AQA Psychology for A Level Year 1 & AS - Student Book
These are detailed Essay Plans for the Approaches in Psychology Topic of AQA A-Level Psychology. I wrote them using class notes, revision guides and textbooks. I will also be uploading the other topics and creating bundles.
Topics Included:
- The Behaviourist Approach
- Social Learning Theory
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Approaches Essay Plans
Describe and Evaluate the Behaviourist Approach in Psychology
AO1:
- Only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured in controlled lab studies
- The processes that control learning are the same in all species.
- Mental processes of the mind are seen as irrelevant
- All behaviour is learned, a baby’s mind is a ‘blank state’.
- There are 2 forms of learning:
- Classical conditioning Pavlov (1927) learning through association, he found that a neutral stimulus can elicit a new
learned response through association, He was able to condition dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell.
- Operant conditioning, Skinner (1953) learning is an active process where behaviour is shaped and maintained by its
consequences. This happens by the following three processes, positive reinforcement – receiving a reward when
behaviour is formed, negative reinforcement – when a behaviour avoids something unpleasant. Punishment – an
unpleasant consequence of behaviour. In his research, Skinner put rats in specially designed cages. When a rat activated
a lever, it was rewarded with a food pellet, this desirable consequence led to behaviour being repeated.
Gives psychology The behaviourist approach uses controlled lab studies and has an emphasis on the importance of
scientific credibility scientific processes such as objectivity and replication. This gives psychology scientific credibility and
therefore is a strength of the behaviourist approach.
Real-life applications Another strength of the behaviourist approach is that there are many real-life applications. In
prisons and psychiatric wards use operant conditioning in the form of tokens for good behaviour
that can be exchanged for privileges. The principles of classical conditioning are also applied to
therapies for treating phobias such as systematic desensitisation that reduces anxiety through
counterconditioning.
Ethical issues to A limitation of the behaviourist approach is that it is based off of Skinner’s research, and this is an
Skinner’s research unethical piece of research. During his study, animals were housed in harsh cramped conditions and
were deliberately kept under weight, so that they were always hungry. The animals were also exposed
to stressful situations, and this may have affected how they reacted and so affect the validity of
the study .
Extreme position on Behaviourism is a form of environmental determinism; it sees all behaviour as determined by past
determinism experiences that have been conditioned and so it ignores any influence of free will on behaviour.
Skinner also suggested that free will is an illusion this is an extreme position and ignores the influence
of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour.
Mechanistic view of Animals in this approach are seen as passive responders with no conscious insight to their behaviour.
behaviour However, other approaches such as social learning theory and the cognitive draw attention to the
mental processes involved in learning. This suggests that learning is more complex than observable
behaviour alone, and that mental processes are also essential. Therefore, this approach may be more
applicable to animals and not as applicable to humans.
Describe and Evaluate the Social Learning Theory in Psychology
AO1:
- Behaviour is learned from experience.
- Learning occurs directly through classical and operant conditioning. Learning happens in a social context through
observation and imitating other’s behaviour.
- Bandura identified 4 mediational processes; attention – the extent that we notice certain behaviours, retention – how
well behaviour is remembered, motor reproduction – ability of the observer to perform the behaviour, motivation – the
will to perform the behaviour.
- Bandura (1961) Bobo doll experiment. Children watched either an adult behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll, or an
adult behaving non-aggressively towards a Bobo doll. When given their own doll to play with, the children who had seen
aggression were much more aggressive towards the doll. Children also saw an adult who was rewarded, punished or there
was no consequence. When given their own doll, the children who saw the aggression rewarded were much more
aggressive themselves.
, - The results of this study showed 3 things; children are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people they identify with,
children are likely to imitate acts of violence if they observe this in an adult, modelling aggressive behaviour is more
likely if the behaviour is seen to be rewarded this is known as vicarious reinforcement.
Emphasises the A strength of social learning theory is that it emphasises the importance of cognitive factors in
importance of cognitive learning. Neither classical nor operant conditioning can offer a good account of human learning on
factors their own because cognitive factors are omitted. Humans and animals store information about the
behaviour of other and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain
actions. Social learning theory provides a more complete explanation of human learning than the
behaviourist approach by recognising the role of mediational processes.
Relies too heavily on lab A limitation of social learning theory is that most of the evidence it is based off of is from
studies controlled lab setting. These settings raise the problems of demand characteristics. The purpose of a
Bobo doll is to hit it, so the children may have thought that this was expected of them, so this
research tells us little about how children learn aggression in real life.
Underestimates the A limitation of Social learning theory is that it underestimates the influence of biological factors. A
influence of biological consistent finding in the Bobo doll experiments was that boys showed more aggression than girls. This
factors may be explained by differences in testosterone levels. Observational learning may be the result of
neurons in the brain, which allows us to emphasise with and imitate other people. Bandura may have
underplayed the importance of biological factors on social learning
Explains cultural Social learning principles can account for cultural differences in behaviour. It can account for how
differences in behaviour children learn from people around them, as well as through the media, this can explain how cultural
norms are transmitted. This also helps us understand how children understand their gender roles by
imitating role models. Whereas the biological approach can only explain universal behaviours because
human biological processes do not change with culture.
Less determinist than It is less determinist than the behaviourist approach. Bandura emphasised reciprocal determinism – we
the behaviourist are influenced by our environment, but we also exert an influence upon it through the behaviours
approach we choose to perform. This element of choice suggests that there is some free will in the way we
behave. This is a more realistic and flexible position than is suggested by the behaviourist approach as
it recognises the role, we play in shaping our own environment.
Describe and Evaluate the Cognitive Approach in Psychology
AO1:
- Argues that mental processes should be studied. They cannot be observed, but a person’s thoughts can be inferred
based on their actions.
- Cognitive psychology investigated areas of the mind that were neglected by behaviourists such as memory, perception
and thinking
- A schema is a package of information developed through experience and act as a ‘mental framework’ for the cognitive
system. Babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours, as we get older it gets more detailed and
sophisticated.
- Cognitive psychologists use theoretical and computer models to help them understand internal mental processes. These
suggests that information flows through a sequence of stages that include, storage and retrieval
- Programmes can be run on a computer to imitate the human mind; psychologists can use these to test their ideas
about information processing.
- Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes. It maps out
cognitive on brain areas by looking at those that have damaged brains, for example, Tulving et al found that episodic
and semantic long-term memory is located on opposite sides. This uses methods such as CAT scans and PET scans.
Scientific methods The cognitive approach uses scientific and objective methods. To infer cognitive processes, they use
controlled and rigorous methods such as lab studies. This enables biology and psychology to come
together in the field of cognitive neuroscience
Based on machine The cognitive approach is based on machine reductionism. human emotion and motivation have been
reductionism shown to influence accuracy of recall, for example the effect of anxiety on eyewitness testimony.
These factors are not considered in computer analogies. Therefore, the cognitive approach
oversimplifies human cognitive processing and ignores important aspects that influence performance.
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