bio, psycho, cognitive and humanistic approach Flashcards
Biological approach
The biological approach explains behaviour in terms of biological structures, genes, neurochemistry, and evolution. It sees the mind as residing in the physical brain, meaning all thoughts, feelings and behaviours have a biological basis.
📌 1. Genetic Basis of Behaviour
Behaviour is influenced by genes inherited from our parents.
Twin studies are often used to investigate the genetic basis.
MZ twins (identical) share 100% of genes.
DZ twins (non-identical) share ~50%.
If MZ twins show higher concordance rates for traits (e.g. OCD, depression), it suggests a genetic influence.
📌 2. Genotype and Phenotype
Genotype = The actual genetic makeup.
Phenotype = The way genes are expressed in the environment.
For example, a person may inherit a gene for height (genotype), but if malnourished as a child, may not grow tall (phenotype).
This highlights the role of both nature and nurture in behaviour.
📌 3. Biological Structures
Key areas of the brain (e.g., frontal lobe, amygdala, hippocampus) are linked to different functions and behaviours.
The nervous system (especially the central nervous system) plays a key role in transmitting messages to and from the brain.
📌 4. Neurochemistry
Behaviour is also influenced by chemical processes in the brain, especially neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin, dopamine).
E.g., low serotonin is linked to depression, high dopamine is linked to schizophrenia.
Hormones (like testosterone, cortisol) also affect behaviour.
📌 5. Evolution and Behaviour
Behaviour has evolved through natural selection.
Traits that increase survival and reproduction are passed on (e.g., aggression may have evolved to protect resources).
Applies Darwin’s theory of evolution to psychology.
🧠 AO3: Evaluation
Here’s how to structure evaluation points for 16-markers — use PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explain, Link).
✅ 1. Scientific Methods
The biological approach uses highly scientific methods like brain scans (fMRI, EEG), twin studies, and drug trials. These are objective, replicable, and based on measurable data. This gives the approach high internal validity and places psychology on equal footing with the natural sciences.
✅ 2. Real-World Applications
This approach has led to successful treatments for mental illnesses using biological therapies (e.g., SSRIs for depression, antipsychotics for schizophrenia). This means the biological approach has practical value in improving lives and reducing suffering, strengthening its relevance and credibility.
❌ 3. Biological Determinism
The approach is often biologically deterministic — it assumes behaviour is caused by genes or neurochemistry, ignoring free will or social/environmental factors. This is problematic, especially in legal or ethical situations (e.g., blaming crime on biology). It also reduces human behaviour to simple biology, ignoring complexity.
❌ 4. Difficulty Separating Nature and Nurture
Although twin studies are useful, concordance rates are never 100%, even for MZ twins. This suggests that environment also plays a role. Moreover, MZ twins are often raised in very similar environments, making it difficult to separate genetic and environmental influences — limiting conclusions.
❌ 5. Reductionist Approach
The biological approach reduces behaviour to its simplest biological components (e.g., genes, hormones). While this allows scientific study, it ignores the holistic view of human behaviour — thoughts, emotions, and environment are also important. A more interactionist approach might be more effective.
psychodynamic approach
The psychodynamic approach was developed by Sigmund Freud. It emphasises the influence of the unconscious mind, early childhood experiences, and innate drives (mainly sexual and aggressive instincts) on behaviour.
📌 1. Role of the Unconscious
The unconscious mind is a vast storehouse of biological drives, memories, and repressed experiences that influence behaviour.
The conscious mind is what we’re aware of.
The preconscious contains thoughts that can be brought into consciousness (e.g., through dreams or slips of the tongue).
📌 2. Structure of Personality (Tripartite Model)
Freud proposed the mind consists of three parts in constant conflict:
Part Description
Id Instinctual, primitive part; operates on the pleasure principle (demands immediate gratification).
Ego Rational part; operates on the reality principle; mediates between the id and superego.
Superego Internalised moral standards from parents and society; operates on the morality principle.
Imbalance between these elements can lead to mental illness (e.g., strong superego → guilt).
📌 3. Defence Mechanisms
Used by the ego to reduce anxiety from conflicts between the id and superego. They are unconscious:
Repression – Forcing distressing memories into the unconscious.
Denial – Refusing to accept reality.
Displacement – Redirecting emotions onto a less threatening target.
