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Summary A Level Psychology Paper 2 A* 16 marker essay plans
Concise A Level Psychology Paper 2 A* 16 marker essay plans
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ApproachesDiscuss the behaviourist approach in psychology. (16 marks)
A01
- The basic assumption of the behaviourist approach is that all behaviour is learnt from the environment, and that
we are born with a blank slate and learn through association of stimulus responses, behaving similarly to animals.
- Classical conditioning
- Pavlov conditioned dogs to associate the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus) with food (unconditional
stimulus), resulting in dogs producing a salivation response (conditioned response) at the sound of a bell
(conditioned stimulus) even when no food was present.
- He demonstrated that repeated exposure to an event leads to a learnt and uncontrollable behaviour, and
is used to explain the acquisition of phobias and development of attachments.
- Operant conditioning
- Skinner created the Skinner box and examined operant conditioning on rats and pigeons, and found that
behaviour is a result of learning through the consequences of our actions
- Positive reinforcement - when a behaviour is followed by a desirable consequence (award), it is more
likely to be repeated. For example, when a rat pressed the lever, it would be rewarded with a food pellet,
and this voluntary behaviour is repeated to receive the reward again.
- Negative reinforcement - when a behaviour is followed by the removal of an unpleasant consequence, it
is more likely to be repeated. For example, the rats learnt to go straight to the lever to switch off the
electrical current when placed in the Skinner box, as the consequence of escaping the electric current
ensures that they would repeat the action.
- Punishment - when behaviour is followed by unpleasant consequences, less likely to be repeated.
A03
- Contributed to psychology as a science
- Experimental methods used by Pavlov and Skinner rejected the earlier emphasis on introspection and
encouraged research that focused on more objective dimensions of behaviour. This emphasis on the
scientific method has led to an increasingly valid and reliable understanding of human behaviour.
- These methods helped psychology gain credibility and status as a scientific discipline, attracting more
funding and research opportunities, and contributed significantly to the still-developing recognition of
psychology as a science.
- Influential in encouraging the use of animals as research subjects
- They believed that the learning process in humans and animals are very similar, thus Pavlov conducted
research using dogs, and Skinner used rats and pigeons. By using non-human animals in research, it
allows experiments to have more control over the process, without demand characteristics or individual
differences influencing findings.
- However, critics argue that using animals is unethical as there is less concern about protection from harm
for non-human subjects. Moreover, results cannot be extrapolated and generalised to human behaviour.
For example, Skinner’s operant conditioning theory may provide an understanding of rat behaviour, but
little about human behaviour.
- Many real-world applications (mental illness, therapy, addiction)
- It has contributed to our modern understanding of human mental illness. For example, phobias are found
to be the result of unpleasant learning experiences. Thus, this understanding helped psychologists
develop therapies, such as systematic desensitisation, that attempts to re-condition a patient’s fear
response.
- Moreover, addictions such as gambling can be better understood through operant conditioning, as
rewards of gamling could be seen to reinforce destructive behaviour.
- This shows that the behaviourist approach has many real-world applications in the understanding and
treatment of atypical behaviour.
- Limited view on origins of behaviour
- Behaviourists ignore alternative levels of explanation, such as the role of cognition and emotional factors
influencing behaviour. However, Skinner rebutted that for behaviour to be investigated scientifically, it
has to be directly measurable and observable, which cognitions are not.
- However, taking an interactionist approach may be a more balanced and holistic view of behaviour by
taking into account all aspects that affect human behaviour.
, Discuss the social learning theory approach in psychology. (16 marks)
A01
- The basic assumption is that behaviour is learnt through observation and imitation of role models and their
behaviour. Unlike the behaviourist approach, the SLT recognises the importance of cognitive mediational
processes, and rejects the idea that learning is purely the result of a stimulus-response loop.
- By considering someone as a ‘role model’, there is identification, which is associating with the qualities and
characteristics of role models to become more like them. Identification can be made more likely with role models
of similar age, gender, profession etc.
- 4 mediational processes
- Attention - only those who pay close attention to the behaviour will imitate
- Retention - only those who remember the behaviour will imitate
- Reproduction - assess own ability/ competence as to whether they can reproduce same actions
- Motivation - expect to receive the same positive reinforcements for imitating behaviour observed
- Imitation is made more likely through vicarious reinforcement, where observed behaviour is rewarded.
- In Bandura’s bobo doll experiment, it was found that children who saw the aggressive model produced more
aggressive acts. Boys imitated same-sex models more than girls, and girls imitated more physical aggression when
they saw male models, and more verbal aggression when they saw female models. Thus, it shows that aggressive
behaviour can be learnt through observation and imitation of a model.
A03
- Research support
- Fox and Bailenson found that humans were more likely to imitate computer-generated ‘virtual humans’
who were similar to themselves.
- Rushton and Campbell found that same-sex modelling significantly increased the number of female
observers who agreed to and donated blood.
- Myers found that vicarious learning increased the effectiveness of workplace teams.
- These studies demonstrated support for different aspects of SLT, including modelling and vicarious
reinforcement, thus adding credibility to the theory.
- Low internal validity
- Bandura conducted the experiment in a laboratory, which is artificial and a strictly-controlled setting.
Thus, there may be demand characteristics, where the children picked up cues from the environment,
guessed the aim of the investigation and adjusted their behaviour.
- Participants may have been acting aggressively towards the Bobo doll because they thought that was
what was expected of them, rather than it being a genuine and new learnt behaviour, thus there is low
internal validity as it does not reflect the way participants behave in real life.
- Great application to real-world issues
- SLT has been long used in explaining criminal behaviour throughout the years, and has also been used to
examine the effectiveness of advertising. Andsager et al. found that ‘identification with a character or
example may increase the likelihood that the audiences will model behaviour presented in an
anti-alcohol message’. Thus, this shows that the principles of SLT can be used to provide a positive
impact on promotional health campaigns, and indirectly help combat problem behaviours eg. alcoholism.
- Issue of causality
- It is unclear if people learn behaviour from models, or if they actively seek out models who exhibit
behaviour or attitudes they already favour. For example, young people who already hold deviant values
and attitudes are more likely to be associated with similarly-inclined peers because they are more fun to
be with. Thus, the reinforcement of ‘deviant’ behaviour is a two-way process, and not necessarily the
result of SLT itself.
- Moreover, SLT does not explain complex behaviours such as gender development. Children are exposed
to a wide range of influences when growing up, and these different influences interact in a complex way.
Thus, it is difficult to distinguish behaviours that develop because of SLT from many other factors, thus
posing an issue for the SLT of behaviour.
- Incomplete explanation
- The theory does not explain why boys imitated physical aggression behaviour more than girls. This
highlights how other factors, such as biological factors (eg. testosterone), must be involved. It also does
not consider the influence of free will and moral values.
- However, it is still a more complete explanation of human behaviour compared to the behaviourist
explanation as it considers cognitive factors in learning.
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