,5 APPROACHES
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Origins of Psychology: Wundt, introspection and the emergence of
Psychology as a science.
Learning approaches: i) the behaviourist approach, including classical
conditioning and Pavlov’s research, operant conditioning, types of
reinforcement and Skinner’s research; ii) social learning theory
including imitation, identification, modelling, vicarious reinforcement,
the role of mediational processes and Bandura’s research.
The cognitive approach: the study of internal mental processes, the
role of schema, the use of theoretical and computer models to explain
and make inferences about mental processes. The emergence of
cognitive neuroscience.
The biological approach: the influence of genes, biological structures
and neurochemistry on behaviour. Genotype and phenotype, genetic
basis of behaviour, evolution and behaviour.
The psychodynamic approach: the role of the unconscious, the
structure of personality, that is Id, Ego and Superego, defence
mechanisms including repression, denial and displacement,
psychosexual stages.
Humanistic Psychology: free will, self-actualisation and Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs, focus on the self, congruence, the role of
conditions of worth. The influence on counselling Psychology.
,Comparison of approaches.
, APPROACHES
5.1 ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY: WUNDT, INTROSPECTION AND THE
EMERGENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE.
Wundt is known as ‘the father of psychology’, he moved psychology from its
philosophical roots to controlled research. He founded the Institute of Experimental
Psychology and set up the first laboratory in Germany in the 1870s. He published one of
the first books on psychology, helping to establish the subject as an independent branch
of science.
He took a structuralist approach, taking a scientific method to study sensation and
perception. He pioneered the use of introspection which is a systematic analysis of one’s
own conscious experience, experiences are analysed in terms of their component parts
(sensation, emotional reactions). His main research involved people being presented with
standardised sensory events like a ticking metronome and asked to report their
reactions.
Evaluation
+ Wundt's work paved the way for later, more controlled research, such as that by
cognitive psychologists.
+ Introspection, although not a perfect method, did try and apply a more scientific
approach to psychology. Wundt controlled the environments he studied
participants in, and taught participants how to use introspection to create more
reliable results.
- Despite his attempts, introspection is still unscientific. Science is about objectivity,
and introspection is a subjective concept, and largely not replicable.
Behaviourists disagreed with the subjective nature of introspection. They believed that
private events could be measured and tested in laboratories to make them scientific, and
objective.
Cognitive psychology followed on from this, working to explore the mental processes of
an individual and make inferences about them.
Biological psychologists then began to consider how the brain was involved in mental
processes.
,Practice Questions
● Outline Wundt’s method of introspection. (3 marks)
● Describe Wundt’s role in the development of psychology (6 marks)
,5.2 LEARNING APPROACHES: 1) THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH,
INCLUDING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND PAVLOV’S RESEARCH,
OPERANT CONDITIONING, TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT AND SKINNER’S
RESEARCH. 2) SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY INCLUDING IMITATION,
IDENTIFICATION, MODELLING, VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT, THE ROLE
OF MEDIATIONAL PROCESSES AND BANDURA'S RESEARCH.
According to Behaviourists, individuals learn from experience via classical and
operant conditioning.
It has a set of assumptions:
- The mind is a blank slate at birth and behaviour is learned from experience.
- The study of the mind should focus on external behaviour, not internal
thought processes, as behaviour is the only thing that can be objectively
measured and observed.
- The same processes that govern human behaviour also govern the
behaviour of non-human animals As such, experiments on animal behaviour
can yield valid conclusions about human behaviour too.
Classical conditioning is the process of learning through association. Prior to
conditioning, an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces an unconditioned
response (UCR). In conditioning, a neutral stimulus (NS) is paired with the UCS,
producing the UCR. The NS now becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS), which
causes an unconditioned response (UCR).
Pavlov investigated this process in dogs. He found that food (UCS) caused
salivation (UCR). He then began to pair a bell (NS) with the food (UCS). Over time,
the bell became a CS, causing the salivation response (CR).
Extinction is when the CS is no longer paired with the CR, and so the response
disappears. Generalisation is when a minor change in the CS still produces the CR.
Operant conditioning is the process of learning through reinforcement. Positive
reinforcement is when a behaviour is rewarded. Negative reinforcement is when a
behaviour is done to avoid a consequence. Punishment is when a behaviour is
discouraged by using a negative stimulus.
Skinner researched operant conditioning by putting rats in a box. Pressing a level
caused food to come out of a box (positive reinforcement) and so the behaviour
,was done more. In another variation, an electrified trap would cause pain, but
pressing the lever ended the pain (negative reinforcement), so was again done
more.
Evaluation
+ The behaviourist approach uses a highly scientific method. Studies were all
done with great control of variables, increasing the validity and reliability of
findings.
+ The focus on observable behaviours furthers the support for the
scientific method.