📌 4. Psychosexual Stages of Development
Freud believed personality develops through 5 stages. Each stage is focused on a different erogenous zone. Unresolved conflicts (fixation) can lead to long-term consequences:
Stage Age Focus Fixation Consequences
Oral 0–1 yr Mouth Smoking, nail biting
Anal 1–3 yrs Anus Obsessiveness or messiness
Phallic 3–6 yrs Genitals (Oedipus complex) Narcissism, vanity
Latency 6–12 yrs Repression of earlier conflicts N/A
Genital 12+ Adult sexual relationships Difficulty forming relationships
📌 5. Oedipus Complex (during Phallic stage)
Boys develop unconscious sexual desires for their mother and jealousy of their father.
Fear of punishment (castration anxiety) leads to identification with the father.
Girls experience the Electra complex (penis envy), though Freud said less about this.
🧠 AO3: Evaluation
Here’s how to structure strong AO3 points using PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explain, Link) — perfect for 16-mark essays.
✅ 1. Influence on Psychology
Freud’s work had a huge impact — he was the first to highlight the importance of childhood and the unconscious. His work paved the way for modern therapies (e.g., psychoanalysis) and introduced ideas like talking cures. Many ideas (e.g., defence mechanisms) are still used today, showing enduring relevance.
✅ 2. Real-World Applications
The psychodynamic approach led to the development of psychoanalysis, a form of therapy that uses dream analysis and free association to access the unconscious. Although controversial, psychoanalysis has been shown to help mild neuroses (e.g., anxiety), giving the theory practical value.
❌ 3. Untestable Concepts
Many of Freud’s ideas (e.g., the id, Oedipus complex, unconscious) are unfalsifiable — they cannot be tested or proven wrong. This means the theory is not scientific, and lacks empirical support. Karl Popper called it a pseudoscience.
❌ 4. Psychic Determinism
The psychodynamic approach suggests all behaviour is determined by unconscious forces and childhood — it allows no room for free will. This is a deterministic viewpoint, which limits the understanding of human agency and decision-making.
❌ 5. Gender and Cultural Bias
Freud’s theories are based on case studies of Western, male, upper-class patients, and he had limited understanding of female development (e.g., penis envy, Electra complex). His ideas have been criticised for being androcentric and culture-bound, limiting their generalisability.
Humanistic approach
The humanistic approach focuses on free will, personal growth, and viewing people as unique, whole individuals. It emphasises that behaviour is not determined by biology or past experiences alone, but by an individual’s subjective experience and desire for self-actualisation.
📌 1. Free Will
Humans are self-determining and have the ability to make conscious choices.
While external and internal influences exist, we are active agents capable of controlling our actions.
This contrasts with the determinism of other approaches (e.g., biological or psychodynamic).
📌 2. Self-Actualisation (Maslow)
The innate drive to grow and reach one’s full potential.
Represented at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
🧱 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
Physiological – food, water
Safety – security, stability
Love/belonging – intimate relationships, friends
Esteem – feeling of accomplishment, respect
Self-actualisation – achieving full potential, creativity
People can only move up the hierarchy when lower-level needs are met.
📌 3. The Self, Congruence & Conditions of Worth (Carl Rogers)
The self: How we see ourselves (self-concept).
Ideal self: Who we want to be.
Congruence: When the self and ideal self match → leads to higher self-worth and psychological health.
Incongruence: Mismatch between self and ideal self → leads to low self-esteem, mental distress.
Rogers believed that unconditional positive regard (being loved for who you are) from parents or therapists is vital for achieving congruence.
📌 4. Client-Centred Therapy (CCT)
Developed by Carl Rogers.
Non-directive therapy focused on helping clients find their own solutions.
Therapist offers genuineness, empathy, and unconditional positive regard to help the client reduce incongruence.
Widely used in counselling psychology.
🧠 AO3: Evaluation
Here’s a set of strong AO3 evaluation points for essay writing, using PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explain, Link):
✅ 1. Holistic Perspective
Unlike other approaches, the humanistic approach views the person as a whole (not just a set of behaviours or biological processes). This gives the approach higher validity when understanding human experience because it considers meaning, emotion, and context.
✅ 2. Positive and Empowering
The approach promotes a positive image of humans as free, in control, and working toward growth. This contrasts with the negative or deterministic views of Freud (e.g., we’re slaves to the unconscious). Humanistic psychology is optimistic, which has led to its use in personal development and education.
