Approaches 16/16 marker exemplar essays for AQA ALevel Psychology
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Approaches
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AQA
this includes every approaches 16/16 marker essays marked by an examiner to be full marks coming from a student who scored full marks in every essay in the real exam in 2024. i have essays for every topic in psychology so check them out too
‘Outline and evaluate the cognitive approach in psychology’ (16 marks)
The cognitive approach focuses on the examination of mental processes: perception,
memory, attention and consciousness. Because these processes are internal, we cannot
study them directly buy instead must be inferred from observational measurement of
human behaviour. To assist this inference, cognitive psychologists make use of theoretical
models which enable the representation of complex conceptual processes so that their
components can be better understood into flowcharts. An example of this is the multistore
model of memory which presents a picture of memory based on an information-processing
analogy. Another model is the computer model which proposes the idea that our mental
processes are like those of a computer processing and storing incoming information into
memory. Schema theory is another information-processing model that emphasises how
perception and memory are shaped by cognitive frameworks built from experience that
organise and interpret information in the brain. Schemas allow us to make sense of an often
ambiguous world by “filling in the gaps” in our knowledge and thus enable us to act
comfortably even when our information is incomplete. Finally, the cognitive approach has
led to the emergence of cognitive neuroscience; allowing us to study the brain empirically to
understand which parts of the brain are activated during certain thought processes. Overall,
the cognitive approach has allowed us to understand behaviour as the influence of our
mental processes like those of a computer in the way we encode and store this information
in much simpler form in our brain.
One advantage of the cognitive approach in psychology is that there are empirical evidence
to help support the theoretical models involved in mental processes. For example, fMRI and
PET scans have allowed us to allocate different parts of memory activation when certain
pieces of information are being stored such as the motor cortex involved in procedural
memory, allowing us to understand fully the different divisions in the brain involved in
mental processes. Therefore, the availability of such techniques and their increasing
sophistication allows for the cognitive approach to be applied to different behaviours
controlled by mental processes such as depression and thus increasing the academic
credibility of it.
Furthermore, an advantage of studying the influence of the cognitive approach on behaviour
using PET scans to study processes such as memory is that it is conducted under lab conditions.
This is beneficial as it means variables are controlled and manipulated by the researcher to
eliminate any possible extraneous variables that could bias the results. Therefore, this ensures
that the study is standardised and easily replicable thus increasing the internal validity of it.
However, a disadvantage of studying the influence of the cognitive approach on behaviour using
PET scans to study processes such as memory is that it often demonstrates experimental
reductionism. This is because it attempts to examine complex behaviour by relying on isolated
variables operationalised in lab experiments. Therefore, can be argued to be biologically
reductionistic as it tries to simplify complex processes to that of a computer, ignoring any
emotions involved when behaviour is influenced, which in turn reduces the mundane realism
and external validity of the research into the cognitive approach
,Another advantage of the cognitive approach in psychology is that it has led to a
development of explanations and treatments in the world of healthcare. For example, the
cognitive approach has been used to help explain why we develop depression as a process
of negative schemas formed and irrational thoughts which also led to the development of
cognitive behavioural therapy to dispute and counteract these negative thoughts.
Therefore, the cognitive approach has led to a multitude of supportive mechanisms in
treating and explaining MHIs and in turn increasing the effectiveness and practicality of the
approach as a whole in improving people’s quality of life.
Finally a disadvantage of the cognitive approach is that it doesn’t consider other approaches
to help explain behaviour. For example, the behavioural approach believes that behaviour is
purely influenced by learning and that we are born as blank slates. Through classical
conditioning, we can associate a stimulus with a certain response or through operant
conditioning these behaviours can be maintained through reinforcements. Therefore, the
cognitive approach is arguably biased and reductionistic as it doesn’t consider additional
factors which could influence our behaviour such as the environment and thus a more
holistic approach needs to be taken.
, ‘Outline and evaluate the psychodynamic approach in psychology’ (16 marks)
The psychodynamic approach by Freud emphasises that our behaviour is influenced by 3
central ideas: that personality has distinctive structures, that it is constructed through
psychosexual stages and that the unconscious conflicts of this process are mediated by
processes called defence mechanisms. According to Freud, personality has 3 components.
The Id is pure erotic energy governed by drives that seek nothing but pleasure- described as
the devil on your shoulder. The superego is our inner voice that tells us when we have
transgressed the bounds of acceptable behaviour- described as the angel on the shoulder.
The ego is seen as the moral ground between the superego and the Id which is aware of the
demands of others outside of itself and decides on the most appropriate behaviour t be
expressed. However, if the ego does fail to balance the 2 out, then we have psychological
processes called defence mechanisms to help reduce anxiety. For example, we may use
repression to bury our thoughts into our unconscious so it is harder to access as opposed to
facing the consequences. Finally, Freud proposed the idea of psychosexual stages which is
the road to conscience including: oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Psychological
development depends on successful resolution of conflicts at each stage however
unresolved lea d to unhealthy personality. The driver of this complex process is the Oedipus
complex in which boys relinquish their desire for their mother, and internalise the fear of
castration by their father as the cautionary voice of conscience. If someone is said to ‘fixate’
at a certain stage, they may develop certain characteristics such as fixation at the oral stage
can lead to pessimism or more likely to be a heavy smoker as opposed to those who didn’t
fixate. Overall, the psychodynamic approach emphasises the idea of the psychological
factors influencing our behaviour as opposed to physiological responses.
One advantage of the psychodynamic approach is that there is supporting research for the
psychosexual stages influencing behaviour. For example, from around three years of age,
little Hans showed an interest in both his own penis and those of other males, including
animals. His mother threatens to cut off his penis unless he stops playing with it.
Hans’s fear of horses worsened, and he was reluctant to go out in case he met a horse.
Freud linked this fear to the horse’s large penis and the black harness representing his
father’s moustache. Freud’s interpretation linked Hans’s fear to the Oedipus complex, the
horses (with black harnesses and big penises) unconsciously representing his fear of his
father. Freud suggested Hans resolved this conflict as he fantasized about himself with a big
penis and married his mother. This allowed Hans to overcome his castration anxiety and
identify with his father. Therefore, this provides real life evidence of the effects of the
Oedipus complex impacting behaviour thus increasing the external reliability of the theory.
However, a disadvantage of using Little Hans as supporting research for the psychodynamic
approach is that he is a case study which is criticised as it only focuses on one person.
Individual differences between Little Hans and a wider population have been ignored and so
creating general laws over idiographic research may not be applicable. Therefore, it
becomes harder to generalise these results to a wider population and thus research into the
psychodynamic approach needs to take on a more nomothetic approach.
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