New Approaches Flashcards
Origins of Psychology
Descartes and Dualism:
* In the 17th century, Descartes suggested that the mind and the body represented a dualism, and that the two interact in different ways to produce different behaviours and thoughts. This was the basis for the nature versus nurture debate.
* Psychology = “The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes and how these are affected by internal and external factors” (IB definition).
* Science = “The pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and 1 social world, following a systematic methodology based on evidence”.
* Therefore, the features of science are as follows: A universal paradigm, theory construction, hypothesis testing, deduction, falsification, replicability, objectivity, and the empirical method.
Wundt and Introspection:
* In 1879, Wundt set up his first laboratory where he adopted the use of introspection.
* Introspection is defined as “a means of learning about one’s own currently ongoing mental 2 states or processes. Introspective knowledge is often held to be more immediate or direct than sensory knowledge”.
* It features 3 conditions: The mentality condition (aims to generate beliefs about mental states and events), the first-person condition (aims to generate beliefs about the individual’s own mind) and the temporal proximity condition (generates beliefs and describes the individual’s current mental life).
* Wundt isolated conscious thoughts into basic structures of thoughts, processes and images, in a process called structuralism.
* The method of data recording was highly scientific e.g. the same stimulus was used each time, allowing for replication under standardised conditions, hence producing reliable data.
Skinner, Watson and Behaviourism:
* Skinner disagreed with the subjective nature of introspection, in which the findings differed greatly from individual to individual, making it difficult to establish general laws and unifying principles of behaviour and cognition.
* Therefore, in the 1930s, Skinner’s idea of radical behaviourism (that private events could be measured and quantified in the same way as observable behaviour) was tested using the laboratory experiment method of research.
* This allowed for the objective measurement of observable behaviour, providing reliable data through controlling and eliminating the effects of extraneous and confounding variables, by using highly controlled conditions.
* This marked the beginning of Psychology as a scientific discipline!
Further Progress with Other Approaches:
* The Cognitive Approach = With the invention of the computer in the 1960s, cognitive
psychology flourished as psychologists had a metaphor for the functions and workings of the mind i.e. the ‘computer analogy’.
* Social Learning Theory = Bandura also agreed with behaviourist principles (i.e. that behaviour is learnt through experience) but argued that these principles are better applied to a social
context.
* The Biological Approach = Advances in technology, particularly with brain scanning techniques in the 1970s, allowed psychologists to objectively observe and measure the biological basis of behaviour.
The Learning Approach: Behaviourism (AO1)
A01 Introduction and Assumptions:
A01 Introduction and Assumptions:
* The behaviourist approach is an approach to explaining behaviour which suggests that
all behaviour is acquired and maintained through classical and operant conditioning.
Hence, only behaviour which can be objectively measured and observed is studied, as
demonstrated by Skinner’s Box. This is due to the founders of behaviourism, Watson
and Skinner, disagreeing with the subjective nature of Wundt’s introspective methods,
and the inability to formulate general laws and universal principles based on his
observations.
* From a behaviourist perspective, the basic laws governing learning are the same across
both non-humans and humans. Therefore, non-human animals can replace humans in
behaviourist experimental research.
Classical Conditioning and Examples:
- Classical Conditioning = A type of learning which occurs through associations made between the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus. Before conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces the unconditioned response (UCR). During conditioning, the neutral stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with the UCS, producing an UCR. After conditioning, the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response.
- Pavlov demonstrated that dogs could be conditioned to salivate upon hearing a bell, as follows:
1. Before conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (food) produced an unconditioned response (salivation).
2. During conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus was repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus (a bell), to produce the same unconditioned response of salivation.
3. An association was made between the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus.
4. After conditioning, the neutral stimulus became the conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response of salivation. - Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus, so the conditioned response becomes extinct/disappears.
- Spontaneous recovery occurs when the individual carries out the conditioned response some time after extinction has occurred.
- Generalisation occurs when slight changes in the conditioned stimulus, such as different pitches of the bell used in Pavlov’s experiment, still produces the same conditioned response.
