An in-depth summary of the Approaches part of the AQA Psychology course. Covers:
- Origins of psychology
- The Behaviourist approach
- Social learning theory
- The Cognitive approach
- The Biological approach
- The Psychodynamic approach
- Humanistic Psychology
EVALUATION OF ALL
Approaches Revision
Origins of psychology:
Key Words:
Empiricism: refers to the use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic and
replicable
Introspection: the belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience
Scientific Method: the process by which a person gains knowledge about their own mental
state
Wilhelm Wundt:
Wundt was the first person to call himself a psychologist, believing that all aspects of nature,
including the human mind, could be studied scientifically.
Wundt = the first person in history to be called a “psychologist”
Introspection - as researched by Wundt
…in the research work concerned with attention, Wundt employed the use of a metronome
to measure the ability of the subject [using the method of subjective introspection] to report
on whether the rhythm of the metronome could be said to leave an impression of an
agreeable whole. In other words, whether the rhythms of the metronome could be described
as leaving a feeling. In other experiments, again on attention, Wundt sought to inquire
whether certain rhythms were more pleasurable than others, and whether some rhythms
were actually quite unpleasurable. The introspections offered allowed Wundt to form a
schema as an aid to theorising how feelings might be understood.
Psychology as a science
This paved the way for psychology being accepted as a distinct science in its own right.
Empiricists believe that knowledge comes from experience and observation, and this is the
ideology that underpins psychology as a science.
It was after empirical methods were applied to psychology that it emerged as a distinct
discipline.
The new scientific approach to psychology was based on 2 assumptions:
1. All behaviour is seen as being caused
2. If behaviour is determined then it should be possible to predict human behaviour
under different conditions.
The scientific method in psychology
Scientific method refers to the use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic
and replicable and that researchers do not allow preconceived ideas to influence their work.
Measurements and recording of data should be accurate and should be as controlled as is
possible.
Replicable means that other researchers should be able to obtain similar results if they
follow the research procedure
,The development and further testing of theories complete the scientific cycle.
Evaluation:
Wundt's methods were unreliable: his approach relied on non-observable responses, and
introspective experimental results were not reliably reproducible by other researchers
Introspection is not accurate: Nisbett and Wilson (1977) claim that we have little
knowledge of the causes and process of our behaviours and attitudes
Strengths:
● Knowledge acquired using scientific method is more than just the passive
acceptance of facts
● Behaviour scientific methods are able to establish the causes of behaviour through
the use of empirical and reliable methods
● If theories no longer fit the facts, they can be refined or abandoned allowing for
further study and better knowledge.
Limitations of the scientific approach to psychology:
● By concentrating on objectivity and control in observations, psychologists can create
contrived situations that don’t tell us how people act in natural situations
● Much of the subject matter of psychology is unobservable therefore cannot be
measured with any accuracy
● Not all psychologists believe that human behaviour can be explored by the use of
scientific methods as predictions may be impossible and scientific method then
becomes inappropriate.
BUT…
Introspection is still useful in scientific psychology;
- Although introspection became unpopular as a research tool, it is still used by
psychologists.
- Csikzentmihalyi and Hunter (2003) measured happiness using introspective
methods:
- Teens given beepers that went off at random times as a ‘surprise’
- Teens asked to write down their feelings and thoughts in the moment before
the beep
- Most of the entries showed that teens were unhappy unless focused on a
challenging task
The Behaviourist Approach
Behaviourism emphasises the role of environmental factors in influencing behaviour, to the
near exclusion of innate or inherited factors. We learn new behaviour through classical or
, operant conditioning. Behaviourism is primarily concerned with observable behaviour, as
opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. There is little difference between the
learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals.
Key Words:
Behaviourist: people who believe that human beachour can be explained in terms of
conditioning, without need to consider thoughts and feelings
Classical conditioning: learning through association. When a neutral stimulus is
consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus so that eventually the neutral stimulus
evokes the same response.
Operant conditioning: learning through reinforcement or punishment. Learning from the
connection between behaviours and consequences. If a behaviour is followed by a desirable
consequence then that behaviour is more likely to occur again in the future.
Punishment: involved the application of an unpleasant consequence following a behaviour
occurring in the future.
Reinforcement: involves the addition of something (positive) or removal of something
(negative) in an attempt to increase a behaviour being repeated in the future.
Classical Conditioning:
CASE STUDY: Pavlov’s Dogs (1897)
The original salivation response is known as
the unconditioned response (UCR).
The food is the unconditioned stimulus
(UCS).
The bell is initially a neutral stimulus (NS),
which, as the dogs come to associate it with
food,becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS).
The salivation response to the bell is now a
conditioned response (CR).
TIMING: Pavlov found that for associations to
be made, the two stimuli had to be presented
close together in time. He called this ‘the law
of temporal contiguity. If the time between the
conditioned stimulus (bell) and the unconditioned response (food) is too great, then the
learning will not occur.
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