- However, these studies are on animals, which do not generalise well
to humans.
+ This approach has real life applications to understanding behaviours, such
as phobias (psychopathology) and attachment (attachment).
- It is, however, environmentally deterministic, seeing behaviours as being
only controlled by the environment. This means that other factors, such as
emotion, are not considered and it ignores the possibility of free will causing
behaviours.
- It is also reductionist, seeing all behaviours as a series of S-R chains. This
means that it does not consider other elements of behaviour and does not
take a holistic approach to behaviour.
Social learning theorists built on this idea, suggesting that learning takes place
through the environment, but is mediated by cognitive processes. It believes in the
following assumptions:
- Social learning theory says behaviour is learned from experience
- People imitate the behaviours of role models who they identify with.
- Behaviours may be reinforced vicariously, i.e. by seeing someone else be
rewarded for that behaviour.
SLT states that behaviour is learnt through observation of others, who act as
models. If an individual witnesses the model being rewarded for a behaviour, they
expect to receive this same reward (vicarious reinforcement), and are more likely to
imitate the behaviour. Identifying with the model also increases chances of
behaviour.
There are four mediational processes:
1) Attention is paying attention to a behaviour. This is more likely when the
, behaviour is important/eye-catching.
2) Retention is that a behaviour must be remembered to be imitated.
3) Reproduction is that a behaviour must be physically reproducible with the
skills an individual has.
4) Motivation is that behaviours are more likely to occur when there is a
potential reward.
Bandura studied a group of 72 children, equal girls and boys who each observed
an adult role model interact with a Bobo doll. They either observed an aggressive
role model, a non-aggressive role model, or no role model. Half of the children
viewed a model of the same gender, the other half viewed the alternate gender.
After viewing the role model for 10 minutes, the children were taken to a room and
told they couldn’t play, they were then taken to another room and allowed to play.
Observing an aggressive role model resulted in children acting more aggressively
than those who saw a non aggressive role model. Boys were also generally more
aggressive. The children were also more likely to imitate a behaviour modelled by
the same sex model.
Evaluation
+ SLT offers a more complete explanation for behaviours than behaviourism,
considering the influence of cognition in behaviours. It can therefore
account for why people who see the same stimulus may act differently.
+ SLT is supported by the Bobo doll study.
- However, there may be demand characteristics in the study. The doll
was specifically designed to be hit, so the children may have hit them
regardless of the model that they saw.
- This study also ignores biological differences. The boys were found
to be more aggressive than girls, suggesting that other mechanisms
of behaviour may be involved. The approach as a whole also ignores
biological influences of behaviours,
- SLT can't explain behaviours where there is no role model, for example
abnormal behaviours, abstract constructs, psychopathy.
Practice Questions
● Outline the way in which Pavlov studied classical conditioning. (3 marks)
,● Outline one difference between classical conditioning and operant
conditioning. (2 marks)
● Discuss two limitations of social learning theory (6 marks)
, 5.3 THE COGNITIVE APPROACH: THE STUDY OF INTERNAL MENTAL
PROCESSES, THE ROLE OF SCHEMA, THE USE OF THEORETICAL AND
COMPUTER MODELS TO EXPLAIN AND MAKE INFERENCES ABOUT
MENTAL PROCESSES. THE EMERGENCE OF COGNITIVE
NEUROSCIENCE.
The cognitive approach considers the mental processes involved in behaviour. It holds
the following assumptions:
- Psychology should be the study of internal mental processes
- The importance of the role of schema
- It is appropriate to make inferences about cognitive processes
- The use of models of explanation – theoretical and computer
- The possibility of combining cognitive processes and biological structures
(cognitive neuroscience).
Schemas are cognitive frameworks that represent ideas. They are built based on
evidence, and aid individuals in making quick decisions. Schemas can help to prevent
someone becoming overwhelmed from all the stimuli in the environment, however, they
can lead to distortions of memory.
As mental processes cannot be directly observed, researchers rely on inference which is
where they go above and beyond the directly observable evidence to make judgements.
The cognitive approach also relies on the use of theoretical and computer models to
understand the role of cognitive processes in behaviours. Theoretical models are a
scientific way to study large concepts, such as memory, in a scientifically reductionist way
to allow behaviour to be studied when it cannot directly be tested. Models provide an
illustrative way to explain mental processes (such as the MSM, or WMM). Computer
models consider the mind and a computer to work in a similar way, through inputting
stimuli, processing, and an output. Programming can allow inferences about human
behaviours to be made as comparisons have been drawn between information and
computer processing.
Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the brain/neurological structures,
mechanisms, processes, chemistry that are responsible for cognitive/mental/thinking
processes. It uses scanning techniques, such as fMRI, to study this. It also involves the
study of neurotypical individuals to locate the physical basis of cognitive processes in the
brain.
