APPROACHES Flashcards
strength of Wundt’s methods
some of his methods were scientific:
recorded introspections wihtin a controlled lab environment and also standardised procedures so all ppts. received the same info and were tested in the same way. Wundt’s research can be seen as a forerunner to the later scientific approaches
limitation of Wundt’s research
some of aspects of his reasearch weren’t scientific:
relied on ppts. self-reporting their ‘rpviate’ mental processes which is subjective and ppts may not have wanted to reveal some of the thoughts they were having. also they wouldn’t have had the same thoughts every time so establishing general principles wouldn’t have been possible. his early efforts were naive and wouldn’t meet the criteria for scientific enquiry
strength of pscyhology
research in modern psychology can claim to be scientific:
has the same aim as the natural sciences: to describe, understand, predict and control our world. learning, cognitive and biological approach all rely on the use of scientific methods e.g lab studies. throughout 20th century psychology ha established itself as a scienfic discipline
limitation of psychology
not all approaches use objective methods:
humanistic is anti-scientific and doesn’t attempt to formulae laws of general beh as only concerned with documenting unique subjective experience. psychodynamic approach makes use of case study method based on iterview techniques which are open to bias.
strengths of behaviourism
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gave psychology scientific credibility:
approach focused on the careful measurement of observable beh. within controlled lab settings. emphasised the importance of scientifc processes such as objectivity and replication. brought the language and methods of the natural sciences into psychology giving the subject greater credibility and status
laws developed have real-life application:
principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real-world problems and behaviours. token economy systems reward appropriate beh. with tokens that are exchanged for pirvileges (operant conditioning) and are successfully used in prisons and psychiatric wards. treatments like these are suitable for patients who lack ‘insight’ into their condition and are not capable of talking about their problems
limitations of behaviourism
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portrays a mechanistic view:
animals and human are seen as passive and machine-like responders to their enviro with little consciousinsight into their beh. other approaches e.g SLT and cognitive approach have placed more emphasis on the mental events that occur during learning. processes that mediate between stimulus and response suggest that humans play a much more active role in their own learning
form of environmental determinism:
sees all beh. as determined by past experineces that have been conditioned and ignores any influence that free will may have on beh. Skinner suggested that free will was an illusion and when something hapens we impose a sense of having made the decision but our past conditioning determined the outcome. extreme position and ignores influence of conscious decision-making processes on beh.
strengths of social learning theory
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emphasises importance of cognitive factors in learning:
neither classical nor operant conditioning can offer a comprehensive account of human learning as cognitive factors are omitted. humans and animals store info about the beh. of others and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions. SLT provides a more complete explanation of human learning than the beh. approach by recognising role of mediational processes
SLT can account for cultural differences in beh.:
principles can account for how children learn from other poeple arund them, as well as through the media and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted. proved useful in understanding a range of beh.s such as how children come to understand their gender by imitating role models. in contrast, biological explanation can only explain universal beh.s as human biological processes do not change with culture
limitations of the social learning theory
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relies too heavily on evidence from lab studies:
many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through observation of chidren’s beh. in lab settings and this raises problems of demand characteristics. also, main prupose of Bobo doll is to hit it so children may have beenbahvig as they thought was expected. research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life
understestimates influence of biologial factors:
consistent finding in Bobo doll experiments was that boys showed more aggression than girls regardless of the specifics of the experimental condition. may be explained by difference in testosterone which is present in greater quantities in boys and is linked to aggresion. means Bandura may have underplayed the important influence of biological factors on social learning
strengths of the cognitive approach
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uses scientific and objective methods:
cog psychologists have always employed controlled and rigorous methods of study e.g lab studies in order to infer cognitive processes at work. this has enabled the 2 fields of biology and cognitive psychology to come together as cognitive neuroscience. means that the study of the mind has established a credible, scientific basis
application to everyday life:
approach is dominant in psychology today and has been applied to a wide range of practical and theoretical contexts. e.g approach has made an important contribution to the field of artificial intelligence and the development of robots. these advances are likely to revolutionise how we live in the future
limitations of the cognitive approach:
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based on machine reductionism:
there are similarities between the operations of the human mind and a computer but the computer analogy has been criticised. e.g human emotion and motivation have been shown to influence accuracy of eyewitness recall and these factors aren’t considered within the analogy. approach oversimplifies human cognitive processing and ignores important aspects that influence performance
research lacks external validity:
cognitive psychologist are only able to infer mental processes from the beh. they observe so the approach sometimes suffers from being too abstract and theoretical. also it is often carried out using artificial stimuli such as recall of word lists in studies of memory which may not represent everyday experience.
strengths of the biological approach:
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uses scientific methods of investigation:
makes use of a range of precise and highly scientific methods to investigate the genetic and biological basis of beh. including scanning techniques e.g fMRIs and drug trials meaning it is possible to accurately measure biological and neural processes in a way that is not open to bias. based on reliable data
real-life application:
increased understanding of biochemical processes in the brain has led to the development of psychoactive drugs that treat serious mental disorders e.g depression. although these drugs aren’t effective for all patients, they have revolutionised treatment for many. sufferers are able to live a relatively normal life rather than in hospital
limitations of the biological approach:
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based on a deterministic view of beh.:
sees human beh. as governed by internal, biological causes over which we have no control. at odds with the legal system which sees offenders as responsible for their actions but the discovery of a ‘criminal gene’ may complicate this principle. such research may have negative implications for wider society as criminals may be able to excuse their beh.
difficulty in separating nature and nurture:
identical twins, non-identical twins and members of the same family all have genetic similarities so any similarity in the way they behave must be genetic from a biological perspective. however the fact that family members are exposed to similar environmental conditions is an important confounding variable. problem for biological approach as findings could be just as easily interpreted as supporting nurture rather than nature
strength of the psychodynamic approach
has explanatory power:
although Freud’s theory is controversial, it has had huge influence on western thought. it has been used to explain a wide range of behaviours e.g mental disorders and drew attention to the influence of childhood on adult personality. alongside behaviourism, it was the dominant approach for the first 1/2 of 20th century
limitations of the psychodynamic approach
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Freud relied on the case study method:
his ideas were developed using a small number of case studies e.g Little Hans and critics have suggested it isn’t possible to make universal claims about human nature based on such a limited sample. his interpretations were highly subjective and it is unlikely that any other researcher would have drawn the same conclusions. in comparison with other approaches, Freud’s methods lacked scientific rigour
includes a lot of untestable concepts:
Popper argued that the psychodynamic approach doesn’t meet the scientific criterion of falsification, in the sense that it cannot be proved or disproved. many of his concepts, such as the id or Oedipus complex, occur at an unconscious level making them difficult, if not impossible to test. theory therefore has status as pseudoscience rather than real science
based on psychic determinism:
explains all beh. as determined by unconscious conflicts that are rooted in childhood. even something as apparently random as a ‘slip of the tongue’ is driven by unconscious forces and has deep symbolic meaning. extreme determinist stance and suggests that free will may have no influence on beh.
strengths of the humanistic approach
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anti-reductionist:
reject any attempt to break up beh. and experience into smaller components. advocate holism, the idea that sujective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person (their past, relationships etc.). this approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human beh. within it’s real life context
positive approach:
praised for promoting a positive image of the human condition as seeing people as in control of their lives and having the freedom to change. Freud saw human beings as slaves to their past and claimed all of us existed somewhere between ‘common unhappiness and absolute despair’. humanistic psychology offers a refreshing optimistic alternative
