Comparison of Approaches Flashcards
SARDINE
Scientific
Application
Reductionism vs Holism
Determinism vs Free Will
Idiographic vs Nomothetic
Nature vs Nurture
Extrapolation
Scientific
Behavioural - YES (controlled lab studies)
SLT - YES (controlled lab studies)
Cognitive - YES (brain imaging & controlled lab studies)
Biological - YES (brain imaging & controlled lab studies)
Psychodynamic - NO (unfalsifiable)
Humanistic - NO
Application
Behavioural - Systematic desensatisation/ Flooding/ Token Economies
SLT - Can explain how behaviours such as agression can be learnt/ Gender roles in Media
Cognitive - CBT
Biological - Drug therapy
Psychodynamic - Psychoanalysis as first talking therapy
Humanistic - Client-centred therapy
Reductionism vs Holism
Behavioural - Experimental reductionism as it focuses on stimulus response
SLT - Less reductionist as it considers cognitive factors.
Cognitive - Machine reductionism
Biological - Biological reductionism
Psychodynamic -
Humanistic - Holistic, all humans should be studied as a whole.
Determinism vs Free Will
Behavioural - Environmental determinism, behaviour as determined by past experiences/ conditioning.
SLT -
Cognitive -
Biological - Biological determinism
Psychodynamic - Psychic determinism, determined by childhood experiences & innate drives.
Humanistic - Free will
Idiographic vs Nomothetic
Behavioural - Nomothetic
SLT - Nomothetic
Cognitive - Nomothetic
Biological - Nomothetic
Psychodynamic -
Humanistic - Idiographic, focus on individuals
Nature vs Nurture
Behavioural - Nurture, ‘blank slate’
SLT - Nurture, learn from observing others.
Cognitive -
Biological - Nature, genetic make-up
Psychodynamic - Nature, innate drives influences behaviour.
Humanistic -
Extrapolation
Behavioural - YES
SLT - NO
Cognitive - NO
Biological - YES
Psychodynamic - NO
Humanistic - NO
Behaviourist Approach
Scientific: Objective, controlled and replicable, so the findings lead to a valid and reliable results - Improved the credibility and status of psychology as a scientific discipline
Application: Behavioural treatments to phobia: Systematic desensatisation & Flooding// Token Economies in prisons.
Reductionist: Reduces complex human behaviour to stimulus-response units.
Deterministic: All behaviour is determined by our past conditioning history - ignores the possibility of free will (Skinner believed that free will was only an illusion).
Nurture: Minds are blank slates at birth and behaviour was determined by experience (learned by the associations and reinforcements).
Extrapolate: Used animal studies which can’t be extrapolated to human as our minds are more complex & developed.
Biological Approach
Scientific: Objective, controlled and replicable, so the findings lead to a valid and reliable results - Improved the credibility and status of psychology as a scientific discipline
Application: Drug therapies in treating mental disorders due to neurochemical basis of behaviours.
Reductionist: Reduces complex human behaviour to a physical level and explains it in terms of genes, hormones, neurochemistry, and the nervous system.
Deterministic: Behaviour is determined by physiological factors, such as hormones and neurochemistry, and genetic factors, which are out our control.
Nature: Behaviour can be explained by biological structures and processes, such as genes, hormones, neurochemistry
Psychodynamic Approach
Unfalsifiable
Application: Psychotherapy
Deterministic: Freud believe that behaviour is determined by unconscious forces/ innate drives and that free will is only an illusion.
Pessimistic: Freud saw humans as slaves to their past and believed that everyone lived between common unhappiness and absolute despair.
Humanistic Approach
Application: Client-centred therapy
Holistic: Importance of subjective experiences.
Free Will: Humans have free will and operate as active agents who determine their own development.
Idiographic: Focuses on the individual
Positive: Emphasises more on the future and personal development, believes everyone has the tendency to achieve their full potential.
