BTEC Level 3 Health and Social Care Unit 11 Psychological Perspectives Assignment. Distinction achieved and all references below in Harvard referencing style.
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Tahseen Al-Zahra
P1. Explain how Psychological Perspectives are Applied to the Understanding of
Human Development
Psychology is the scientific study of the human brain and all its functions which affect an
individual's behaviour and mental processes. Psychology looks at social and
1
psychological factors which can affect a human’s psychological and physical health.
Psychology is fractured into 6 different perspectives. This is because the mind cannot
be directly observed. Therefore, there are 6 competing perspectives which all have
subjective opinions. All 6 psychological perspectives have their pros and cons.
The biological perspective focuses on how genes affect individuals. It also focuses on
how environmental influences affect an individual biologically. The Behaviourist
perspective is based on the theory that all human behaviour is due to experiences
individuals have faced and behaviour they have been taught. Two theories which fall
under the behaviourst perspective are classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
The Social learning theory (SLT) explains that human behaviour is a result of what
humans have learnt from behaviour displayed in the environment which they are
exposed to. The psychodynamic approach comes from the psychologist Sigmund
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. The approach revolves around the conscious and
unconscious mind, as well as the importance of early experiences in the development of
human behaviour. 2
The humanistic perspective looks at human behaviour from the individual's perspective.
It believes that all humans have the capability of making their own decisions and that all
humans have free will. The cognitive perspective revolves around the idea that the way
the mind works is the same as the way a computer works. Late psychologist Jean
Piaget conducted research which supports the cognitive perspective.
P2. Explain how Psychological Perspectives Contribute to the understanding of
Specific Human Behaviours
1 (Psychology for Health and Social Care | City, University of London, 2022)
2 (Introduction to Psychodynamic Theory, 2022)
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Tahseen Al-Zahra
In case study 2, Sarah K suffers from ongoing clinical depression. She regularly attends
a community psychiatric clinic for support. The biological perspective has a theory of
maturation. Gesell’s theory of maturation believes that every child is born with sets of
genetic instruction which they have inherited from their parents. The theory believes that
every child's developmental, cognitive and behavioural processes unfold overtime as
these are all genetically predisposed. The biological perspective also states that all
development is due to nature and genetics, rather than nurture and the environment a
child is raised in. Looking from the biological perspective, it is thought that some genetic
factors are involved in depression. It is also thought that depression is genetically
predisposed. If Sarah K’s parents were suffering from depression then she will have a
genetic predisposition for depression. This predisposition could have resulted in Sarah’s
clinical depression and could have been bought out by emotional and physical abuse
she faced as a child.
The cognitive perspective suggests that people suffer from depression due to
maldaptive thinking. Aaron Beck, a cognitive theorist, conducted a study and suggested
that individuals who suffer from depression have a negative way of thinking. The
cognitive triad has 3 different forms of negative thinking which people who suffer from
depression experience.3 The triad starts off with the individual having a negative view of
themselves, leading to them having a negative view of the future. This results in the
individual having a negative view of the world. Sarah was emotionally and physically
abused as a child which has resulted in her having low self-image and low self-esteem.
This causes her to have a negative view of herself which is maladaptive thinking. From
a cognitive perspective, this is the cause for Sarah’s depression.
In case study 3, Mark W suffers from a severe phobia of spiders. This severe phobia
causes Mark anxiety. Mark attends a clinic at a local NHS trust for help with his phobia.
The behaviourist perspective says that phobias stem from learnt experiences such as
traumatic events an individual may have faced which is linked to the phobia. Classical
conditioning explains how individuals develop phobias. If an individual associates a
certain object to something they already have a fear of, it can lead to them developing a
3 (Introduction to Psychodynamic Theory, 2022)
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Tahseen Al-Zahra
fear of the object too as they associate the object with fear. The behaviourist
perspective says that this is how phobias are created. Mark may have experienced a
traumatic event where he may have seen a spider. This could have led to him
developing an extreme phobia of spiders, which causes him anxiety.
The psychodynamic perspective says that phobias are caused by repressed fears from
an individual's childhood. These fears which may stem from traumatic events that took
place in an individual's childhood are repressed to the unconscious mind to protect the
ego. Defense mechanisms mask these fears as something else to truly protect the ego.
These repressed fears are constantly fighting to get out which causes anxiety and
phobias. Mark may have had a traumatising experience as a child which he may, in his
mind, associate with spiders. This experience may be repressed in his unconscious
mind whilst his fear of spiders masks his traumatic experience. Psychodynamic
perspective says that Mark’s fear of spiders is masking a traumatic experience from his
childhood which is repressed in his unconscious mind.
M1. Analyse the Contribution of Psychological Perspectives to the Understanding
of Human Development and Behaviours
The biological perspective believes in a nomothetic view. This has been crucial in
understanding human behaviour and development. The biological perspective also
believes that human behavior is due to our genetics and all behaviour is genetically
predisposed. From this assumption that all behaviour is inherited, it can be argued that
the biological perspective is nature orientated. The perspective believes that our
behavior is controlled by our physical systems in our bodies such as our CNS (central
nervous system) which has a psychological basis.
The biological perspective uses a wide range of research methods to be able to
understand the behaviour and development of humans better. Research experiments
are carried out in controlled environments to ensure there are no factors which can
affect the research. One of these methods used is correlation. This is when two different
subjects are studied to see how closely they relate or correlate. The biological
perspective also believes in discontinuity. Meaning that the perspective see’s the
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