Topic 1: Approaches Flashcards
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
- Known as the ‘father of psychology’, he was the first person to call himself a psychologist.
- He opened the first institute for experimental psychology at the University of Leipzig in Germany 1879.
-He was important because he separated psychology from philosophy by analysing the workings of the mind in a more structured way, with the emphasis being on objective measure and control. - Wundt viewed psychology as a scientific study of conscious experience. He used “internal perception” or introspection to examine this experience. He broke down the conscience experience into it’s basic elements (I.e. sensation, perception, feelings) to measure (structuralism)
Introspection
- A process by which someone examines their own conscious experience as objectively as possible.
The scientific method
Refers to the use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic and replicable, and the formulation, testing and modification of hypotheses based on these methods.
Empiricism
- The belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience. It is generally characterised by the use of scientific method in psychology.
- Knowledge comes from observation and experience.
- All behaviour has a cause
- We should be able to predict behaviour
Determinism
The doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes regarded as external to the will.
Passive acceptance
Accepting without proof. Passive acceptance requires no action beyond documenting the decision.
Strengths of the scientific method
- Relies on objective and systematic methods of observation, which is more than just the passive acceptance of facts.
- Because scientific methods rely on a belief in determinism, they are able to establish the causes of behaviour through the use of methods that are both empirical (based on observations or experience) and replicable. Believes behaviour yo have a cause and therefore it can be predicted so bad behaviour can be prevent. Allows for development of treatments.
- Scientific knowledge is self-corrective (If scientific theories no longer fit the facts they can be refined or abandoned).
Limitations of a scientific approach to psychology
- Scientific psychologists create contrived situations that tell us little about how people act in more natural environments - low ecological validity.
- Much of the subject matter of psychology is unobservable, therefore cannot be measured with any degree of accuracy. Psychology is highly inferential (characterized by or involving conclusions reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning).
-Not all psychologists share the view that human behaviour can be explored by the use of scientific methods. If human behaviour is not subject to the laws and regularities implied by scientific methods, then predications become impossible and methods inappropriate.
Evaluate Wundt’s method of introspection
Strengths:
- Introspection is still used in psychology. Csikszentmihalyi and Hunter (2003) used introspective methods as a way of making happiness a measurable phenomenon.
- Use of scientific methods (Wundt used controlled experimental conditions to carry out his research - he used highly trained assistants, and the same stimulus and physical surroundings were given to each person.) Counter argument: different observers provided significantly different responses to the same stimuli and even the most trained observers were not consistent in their answers. - shows introspection is subjective.
- Introspection can be a great source of personal knowledge. The process provides knowledge that is not possible in any other way.
- It can help people make connections between different experiences and responses.
Weaknesses:
- Lacks scientific reliability and objectivity as it is based primarily on no observable responses.
- Self-report is subjective and unreliable (the very act of analysing one’s own thoughts play a role in changing the experience- demand characteristics.)
- Introspection is limited in it’s use; complex subjects such as learning, personality, mental disorders and development are difficult or even impossible to study with this technique.
- Difficult to use with children and impossible to use with animals.
The behaviourist approach assumption
- believes that we were all born ‘blank slates’ (tabula rasa).
- All behaviour is learnt behaviour.
- Assumes that the environment and social norms form our personality.
-Focuses on observable behaviour and the relationship between stimuli and response - empiricism
The behaviourist approach key theorists
Ivan Pavlov - Classical conditioning
B.F Skinner - Operant conditioning
Classical Conditioning
- Associated with Pavlov (salivating dog research 1927)
-Learning through association - Involves pairing of NS with UCS so that eventually NS becomes CS, capable of eliciting a CR.
- NS+UCS = UCR
- After many pairings NS(CS) = CR
- Timing - NS must be shortly before UCS
- Extinction - CS loses it’s ability to produce CR after a few trials if no reinforcement
- Spontaneous recovery - CS + UCS paired again, link made much more quickly.
- Stimulus generalisation - CR also to stimuli that are similar to CS.
