Approaches Flashcards
Describe and evaluate the Behaviourist approach (Supporting evidence)
P - There is supporting evidence to support the behaviourist approach.
E - Pavlov’s research shows dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell.
E - Skinner’s research showed rats could be conditioned to press a lever for food.
L- Therefore, these studies show behaviour is learnt through classical and operant conditioning.
Describe and evaluate the Behaviourist approach (Critique)
P - Research into the behaviourist approach can be seen as unethical.
E - In Pavlov’s study the dogs salivary duct was moved to the outside of the mouth to measure the amount of saliva without bias.
E - In Skinner’s study the rats were given electric shocks to investigate the influence of punishment.
L - This harm may have affected how they reacted to the experiments therefore reducing the internal validity of these studies.
Describe and evaluate the Behaviourist approach (Opposing Research)
P - There is opposing research to the behaviourist approach by Bandura.
E - He recorded the behaviour of children who watched an adult behave in an aggressive way to a Bobo doll.
E - When the children were observed in the same situation after they behaved much more aggressively that those who observed a non–aggressive adult.
L - Therefore, this research shows that people learn through observation and imitation which is a problem for the behaviourist approach which only assumes that we learn through direct experience.
Describe and evaluate the Behaviourist approach (Different explanation)
P - The Behaviourist approach can’t explain the fact that some people have phobias of objects they have had no direct experience with.
E - The evolutionary response argues we have an innate fear of animals that are a source of danger.
E - People who feared things in the past were more likely to survive, which meant they could reproduce and pass on their genes.
L - Therefore, this shows that the Behaviourist approach is an incomplete explanation of behaviour.
Describe and evaluate the Behaviourist approach (Application)
P - One strength of the Beh approach is that it has led to practical applications of treatment.
E - For example, aversion therapy is used to treat substance abuse using principles of classical conditioning.
E - This is when you pair alcohol with an emetic, over time alcohol produces a response of sickness.
L - The success of this treatment reinforces the claim that behaviour is learnt through classical conditioning.
Describe and evaluate the behaviourist approach (Determinism).
P - One strength of the Beh approach is that it is deterministic.
E - This is because they see behaviour as determined by features of the environment such as systems of rewards and punishment.
E - This is a strength because we are able to predict and control human behaviour, this has led to the development of treatments.
L - However, this is a limitation as it is not consistent with the way our legal system operates.
Describe and evaluate the Behaviourist approach (Objective)
P - One strength of the beh approach is that it is objective.
E - This is because it only focuses on human behaviour that is observable for example in Skinner’s research the time between pressing the lever was measured.
E - This is a strength as it allows behaviour to be seen and measured without bias.
L - However, this is a limitation as the role of any variables which can’t be measured objectively aren’t investigated.
Describe and evaluate the SLT (Supporting evidence)
P - There is experimental evidence to support the SLT.
E - He recorded the behaviour of children who watched an adult behave in an aggressive way to a Bobo doll.
E - When the children were observed in the same situation after they behaved much more aggressively that those who observed a non–aggressive adult.
L - This shows that people learn through observation and imitation of others.
Describe and evaluate the SLT (Critique)
P -Many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through observations of young children in lab settings.
E - Lab studies are often criticised as participants may respond to demand characteristics.
E - For example, in the Bobo doll study children were simply behaving in a way they thought was expected by attacking the doll.
L - Therefore this research may not show us children’s behaviour in real life.
Describe and evaluate the SLT (Opposing research)
P - Opposing research to the SLT comes from the biological approach.
E - Poll (1988) showed that female rats who had been injected testosterone became more physically and sexually aggressive.
E - The reason boys were more aggressive than girls in the Bandura study therefore may be explained in difference in levels of testosterone.
L - This is a problem for the SLT as this important influence on behaviour is not accounted for.
Describe and evaluate the SLT (Different explanation)
P - One strength of the SLT is that it acknowledges the internal mental processes through mediational processes unlike the behaviourists.
E - This is a strength as we can only fully understand behaviour if we acknowledge internal experiences.
E - However SLT does not test these scientifically.
L - Therefore the cognitive approach can be seen as a more credible explanation as subjective content is tested with objective methods such as experience.
Describe and evaluate the SLT (Applications)
P - The SLT can be used to explain behaviours such as alcohol experimentation.
E - For example, a teenage girl starts drinking because she observed her female friend, therefore being vicariously reinforced.
E - She imitates the behaviour as she identifies with her friend and expects the same reinforcement (status).
L - This illustrates learning indirectly in a real life setting.
Describe and evaluate the cognitive approach (Supporting evidence)
P - There is supporting evidence for the cognitive approach.
E - For example, Murdock showed that participants remember words at the end of the list as these are still stored in the STM and words at the start as these have been rehearsed and transferred to the LTM.
E - Also Bartlett showed that participants changed material in a story to make it more consistent with their schema, e.g. canoes became boats.
L - These studies show that mental processes mediate between stimulus and response.
Describe and evaluate the cognitive approach (Critique)
P - Many studies in cognitive research tent to use tasks that have little in common with participants every day lives.
