AQA Psych course summary - APPROACHES IN PSYCHOLOGY
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Course
Approaches
Institution
AQA
these are condensed notes for the approaches unit in AQA a level psychology. these are easy to use and useful for a quick refresher before a practise exam or (I have found) the final exam itself
Introspection The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind through breaking up
conscious awareness into thoughts, images and sensations. This was achieved by him
showing them an everyday object (e.g. metronome) and asking them to look inwards and
report. Developed by Wundt - the ‘father of psychology’
First lab Opened by Wundt 1879, paving the way for later controlled research and the study of
mental processes
Controlled All introspections were recorded under strictly controlled conditions using the same
stimulus each time
Standardised Same standardised instructions used allowing procedures to be replicated every time
Structuralism Isolation the structure of consciousness. Stimuli presented in the same order and the
same instructions were issued to participants
One strength of Wundt's work is that his methods were systematic and well controlled. This meant
introspection was a scientific experiment with limited effects from extraneous variables. This suggests this
research can be considered to be a forerunner to later scientific approaches in psychology.
However, Wundt’s research also has elements that would be considered unscientific. Wundt relied on
self-reporting which provides subjective data. This makes it difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’
from this data and establishing these general laws is one of the main aims of science to predict future
behaviour. This suggests Wundt’s efforts were flawed and would not meet the criteria for scientific enquiry.
17th century - psychology is a branch of philosophy
1879 - Wundt opens lab, becomes discipline in its own right
1900s - Freud emphasises the influence of the unconscious mind, develops
psychoanalysis (physical problems can be explained by conflicts in the mind)
1913 - Watson and Skinner establish the behaviourist approach
1950s - Rogers and Maslow develop humanistic approach, emphasising free will
1950s - computers bring along the cognitive approach, much more scientific
1960s - Bandura proposed the social learning theory, bridging cognitive and behaviourism
1980s - biological approach becomes dominant
, 21st century - cognitive neuroscience begins investigating how biological structures influence the mind
What is science? Building knowledge through systematic and unbiased measurements
1900s Behaviourists Watson and Skinner proposed a truly scientific psychology should only study what
can be observed or measured
1950s Cognitive Introduction of computers provided a metaphor to enable objective, experimental
approach study of the mind, e.g. multi-store model
1980s Biological Brain scans produce objective measures. Genetic testing looks at the genetic basis
approach of behaviour
One strength is that modern psychology can claim to be scientific. Psychology has the same aims as the
natural sciences - describe, understand, predict and control behaviour. The learning approaches, cognitive and
biological, all rely on scientific methods. This suggests psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline.
One limitation is not all of the approaches use objective methods. The humanistic approach rejects the
scientific approach, focusing instead on subjective experiences. The psychodynamic approach makes use of the
case study method which does not use representative samples. Therefore a scientific approach to the study of
human thought and experience may not always be desirable or possible.
LEARNING APPROACHES: THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
No mental processes The approach is only interested in behaviour in terms of what is observable and in
terms of learning, ignoring the mental processes
Controlled and Study observable behaviour in labs where it can be controlled and measured. This
measurable means behaviourism is highly scientific in its methods
Human learning the Behaviourists believe human learning is just a more complex form of animal learning.
same as animal Therefore believe they can replace humans in experiments
learning
Classical conditioning Learning by association. An unconditioned stimulus and neutral stimulus are
repeatedly paired together. The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same
response that was first produced by the unconditioned stimulus alone. E.g. Pavlov’s
dogs associate bell with food, produce salivation response
Operant conditioning Behaviour is shaped and maintained by consequences. E.g. Skinner's box
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