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How psychological perspectives are applied to
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I got a distinction in my final health unit this is will explain the definitions and how to link to the case study .
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Noor Fatima health and social courseworkCase study 1: Ahmed H.
Ahmed is 18 years old and has an eating disorder. Ahmed is currently in a specialist
treatment centre. He was referred to the unit following concerns about his severe
weight loss.
It had been discovered that Ahmed would pretend to eat and then throw the food
away when he thought that no one was looking.
Ahmed had previously had problems with his weight and had been bullied
throughout school, due to his obesity. He is currently refusing to eat more than a
small amount of food during the day.
Case study 2: Sarah K.
Sarah is 42 years old and regularly attends a Community Psychiatric Clinic for
support with her ongoing clinical depression. Sarah was emotionally and physically
abused as a child, which has resulted in a low self-image and low self-esteem.
She constantly apologises, even though she has done nothing wrong and has days
when life does not seem worth living. Sarah has twice attempted suicide.
Explain how psychological perspectives are applied to the understanding of human
development
Psychological perspectives aid our interpretation of human behaviour, Actions and
make sense of society. There are no perspectives that supply a completely right
approach, each perspective contributes valid viewpoints and opinions necessary for
the understanding of human behaviour.
Behaviourist perspective
The behaviourist perspective focuses on Our life experiences, and how individuals
Learn through interactions with these. The perspective proves our behaviour Is on
how we learn and process information. The work of Skinner, Pavlov and Bandura
has predominantly been influential to the understanding behaviourist perspectives.
Behaviourism is only concerned with observable stimulus-response behaviours, as
they can be studied in a systematic and observable manner.
The behaviourist approach makes precise predictions that make it possible to
evaluate theories scientifically and offer evidence for them. Real-world applications
would be another advantage (e.g., therapy), emphasises objective measurement,
uses numerous experiments to substantiate hypotheses, and draws parallels
between human and animal behaviour (Pavlov) (Pavlovian).
Experimental evidence supports behaviourism; Pavlov demonstrated that classical
conditioning results in learning through association. In the "little Albert" experiment,
Watson and Rayner demonstrated how phobias can be acquired by classical
training. The ability of behaviourism to precisely describe behaviour and track
behavioural changes is undoubtedly a benefit. The law of parsimony states that a
theory is better and more credible the fewer assumptions it makes. Therefore,
behaviourism searches for straightforward explanations of human behaviour from a
scientific perspective. However, behaviourism only offers a limited explanation of
what can be observed objectively about human behaviour. Important elements like
feelings, hopes, and higher levels of motivation are not considered or described.
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,Accepting a behaviourist explanation might stop further investigation from other
angles that might reveal significant elements.
The behaviourist perspective the advantages of it is Experimentally tested:
the behavioural model allows clear predictions that can be tested and measured
objectively (without bias), example, Classical and Operant Conditioning have and still
are being scientifically tested a lab setting. Experimental studies such as Little Albert
where a little boy was conditioned to fear his pet rat after it was associated with a
loud bang behind him when he played with the rat, have shown how abnormal
behaviour can be learnt, giving support to the model. Focuses on the present not the
past:
the behavioural approach concentrates on the 'here and now' rather than rooting into
the past (like the psychodynamic model) - this is an advantage since many people
do not know the past causes of their abnormal behaviour and it is more important to
sort out present issues. Also, as the model recognises the importance of the current
environment shaping our behaviour it can explain cultural differences in behaviour.
The disadvantages of this would be the behaviourist approach is a reductionist:
explains all behaviours in terms of conditioning and reduces abnormal behaviour
down to the most basic level, learning by association and reinforcement. Most
abnormal behaviour is more complex than this and may have a cognitive element to
it that the behavioural approach does not consider. The behavioural approach
suggests that humans are a simple mechanism by which we are at the mercy of
environmental stimuli and ignores the influence of biology on our behavior. Evidence
to the contrary:
Models lend themselves to scientific evidence, but research does not always support
the claim. I can't explain why I can't identify anything or remember meeting the
terrifying object.
Classical conditioning -Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov is credited with the first demonstration of classical conditioning, which is
learning through association. Pavlov demonstrated that if a bell was continually
played while food was being given to the dogs, they could be trained to salivate at
the sound of the bell. The founder of classical conditioning, Ivan Pavlov, discovered
that behaviour can be learned by associating it with stimuli. A new behaviour that
teaches us how to act is created by the responses that result from our association
with these stimuli. The most significant contribution to classical conditioning is the
Little Albert experiment. In this experiment, a 9-month-old baby was tested using
various stimuli, including fluffy creatures, to see how he would respond. The initial
meetings with these animals were amicable.
The formation of phobias was studied by Watson & Rayner (1920), who were the
first psychologists to apply the concepts of classical conditioning to human
behaviour.
They accomplished this in the Little Albert case, which is now regarded as one of the
most unethical experiments ever carried out. Mother of Albert B. worked as a wet
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,nurse in a paediatric hospital. It was said about Albert that he was "healthy from
birth" and that he was "mostly stolid and unemotional."