Operant Conditioning
- Associated with B.F Skinner
- Learning through reinforcement or punishment. The likelihood of repeating a behaviour depends on its consequence.
- Positive and negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behaviour enforcing
- Pleasant consequences = positive reinforcement
- Removal of unpleasant stimulus = negative reinforcement
- Continuous reinforcement effective for establishing a behaviour, partial reinforcement for maintaining it.
- Adding unpleasant consequence= positive punishment or removing pleasant stimulus = negative punishment.
Outline B.F Skinner’s Research into operant conditioning 1938
Skinner’s Box:
Positive Reinforcement:
1) Behaviour - Rat presses lever
2) Positive reinforcement - Food pellet falls into cage
3) OC - Rat repeats behaviour. If food pellets stop the rat abandons the level (extinction)
Negative Reinforcement:
Electric current t
1) Behaviour - Rat presses lever
2) Negative Reinforcement - electric current stops
3) OC - The rat goes straight to the lever when placed back in the box.
Outline Pavlov’s research into classical condition (1927)
Making dogs salivate to the sound of a bell:
1) NS (bell) = NR (no salivation)
2) UCS (food) = UCR (salivation)
3) NS (bell) + UCS (food) = UCR (salivation)
4) CS (bell) = CR (salivation)
Evaluation points for the Behaviourist Approach
Strengths:
- Real life applications: Classical conditioning has been applied to therapy e.g. in the treatment of phobias (systematic desensation). It is also used daily in advertisement. Operant conditioning is also used in real life for example school reward/punishment systems, gambling, token econonmy’s.
- Operant conditioning is based on experimental work - allows establishment of cause-effect relationship.
Limitations:
- Ethical issues
- Over-reliance on non-human animals in research. While rats and dogs are mammals, and thus share fundamental charactersitics with humans, humans are still much more complex making it difficult to apply findings to humans due tosignificant differences in brain structure, cognitive abilities, and social complexities between humans and other animals. While animal research provides valuable insights into basic principles of behavior, learning, and cognitive processes it fails to explain more complex behaviours and processes, and fails to acknowledge that humans have evolved in a unique social and cultural context, which influences their behaviors and psychological processes in ways that animals do not.
- Deterministic and doesn’t account for free will - negative and lacks face validity (i.e. the justice system is based around the concept of free will)
- Limited perspective - Behaviourists ignore the role played by emotional and cognitive factors.
- Environmentally reductionsit - Behaviorists believe that all behavior, including complex human behaviors, can be explained through stimulus-response (S-R) associations. The reductionist approach can be helpful in identifying simple causes for behavior and in developing treatments to modify those behaviors, as seen in therapies like systematic desensitization or aversion therapy.However, this approach can also be criticized for oversimplifying human behavior and ignoring other factors, such as biological, cognitive, or social influences.It may not fully capture the complexities of human experience and may lead to incomplete explanations of behavior.
Social Learning theory main assumption
- New patterns of behaviour acquired as the result of observation of other.
- Learning through observing and imitating behaviours that are rewarded
Key theorist of the Social Learning theory
Bandura, 1986
Outline Bandura’s social learning theory
- New patterns of behaviour are required as a result of the observation of others.
- Models (live, symbolic or verbal) provide examples of behaviour that can be observed and imitated.
- Key determinants: 1) characteristics of the model; 2) observers ability to perform the behaviour; 3) It’s observed consequences.
- Identification with the model based on perceived similarity.
- Vicarious Reinforcement - Individuals learn about the likely consequence of behaviour by observing others. This may encourage imitation.
- Individual undergoes mediational process. They must form mental representations of the behaviour and its probable consequences.
Stages of the mediational process
1) Attention
2) Retention
3) Replication
4) motivation
Key Study (Bandura ET AL., 1961)
Bobo Doll Experiment:
Aim:
-To demonstrate that if children were witnesses to an aggressive display by an adult they would imitate this aggressive behaviour when given the opportunity.
procedure:
- Children observed aggressive or non aggressive models interacting with bobo doll.