Operant Conditioning and Examples:
Operant conditioning = A type of learning where behaviour is acquired and maintained based on its consequences. Reinforcement increases the likelihood of the observed behaviour being repeated, whilst punishment (an unpleasant consequence of behaviour) decreases this likelihood.
* There are two types of reinforcement - positive and negative. Positive reinforcement occurs when we carry out a behaviour to receive a reward e.g. completing homework to receive praise from a teacher. On the other hand, negative reinforcement occurs when we carry out a behaviour to avoid negative consequences e.g. completing homework to avoid being given a detention.
- Skinner’s Box = Skinner demonstrated, using a rat, the mechanisms of positive and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement was shown when the rats pressed down on a lever to receive food as a reward, and subsequently learnt to repeat this action to increase their rewards. Negative reinforcement was shown when the rat learnt to press down on the lever to avoid the unpleasant consequence of an electric shock.
The Learning Approach: Behaviourism (A03 Evaluation:)
+ Scientific Rigour = In an attempt to objectively and systematically collect reliable data,
the behaviourist approach makes use of highly scientific research methods, particularly
the laboratory experiment. Strictly-controlled conditions reduce and control for the
effects of confounding and extraneous variables, increasing the reliability and internal
validity of the findings (as these are more likely to be replicated when research is
conducted under the same conditions). By focusing on behaviour which is observable
and can be measured, the behaviourist approach increases the scientific credibility of
psychology.
+ Real-Life Applications = An increased understanding of classical and operant
conditioning has led to the development of treatments and therapies for serious mental
disorders. For example, token economies have been used as a way of dealing with
offending behaviour: inmates who carry out socially-desirable behaviour (such as
tidying their cell and avoiding conflicts) receive tokens (secondary reinforcers) which
can be traded for privileges (primary reinforcers), such as extra TV-time. Therefore,
behaviourist principles have had positive impacts on the lives of many.
— Environmental Determinism = The behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as the
product of past reinforcement contingencies, leaving no room for free will or conscious
choices. This hard deterministic stance may be a more appropriate explanation for animal behaviour, whereas explanations of human behaviour should also account for emotions, motivations and reasoning skills (e.g. as social learning theory does). Hence, the behaviourist approach may be a limited explanation for human behaviour.
— Cost-benefit analyses with the use of animals in experimental research = Skinner’s box caused considerable physical harm to the rats, breaching the BPS ethical guideline of protection from harm. Watson and Rayner’s classical conditioning experiments on Little Albert failed to protect him from psychological harm, as well as not offering him the opportunity to withdraw. Therefore, much behaviourist research, at least by modern
standards, would be viewed as unethical. However, a cost-benefit analysis may show that the benefit of increased understanding of the different types of learning (classical and operant conditioning) outweigh the ethical costs.
The Learning Approach: Social Learning Theory (A01)
A01 Introduction and Assumptions:
- Social learning theory (SLT) suggests that learning occurs both directly, through
classical and operant conditioning, and indirectly, through vicarious reinforcement. - Assumes that learning occurs through the following stages: An observer identifies
themselves with a desirable role model. This role model displays or models a specific
behaviour, which is imitated by the observer. The likelihood that the observed behaviour
will be imitated is increased if the role model is seen to be ‘vicariously reinforced’ or
rewarded. Therefore, the consequences of the observed behaviour are more important
than observing the behaviour alone. - Role Model = A person with whom the observer identifies with. The role model is usually attractive, has high social status, is of a similar age and the same gender to the
observer. This model can exert influence indirectly by not being physically present in the
environment but, for example, seen in the media. - Identification = The process by which an observer relates to/ associates themselves
with a role model and aspires to become more like that role model. - Vicarious reinforcement = A type of indirect learning which occurs when an observer
sees their role model being rewarded for displaying a certain behaviour. The observer is
then motivated to imitate this behaviour, in an effort to receive the same reward. - Mediational processes = Cognitive processes which mediate/intervene between stimulus and response. The 4 mediational processes are: Attention, retention, motor
reproduction and motivation. - The first two mediational processes are involved with the observation and
understanding of the behaviour, whilst the latter two are involved in the actual imitation
of the behaviour. This separation means that observed behaviours do not always need
to be reproduced at the same time.