Classical conditioning emphasises the value of absorbing information from one's
surroundings and favours nurture over nature. However, describing behaviour purely
in terms of nature or nurture is constrictive and attempts to do so undervalue the
diversity of human behaviour. The interaction of nature (biology) and nurture is more
likely to be responsible for behaviour (environment). There is evidence in the case
study that Ahmed has an eating issue because of being teased about his weight.
Ahmed now equates fear of weight gain and bullying with fear of eating, which is why
Ahmed refuses to eat because it triggers those painful memories. Additionally,
Ahmed would have, so the food and other unconditioned stimuli.
In Sarah’s case classical conditioning proposes depression as a learning variable
through associating certain stimuli and negative emotional distress leading sarah to
being depressed. In Ahmed’s case due to him having a fear of gaining weight due to
getting bullied and in Ahmeds case the neutral stimulus will be the fear of getting
bullied and this is the reason why Ahmed feels anxious when he eats.
In summary, classical conditioning involves associating an unconditioned stimulus
that already elicits a particular response (i.e., reflex) with a new (conditioned)
stimulus so that the new stimulus elicits the same response. It's a learning process.
This process was developed by Watson in 1913. Pavlov used experiments to test his
classical conditioning theory. He advocates objectivity and controls variable and
precise measurements so that cause and effect can be inferred. Learning is
conditioned by stimuli and responses. High Reliability - Other elements of Pavlov's
study were corroborated by the Watson & Rayner study.
Albert's fear response had generalised from the albino to other white, hairy objects
resembling albino rats (i.e.
cotton and white-beard pencil). Pavlov's research provides a powerful explanation for
the development of various behaviours, including mental disorders. On the other
hand, however, the limitations of Pavlov's theory are that the use of animals is a
criticism of Pavlov's work, and that classical conditioning is used to explain how
reflex responses associated with novel stimuli relate to novel stimuli. Limited.
Operant conditioning Fredrick Skinner
According to Frederick Skinner opera conditioning is learning through
Reinforcements where behaviours that were consider as pleasant are more likely to
be repeated whilst behaviours that We see are unpleasant are less repeated and will
try to avoid the behaviour from being repeated. There are two types of reinforcement
positive reinforcement Is a behaviour that is rewarded Due to a certain response in
which this encourages the behaviour to be repeated while negative reinforcement
something Unpleasant is taken away in response to a stimulus in which this makes
behaviour less likely to be repeated so that negative outcome is avoided.
In his theory of operant conditioning, B. F. Skinner defined the concept of positive
reinforcement. A response or behaviour is strengthened by rewards in positive
reinforcement, which encourages repetition of the desired activity. The reward acts
as a motivating factor. Skinner put a hungry rat in his Skinner box to demonstrate the
effectiveness of positive reinforcement. As the rat went around the box, it would
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, unintentionally knock a lever that was located on the side. A food pellet would
immediately fall into a receptacle close to the lever as soon as it had done so. After
being placed in the box a few times, the rats soon learnt to immediately go to the
lever. If they pressed the lever, they would receive food, which made sure that.
A bad feeling that follows a response is known as negative reinforcement. Because
an unfavourable stimulus that is "rewarding" to the person or animal is removed, this
is referred to as negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement reinforces behaviour
positively by preventing or removing negative experiences. For instance, you might
offer your teacher £5 if you don't finish your homework. To prevent having to pay £5,
you will do your schoolwork, reinforcing the habit of doing your homework. By
placing a rat in his Skinner box and then exposing it to an uncomfortable electric
current, Skinner demonstrated the effectiveness of negative reinforcement. The lever
would be knocked by the rat as it travelled around the box. Instantaneously, the
electric current did so.
Given that it is intended to decrease rather than raise a response, punishment is
referred to as the reverse of reinforcement. It is an unpleasant experience that
makes the conduct it causes less likely. Like reinforcement, punishment can be
carried out by either eliminating a potentially rewarding stimulus, such as taking
away pocket money, or by directly providing an unpleasant stimulus, such as a
shock after a reaction. Punishment has several drawbacks, including Behaviour that
has been punished is not forgotten; rather, it is suppressed; when punishment is no
longer present, the behaviour recurs. increases aggression and demonstrates that it
is a coping mechanism for issues, develops apprehension that can lead to undesired
behaviours, such as fear of going to school and may not always point in the desired
direction.
Operant conditioning explains Ahmeds anorexia as for example if Ahmed got
compliments of him losing weight this would be him getting positive reinforcement
however if he was bullied for being overweight and this led to him punishing himself
by not eating this would be punishment.
Operant conditioning explains Sarah’s depression as for example Sarah gets support
by going to the community psychiatric clinic and the service providers have a
motivational environment, they are positively reinforcing Sarah as they are
motivating her however on the other hand, they could make sarah feel as though she
is to blame for her behaviour which is negative reinforcement, and she is punishing
herself by attempting suicide.
Operant conditioning can be used to explain a variety of behaviours, from learning to
addiction to language acquisition. It also has practical applications (such as token
economies) that can be applied in classrooms, prisons, and mental hospitals.
However, operant conditioning is an incomplete description of the learning process in
humans and animals, as it does not account for the role of genetic and cognitive
factors in learning. cause Some psychologists argue that anatomy and physiology
are different from humans, and animal experiments cannot be extrapolated to
humans.
Social learning theory Bandura
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