- The aggressive model displayed distinctive physical and verbal aggressive acts towards the doll.
- Children then allowed to interact with the Bobo doll.
Findings:
- Children who observed the aggressive model imitated their aggression.
- Children who observed the non-aggressive model showed little aggression.
Conclusion:
- Children may learn aggression through observation.
Evaluation:
Strengths:
- Bandura used controlled experimental methods. Controlled variables meant a cause and effect was established. Bandura and other psychologists have found the same results repeatedly.
- Used matched pairs design to reduce participant variables.
Weaknesses:
- Bandura’s experiment has low ecological validity. It uses artificial form of violence (on a doll instead of a human). Ignores the novelty value of the doll - Cumberbatch found that children who had not played with a bobo doll before were 5X as likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour than those who were familiar with it.
- Bandura’s experiment only used children so his findings cannot necessarily be applied to adults.
- Bandura did not measure long-term effects. The Bobo Doll experiment was unethical as children may have suffered long-term effects.
Evaluation Points for the Social Learning Theory
Strengths:
- Applicable to real life (e.g. advertisement). Offers of a way of understanding criminal behaviour (Ulrich, 2003, found that the strongest cause of violent behaviour in adolescents was association with delinquent peer groups, where violence was both modelled and rewarded.)
- Recognition of cognitive factors (perception, memory etc)
- Research support for identification (Fox and Bailenson, 2009, found that participants who watched a virtual model, who looked similar to them, exercising were more likely to engage in exercise.)
- Andsager et al. (2006) health campaign study found that perceived similarity to a model in an anti-alcohol advertisement was positively related to the message’s effectiveness
- Increase influence of positive role models and decrease influence of negative role models (watershed for aggressive content in TV shows).
weaknesses:
- Problems of complexity - SLT ignores other potential factors on behaviour such as biological factors like genetics.
- Problem with establishing causality (Siegel and McCormick (2006) suggests that the cause of delinquency may be the possession of deviant attitudes and values (e.g low self control) prior to contact with deviant peers.
- Lack of accountability
- Ignores developmental milestones
The Cognitive Approach assumes…
- The mind actively processes information from our senses (touch, taste etc.).
- Between stimulus and response are complex mental processes, which can be studied scientifically.
- Humans can be seen as data processing systems.
- The workings of a computer and the human mind are alike – they encode and store information, and they have outputs
- Schemas
Theoretical models
Simplified representations based on current evidence. E.g the information processing model
Computer models
analogies of information processing
1) information is inputted into the mind via the senses
2) the mind processes the information
3) The information is either stored in memory or outputted in the form of a behaviour.
The Emergence of cognitive neuroscience
This refers to the study of how brain structures and biology affect mental processes. Specific brain areas have been found to be associated with particular actions, moods and emotions, which has been tested through brain-scanning techniques i.e. PET scans). For example, an area of the frontal lobe (Broca’s Area) has been linked with speech production.
AO1:
* cognitive neuroscience aims to explore the neurobiological basis of thought processes and disorders
* cognitive neuroscience has emerged with improvements in technology such as fMRI and PET scans
* cognitive science was formally formed in MIT in 1956 and cognitive neuroscience was coined by
George Miller and Michael Gazzaniga in the 1970s.
Possible discussion points:
* more scientific/objective in research study
* nature/nurture debate – cognitive neuroscience has demonstrated the brain’s plasticity throughout life
supporting the role of experience
* free will/determinism debate – cognitive neuroscience demonstrates the role of experience in shaping
the brain showing biology is not destiny
* research studies identifying neurological basis of mental processes, eg Tulving (1994) PET scan study found that distinct brain regions are activated during the retrieval of episodic and semantic memories. Specifically, the left prefrontal cortex was more active during semantic memory retrieval, while the right prefrontal cortex was more active during episodic memory retrieval.
on memory. Maguire’s study on brain plasticity.
