Dylan Uppal
Learning Aim A
Psychological Perspectives
A psychologist examines mental processes and human behaviour by observing, analysing,
and recording how individuals interact with one another and with their surroundings.
Psychology is essential in understanding human behaviour because it helps explain why
individuals behave in certain ways, and a psychologist can help people improve their
decision-making and stress management skills, for example. In my first case study, Ahmed,
an 18-year-old with an eating disorder, was transferred to a speciality treatment centre
following concerns about his severe weight loss caused by him not eating because he got
bullied. In my second case study, Sarah is a 42-year-old woman who visits a Community
Psychiatric Clinic regularly for the treatment of severe depression, which she developed as a
result of being emotionally and physically abused as a kid, resulting in a negative self-image
and low self-esteem. (https://www.careerexplorer.com/careers/psychologist/) (Health and
Social Book Unit 11) (P1)
Behaviourist Perspective – Understanding human development
The behaviourist perspective is concerned with how environmental factors influence
observable behaviour. Environmental variables influence observable behaviour, according to
the behaviourist viewpoint. The behaviourist viewpoint posits two primary methods by which
humans learn from their surroundings: classical conditioning and operant conditioning, for
example. Ivan Pavlov initially discovered classical conditioning in the late 1800s, and it
includes learning by association. He was researching how dogs' salivation aids in the
digestion of food when he discovered that dogs would salivate before their meal came.
Pavlov then saw that the dogs had learned to link food with other stimuli, such as the
opening of a door, so he taught them to associate food with bells.
(https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-new-level-3-btec-unit-11-psychological-perspectiv
es-whole-unit-11860066) (Health and Social Book Unit 11) (P1)
Operant conditioning refers to the process of learning from the consequences of one's
actions. Skinner proved in 1974 that rats could be taught voluntary responses through the
use of reward and punishment. The experiment uses two forms of reinforcement: positive
reinforcement and negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of
a response occurring as it involves a reward for the behaviour, and negative reinforcement
increases the likelihood of a response happening as it involves them escaping from
punishment.
(https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-new-level-3-btec-unit-11-psychological-perspectiv
es-whole-unit-11860066) (Health and Social Book Unit 11) (P1)
The behaviourist perspective can aid health workers in understanding Ahmed's development
of behaviour since they can identify how particular environmental variables have influenced
his eating problem, such as his losing a lot of weight due to not eating because he was
bullied about his weight. To address this, the health professional might send the patient to a
therapist to address their eating disorder or the difficulties that have arisen as a result of
their bullying. The behaviourist perspective can aid health professionals in understanding
Sarah's behaviour development since they can see how physical abuse as a kid may have had
a role in her acquiring clinical depression. To deal with this, the doctor may send the patient
to a therapist who could help her come to terms with her childhood physical abuse. (P1)
1
,Behaviourist Perspective – Understanding specific human behaviour
The behaviourist perspective is founded on the concept that people learn to act in certain
ways because such behaviours may have been rewarded in the past, the behaviourist
approach can assist to comprehend difficult behaviour. People learn to behave in specific
ways, so if they start doing something new and are rewarded for it, they may believe it is
right to do it, or if they are not rewarded for something good they do, they may not repeat it.
The behaviourist perspective helps to understand changing behaviour because it is based on
the idea that people learn to behave in specific ways. The behaviourist perspective
encourages the use of systematic desensitisation treatment to treat phobias by gradually
replacing the fear response with a relaxation response to the conditional stimulus using
counter-conditioning. For example, if a patient has a fear of snakes, desensitisation
treatment can help them deal with their anxiety such as showing them pictures of snakes or
making them think about snakes.
(https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-new-level-3-btec-unit-11-psychological-perspectiv
es-whole-unit-11860066) (Health and Social Book Unit 11) (P2)
The behaviourist perspective can assist in understanding particular changes in Ahmed's
behaviour since they can observe whether any recent changes in his environment variables
may have led him to alter, for example, if others stopped bullying him, he may feel better
about himself and resume eating regularly. The behaviourist perspective can aid in
understanding particular changes in Sarah's behaviour since they will be able to identify how
changes in her environment may have influenced her clinical depression favourably or
adversely. (P2)
Social Learning Theory – Understanding human development
SLT explains behaviour as being the result of learning from people we are exposed to in our
environment, for example, we learn new behaviours from people we observe either in real
life or in the media, which is known as observational learning and this theory was developed
by American psychologist Albert Bandura. Imitation learning is when a person simply copies
what the model does. Observational learning is a method of learning that consists of
observing and modelling another individual's behaviour, attitudes, or emotional expressions.
In Bandura’s study, the Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children can learn social
behaviour such as aggression through the process of observational learning, through
watching the behaviour of another person.
(https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-new-level-3-btec-unit-11-psychological-perspectiv
es-whole-unit-11860066) (https://www.britannica.com/science/ observational-learning)
(Health and Social Book Unit 11) (P1)
Role theory suggests that, because we live within a particular culture, society and social
group, we are influenced by other people, and this influence leads us to adopt certain roles
and try to live up to the expectations that go with these roles. In the ARMS approach, A
means paying attention, R means we must Remember what we have seen, M means we
must be motivated to repeat the behaviour that we have observed, and S means we must
have the skills to carry out the behaviour observed. There are 5 key factors associated with
role modelling are availability which means behaviour needs to be observed within the
environment, attention which means the individual needs to pay attention to the behaviour
and its consequences, retention which means the individual stores the observed behaviour in
LTM, reproduction which means the individual must be able to reproduce the observed
2
,behaviour, and motivation which means the individual must expect to receive the same
positive reinforcements for imitating the observed behaviour that they have seen the model
receiving. The cultural influences on behaviour refer to the shared values, norms, language,
customs, and practices of a group, for example, people from different socio-economic groups
within the UK will share different aspects of culture, such as the value placed on eating at a
table rather than on your lap in front of the TV, how money is spent, how to talk to your
elders and so on. The self-fulfilling prophecy has a big impact on the way we behave towards
others and expect them to behave towards us.
