Approaches + Biopsych: Evaluation

Question 1

Origins of Psychology AO3

Answer 1

• unreliable methods: relied on ‘nonobservable’ responses
• scientific: tests assumptions about behaviour by establishing causality + correcting theories
• not all psychologists believ human behaviour can be explored using scientific methods: much is unobservable and relies on inferences from data

Question 2

Behaviourist AO3

Answer 2

• classical has been applied to therapy eg treatment of phobias
• classical only appropriate for some forms of learning eg concept of preparedness (Seligman)
• operant based on experimental work: allows establishment of cause-effect relationships

Question 3

Social Learning Theory AO3

Answer 3

• useful applications: offers way of understanding criminal behaviour (Ulrich)
• research support for identification: learning more effective from similar than dissimilar model (Fox and Bailenson)
• problem of causality: criticism of view of criminal behaviour due to exposure to deviant models
• problem of complexity: advocates of SLT disregard other potential influences on behaviour

Question 4

Cognitive AO3

Answer 4

• applications eg cognitive approach to psyhcopathology
• scienitfic: uses scientific method
• computer models: many differences between computer and human processing eg computers don’t make mistakes
• ignores emotion and motivation: irrelavant to computer but not to human
• studies lack ecological validity: most research uses tasks that are relatively meaningless in real-life settings

Question 5

Biological AO3

Answer 5

• uses scientific method: makes replication easier
• provides clear predictions which can be tested
• reductionist

Question 6

Fight or Flight AO3

Answer 6

• tend and befriend response in females
• negative consequences eg heart disease
• doesn’t tell whole story: ‘freezing’ precedes both fight and flight