The Learning Approach: Social Learning Theory
A02 Potential Applications:
- Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study (Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1961) - 36 boys and 36 girls,
aged between 3 and 6 years old, were tested. There were three experimental groups, 3
with the first being exposed to real-life aggressive models, a second group observing
the same models displaying aggressive acts on film and a third group viewing an
aggressive cartoon character. The researchers found that the children who’d observed
an aggressive role model behaved more aggressively themselves towards the Bobo doll compared to the non-aggressive role model control group. Links can be made to
the process of social learning theory. - Questions may be based upon why some individuals are chosen as role models rather
than others, why some children will not reproduce the observed behaviours (individual
differences in the use of mediational processes) and the influence of the media on
behaviour, according to SLT. - Comparisons with other approaches, specifically about why SLT may be a better
explanation for human, rather than animal, behaviour.
The Learning Approach: Social Learning (A03 Evaluation:)
— Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment ignores the biological differences between boys and girls = Social learning theory suggests that we learn from experience, and so ignores other biological or psychological factors, thus adopting environmental determinism. However, Bandura ignored the finding that “boys, in relation to girls, exhibited 4 significantly more imitative aggression, more aggressive gun play, and more nonimitative aggressive behaviour”. This may be explained due to boys having higher levels of the hormone testosterone, which has been linked to increased aggressiveness. Therefore, this suggests that SLT may not be a complete explanation for gender differences in behaviour, due to not accounting for the biological and hormonal differences between the sexes.
— Demand characteristics in Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment = Bandura’s study may lack internal validity, due to not entirely investigating the effect of aggressive role models because the Bobo doll is specifically designed to be hit. The study may also lack mundane realism because it may not represent or measure how children would be aggressive in day-to-day situations, perhaps towards objects or people that are not meant to be struck. Therefore, participants may have deliberately acted more aggressively towards the doll in order to please the experimenter (the ‘Please-U effect’). This reduces the generalisability of the findings.
+ Acknowledges the role of human cognition = Human cognitive and decision-making processes may be considered as more complex than that of animals. SLT has the advantage, over behaviourism, that it recognises the role of mediational processes as the conscious and cognitive insight that humans have into their behaviour. Therefore, SLT may be a better explanation of human behaviour, compared to behaviourism.
The Cognitive Approach
A01 Introduction and Assumptions:
Introduction:
The Cognitive Approach is a theoretical framework in psychology that focuses on how people acquire, process, and use information. This approach assumes that mental processes such as perception, attention, memory, and reasoning play a key role in human behaviour.
Assumptions:
Mental processes: The cognitive approach is concerned with the study of mental processes such as perception, attention, memory, language, and reasoning. These processes are thought to be responsible for how we perceive, process, and respond to information from the environment.
Information processing: The cognitive approach views the mind as an information-processing system, similar to a computer. Information is received through the senses, processed in the brain, and outputted as behaviour. This approach emphasizes that the mind has limitations on how much information it can process at any given time.
Active information processing: The cognitive approach assumes that people are active in interpreting and making sense of information, rather than passively receiving it. People bring their own knowledge, experiences, and expectations to every situation, and this influences how they interpret and respond to new information.
Cognitive neuroscience: Cognitive neuroscience is a field of research that combines cognitive psychology with neuroscience to study the relationship between the brain and mental processes. This field uses techniques such as brain imaging to understand how different parts of the brain are involved in cognitive processes.
Schema: Schemas are mental frameworks that organize knowledge and expectations about a particular topic, person, or situation. Schemas can influence how we perceive and interpret new information, as well as our behaviour and decision-making.
Cognitive load: Cognitive load refers to the amount of mental effort required to complete a task. It can be influenced by factors such as the complexity of the task, the individual’s cognitive abilities, and the amount of information being processed at once.
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT): CBT is a form of therapy that focuses on changing negative or distorted thought patterns in order to improve mental health and behaviour. It is based on the idea that thoughts and beliefs can influence emotions and behaviour, and seeks to replace negative thoughts with more realistic and positive ones.