(https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-new-level-3-btec-unit-11-psychological-perspectiv
es-whole-unit-11860066) (Health and Social Book Unit 11) (P1)
The social learning theory can’t help understand the development of behaviour for Ahmed as
he didn’t copy what his bullies were doing, he stopped eating so that he wouldn’t get bullied
because of his weight, which eventually developed into an eating disorder. The social
learning theory can help understand the development of behaviour for Sarah because she
didn’t copy any behaviour, she developed clinical depression which is because she was
physically abused as a child. (P1)
Social Learning Theory – Understanding specific human development
Role models can be used to promote anti-discriminatory behaviours and practices because a
model’s characteristics influence whether we are more likely to imitate their behaviour, for
example, in 1987 Princess Diana visited HIV and AIDS hospital to shake hands with patients
which helped remove a great deal of misunderstanding and prejudice about the illnesses.
Also, Barack Obama lifted the ban on people with HIV/ AIDS entering the USA which was
proposed to have the intention of being a good role model and reduce the stigma associated
with this disease. Role models can be used in health education programmes, to promote
charities and health campaigns because if a well-liked celebrity was featured in a health
campaign, it may encourage young people to be more aware of diseases and viruses. Also,
role models are effective because Angelina Jolie triggered an increase in BRCA tests of 64% in
just 2 weeks, but some celebrity health choices are dangerous and unachievable which could
have a negative impact on people.
(https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-new-level-3-btec-unit-11-psychological-perspectiv
es-whole-unit-11860066) (Health and Social Book Unit 11) (P2)
The social learning theory can’t help understand specific changes in the behaviour of Ahmed
because his changing behaviour isn’t caused by anything he has seen, it is caused due to him
getting bullied for being overweight, which caused him to stop eating and slowly develop an
eating disorder. The social learning theory can’t help understand specific changes in the
behaviour of Sarah because her changing behaviour isn’t caused by anything she has seen, it
is caused due to the physical abuse she has endured as a child, which caused her to develop
clinical depression. (P2)
Psychodynamic Perspective – Understanding human development
The Psychodynamic Perspective says that human behaviour is a result of our personality,
experiences and understanding of ourselves. It says that much of our behaviour is driven by
unconscious motives, memories, feelings and past experiences that are locked up in part of
our mind. Freud’s model of the mind stated that there are three different characteristics in
our mind at the same time, which are ID, ego and superego. Also, he found that if they are
3
, unbalanced, this can cause us a lot of anxiety and may eventually lead to mental
abnormality. The ID is completely selfish and needs immediate gratification of needs without
moral considerations, and it is considered as the pleasure-seeking principle. The ego
develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the external real world and is known as
the reality deciding principle. The superego incorporates the values and morals of society
which are learned from one's parents and others, and it is considered as the moral principle.
The Ego has great difficulty in balancing the conflicts and demands of the id and superego.
To help fight this the mind builds a defence mechanism. Defence mechanisms use the
methods of repression, denial, and projection. Repression is when threatening impulses,
memories or experiences are pushed into the unconscious, they do not disappear but the
individual is unaware of them. Denial is when you completely reject thought or feeling.
Projection is when you attribute your own socially unacceptable thought or feeling to
someone else.
(https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-new-level-3-btec-unit-11-psychological-perspectiv
es-whole-unit-11860066) (https://www.simplypsychology.org/psychodynamic.html) (Health
and Social Book Unit 11) (P1)
The Psychodynamic Perspective can help understand the development of behaviour for
Ahmed because the memories and feelings he experiences from being bullied for being
overweight still plague him today, which we can see as he has stopped eating and that has
developed into an eating disorder because he wants to lose weight. This method can help
Ahmed to understand his true, deep-rooted feelings to resolve them, which could help him
come to terms with being bullied for being overweight. The Psychodynamic Perspective can
help understand the development of behaviour for Sarah because the memories and feelings
she experiences from being physically abused as a child still haunt her today, which we can
see as she has clinical depression due to the trauma that she has endured. This method can
help Ahmed to understand his true, deep-rooted feelings to resolve them, which could help
her come to terms with her trauma of being physically abused as a child. (P1)
Psychodynamic Perspective – Understanding specific human development
The Psychodynamic Perspective helps one to understand challenging behaviours by
examining the structures of the mind and recognises that our behaviours are driven by
unconscious forces, for example, if a hospital patient is being difficult you could look at the
balance of the id, ego, and superego. The ID is completely selfish and needs immediate
gratification of needs without moral considerations, and it is considered as the
pleasure-seeking principle. The ego develops to mediate between the unrealistic id and the
external real world and is known as the reality deciding principle. The superego incorporates
the values and morals of society which are learned from one's parents and others, and it is
considered as the moral principle. The Psychodynamic Perspective helps understand and
manage anxiety by suggesting that the superego is very strong and controlling, and the
methods used to manage anxiety from the psychodynamic perspective involve
psychoanalysis. To help manage anxiety the analyst would work with the patient to uncover
the root of each type of anxiety through a variety of methods, for example, dream analysis or
free association.
(https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-new-level-3-btec-unit-11-psychological-perspectiv
es-whole-unit-11860066) (Health and Social Book Unit 11) (P2)
The Psychodynamic Perspective can help understand specific changes in the behaviour of
Ahmed because they will be able to notice the deep-rooted problems which he is going
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