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P1- Explain the principal psychological perspectives
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P1- Explain the principal psychological perspectives
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Unit 7P1- Explain the principal psychological perspectives
What exactly Is psychology? In this task, I will research and explain psychology and its meaning,
covering the different psychological perspectives including biological, behaviourist, social learning,
cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic and nature/nurture debate.
Psychology
“Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and how it dictates and influences our behaviour,
from communication and memory to thought and emotion”, according to the British Psychological
Society. Psychology is “about understanding what makes people tick and how this understanding can
help us address many of the problems and issues in society today”.
Psychologists are involved in studying and understanding mental processes, brain functions, and
behaviour. There are many different ways of understanding the mind and behaviour, these are
known as perspectives. I will now explain the different perspectives and access how they explain
behaviour.
Psychological perspectives
Every topic in psychology can be looked at in several different ways. For example, considering the
subject of aggression. Someone who emphasises a biological perspective would look at how the
brain and nervous system impact aggressive behaviour. However, a professional who stresses a
behavioural perspective would look at how environmental variables reinforce aggressive actions. I
will now look at the psychological perspectives including the behaviourist approach, the social
learning approach, the psychodynamic approach, the humanistic approach, the biological approach,
the cognitive approach and nature/nurture debate.
The behaviourist approach
The behaviourist approaches main belief is that we can understand any kind of behaviour by looking
into what people have learned. This includes various personal values such as, shyness, optimism or
pessimism or behaviours such as asking to help with the dishes. So if, for example, an individual
consistently behaves aggressively, it would be assumed that they have at some point learnt to
behave in this way. Alternately, on the other hand, if they are dependent on others, getting upset
and lonely when alone, and shy around strangers this would also be believed by the behaviourist
approach to represent learnt behaviour. Behaviourists believe that all human behaviour is a result of
past experiences. The two main psychologists for this approach are Pavlov who discussed classic
conditioning, and Skinner who discussed operate conditioning. Even those these theorists both had
different ideas about the processes that were involved, they both explained behaviour to be the
result of learning.
,Classic conditioning
Classic conditioning is a theory of learning developed by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was
working on an experiment with dogs to investigate the way their digestive systems function and
work. The dogs were connected to a harness with Pavlov attaching various monitors to their mouths
and stomachs to measure how much they salivated. One day Pavlov noticed that one of the dogs
began to salivate when food was brought in the room, but before the dog had tasted the food. It
was thought that salivation was a result of the food touching the tongue, however, it was later found
that it was a reflex response. Pavlov found this peculiar and discovered that the dog was salivating
because it associated the lab assistant with food.
He then developed his theory in the following way. Food led to salivation automatically, this an
unconditioned stimulus. The food automatically led to salivation, so it is called the unconditioned
stimulus. Next, Pavlov rang a bell and showed the food at the same time, to see if the dog would
associate the bell with food, the bell acted as a conditioned stimulus. Over time, the dog learned to
associate the bell with food and would salivate when the bell rang but there was no food. Therefore,
the dog learned the conditioned response of salivation to the conditioned stimulus which was the
bell.
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a method of learning which occurs through rewards and punishment for
behaviour. This type of learning was developed by the theories of Fredric Skinner. Skinner was an
American psychologist who worked on discovering the psychology behind new behaviours. Skinner
believed that it was not necessary to look at internal thoughts and motivations to explain behaviour.
Alternatively, he conveyed, we should merely only look at external, observable causes of human
behaviour.
Most of skinners experiments were carried out using pigeons and rats. His most famous experiment
was the ‘skinner box’, this is a box that has a leaver inside, which when pressed releases food onto a
pellet which reinforces lever-pressing behaviour. Skinner used a rat on this experiment and placed
the rat in the box and it would run around sniffing objects. It would also accidentally press the lever
whilst running around which released food onto the pallet, and over time it learnt that the lever
released food. The food is reinforcing to the rat, something that it would like to have more of, which
means that it is more likely to repeat the behaviour.
There are two types of reinforcement, positive and negative. Positive reinforcement happens when
the consequence following a particular behaviour is experienced as desirable. Positive reinforcement
strengthens a behaviour by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding. For example, if
your mother gives you a cookie for every time you wash up you will be more likely to repeat this
behaviour in the future, therefore, strengthening the behaviour of completing washing up.
Alternately, negative reinforcement happens when behaviour results in a consequence that removes
something unpleasant. Negative reinforcement strengthens behaviour because it stops or removes
an unpleasant experience. For example, if you do not wash up you give your mother a cookie. You
will wash up to avoid giving them a cookie, therefore, strengthening the behaviour of completing
washing up.
, Skinner explored both of these reinforcements. Skinner displayed how the ideas of positive
reinforcement worked by carrying out an experience on a hungry rat in the skinner box. The box
contained a leaver that was pushed as the rat moved around the box, accidentally knocking the
leaver. Immediately as the leaver was pushed food would drop into a food pellet next to the leaver.
The rats learned quickly to go straight toward the lever after a few times of being put into the box.
The consequence being the rat receiving a treat which would drop if they pressed the lever ensured
that they would repeat the action again and again. The behaviour of the leaver pressing was,
therefore, positively reinforcing.
Skinner then investigated negative reinforcement. He did this by putting a rat in the Skinner box and
then letting it experience unpleasant electric current which caused it discomfort. As the rat patrolled
around the Skinner box, the rat would accidently knock the lever. Which would switch the electric
current off. The rats quickly learned to go straight toward the leaver after multiple times of being put
in the box. The consequence of escaping and stopping the electric current ensured that they would
repeat the action again and again. The behaviour of the lever pressing was, therefore, negatively
reinforcing. Negative reinforcements can also be demonstrated in real-life situations. For example, if
you have a headache and you take a painkiller, which results in the headache going away, you are
negatively reinforced for taking a painkiller as it removes the headache.
Punishment is defined as “the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken or eliminate
response rather than increase it”. Punishment occurs when behaviour is followed by a consequence
that is experienced as aversive. Skinner investigated this by giving a small electric shock to the rat
when it pressed the leaver. The consequence of level pressing was experienced as unpleasant, so
that rat learnt to stop pressing the lever.
Importance of reinforcement
Reinforcement plays an outstanding role in the operant conditioning process. When used
appropriately and efficiently, reinforcement can be an effective learning tool to encourage and put
across desirable behaviours and discourage undesirable ones. Positive reinforcement is effective in
teaching new and improved behaviour, and in doing so, also decreases unwanted behaviour.
Alternately, negative reinforcement can also be an effective way to strengthen the desired
behaviour, because it removes the aversive stimulus.
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