Approaches in psychology

Question 1

Define the biological approach

Answer 1

Mental state that links to chemical balances in the brain.

Question 2

Define the psychodynamic approach

Answer 2

Unconscious drives and childhood experiences that shape you into the person you are. (Freud in a nutshell)

Question 3

Define the behavioral approach

Answer 3

External stimuli shape who you are from childhood.

Question 4

define Humanistic approach

Answer 4

It is the belief that every human has free will to change at any time in their life, eg: anyone can choose to become a criminal anytime

Question 5

Define the Cognitive approach

Answer 5

Studies cognition and what goes on in our minds- studying processes in which knowledge is acquired- like attention, memory, and perception.

Question 6

describe what Wundt studied, what concepts he used, and what his experiments involved.

Answer 6

he studied introspection, and his purpose was to try and analyze human consciousness.
He also used his co-workers in experiments with a metronome or similar stimulus and recorded their thought, images, and sensations from it. (introspection)

Question 7

Define structuralism

Answer 7

It is the isolation of the structure of consciousness

Question 8

how could Wundt’s methods be seen as scientific?

Answer 8

• methods were systematic and controlled
• done in a controlled environment of a lab, so no extraneous factors played a role
• well-standardized, participants were given the same information in the same order and were tested in the same way.
• metronome was used- same interval, pitch, volume, and time for participants.
• same time limit was given to each participant

Question 9

Why could Wundt’s work be seen as unscientific

Answer 9

• relied on self-reporting, so thoughts could have been hidden.
• data is subjective, not objective
• data was qualitative which could have made it difficult to collect and create laws or predict patterns of future behavior.

Question 10

Briefly explain Freud’s mental iceberg.

Answer 10

Conscious part: the things that we are most aware of, and make us up very little personality-wise.
un-conscious: things that we are not aware of and are repressed thoughts and feelings- make up apparently most of who we are.
pre-conscious: we can reach these thoughts and feelings if prompted, but is not in our conscious.

Question 11

Describe the tripart personality idea of Frued

Answer 11

ID: driving to satisfy selfish desires, (pleasure principle)
Ego: acts rationally and follows the reality principle.
Superego: concerned with keeping to moral norms- acts according to the morality principle.

Question 12

Name the 3 defense mechanisms

Answer 12

repression
denial
displacement

Question 13

name the 5 psychosexual stages

Answer 13

oral
anal
phallic
latency
genital

Question 14

What is the oral stage and when is it developed?

Answer 14

0-18 months, sucking or biting behaviour

Question 15

Why did Wundt choose to use a metronome?

Answer 15

To make his trials standardized and as fair as possible. This is because it produced sounds at the same intervals, volume, and pitch for all participants.

Question 16

what is the anal stage and when is it developed?

Answer 16

18 months to 2.5 years, holding or discarding faeces

Question 17

what is the phallic stage and when does it develop?

Answer 17

It is a fixation on genitals- knowing the difference between girls and boys, 3.5-6years

Question 18

what is the genital stage and when does it develop?

Answer 18

awakened sexual stages, which start from puberty onwards.

Question 19

Briefly explain the Oedipus complex

Answer 19

The complex involves the idea that boys become subconsciously sexually attracted to their mother- often manifesting with castration anxiety due to the fear of their father as competition, but someone stronger than them.

Question 20

Explain the concept of introspection

Answer 20

could be thought of as the study of the conscious mind and self-reflection. Mainly involves thoughts, feelings and images that arise in one’s mind after a certain stimulus.

Question 21

Using Wundt’s studies of introspection, do you think a global theory could be derived from his research?

Answer 21

No, it cannot because it would’ve produced subjective results

even though the requirements were as standardized as possible.

This meant that it would’ve been difficult to collect responses that showed a trend in data

making it additionally difficult to derive a set conclusion.

Question 22

Could introspection be seen as a scientific process?

Answer 22

No.
The main aim of science is to collect OBJECTIVE research which can then be used to create a new theory through a clear cause-effect relationship.
But introspection is very objective

Question 23

If introspection was very objective, then how did Wundt establish psychology as a science from philosophy?

Answer 23

By trying to control his variables and using a systematic approach.

For example, same questions, same stimulus, same instructions in the same order, use of a metronome, lab environment (controlled EVs)

Question 24

What are the pros and cons of Wundt’s approach?

Answer 24

Pros: used a lab (controlled EVs), systematic and well-controlled, First scientist, that was a psychologist, metronome used

Cons: introspection is very subjective, and unscientific today, data was qualitative so very hard to establish cause-effect relationships, assumptions were often made

Question 25

What are the pros of Freud’s approach?

Answer 25

pros:
- Qualitative data, adds more detail to the case.
- brought psychoanalysis to the modern world (patients talking about treatment)
- longitudinal data
- helps understand the importance of early childhood.

Question 26

Define the humanistic approach

Answer 26

The concept that humans have free will and the focus on self.

Question 27

What are the key concepts in humanistic approach?

Answer 27

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, congruence+incongruence, the Gap between the actual and ideal self, and Client-centered therapy.

Question 28

Describe the main aspects of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Answer 28

Bottom: psychological needs, safety, security, love, and belonging - also known as deficiency needs,

Top: self-esteem, self-actualization (the growth needs).

Question 29

Define self actualisation

Answer 29

The need to self-improve and become your best self. Could also be self-development throughout and being satisfied and fulfilled.

Question 30

Describe Rogers’ aspect of humanistic psychology

Answer 30

• If there is a large gap between the actual and ideal self, there is incongruence. This is most likely due to not receiving unconditional positive regard.
• if there is no gap, and they overlap, there is said to be congruence. (possibly the aim of client-centered therapy)

Question 31

What are the pros and cons of the humanistic approach?

Answer 31

Pros:
- Holistic
- brought client-centered therapy- so still very relevant today.
- close, case studied- so more detail collected.
Cons:
- holistic could mean that there are too many open questions for treatment.
- Western bias towards individualistic trait countries.
- Case studied- so very hard to make conclusions for the rest of the world.

Question 32

Define the cognitive approach

Answer 32

The scientific study of mental processes through inference. Soft determinism: the belief that there is little free will exercised, but mostly influenced by external and internal stimuli.

Question 33

What are the key concepts in cognitive approach?

Answer 33

schema, inference, cognitive neuroscience, and theoretical models.

Question 34

Define schema

Answer 34

certain ideas or beliefs that influence mental processes that is developed by experience.

Question 35

What is a pro and con of having schemas?

Answer 35

pro: can allow us to process mental info without getting overwhelmed by external stimuli.

con: sometimes this can distort our perceptions of visual stimuli, which can lead to perceptual errors.

Question 36

Define inference.

Answer 36

The action of making educated assumptions from a certain stimulus.