Limitation - psychoanalytic theory has been criticised for being culturally biased
-all of Fred’s patients came from the Viennese middle-class
-his universal generalisations were based on this highly unrepresentative sample
-there is considerable evidence to suggest that it is only suitable for cultures where the discussion of personal problems is encouraged
-casts doubt on the effectiveness of any therapeutic approach, for other cultures, based on psychoanalytic ideas
-furthermore, mostly uses case studies
-does not use controlled experiments to collect empirical evidence
-hence considered far less scientific than other approaches.
Limitation - suffers from psychic determinism
-suggests that human behaviour is governed by unconscious drives and early traumatic childhood experiences which are repressed into the unconscious mind
-hence suggests an individual does not have free will over their behaviour
-furthermore, it lacks falsifiability
-e.g. if male individual refutes the idea that he will have gone through this stage of psychosexual development in his youth, psychodynamic theorists would counter this with the supposition that they were in denial
-lacks scientific credibility since the initial claim cannot be refuted
Limitation - not empirically testable
-e.g. the human mind cannot be dissected to reveal the id, ego and superego
-therefore is not scientific in its approach to explaining human behaviour
-as the understanding of behaviour relies solely on the subjective interpretation of the psychoanalyst
Outline the Oedipus / Electra complex
Oedipus complex
-boys desire closeness with mother
-father is a rival who the boy wants out of the way
-boys fear that father will castrate them (castration anxiety)
-to reduce anxiety boys use defence mechanisms and identify with their father
-reduces threat and the boy internalises male characteristics and comes out of the Oedipus complex
Electra complex
-girls desire closeness with the opposite sex parent i.e. their father
-girls do not fear their mother as they believe that they have already been castrated
-instead they experience penis-envy
-girls fear losing their mother’s love
-to reduce anxiety girls identify with their mother
-reduces the threat and girls internalise female characteristics and come out of the Electra complex
Outline the humanistic approach, including Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943)
-assumes that every individual can assert free will and have a choice in how they behave
-means that everyone can consciously control and influence their own personal destiny, even within the constraints that exist in life from outside forces
Hierarchy (ascending order):
Physiological needs:
-food, breathing, sleep, homeostasis
Safety and security:
-house, employment, family, health, morality
Love and belonging:
-friendship, family, sense of connection
Self esteem:
-confidence, achievement, respect for others
Self-actualisation:
-creativity, acceptance of facts, lack of prejudice
-provides the possibility of true self-awareness and an honest relationship with the realities of an imperfect world
Evaluate the humanistic approach
Strength - has had a major influence on psychological counselling
-contemporary therapists use Rogers’ ideas of unconditional positive regard and help clients work toward self-awareness
-makes it a useful theory with real-world applications
-impossible to imagine modern client-centred therapy without its insights and techniques.
Limitation - evidence for existence of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is empirically thin
-however, is to be expected from an approach that disputes the validity of empirical research
-there is some validation provided by clinical data, with some surprising confirmation from the realm of management studies (Maslow, 1965; Rogers and Roethlisberger, 1982)
-however, the theoretical emphasis on individual achievement raises significant concerns about possible cultural bias
-as this is not desirable in every culture
-may only be a feature of Westernised or individualistic nations
Limitation - hard to scientifically test the effectiveness of humanistic counselling
-as it can’t be done in an experimental context
-people believe they benefit from counselling
-there is considerable empirical evidence available to support the effectiveness of counselling methods derived from Rogers’ model, like CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy)
-however a cause-effect relationship cannot be established between the treatment and outcome
-hence lacks scientific certainty about the validity of the theory
Limitation - criticised for offering an unrealistic view of human nature
-psychologists point to the more sinister aspects of human behaviour and argue that the humanistic approach focuses on
‘growth-orientated’ behaviour whilst ignoring an individual’s capacity for self-destruction
-consequently, it is argued that the focus on self-development overlooks possible situational forces that may provide a more realistic explanation of everyday human behaviour
Issues and Debates
Strength - idiographic approach
-focuses on subjective human experience whilst making no attempts to generate universal laws
-holistic stance compared to other approaches
-furthermore, concept of free will is central to humanistic thinking
-advocates of this approach believe that behaviour is a choice, rather than determined by outside forces
-hence an individual can directly control and influence their own destiny
Outline the Social Learning Theory and the study associated with it
-learning is a social phenomenon
-occurs through the observation and imitation of behaviour performed by role models, who model behaviour in a social environment
-SLT recognises the importance of cognitive processes - mediational processes
-rejects notion that learning is purely the outcome of a stimulus-response loop
-if the person observing the behaviour sees the person as a ‘role model’, they will identify with them
-identification: person associates with the qualities, characteristics and views of role models, to become more like that person
-Shutts et al. (2010) suggests that for children, the age and gender similarity to models is an important determinant of imitation
-this cognitive appraisal process clearly distinguishes SLT from the more deterministic behaviourist approach.
-SLT is defined by four distinct mediational processes: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation
-if these factors are implemented, imitation (i.e. copying of what has been observed) can take place
-if the observed behaviour is rewarded, imitation is more likely
-This learning from the observation of others is what Bandura called vicarious reinforcement
Bandura, Ross & Ross (1961) - The Bobo Doll Experiment
Aim: To investigate whether aggression can be learned through social learning theory principles.
Method: 72 children (36 male and 36 female) aged between 3 and 6 years old were put into one of three groups for 10 minutes:
1) Aggressive model:
-child played in room while an adult hit and shouted at a “Bobo doll”: a plastic inflatable toy doll which was heavy at the bottom and wobbled when hit
-further sub-divided by the gender of the child and the adult model, creating four conditions:
-male child, male role-model
-male child, female role-model
-female child, male role-model
-female child, female role-model
2) Non aggressive model:
-child played in room while an adult played quietly
-group was further sub-divided once again by gender of the child and the adult model, creating another four conditions
3) Control group - the child did not see a model.
-the children were deliberately frustrated by being taken into another room where they were told that they could not play with any toys
-then, they were placed alone in a room with a range of aggressive toys (mallet, gun) and non-aggressive toys (dolls, crayons) and the Bobo doll for twenty minutes whilst being observed.
Results:
-children who saw the aggressive model produced more aggressive acts than those in either of the other two groups
-boys imitated same-sex models more than girls
-girls imitated more physical aggression if they saw male models, and more verbal aggression if they saw female models
Conclusion: Aggressive behaviour can be learned, in children, through observation and imitation of a model.
