Approaches: Evaluation Flashcards
Origins of Psychology AO3
+ scientific: controlled conditions meaning systematic, same standardised instructions to all ps, allowed procedures to be repeated so replicable, relied on non-observable responses, ps commented on conscious experiences, processes unobservable meaning lacked empiricism, data produced too subjective, based on one person’s viewpoint so lacked objectivity, made impossible to repeat findings so replication hard
- greater contributions by early behaviourists: Wundt’s work heavily criticised for being too subjective by John Watson as people self-reporting, behaviourists sought to make psychology more objective, measurable and observable using lab-based experiments, Pavlov and Skinner studied animals in lab settings where more control, produced reliable findings with explanatory principles that were generalisable − much more in keeping with the scientific approach, focus on mental processes through introspection can be seen as forerunner of cognitive approach suggesting that Wundt’s role in emergence of psychology as science was important
Behaviourist AO3
+ controlled labs: eg Pavlov and Skinner, importance of objectivity and replication, gave psychology credibility and status
+ successful therapies: cc can be applied to treatment of phobias (systematic desensitisation), oc can be applied to management of schizophrenia (token economy)
- research on animals: stressful situations and conditions, ethical issues, stress levels may have affected response
- overly deterministic: all behvaiour determined by past experiences that have been conditioned, ignores possibility of free will
Social Learning Theory AO3
+ practical application to aggression: explanatory power help understand James Bulger murder, insights into how to prevent teenage violence, Clockwork Orange withdrawn from cinemas after violent incidents
+ acknowledges role of other approaches: takes thought process into account, role of biological urges in aggression, slt teaches how and when
- no link between violent films + crime: Ulrich (2003) found no relationship, strongest cause is association with delinquent peers where violence modelled and rewarded
- disregards other influences: slt emphasises gender specific, irl children exposed to many different influences interacting in complex ways include genetic predispositions, media portrayals, locus of control
Cognitive AO3
+ scientific: theories and models as result of experimentation with human ps, conclusions based on more than common sense and introspection
+ applications: explain dysfunctional behaviour in terms of faulty thinking processes, development of treatments with cognitive based therapies (depression)
- computer models: uses ‘encoding’ and ‘storage’, important differences between human mind and computer programmes
- ignores important factors: tells us how but not why, role of emotion and motivation largely ignored, result of computer analogy
Biological AO3
+ highly scientific: lab, high control, high replicability, adds to validity, fMRI enhances these characteristics
+ applications: research into serotonin in depression has led to SSRIs, highly effective, widely prescribed
- overly reductionist: focus strongly on IV and DV, overlooks other factors, eg depression can be caused by social, environmental and hormonal factors
- socially sensitive concerns: if argue criminal behaviour is inherited people may not feel responsible, blame on genotype
Psychodynamic AO3
+ real world applications: dream analysis, ink blot tests, hypnosis, free association, little evidence to support success, aren’t empirically validated, formed basis of ‘talking therapies’
+ scientific support: many claims have been tested and confirmed using scientific methodology, Fisherr and Greenberg (1996) summarised 2,500 studies, ‘compare well with studies relevant to any majore area of psychology’
- case studies: Little Hans phobia of horses interpreted as problem in phallic stage, source and Freud biased, unlikely any other researcher would have drawn same conclusion
- gender biased: remained ignorant of female sexuality and how it differs, phsychoanalysts broke away and criticised work and views on women
Humanistic AO3
+ developing counselling techniques: PCC, individual expert, called clients, solve own problems in constructive ways, best applied to treatment of mild psychological conditions
+ alternative explanation not reductionist: reject attempt to break up behaviour into smaller components, advocate for holism
- different cultures: cross-cultural evidence, China belongingness needs seen more fundamental than physiological, EU and US focus more on identity in defining self-concept
- fails to establish causal relationship: Rogers advocate for non-experimental research methods, experimental methods make impossible to verify results of counselling, without experimental evidence evaluation of therapy difficult
Bandura’s Research AO3
+ supporting research: Fox and Bailenson (2009), virtual humans doing exercise, models looked similar or dissimilar to p, less likely to model when dissimilar
+ lab experiment: controlled environment, control of extraneous variables, manipulation of IV allowed DV to be measured, sure that changes in aggression reslut of changes to gender and exposure to different model
- ethical issues: protection from harm, wellbeing, children may be distressed, may become behavioural problem, supposed to leave study in same state entered
- lab experiment: may respond to demand characteristics, children maybe thought purpose was to hit doll, Noble (1975)
Cognitive Neuroscience AO3
+ scientific: more scientific and objective than cognitive, provides information about brain activity
+ backs older findings: provides evidence to support controversial findings, illuminates mechanisms of cognitive development that underlie observations
- correlational data: parahippocampal gyrus activated in people with OCD doesn’t show area is causally involved
- patterns aren’t always obvious: hard to identify patterns of brain acitivation corresponding to some psychological processes eg attention/planning
Operant Conditioning AO3
+ reliance on experimental method: using controlled conditions to discover possible causal relationship between variables, Skinner’s reliance on Skinner box was good example of this approach in practice, manipulating consequences of behaviour (the IV), able to accurately measure effects on rat’s behaviour (the DV), establish cause and effect relationship between consequences of behaviour and future frequency of occurrence
- over reliance on non human animals: some criticism because experiments involved study of non-human animals rather than humans, critics claim reliance on rats and pigeons means studies tell little about human behaviour, claim human beings have free will rather than behaviour determined by positive and negative reinforcement, Skinner argued free will merely illusion and what we believe behaviours chosen through free will actually product of external influences that ‘guide’ behaviour on daily basis
- limited perspective: behaviourists accused of ignoring other levels of explanation, treating human beings as product of conditioning alone means ignore evidence for role of other factors in shaping behaviour, Skinner rejected this claim, arguing that internal states are scientifically untestable, argued that even complex behaviours, such as interactions with opposite sex or pathological behaviour, could be better understood by studying reinforcement history of individual
Classical Conditioning AO3
+ applied to therapy: development of treatments for reduction of anxiety associated with phobias, systematic desensitisation is therapy based on cc, eliminating learned anxious response (the CR) associated with feared object or situation (the CS), possible to eliminate one learned response (anxiety) by replacing with another (relaxation) so patient is no longer anxious in presence of feared object or situation
+ controlled labs and scientific: behaviourism associated with measuring observed behaviour in highly controlled lab settings, emphasises importance of objectivity and replication, gave psychology credibility and status within scientific community
- only appropriate for some learning: different species face different challenges to survive, some relationships between CS and UCS more difficult to establish, Seligman (1970) proposed concept of preparedness, animals prepared to learn associations that significant in terms of survival needs (e.g. associating the smell of meat with the presence of food), unprepared to learn associations that aren’t significant in this respect (e.g. associating the sound of a bell with food).
- research on animals: exposed to stressful situations and conditions, ethical issues associated with using animals in research, stress levels also affected how responded to experimental situation