* provided neurobiological basis of certain psychological disorders (eg role of the parahippocampal
gyrus in OCD) resulting in the development of new therapeutics and removing blame and stigma
* ethics, eg controversial use of mind mapping for lie detection in courts
* early identification for cognitive problems prior to observable behaviour has provided potential for early
intervention
* provides evidence to support previously controversial behavioural findings by illuminating mechanisms
of cognitive development that underlie behavioural observations.
Evaluation of the cognitive approach
Strengths:
- Scientific nature - The use of controlled experiments, e.g. Loftus and Palmer, mean many of the concepts are replicable, objective, and falsifiable.
- Applications - Cognitive therapies are frequently used around the world, which has benefited society across a range of areas. e.g. health and the justices system. Contributed to CBT (Cuijper et al reviewed 75 studies and found CBT superior to no treatment + Ellis’ 90% success rate for REBT) and the fiend of AI.
- Determinism - Internal mental processes and schemas have an impact on behaviour, e.g. your schema may be determined by your use of social media. However there is some free will in the cognitive approach. Both therapies (CBT and REBT) suggest that you can change your thought processes.
- Nature vs nurture - interactionist approach as it acknowledges both nature and nature. Many of our internal mental process are innate (memory) but some of our knowledge is a product of our environment (schemas are influence by our surroundings).
Weaknesses:
- Cognitive approaches have been criticised for reducing human personality and behaviour to the level of a computer, neglecting the role of emotion on actions. This is known as MACHINE REDUCTIONISM, and is a problem was it does not recognise how much more complex humans are than machines.
- Reductionist - beneficial as it offers a detailed look at individual factors (cognition), however it is an oversimplified explanation and ignores other factors such as the role of emotions or social influences.
- Idiographic vs Nomothetic - The approach is nomothetic as computer models suggest that al minds work in a similar way. By having ideas that apply to many ppl the approach allows itself to be useful for everyone however it ignores the role of individual differences.
The Biological Approach assumption
Physical processes in the body influence human behaviour. All thoughts, feelings and behaviours have a physical basis.
The biological approach explanations
1) Genetic inheritance and natural selection
2) Biological structure
3) Neurochemistry
Schemas
Schemas are ways we organize and store thoughts and information in our minds, which are about ourselves and the world around us.
Schemas fill in gaps in the absence of full information.
Positives of schemas: They help us to organise and interpret information, process information quickly, and adapt to situations.
Negatives of schemas: They can distort information, resulting in stereotypes and leading to prejudice and discrimination.
gene
A part of the chromosome of an organism that carries information in the form of DNA
Genotype
The genetic make-up of an individual.
Phenotype
The observable characteristics of an individual. This is a consequence of the interaction of the genotype with the environment.
Heredity
A characteristic which is passed on from parents
Heritability
A measure of how well difference in people’s genes account for differences in their traits.
Genetic Theory
Each individual possesses a unique combination of genetic instructions, therefore we differ from each other in terms of personality, intelligence, abilities and so on.
Twin Studies
Monozygotic twins - identical
dizygotic twins - non identical
concordance rates for schizophrenia:
monozygotic twins = 48%
dizygotic twins = 17%
(31% down to genetics)
Studies of identical twins have suggested that the variation in individual intelligence could be 60-80% due to genes.
Concordance Rates
The % chance (probability chance) of one twin having a characteristic if the other has it.
Natural selection
Certain physcial and psychological traits have been passed down from one generation to the another due to their advantages in survival and reproduction.
Sexual selection
Certain physical and psychological traits have been passed down from one generation to another, due to their advantages in attracting a mate.
(Sexual selection can be intra-sexual (competition within a sex) or inter-sexual (competition between sexes))
Key Study: Buss (1989)
Buss (1989) studied 37 different cultures and found universal similarities in human mate preferences. Women desired mates with resources (to provide for offspring), while men desired young, physically attractive women (an indication of their fertility and reproductive value)
The nervous system
The nervous system carries messages around the body using neurons (nerve cells) and neurotransmitters (electrical impulses.
It consists of:
- The Central Nervous system, which comprises of the brain and spinal cord.