Working memory: Working memory is the cognitive system responsible for temporarily holding and manipulating information while completing a task. It is involved in processes such as attention, decision-making, and problem-solving. Working memory capacity can be influenced by factors such as age, cognitive ability, and task demands.
The Cognitive Approach
A03 Evaluation:
+ Scientific Methods and Rigour = The emergence of cognitive neuroscience has substantially increased the scientific credibility of psychology, bringing it closer to that of biology, physics etc. This is due to the emphasis on objectively collecting reliable data through direct observation of the neural processes underlying cognition, as seen in PET,
CT, MRI and fMRI scans.
— Overly-Abstract Concepts = Cognitive psychology makes extensive use of schemas and analogies as ways of indirectly studying and inferring the cognitive basis of behaviour. However, this reliance of inference means that some ideas in cognitive psychology may seem too abstract and not have enough supporting empirical evidence of such mechanisms being observed. Therefore, this reduces the potential practical applications of cognitive research, as it remains mainly theoretical.
+ Practical Applications of Cognitive Neuroscience = An increased understanding of the neural processes underlying cognition have proven to be useful in many areas. For example, the design and manufacture of modern technology relies on an understanding of behavioural science and human-computer interactions. In education, cognitive neuroscientists can study a child’s performance in phonological tests to serve as a more accurate prediction of their reading ability. Therefore, the impact of cognitive neuroscience is increasingly seen in the real world.
+ Soft Determinism = The cognitive approach sees humans as being able to reason and make conscious decisions within the limits of what they know or their ‘cognitive system’, and so adopts a soft deterministic approach. This is more flexible than the behaviourist hard determinism stance because it allows for humans to have some conscious insight
into their behaviour: a complexity which differentiates us from animals, and so provides a better explanation for human behaviour than behaviourism.
The Biological Approach
A01 Introduction and Assumptions:
A01 Introduction and Assumptions:
* According to the biological approach, humans are biological organisms made up of physiological processes.
* Therefore, all thoughts, ideas and cognitive processes must be biological in origin. This means that the mind ‘lives’ within the brain, and is not separate (as viewed by the cognitive approach).
* The actions of genes, hormones, neurotransmitters and neurochemical mechanisms must be understood in order to explain behaviour fully.
The Biological Basis of Behaviour:
* Heritability coefficients can be used to quantify the genetic or biological basis of a certain characteristic. For example, IQ is said to have a heritability coefficient of 0.5 (Plomin), and so the influence of nature (genetics) and nurture (the environment) are equal.* Behaviour genetics is defined as “the study of the influence of an organism’s genetic 6 composition on its behaviour and the interaction of heredity and environment insofar as they affect behaviour”. Therefore, behavioural genetics is crucial in researching the extent to which behavioural characteristics are inherited in the same way as psychological characteristics.
* An individual’s genotype is their genetic make-up, where a gene is a short section of DNA coding for specific proteins.
* An individual’s phenotype is the physical expression of their genotype.
* Therefore, the interaction between the phenotype and the environment results in individual behaviour.
* Two people may have the same genotype but different phenotypes. This may be due to personal choices they’ve made to alter their appearance, such as dying their hair or piercing their ears, or due to the influence of epigenetics.
* Epigenetics is a change in gene expression, without altering an individual’s genetic make-up. Epigenetic markers, such as DNA methylation and histone tail modification, can be left on DNA through exposure to certain environmental factors, such as specific diets and pollution.
Natural Selection and Evolution:
* Natural selection = The mechanism of evolution. The theory suggests that any genetically-determined behaviour, which gives the individual a selective advantage (increasing their chances of surviving, reproducing and passing down this beneficial allele onto their offspring), will be present in future generations.
* This is due to the genetic transmission of ‘beneficial’ characteristics from one generation to the next (i.e. heredity).
* Evolution = “The process by which organisms change over time as a result of changes 7 in heritable physical or behavioural traits”.
