Comparisons of ways of explaining behaviour using different themes Flashcards
Social
The differences between agency theory and social impact theory as explanations of obedience are more obvious. Social impact theory is strictly focused on the social conditions that encourage social influence, but agency theory takes account of the evolutionary basis of obedience, socialising factors and psychodynamic forces that are at play to reduce the moral strain one experiences and displace responsibility onto another.
When comparing social identity theory and realistic conflict theory, they both describe the role of groups in the formation of prejudice, using in-group favouritism and negative out-group bias. The difference between them is that realistic conflict theory describes how competition for resources is a necessary condition for prejudice to occur, whereas social identity theory does not.
Cognitive
The multi-store model views memory as a series of stores, the sensory store, the short-term store and the long-term store, so can be considered a structural model of memory because the focus of the explanation is on the architecture of the memory system. Similarly, Baddeley and Hitch also focus their explanation of working memory on what components of short-term memory exist. Although both theories of memory acknowledge the type of processes involved in the transfer and manipulation of information, this is second to describing how memory is represented as a structural system.
In direct contrast to these two models is Bartlett’s reconstructive memory. This explanation of memory does not attempt to describe the structure of memory, instead focusing on memory as a process or function. Reconstructive memory is functional model of memory because it explains how stored knowledge affects perception and remembering as an active process of construction.
Learning
Phobias can be explained through association, reinforcement and imitation. We may associate a dog with fear after being bitten or startled. Although one theory may be a more likely to cause situation. Observational learning can explain why someone would begin to use heroin, but classical and operant conditioning explain why someone would continue to use the drug for its rewarding and pleasurable effect.
Clinical
A common theme for most disorders is the use of biological factors such as genes and brain chemistry to explain the origins of illness. However, different disorders will have various other factors that could explain their development.
For example, there is credible evidence to support sociocultural factors as an explanation for anorexia, but the same factors could not be used to explain the origins of a disorder such as depression. Clinical psychologists can also use two different methods of categorising mental illnesses using the DSM or the ICD.