- The Peripheral Nervous System - resides outside your brain and spinal cord. They relay information between your brain and the rest of your body. It consists of two parts:
- The Autonomic nervous system (ANS) - control involuntary bodily functions and regulates glands.
- Somatic Nervous system (SNS) - controls muscle movement and relays information from ears, eyes and skin to the CNS.
Brain Structure
The largest part of the brain is the cerebrum, divided into four lobes:
1) Frontal Lobes - Involved with speech, thought and learning.
2) Parietal Lobe - Processes sensory information such as touch, temperature and pain.
3) Occipital Lobe - Processes visual information
4) Temporal Lobe - Responsible for hearing and memory
Neuron
A specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses; a nerve cell.
Synapse
The gap/site of transmission of electrical nerve impulses between two neurones.
Action potential
An electrical signal
Neurotransmitters
Chemical messengers which enable nerve impulses to cross the synapse.
Excitatory neurotransmitters
Increase the likelihood that the receiving neuron will fire an action potential.
Inhibitory neurotransmitters
Decrease the likelihood that the receiving neuron will fire an action potential
Dopamine
- excitatory neurotransmitter
- Our main focus neurotransmitter.
- Responsible for our drive or desire to acquire - be that food, sex, an achievement, or drug.
Serotonin
- Inhibitory neurotransmitter.
- Allows us to be content and happy.
- Helps with sleep, calming anxiety and relieving depression.
hormones
Chemical substances that act like messenger molecules in the body.
They are produced by endocrine cells and stimulate target cells.
What does the endocrine system do?
Regulates bodily functions including: growth, sexual maturity, sleep patterns, involuntary function (HR), body temperature, digestion, breathing rate.
How does the endocrine system work?
1) A signal is sent from the brain to a gland
2) The gland secretes hormones directly into the blood stream as a response to this signal.
3) Hormones travel to target cells and stimulate receptors on the surface or inside cells.
4) This alters the cell activity.
Biological Approach evaluation points
Strengths:
- Real world applications - Drug therapies (anti-depressants increase serotonin levels and antipsychotics inhibit dopamine).
counterpoint: Cipriani et al (2008) compared 21 antidepressant drugs and found a wide range of variation in their effectiveness (they don’t work for everyone). - Use of scientific methods - experimental studies take place in highly controlled environments, which makes research replicable and adds to validity. The use of sophisticated imaging and recording techniques increase the precision and objectivity of experimental research in this area.
- The biological approach provides clear predictions, which can be tested.
- Twin studies show that genetics have a influence
Weaknesses:
- Deterministic - suggests we have no control over our behaviour. Often ignores experience, free-will, or the environment.
- Reductionist - Ignores cognitive, emotional and cultural factors.
- Identifying a genetic basis for behaviour may lead to genetic screening and discrimination of the basis of a particular genotype. Counterpoint: Could enable individuals with genetic predispositions for criminality or mental disorders to get help early on.
- Evolutionary explanations stress importance of biological evolution, but ignores the possibility of cultural evolution i.e in the early 2000s China’s sex ratio at birth was strongly biased in favour of males due to the cultural preference for sons.
- concordance rates are never 100%, other factors must have an influence
Psychodynamic approach
-Centres around change, development and drive.
- Emphasizes unconscious motives and desires.
Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis
- Freud assumed that people are born with basic instincts and needs and that behaviour in in large controlled by the unconscious mind.
- He assumed that bodily pleasure was our main motivation for everything.
-His theories involved the structure of the mind, the structure of personality, defence mechanisms and psychosexual stages.
Structure of the mind
- Conscious mind (Contains thoughts, memories, feelings and wishes, which we are aware of at any given moment)
- Preconscious mind (information or thoughts that can be easily recalled/brought into the conscious)
- Unconscious (thoughts, feelings, urges and memories that are outside of our conscious awareness)
Structure of personality
The ID - unconscious instincts, based around the pleasure principle. Develops from birth.
The Ego - mostly conscious, based around the reality principle. Usually works to balance out the ID and the superego. Develops from age 2.
The superego - in the conscious, preconscious and unconscious mind. Based on the morality principle, it is our idea of right and wrong. Develops from age 5 (phallic stage).