E - For example, memory experiments use artificial test materials that are meaningless in everyday lives e.g. word lists.
E - As a result, it is difficult to generalise their findings to everyday life.
L - Therefore, most cognitive research is lacking ecological validity.
Describe and evaluate the cognitive approach (Opposing research)
P- There is opposing research to the computer metaphor that demonstrates that unlike computers humans are influenced by motivation and expectations.
E - Nesberb found that that the longer people go without food the higher they rate photos of food demonstrating humans are influenced by hunger.
E - Research also shows that humans make perceptual errors, for example, many people only recall 3 F’s when reading a passage rather that 6 F’s as they overlook the small words.
L - This suggests that computer models are not accurate representations of the human mind.
Describe and evaluate the cognitive approach (Different explanation)
P - Originally the cog approach made little reference to biological impact on human behaviour.
E - Cognitive neuroscience arose after biological criticisms of the cog approach.
E - The cog approach is now able to establish the neurological basis of mental processes and mental disorders.
L - Therefore it is better able to explain conditions such as OCD.
Describe and evaluate the cognitive approach (Applications)
P - A strength of the cog approach is that it has led to the development of cognitive behavioural therapy.
E - CBT aims to change a persons thoughts so their behaviour changes.
E - CBT has been used to treat mood disorders and substance abuse improving the lives of the sufferers.
L - The success of CBT reinforces that their is cognitive basis to behaviour.
Describe and evaluate the Psychodynamic approach (Supporting evidence)
P - There is supporting evidence for the psychodynamic approach.
E - Little Hans demonstrated the existence of the Oedipus complex as during the phallic stage Little Hans displaced his fear of his father onto a horse.
E - Anna O showed the use of the ego defence mechanism as she forgot about the snake biting her father, when it was recalled her arm paralysis disappeared.
L - This demonstrates the existence of some of Freud’s main concepts.
Describe and evaluate the Psychodynamic approach (Critique - Sample)
P - Freud used an unrepresentative sample in his research therefore making his theory difficult to apply to all.
E - The sample he used consisted largely of Vietnamese women seeking analysis for neurosis.
E - Freud attempted to validate his work using triangulation, interviewed family members, doctors and spouses.
L - Therefore criticisms of sampling bias may be over emphasises which may have been why Freud believed his theories were generalisable.
Describe and evaluate the Psychodynamic approach (Critique - Untestable Concepts)
P - It is difficult to demonstrate the existence of many Freudian concepts.
E - For example, the ego is a concept that defies empirical measurement.
E - Also libido energy, ego defences and the id occur at an unconscious level making it difficult to test.
L - As a result the psychodynamic theory does not meet scientific criterion, therefore giving it the status of pseudoscience.
Describe and evaluate the Psychodynamic approach (Application)
P - This approach as therapeutic applications, psychoanalysis aims to cure mental disorders by making the unconscious conscious.
E - One way this is done is through the ink blot test, different people see different things depending on unconscious connections they make.
E - Therapists also look out for Freudian slips, Freud believed these reveal our unconscious mind by saying something we didn’t mean to.
L - This is a strength as it has been used to treat anxiety disorders such as phobias, OCD and PTSD.
Describe and evaluate the Humanist approach (Supporting evidence)
P - There is supporting evidence that support Roger’s claim about negative implications of conditional positive regard.
E - Harter discovered that teenagers who feel that they have to fulfil certain conditions in order to gain parents approval frequently end up not liking themselves.
E - These teenagers were also more likely to develop depression and lose touch with their true self.
L - This research is therefore consistent with Rogers view
Describe and evaluate the Humanist approach (Critique)
P - One strength of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that it acknowledges why individuals experience different levels of personal growth.
E - It has also been linked to economic development for example, countries at early stage of economic development were more focused on self-actualisation.
E - However, not everyone’s motivation operates in strict trajectory for example, Van Gogh painted when poor and starving so basic needs were not met.
L - So self-actualisation are problematic to asses due to their subjective nature.
Describe and evaluate the Humanist approach (Opposing research)
P - There is opposing research for Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in cross-cultural studies.
E - For example, Nevis found that in China belongingness needs were seen as more fundamental than physiological needs.
E - Self-actualisation was also defined more in terms of contributions to the community than in terms of individual development.
L - However, Maslow did acknowledge that for some people needs may appear in a different order.
Describe and evaluate the Humanist approach (Different explanation)
P - A strength of the humanist approach is that it adopts a free will perspective on behaviour.
E - The value of this is that it is consistent with the way in which our legal system operates.
E - However, it is not consistent with the aims of science, casual conclusions can’t be drawn.
L - A better explanation is the cognitive approach as it adopts a soft determinism perspective, our ability to form schemas and the experiences we take in are determined however we think before we act.
Describe and evaluate the Humanist approach (Applications)
P - One strength of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is that it is applied in real life to increase employees motivation.
E - For example, in order to meet physiological needs employers provide employees with water fountains, lunch breaks even free lunch in some companies.
E - Employers also provide safe working conditions in order to meet employees safety needs.
L - This illustrates the importance of meeting deficiency needs in real life.
