Approaches Evaluations Flashcards
Social Learning Theory: Cognitive Factors
One strength of social learning theory is that it recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning. Neither classical nor operant conditioning can offer an adequate account of learning on their own. Human and animals store information about the behaviour of others and use this to make judgments about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions. Therefore, behaviour is not simplified to stimulus-response actions, as the idea of free will is considered - a flaw of behaviourism. This suggests that SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes.
Social Learning Theory: Real-World Application
SLT has made important contributions to our modern understanding of real-world behaviours. SLT has the advantage of being able to explain cultural differences in behaviour. Principles such as modelling, imitation and reinforcement can account for how children learn from others around them, including the media, and how cultural norms are transmitted through societies. This has proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours, such as how children come to understand their gender role. This increases the value of the approach as it can account for real-world behaviour.
Social Learning Theory: Over-reliance on Lab Studies
One limitation of SLT is that evidence on which it is based was gathered through lab studies. Many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through observation of young children’s behaviour in the lab. Lab studies are often criticised for their contrived nature where participants may respond to demand characteristics. It has been suggested that because the main purpose of the Bobo doll is to strike it, the children were simply behaving in a way that they thought was expected. This suggests that research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life.
Social Learning Theory: Underestimates Influence of Biological Factors
SLT has been criticised for making too little reference to the influence of biological factors. Although Bandura claimed that natural biological differences influenced our learning potential, he thought that the learning itself was determined by the environment. One consistent finding in the Bobo doll experiments was that boys were often more aggressive than girls. This could be explained by hormonal differences in levels of testosterone. This suggests that biological influences on social learning were under-emphasised in SLT.
Social Learning Theory: Well-Controlled Research
One strength of the behaviourist approach is that it is based on well-controlled research. Behaviourists focused on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings. By breaking behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, all other possible extraneous variables were removed, allowing cause-and-effect relationships to be established. For instance, allowing Skinner to clearly demonstrate how reinforcement influenced an animal’s behaviour. This suggests that behaviourist experiments have scientific credibility.
Behaviourist: Real-World Application
The behaviourist approach has made important contributions to our modern understanding of human mental illness. For example, many phobias are thought to be the result of earlier unpleasant experiences. This has helped psychologists to develop therapies that attempt to recondition a patient’s fear response. Also, some addictions such as gambling can be better understood through operant conditioning, as the rewards of gambling could be seen to reinforce the destructive behaviour. This increases the value of the behaviourist approach because it has widespread application.
Behaviourist: Environmental Determinism
One limitation of the behaviourist approach is that it sees all behaviour as conditioned by past experiences. Skinner suggested that our past conditioning history determines our behaviour. This ignores any possible influence that free will may have on our behaviour. This is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour, as suggested by the cognitive approach. This is a weakness as the approach suffers from environmental determinism as it does not provide a full picture of internal and external influences on behaviour.
Behaviourist: Animal Studies
A weakness of the behaviourist approach is the over-reliance on animals as participants. Although they believed that the learning processes in humans and animals were very similar; some argue that findings from animal experiments are not generalisable to human behaviour. In addition to this, many consider using animals in experiments to be unethical as there is less concern about protection from harm. Therefore, the view that all humans and animals learn in the same way is likely to be oversimplified, thus providing a limited perspective on behaviour.
Wundt: Scientific Methods
One strength of Wundt’s work is that some of his methods can be considered scientific as they were systematic and well-controlled. All introspections were recorded in a controlled environment of the lab, ensuring that possible extraneous variables were not a factor. Procedures and instructions were carefully standardised so that all participants received the same information and were tested in the same way. This suggests that Wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology.
Wundt: A Child of it’s Time
One limitation is that other aspects of Wundt’s research would be considered unscientific today.
Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their mental processes, resulting in subjective data. Also participants may have hidden some of their thoughts. It is difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’ from such data. General laws are useful to predict future behaviour, one of the aims of science. This suggests that some of Wundt’s early efforts to study the mind were flawed and would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
Psychology as a Science: Modern Research
One strength is that the research in modern psychology can claim to be scientific. Psychology has the same aims as the natural sciences - to describe, understand, predict and control behaviour. The learning approaches, cognitive approach and biological approaches all rely on the use of scientific methods, e.g. lab studies to investigate theories in a controlled and unbiased way. This suggests that throughout the 20th century and beyond, psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline.
Psychology as a Science: Different Approaches
One limitation with psychology is that not all approaches use objective methods. The humanistic approach rejects the scientific approach, preferring to focus on individual experiences and subjective experience. The psychodynamic approach makes use of the case study method which does not use representative samples. Finally the subject of study - human beings - are active participants in research, responding for example to demand characteristics. Therefore a scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience may not always be desirable or possible
The Cognitive Approach: Scientific Methods
One strength of the cognitive approach is that it uses objective, scientific methods. Cognitive psychologists employ highly controlled and rigorous methods of study so researchers are able to infer cognitive processes. This has included the use of lab studies to produce reliable, objective data. In addition, the emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enabled the two fields of biology and cognitive psychology to come together to enhance the scientific basis of study. This means that the study of the mind has a credible scientific basis.
The Cognitive Approach: Real-World Application
A strength of the cognitive approach is the many real-world applications. For example, research into memory and the effects of misleading information has led to major reforms in police procedure, such as the use of the cognitive interview, which uses schema theory to gain more accurate witness statements. Additionally, a better understanding of thinking patterns has helped professionals understand and treat mental illnesses through therapies like CBT, which aims to identify and change irrational thoughts. This indicates that cognitive research has made concrete contributions to society and has developed professional understanding in many fields.
The Cognitive Approach: Machine Reductionism
A problem with the cognitive approach is that is suffers from machine reductionism. Although there are similarities between the human mind and the operations of a computer (inputs and outputs, storage systems etc.), the computer analogy has been criticised by many. Such analogies ignore the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system and how this may affect our ability to process information. For instance, the influence of anxiety on eyewitness testimony accuracy (Johnson and Scott). This suggests that machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the cognitive approach.
