evaluation points : approaches

Question 1

What is a strength of Wundt’s introspection?

Answer 1

methods were systematic and well controlled i.e. scientific

• controlled enviroment
• standardised procedures
• Considered a forerunner to later scientific approaches example : the behaviourist approach

Question 2

What is a weakness of Wundt’s introspection?

Answer 2

Certain elements would be considered unsicentific today

• self reporting mental processes - subjective data
• Thoughts could be hidden
• Difficult to establish meaningful laws of behaviour, which makes predictions hard to make

Question 3

What is the strenght of psychology as a science?

Answer 3

Modern Psychology can claim to be scientific

• Same aims as a natural science
• Learning, coginitive and biological approaches rely on scientific methods
• Suggests that the subject has established itself as a scientfic discipline

Question 4

What is a weakness of psychology as a science?

Answer 4

Not all approaches use scientific methods

• The humanistic approach rejects scientific methods
• The psychodynamic appraoch uses case studies, which are unrepresentative
• Human beings are also active within research and can be affected by the situation
• The scientific study of human thought and experience may not always be possible

Question 5

What is the stregnth of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 5

Scientific Credibility

• The behaviourist approach is based on well controlled research
• Behaviorists focused on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings
• By breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus process, all the oher possible extraneous variables were removed, allowing a cause and effect relationship to be established. For example, Skinner was able to clearly demonstrate how reinforcement influenced animals behaviour

This suggets that behaviourist experiments have scientific credibilty.

Question 6

What is a weakness of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 6

research counterpoint

• The problem is tha behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process
• By reducing the behaviour to such simple components, behaviourists may have ignored an important influence on learning - human thought
• Other approaches such as social learning theory and the coginitive approach have drawn attention to mental processes involved in learning and their importances

This suggests that learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone can account for and the private mental processes also an essential part of the picture

Question 7

What is a strength of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 7

Real life application

• Operant conditioning forms of basis of the token economy systems that are often used institutions. They work by rewarding appropiate behaviour with tokens, which can then be exchanged for rewards e.g privileges
• Equally behaviourism has made important contributions to our understanding of mental illness
• For example, many phobias thought to be the result of earlier unpleasant learning experiences. Consequently, this understanding has helped psychologists develop therapies, such as systemic desentisation, that attempt to re-condition 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.

Question 8

What is a limitation of the behaviourist approach?

Answer 8

Animal studies

• Using non-human animals in research gives experimenters more control over the process, without deman characteristics or individual differences influencing findings
• Animal experiments can be seen as unethical as there is less concern from protection from harm from non-human subjects
• animal experiments are not generlisable to human behaviour

Therefore Skinner’s operant conditioning theory may provide an understanding of rat behaviour, but little about human behaviour.

Question 9

What is a strength of the coginitive approach?

Answer 9

Real world applications

• It is the dominant in psychology today
• Involved in the development of ai and ‘thinking machines’ that could revolutionise how we live in the future
• Used in the explanation ans treatment of depression via the identifying and challenging of negative thoughts
  Supports the value of the coginitive approach

Question 10

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What is a strength of the cognitive approach?

Answer 10

Scientific methods

• Highly controlled and rigorous studies- researchers are able to infer coginitive processes
• Use of lab studies- produces reliable objective data
• The emergence of coginitive neuroscience has enabled the merging biology and coginitive psychology to enhance scientific study
  This means that the study of the mind has a credible scientfic basis

Question 11

What is a limitation of the cognitive approach?

Answer 11

However coginitive psychology relies on the inference of mental processes rather than direct observation of behaviour

• Can suffer from being too abstract and theoretical
• Often includes artificial stimuli eg memory experiments
• This may not represent everyday experience

Therefore research on coginitive processes may lack external validity

Question 12

What is the limitation of the cogintiive appraoch?

Answer 12

Machine reductionism

• Although there are similarities between the human mind and a computer, this analogy has been criticsed by many
• The coginitive approach ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on behaviour and reduces everything down to a basic computer analogy
• Thought and emotions can affect our ability to process information
• e.g human memory can be affcted by anxiety

This suggests that machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the coginitive approach

Question 13

What is a strength of social learning theory?

Answer 13

Strength : The recognition of cognitve factors in learning

• Neither classical or operant conditioning offer an adequate explanation of learning by themselves
• Humans and animals rely on the behaviour of others to make judgemnts abouth their own actions and when it is appropiate to perform them.
• Learning would be very labourous and dangerous if we only relied on the effects of our own actions to inform us on what to do (Bandura 1977)

The recognition of cognitive factors in learning means the SLT provides a more comprehensive account of human learning

Question 14

What is a strength of the social learning theory?