The Ego-Ideal
The ego-ideal is what a person strive towards, and it is most probably determined by parental standards of good behaviour.
intrapsychic conflict
Conflict, which occurs between the Id and the superego and creates anxiety around the ego, triggering defence mechanisms.
Defence mechanisms
- When an individual is faced with a situation that they are unable to deal with rationally, their defence mechanisms are triggered. They work by distorting reality so that anxiety is reduced.
Defence mechanisms: - Repression (unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses)
- Denial (refusal to accept reality to avoid having to deal with any painful feelings that might be associated with the event)
- Displacement (redirecting thoughts and feelings)
libido
sexual energy
psychosexual stages
1) Oral stage (0-2 years)
conflict = weaning
focus = mouth
fixation = smoking, overeating or nails biting
2) Anal stage (2-3 years)
conflict = potty training
focus = control
fixations = Anal retentive or anal expulsive
3) Phallic stage (3-6 years)
Conflict = Oedipus/Electra complex
focus = genitals
fixation = over or under indulging in sexual actions, a confusion in sexual identity or relationship difficulties.
4) Latency stage (6 years - puberty)
Conflict = redirecting sexual energy/dormant libido
Focus = libido is redirected towards other interests like sports, socialising and school.
5) Genital stage (puberty-death)
conflict = reigniting sexual energy
Focus = maturation of sexual interests. Healthy heterosexual relationships.
Oedipus complex
the male child unconsciously wishes to possess their mother and get rid of their father. As a result of this desire boys experience castration anxiety (punishment from their father), and in an attempt to resolve this problem, the child identifies with their father.
Evaluation points for the psychodynamic approach
Strengths:
- Pioneering approach - Freud was the first to demonstrate the potential for psychological treatments for disorders. Introduced the idea of ‘psychotherapy’. Psychoanalysis to access the unconscious was the first from of psychotherapy. The American Psychological Association (APA) estimates that psychotherapy has a 75% success rate
- Explanatory power - it has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena including personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development, and gender identity. Connects childhood experience and our later development.
- Scientific support - Fisher and Greenberg (1996) conducted a meta-analysis of arounf 2,500 studies of the effectiveness of psychoanalytic therapy and found evidence to support the role of many psychoanalytic claims including; the existence of unconscious motivation in human behaviour and defence mechanisms.
- Suggested new methodological procedures for gathering evidence - case studies. These are based on observation of behaviour rather than relying on introspection.
weaknesses:
- Psychoanalysis is a gender-biased approach. Freud remained ignorant of female sexuality and how it may differ from male sexuality. He claimed that young girls suffered from ‘penis envy’ and viewed femininity as a failed form of masculinity.
- Psychoanalysis is culture biased - little relevance for people from non-Western cultures, who may not value insight and the role of traumatic experiencs. I.e. in some cultures depressed people avoid thoughts that make them feel distressed rather than talking about it like in the Western world.
Falsifiability - Many of Freud’s ideas, i.e. the Oedipus complex, are abstract and untestable ideas. They are not open to empirical testing and the possibility of being disproved.
- Based on case studies (i.e Little Hans). Case study evidence is difficult to generalise to wider populations + subjective interpretations of unique individual experiences.
- Supporting research: Solms (2000) used PET scans on brain-damaged individual’s to show that the id is located in the limbic system whilst the ego and the sperego are located in the frontal lobes of the cerebal cortex - giving clinical support.
- False memory syndrome - psychoanalysis raises some ethical concerns as it can involve reliving painful events and may produce false memory syndrome with patients recalling ‘repressed memories which are false’
- psychic determinism - believes free will is an illusion
psychotherapy
The treatment of mental conditions by verbal communication and interaction
Humanistic approach
- Developed by Carl Rodgers and Abraham Maslow in the 1950’s.
- Assumptions: People have full control over their own experiences i.e. they have free will. People are motiviated to reach their full potential through self-actualization.