The Biological Approach
A03 Evaluation:
+ Practical application in the development of drugs = An increased understanding of the biological processes which underpin mental health diseases has led to the development of psychoactive drugs e.g. for depression and schizophrenia. These may target specific candidate genes to directly treat the disorder, or may alter neurotransmitter levels to help alleviate symptoms e.g. dopamine antagonists, such as Chlorpromazine, reduce dopamine action and so normalise neurotransmission in the hypothalamus and ventral striatum in the brains of schizophrenia sufferers. The main advantage of such drug treatments, compared to cognitive therapies such as CBT, is that they require minimal effort on the part of the patient. They are non-invasive and not time-consuming, unlike cognitive therapies which require willpower and regular sessions.
— Biological Determinism = The biological approach suggests that all behaviour is caused by internal biological forces over which we have no control i.e. the influence of genes, hormones, neurochemistry etc. However, this has serious implications for the judicial system and the economy. The current judicial system expects individuals to take
moral responsibility for their actions, and so such actions cannot be entirely blamed on genetic factors. However, if, for example, a criminal gene or a schizophrenia gene was discovered, this could lead to ‘diminished responsibility’ of these individuals, as well as shorter prison sentences. The economical impact would be that if such information about genes coding for mental health disorders or criminality were made public, then such individuals may be denied health insurance and jobs on this basis. Therefore, such biological determinism has potentially severe real-life consequences.
— Twin studies cannot differentiate between the effects of nature and nurture = MZ twins usually show higher concordance rates for mental disorders and psychological characteristics compared to DZ twins. From a biological perspective, this is often explained by how MZ twins share 100% of genes with each other, compared to only 50% for DZ twins. However, this makes the naïve assumption that the only differences these twins have are genetic. MZ twins are more likely to grow up in the same household, be exposed to similar experiences and be raised using parenting styles. This may explain the differences in concordance rates between MZ and DZ twins, as opposed to only genetic differences. This may also explain why MZ twins often have higher concordance rates than ordinary siblings, despite both sharing 50% of genes. Therefore, this suggests that behaviour cannot and should not be explained in purely genetic terms (as suggested by the biological approach), without accounting for social contexts, through adopting an interactionist approach.
+ Scientific Rigour and Methods = The biological approach uses EEG, PET and fMRI scans to objectively and systematically measure the biological or neural basis of behaviour. Drugs are also then developed on this basis, whilst family and adoption studies can lead to an increased understanding of the concordance rates and heritability of certain psychological characteristics. This increases the scientific credibility of Psychology, through the strict control of extraneous and confounding variables.
The Psychodynamic Approach
A01 Introduction and Assumptions:
Freud adopted the use of psychic determinism = This is the idea that all behaviour is caused by unconscious internal conflicts, over which we have no control.
. There are 3 levels of consciousness: The conscious, preconscious and unconscious.
. We are only aware of our conscious. Contents of the preconscious are revealed through parapraxes, slips of the tongue and dreaming. Therefore, since we are completely unaware of our unconscious, inferences of its workings can be made through the psychoanalysis (analysing symbols in dreams) and psychotherapy.
* The unconscious stores our biological drives and instincts (e.g. hunger, thirst and sex) as well as upsetting and disturbing thoughts repressed from the conscious.
Freud’s Tripartite Personality:
* Freud viewed the personality as made up of three components i.e. ‘tripartite’. These are the Id, ego and superego.
1. Id = This is the innate part of the personality, and operates on the pleasure principle. Therefore, the Id constantly demands instant gratification (e.g. to fulfil innate, biological instincts, such as hunger and thirst) and so is in conflict with the superego.
2. Ego = Formed during the first 3 years of life, and operates on the reality principle. The ego helps to resolve the conflict between the id and the superego through the use of defence mechanisms (repression, denial and displacement). The strength of the unconscious depends upon how efficiently the ego resolves this conflict.
3. Superego = Formed at the end of the phallic stage, and operates on the morality principle. This contains the child’s internalised sense of right and wrong, based upon their same-sex parent. The superego is in constant conflict with the Id.
The Psychosexual Stages:
* Freud adopted a nomothetic approach by suggesting that there a series of developmental stages through which all children progress, and in the same order.
* Each stage is characterised by a conflict, which must be resolved to pass to the next stage, apart from latency.