Answer 14

Strength : real world application

• SLT can explain cultural differences in behaviour
• Principles, such as modelling, imitation and reinforcement can account for how children learning from people around them inc. media = transmission of cultural norms
• Useful in understanding a range of behaviours eg gender roles

Increases the value of SLT as it can account for behaviour in the real world

Question 15

What is a limitations of social learning theory?

Answer 15

Limitation : Other factors have been ignored

• Bandura maintained that learning itself was determined by the enviroment
• Recent research suggests that observational learning could be the result of mirror neurons
• Allows us to empathise and imitate

Suggests that biological factors are under- emphasises

Question 16

What is a limitations of social learning theory?

Answer 16

Limitation : contrived lab studies

• Evidence is based on young children’s behaviour in lab studies
• Artifical - demand characteristics - the bobo doll
  This means that such research may tell us very little about how children learn in everyday life

Question 17

What is a strength of the biological approach?

Answer 17

Strength : Scientific methods

• To investigate the genetic and biological basis for behaviour, we need to use techniques, such as brain scans;
• FMRIs and EEGs are highly objective, and very precise when studying physiological and neural processes

This means that they are less open to bias ( increasing scientific credibility)

Question 18

What is a strength of the biological approach?

Answer 18

Strength : real world application

• Our understanding of the biological basis of disorders has led to us being able to develop biological treatments, such as drug therapies.
• E.G., understanding that symptoms of conditions such as OCD and depression are correlated with low levels of seretonin; antidepressants work to increase seretonin levels in the brain, this has led to successful outcomes for patients
  We can explain to patients why this is happening, provide a treatment, and reassure them that the illness is not their fault

Question 19

What is a limitations of the biological approach?

Answer 19

Counterpoint : real world application

• However, although antidepressants are successful for many people, they do not work for everyone
• Ciprani et al (2018) compared 21 antidepressant drugs and found a wide variation in their effectiveness.
• Although most were effcetive when compared to placebo trials, the researchers concluded the effects of antidepressants were in general ‘modest’.

This challeneges the value of the biological approach because it suggest that brain chemistry alone cannot account for all disorders (such as depression)

Question 20

What is a limitations of the biological approach?

Answer 20

Limitation : correlation vs causation
One limitation of the biological approach is that causation is often strongly implied in explanations that focus on brain structures.

• For example, one explanation of schizophrenia suggests that a lack of activity in the ventral striatum is linked to the development of negative symptoms such as avolition.
• This is a problem for biological explanations because such research tells us only that there is an association between brain structures and behaviour; it cannot tell us that the reduced activity in that area of the brain causes the behaviour, or that the behaviour causes lower activity in that part of the brain.

Therefore, it is critically important to remember that biological explanations are often based on correlational results, which does not mean that one event causes the other.

Question 21

What is a limitation of the biological approach?

Answer 21

Limitation : Biological Determinism
Another weakness of this approach is that biological explanations of human behaviour may be considered deterministic.

• For example, one assumption of the biological approach is that some human behaviours are the result of evolution: they maximise our chances of survival and reproduction and thus are ‘naturally selected’ and inherited from our ancestors.
• Such evolutionary claims are used to explain a variety of gender differences in human behaviour including aggression and stress. Such explanations imply that humans have little control over their behaviour, and suggest we are predetermined to act in a certain way regardless of experience, free will, or the environment.

This is problematic for those who do not follow ‘typical’ or ‘expected’ behaviours and overemphasises the role of nature on behaviour. It is also an explanation that is unfalsifiable (cannot be disproved), and thus incapable of scientific validation.

Question 22

What is a strength of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 22

Strength : explanatory power
One strength of Freud’s theory is it ability to explain human behaviour.

• Although occasionally controversial and bizarre, it has nevertheless had a huge influence on psychology and western contemporary thought.
• A key force in psychology alongside behaviourism for the first half of the 20th century and has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena
  Personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development and gender identity
• Draws attention to the connection between experiences in childhood such as our relationship to our parents and our later development.

This suggests that overall the psychodynamic approach has had a positive impact on psychology, and also on literature, art and other human endeavours.

Question 23

What is a strength of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 23

Strength : practical application
Another strength of the psychodynamic approach is that it introduced the idea of psychotherapy.

• Freud brought to the world a new form of therapy
  Psychoanalysis - the first attempt to treat mental disorders psychologically rather than physically.
• Psychoanalysis is the forerunner to many modern day talking therapies such as counselling, that have since been established.
• A range of techniques designed to access the unconscious, such as dream analysis.
  Psychoanalysis claims to help clients by bringing their repressed emotions into their conscious mind so they can be dealt with.