- person centred approach (individualism)
Congruence
- When there is similarity between a person’s ideal self and how they perceive themselves to be in real life a state of congruence exists.
- The closer our self-image and ideal self are to each other, the greater the congruence and the higher our feelings of self-worth.
- Therefore we are more likely to reach self actualisation
Unconditional positive regard
When a person is accepted for who they are or what they do.
Conditions of worth (Rogers, 1959)
Conditions of worth develop as a result of receiving conditional positive regard. These are the conditions that they perceive significant others (e.g. parents or a spouse) put upon them, and which they believe have to be in place if they are to be accepted by others and see themselves positively.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs (1943)
Self-Actualisation
Esteem
Love/belonging
Safety
Physiological
self-actualisation
The complete realization of one’s potential, and the full development of one’s abilities and appreciation for life.
Free Will
Having conscious control over one’s destiny.
Humanistic Approach Evaluation Points
Strengths:
- Not reductionist - looks at the whole individual.
- The least deterministic approach - Accounts for free will and challenges the stigma surrounding mental health.
- Influence on counselling - Counselling therapists us Rogers ideas of unconditional positive regard by providing empathy and unconditional positive regard in attempt to dissolve the client’s conditions of worth and as a result help them to reach self-actualisation.
- Positive Approach - Seeing humans as in control + ability to change. ‘Bringing the person back into psychology’
- Research support for conditions of worth - Harter et al. (1996) found that teenagers who experienced conditional positive regard from their parents were more likely to end up not liking themselves.
Weaknesses:
- Lacks empirical evidence - It’s based on quite abstract ideas, which can’t be reduced to single variables and measured.
- Cultural bias - More applicable to individualist cultures than collectivist cultures, which emphasise the needs of the group. (Nevis)
- Poor application (other than counselling)
- Unfalsifiable - Hard to scientifically test. Reliance on the subjective experiences of individuals may make it difficult to objectively measure, record and study humanistic variables and features.
- Unrealistic - Does not adequately recognise people’s capacity for pessimism and self-destructive behaviour. Encouraging people to focus on their own self-development rather than on situational forces may neither be realistic nor appropriate to modern society.
Factors that make something a ‘science’
1
Controlled, experimental conditions that can show cause and effect and can test hypotheses
2
Highly standardised experiments that can be repeated in the same way - reliability
3
Use of IVs and DVs
4
The scientific method – objective, systematic and replicable
5
The scientific cycle – objective, systematic and replicable observation. Building, refining of falsifying, development of a scientific theory, constants testing/refining and back to the theory.
Wundt’s two goals of psychology
1) To identify components of the consciousness
2) To identify how those components combined to result in our conscious experience.
Reductionism
An approach that reduces a complex phenomenon such as human behaviour to the simplest explanation possible. Often, this means looking at a biological basis for behaviour.
Advantage: Better understanding
disadvantage: over-simplified
John B. Watson’s Behaviourist manifesto (1913)
1) Behaviour is a response to environmental stimulus
2) Behaviourism is only concerned with observable stimulus-response behaviours
3) This can be studied in a systematic, objective way.
Order of Approaches
1879 - Wilhelm Wundt separates psychology from philosophy
1900s - Freud establishes psychodynamic approach
1913 - J.B Watson and B.F. Skinner establish the behaviourist approach
1950s - C.Rogers and Maslow develop the humanistic approach
1960s - Bandura Social Learning
1960s - cognitive approach
1980s - Biological approach
2000 onwards - cognitive neuroscience
Order of Approaches
1879 - Wilhelm Wundt separates psychology from philosophy
1900s - Freud establishes psychodynamic approach
1913 - J.B Watson and B.F. Skinner establish the behaviourist approach
1950s - C.Rogers and Maslow develop the humanistic approach
1960s - Bandura Social Learning
1960s - cognitive approach
1980s - Biological approach
2000 onwards - cognitive neuroscience
Electra complex
the state of a young girl being attracted to the parent of the opposite sex during thephallicdevelopmental stage while also developing a sense of competition with her mother
Resolved by the child identifying with their mother and accepting her as a role model.