* Failure to do so results in ‘fixation’ at that stage, where dysfunctional behaviours
associated with that stage are carried forwards to adulthood.
* The ideas of the Oedipus and Electra Complexes were developed on the basis of case studies conducted on Little Hans, where Freud suggested that Little Hans’ phobia of horses stemmed from a fear towards his father, due to having sexual desires for his mother.
* This is an example of the idiographic approach to research (i.e. the use of case studied), but with a nomothetic application (i.e. all boys experience the Oedipus Complex, whilst all girls experience the Electra Complex).
The Psychodynamic Approach
A03 Evaluation:
— Unconscious Concepts = Since we are unaware of the unconscious, then it is not possible to objectively and systematically measure it. Therefore, this means that, according to Karl Popper, that the psychodynamic approach does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification, leaving it unfalsifiable and a pseudoscience. This does little to improve the scientific credibility of psychology, and indeed has left many with an inaccurate view of psychology as a scientific discipline.
— The use of an idiographic approach / Case studies = Many of Freud’s theories, most notably the Oedipus and Electra Complexes, were based on data from individual case studies and interviews. There are several problems with this. The first, is that participants selected to be subjects of case studies are often of some kind of special psychological interest, and so cannot represent the experiences of the general population, so the findings lack ecological validity. Secondly, mainly qualitative data is collected, which means that the researcher draws their own subjective conclusions. This is particularly the case if the researcher knows what they are looking for and/or the aims of the investigation, so the results will be affected by researcher bias. Therefore, Freud’s data and theories suffer from limited applications and generalisability.
— Psychic Determinism = Freud suggested that all behaviour is the product of unconscious, internal conflicts (between the Id and the superego, whilst being mediated by the ego) over which we have no control. This means that every action, even ‘accidental’ slips of the tongue, has some kind of meaning and can give us insight into our unconscious. However, this adds to the subjectivity of interpretations of these meanings, and therefore is not in line with scientific methods of investigating behaviour. This is all in contrast to the hard determinism approach used by behaviourism, reciprocal determinism used by social learning theory, soft determinism used by the cognitive approach and biological determinism used by the biological approach.
+ Practical Applications = Psychotherapy and psychoanalysis are both rooted in the psychodynamic approach and still have modern uses. For example, Kohlenberg et al (2002) found that “FECT / Functional Analytic Cognitive Therapy produced a greater 8 focus on the client-therapist relationship and is a promising approach for improving outcomes and interpersonal functioning. It also appears that a focus during sessions on
clients’ problematic cognitions about the therapist adds to the efficacy”. Therefore, Freud’s psychodynamic approach has made a long-lasting contribution towards treatment of various mental disorders, such as depression.
— The Humanistic Approach
A01 Introduction and Assumptions:
The Humanistic Approach is a psychological perspective that emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual and their subjective experience, highlighting the importance of personal growth, self-actualization, and free will. This approach assumes that humans are fundamentally good and have the potential to grow and change throughout their lives.
One of the key assumptions of the Humanistic Approach is the concept of free will, which asserts that individuals have the power to make their own choices and determine their own destiny. Another important concept is self-actualization, which refers to the realization of an individual’s full potential. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a well-known model within the Humanistic Approach, which suggests that individuals must first meet their basic physiological and safety needs before they can progress towards achieving self-actualization.
The Humanistic Approach places a strong focus on the self, and individuals are seen as active agents in their own lives. This approach also emphasizes the importance of congruence, or the degree of consistency between an individual’s self-concept and their actual behavior. The Humanistic Approach recognizes the role of conditions of worth, which are external pressures that can prevent individuals from fully expressing themselves.
The Humanistic Approach has had a significant impact on counselling psychology, as it emphasizes the importance of empathy, unconditional positive regard, and active listening in therapeutic settings. This approach places a strong emphasis on the therapeutic relationship, viewing it as a key factor in promoting positive change and growth in clients. Overall, the Humanistic Approach has contributed to a more holistic and person-centred understanding of human behaviour and psychology. Key terms in this approach include free will, self-actualization, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the self, congruence, and conditions of worth.