This shows the value of the psychodynamic approach in creating a new approach to treatment

Question 24

What is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 24

Counterpoint : Practical application

However, on the other hand, whilst Freudian therapists have claimed success for many clients with mild neurosis, psychoanalysis is regarded as inappropriate, even harmful, for people experiencing more serious mental disorders.

• Symptoms of schizophrenia for example, such as paranoia and delusional thinking, mean that those with the disorder have lost their grip on reality
• Cannot articulate their thoughts in the way required by psychoanalysis.

This suggests that Freudian therapy, and theory, may not apply to all mental disorders

Question 25

What is a limitation of the Psychodynamic approach?

Answer 25

Limitation : Falsfiablity
A limitation of the psychodynamic approach is the fact that many of its core concepts are very abstract and untestable.

• Philosopher of science Karl Popper argued that the approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification Not open to empirical testing and the possibility of being disproved.
• Concepts, such as the Id and the Oedipus complex are said to occur at an unconscious level, making them difficult, if not impossible to test.
• Furthermore Freud’s ideas were based on the subject of study of single individuals, such as Little Hans, which makes it difficult to make universal claims about human behaviour.

According to Popper this affords the psychodynamic theory the status of Pseudoscience (fake science) rather than real science.

Question 26

What is a limitation of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 26

Psychic determinism
The psychodynamic approach suggests that much of our behaviour is predetermined by unconscious conflicts rooted in childhood

• Freud believed that there is no such thing as an ‘accident’ Even something as seemingly random as a ‘slip of the tongue’ is driven by unconscious forces and has deeper meaning (i.e. a Freudian slip)
• Critics have claimed that this is an extreme view, as it dismisses any possible influence of free will on behaviour

By taking a deterministic view, this removes any sense of free will, and by extension, responsibility over one’s actions - so how much can we hold people responsible for their actions if this is true?

Question 27

What is a strenght of the humanistic approach?

Answer 27

Strength : Postive approach
A strength of the humanistic approach is that it is optimistic.

• Humanistic psychologists have been praised for bringing the person back into psychology and promoting a positive image of the human condition.
• Freud said human beings are slaves to their past and claimed they “always existed somewhere between common unhappiness and absolute despair”
• In contrast, humanistic psychologists see all people as basically good free to work towards the achievement of their potential and in control of their lives.

This suggests that humanistic psychology offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative to other approaches.

Question 28

What is a limitation of the humanistic approach?

Answer 28

Limitation : Western culture bias

A limitation of the approach is that it may be culturally biased.

• Many of the ideas that are central to the humanistic approach such as individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth would be much more readily associated with individualist cultures in the western world such as the United States.
• Collectivist cultures such as India emphasise the need of the group, community and interdependence.
• Such cultures may not identify so easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology (such as self actualisation.

Therefore it is possible that this approach does not apply universially and the product of the cultural context within which it was developed.

Question 29

What is a limitation of the humanistic approach?

Answer 29

Limitation : Limited application

Critics have argued that humanistic psychology has relatively little impact in psychology - or at least little practical application in the real world

Compared to other approaches (such as behaviourism or the biological approach, this approach has been described, not as a comprehensive theory, but as a loose set of abstract ideas.

On the other hand, Rogerian therapy revolutionised counselling techniques, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has been used to explain motivation, particularly in workplace.

Despite advancements in counselling techniques, the anti-scientific nature of Humanistic psychology does make it difficult to have any predictive power in real world applications.

Question 30

What is a strength of the humanistic approach?

Answer 30

Strength : Non reductionist

One strength of the humanistic approach is that it rejects the attempts to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components.

• Behaviourists explain human and animal learning in terms of simple stimulus response connections.
• Cognitive approach sees human beings as little more than information-processing machines
• Biological psychologists reduce behaviour to its basic physiological processes.
• Freud described the whole of personality as a conflict between the id, the ego and the superego.
• In contrast to humanistic psychologists advocate holism, the idea that subject experiences can only be understood by considering the whole person.

This approach may have more validity than its alternatives by considering meaningful human behaviour within its real world context.

Question 31

What is a counterpoint to the strength of the humanistic approach?

Answer 31

Counterpoint : Non - scinetific

Having said that, reductionist approaches are often considered more scientific.

• This is because in order to conduct scientific research variables need to be operationalised and behaviours need to be broken down into their constituent parts.
• One issue with humanistic psychology is that unlike more reductionist approaches e.g. behaviourism there are relatively few concepts that can be broken down to single variables and measured.
• Lacks falsifiability due to abstract concepts.

This means the humanistic psychology in general is short on empirical evidence to support its claims

Although humanistic psychologists would question the need to imply scientific laws, taking a more idiographic approach helps us gain a deeper understanding of the individual’s experience, and can help explain the difference within groups, not just between.