❌ 3. Lacks Scientific Rigor
Key concepts (e.g., self-actualisation, congruence) are subjective and unfalsifiable, making them difficult to measure. The approach is criticised for lacking empirical evidence and not being testable under controlled conditions, reducing its scientific credibility.
❌ 4. Cultural Bias
The approach reflects Western individualist values, especially the emphasis on personal autonomy and self-growth. In collectivist cultures, group goals and interdependence are more important, meaning the theory may lack cultural validity.
❌ 5. Limited Application
Although client-centred therapy has helped in counselling, the approach has had limited impact in mainstream psychology, especially in comparison to behaviourism or cognitive psychology. It lacks real-world application in treating severe mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia).
Cognitive approach
The cognitive approach focuses on internal mental processes such as perception, memory, attention, and language, which are seen as important in understanding behaviour. Unlike the behaviourist approach, which only studies observable behaviour, the cognitive approach investigates how people mentally process information.
🔑 Key Assumptions:
Behaviour is the result of internal mental processes.
These processes are studied scientifically and objectively, often using inferences from experiments.
The mind is compared to a computer — information is input, processed, and output (this is known as the information processing model).
People have schemas — mental frameworks or packages of knowledge that help interpret incoming information.
🧩 Schema Theory:
A schema is a cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information.
Schemas help us respond appropriately but can also lead to distortions or biases (e.g., stereotypes).
For example, a “teacher schema” might cause someone to interpret a neutral adult in a classroom as authoritative.
🧠 Theoretical and Computer Models:
Cognitive psychologists use models to visualise and test how the mind works.
Theoretical models (e.g., the multi-store model of memory) are simplified representations of mental processes.
Computer models simulate human cognition using concepts like input, storage, and retrieval.
🧪 Cognitive Neuroscience:
A recent development that combines cognitive psychology and neuroscience.
Uses brain scanning techniques like fMRI and EEG to study which brain areas are involved in specific mental processes.
For example, Broca’s area is linked to speech production.
Helps identify links between mental functioning and brain activity, giving the approach biological credibility.
🧠 AO3: Evaluation of the Cognitive Approach
✅ 1. Scientific and Objective Methods
One major strength of the cognitive approach is its use of highly controlled, scientific methods. Experiments are often conducted in lab settings using standardised procedures, which allows for replication and empirical testing. The development of cognitive neuroscience, which uses brain imaging technology like fMRI, has further enhanced the scientific status of the approach. This gives the cognitive approach high internal validity and a strong evidence base, setting it apart from earlier, more subjective psychological theories.
✅ 2. Real-Life Applications
The cognitive approach has contributed significantly to real-world applications, such as in the development of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for mental health disorders. It has also influenced artificial intelligence, educational psychology, and eyewitness testimony research (e.g., reconstructive memory). These applications show that cognitive theories are not only useful in understanding behaviour but also have practical value in improving lives.
❌ 3. Relies on Inference Rather Than Direct Observation
Although the cognitive approach is scientific, it often relies on inference rather than direct observation. Because internal mental processes cannot be seen directly, psychologists must infer what is happening in the mind based on participants’ behaviour in tasks. This makes it harder to be certain about what is actually occurring mentally, and may reduce the validity of the conclusions drawn from experiments.
❌ 4. Machine Reductionism
The approach has been criticised for comparing the mind to a computer, which may be an overly simplified analogy. Unlike computers, human beings are influenced by emotions, motivation, and social factors — aspects that the cognitive approach often ignores. For example, anxiety can affect memory (as seen in eyewitness testimony), which the computer model does not account for. This machine reductionism limits the cognitive approach’s ability to fully explain complex human behaviour.
❌ 5. Low Ecological Validity of Experiments
Many cognitive studies are carried out under artificial lab conditions, using tasks such as recalling word lists or solving logic puzzles. These tasks may not reflect how memory or thinking works in everyday life. As a result, the cognitive approach can be criticised for lacking ecological validity, and findings may not generalise well to real-world settings.
✅ 6. Less Deterministic than Other Approaches
The cognitive approach is often seen as offering a soft determinism perspective. It acknowledges that we are limited by the way we process information, but it also recognises that we can think, reason, and make decisions. This makes it a more balanced and realistic view of human behaviour compared to the hard determinism seen in the behaviourist or biological approaches.
