humanistic approach and cognitive approach Flashcards
(21 cards)
What are the assumptions of the humanistic approach
- Humans have free will; not all behaviour is determined- people have full conscious control of their own destiny
- All individuals are unique and are motivated to achieve their potential
- rational and conscious not being dominated by by unconscious instinct’s
What’s Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
He was interested in finding what could go right.
Each level must be fulfilled before the individual can move up to a higher need
What are the stages of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
self actualisation
esteem
love/belonging
saftey
physiological
What happens if the needs of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs are not met
.physiological - You will crave food, water etc..
.safety - You will be come anxious and display fight or flight behavior
.love/belonging - you become lonely, withdrawn and rejected and will show hostility towards ‘out groups’
. esteem - fearful of criticism, failure and risks and feel frustration, to those who withhold respect. seen to be attention seeking
. self-actualization - view life as meaningless and become restless and bores. Avoids growth and development
What happens if needs are met in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
physiological - No cravings. Higher needs will present themselves
safety - you will experience physical security . Safety need decreases
love/belonging - Demonstrate mutual love, trust and freedom
Esteem - you will feel confident and content. Show self-belief and respect and will be prepared to step outside your comfort zone
self actualization - You will feel a desire to develop. Feel creative, positive and energetic. Develop an identity
What are self actualizers
people who for whatever reason were fulfilled in life and had used their abilities to the fullest
What is congruence
Congruence is how much your real self varies from your ideal self
what happens if the gap of congruence is too big
The person will experience a state of incongruence and self-actualisation will not be possible.
What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach
Argues that internal processes can be studied scientifically. Investigated areas of memory, perception and thinking which are private processes and cannot be observed directly
cognitive psychologists study by making inferences biased of behaviour
what are the 2 models
theoretical = information processing approach which suggests the info flows through a cognitive system that includes input, storage and retrieval
computer models = mind is compared to a computer use the concepts of the
brain being the CPU
coding ( processing )
stores ready for output
What is inferences
process where cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
What is schema
‘packages’ of ideas and information developed through experiences
e.g. You have a schema for catching a train but also about dogs etc
What happens to schema as we get older
what are the positives and negatives of schema
As we get older our schema becomes more detailed and sophisticated
positives - it enables us to process lots of information quickly and is useful for a mental shortcut that prevents us from getting overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
Negatives - it can distort our interpretations of sensory information, leading to perceptual errors e.g. misinterpretation
How would you evaluate the humanistic approach?
- Humanistic approach is holistic
- Criticised for being ethnocentric
- Lacks scientific credibility
How would you evaluate the humanistic approach?
(The humanistic approach is holistic)
Rejects the attempt to break up and explain behaviour in smaller components
E.g. A holistic approach to mental illness takes into account all factors affecting that individual
More understanding/qualitative data collective of an individual and their personal needs
How would you evaluate the humanistic approach?
(Criticised for being ethnocentric)
Only applicable to individualist cultures as many of the ideas e.g. self actualisation are associated with the self rather than the the group (Collectivist cultures e.g. Japan find this selfish)
leads to cultural bias as collectivist cultures may be wrongly judged and potentially negatively labelled
How would you evaluate the humanistic approach?
(Lacks scientific credibility)
Self actualisation can differ in different peoples opinions. Also how is it measured and standardised
Difficult to get empirical evidence to support claims, too subjective and cant be operationalised
Undermines the features of science, and the emergence of psychology as a science discipline
How would you evaluate the cognitive approach?
- Practical application
- Scientific method
- Scientific nature may be questioned
How would you evaluate the cognitive approach?
(Practical application)
The cognitive approach has a number of real-life applications such as CBT
The approached helped with the emergence of CBT that is said to be caused by negative self-schemas and irrational thoughts
It helps via REBT model and homework
Bates et al suggested CBT to be 81% successful
Explanatory power and use in real life
How would you evaluate the cognitive approach?
( Scientific method )
‘Mostly scientific’ as psychologists used highly controlled rigours methods creating reliable and objective data
Also the emergence of cognitive neuroscience in 1970’s
The cognitive approach (and partially cognitive neuroscience) has been praised for its scientific credibility
How would you evaluate the cognitive approach?
(Scientific nature may be questioned)
Relies on mental processes which are not directly observable meaning it relies on inference not direct observations
Also studies use artificial stimuli such as trigrams
Lastly evidence of brain scans are correlational so cannot establish cause and effect
so many critics question the scientific credibility
