Comparison of approaches Flashcards
What is the psychodynamic approach view on development?
- child development shown through the psychosexual stages that are determined by age
- oral
- anal
- phallic
- latency
- genital
What is the cognitive approach view on development?
- stage theories have contributed to our understanding of child development e.g. as part of intellectual development children form increasingly complex concepts > schema as thy get older
What is the biological approaches view on development?
- maturation is an important principle whereby genetically determined changes in a child’s psychological status influence psychological & behavioural characteristics e.g. phenotype & genotype
What is the humanistic approaches view on development?
- see the development of the self as ongoing throughout life
- but childhood is a particularly important period and a child’s relationship with their parents is important in terms of unconditional regard
What is the behaviourist & SLT view on development?
- do not offer coherent stage theories of development but they see the processes that underpin learning as continuous, occurring at any stage
What is the psychodynamic view on nature v nurture?
- Freud believed that much of our behaviour was driven by biological drives & instincts but also saw the the relationships with parents as playing a fundamental role in future development
What is the cognitive approaches view on nature v nurture?
- cognitive psychologists argue that many of our information processing abilities are innate but are constantly refined through experience e.g. the use of schema
What is the humanistic approaches view on nature v nurture?
- humanistic psychologists regard parents, friends and wider society as having a critical impact on the person self concept
What is the biological approaches view on nature v nurture?
- behaviour is a result of genetic blue print that we inherit from our parents (genotype) though the way it is expressed is influence by the environment (phenotype)
What is the behaviourist approaches view on nature v nurture?
- view babies at blank states at birth and suggest all behaviour comes from learned associations, or through reinforcement
What is the social learning theory’s view on nature v nature?
- all behaviours are learned e.g. through vicarious reinforcement, observation and imitation
How is the behaviourist approach reductionists?
- they break up complex behaviour into stimuli-response units for ease of testing in lab e.g. skinners rats
How is the biological approach reductionist?
- it explains human behaviour & psychological states at the lowest level- genes and neurons
How is the psychodynamic approach reductionist?
- reduces much of our behaviour to the influence of sexual drives & biological instincts
- tripartite personality is seen as dynamic interaction thus more holistic
How is the cognitive approach reductionist?
- accused of machine reductionism by presenting people as information processing systems & ignoring the influence of emotion on behaviour
How is the social learning theory reductionist?
- reduce complex learning to a handful of key processes e.g. imitation, modelling
- they still place emphasis on cognitive factors that mediate learning and how these interact with the external environment
How is the humanistic approach not reductionist?
- formulates an holistic approach of understanding human behaviour e.g. investigating all aspects of the individual and their interactions with others & wider society
How is the behaviourist approach determinist?
- see all behaviours as environmentally determined by external influences that we are unable to control (e.g. operant condition & reinforcement) HARD
How is the biological approach determinist?
- advocate a form of genetic determinism as they believe all behaviour is caused by innate influences HARD
How is the psychodynamic approach determinist?
- psychic determinism> believe the unconscious forces that drive our behaviour are the ultimate cause of behaviour HARD
How is the cognitive approach determinist?
- cognitive approach suggest that we are the choosers of our own thoughts & behaviours yet these choices can only operate within the limits of what we know & have experienced SOFT
How is the social learning theory determinist?
- Bandura put forward the notion of reciprocal determinism > the idea that as well as being influence by our environment we also exert some influence upon it through the behaviours we choose to perform
How is the humanistic approach not determinist?
- human beings have free will and operate as active agents who determine their own development
How does the behaviourist approach have real life application?
- see abnormality as arising from maladaptive or fault learning in the sense that inappropriate patterns have been reinforced
- Behavioural therapies such as SD and flooding which aim to condition new more healthy responses have been applied successfully to the treatment of phobias
How does the social learning theory have real life application?
- principles of modelling and observational learning have been used to explain how negative behaviours such as aggression may learned through the influences of dysfunctional role models
- also affect of video games on children
How does the psychodynamic approach have real life application?
- psychoanalysis has hade some success in therapy but it is not appropriate for everyone because it requires a significant amount of input from the patient
How does the cognitive approach have real life application?
- useful in the treatment of depression e.g. CBT it aims to identify faulty thinking
How does the humanistic approach have real life application?
- counselling has been developed base on Rogers concept of closing the gap between the self-concept & the ideal self will increase self-esteem & stimulate personal growth
How does the biological approach have real life application?
- revolutionised the treatment of mental disorders through the development of drug therapy which regulates chemical imbalances in the brain
