Approaches in Psychology: Behaviourist, SLT, Cognitive, Biological, Psychodynamic & Humanistic

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The Behaviourist Approach (Pavlov, Watson, Skinner)

Behaviourists argue that all human and animal behaviour is learned from the environment after birth (the mind is a 'tabula rasa' or blank slate), and that psychology should be a rigorous laboratory science studying only observable, measurable stimulus-response behaviours (rejecting Wundt's subjective introspection). 1. Classical conditioning (Pavlov 1927): learning by association - an Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS: food) produces an Unconditioned Response (UCR: salivation); pairing a Neutral Stimulus (NS: bell) repeatedly with the UCS turns the bell into a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) that elicits a Conditioned Response (CR: salivation). 2. Operant conditioning (Skinner 1953, using the Skinner Box): learning by consequences: Positive Reinforcement (receiving a reward like food pellet for pressing a lever increases behaviour), Negative Reinforcement (performing a behaviour to avoid/terminate an unpleasant stimulus like an electric grid shock increases behaviour), and Punishment (an unpleasant consequence that decreases behaviour).

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2

Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1961, 1965)

Albert Bandura agreed with behaviourists that behaviour is learned from experience, but argued that we also learn indirectly in a social context through observation and imitation of role models (individuals we identify with due to similarity, high status, or attractiveness). Key mechanisms: 1. Vicarious reinforcement: observing a model being rewarded for a behaviour makes the observer much more likely to imitate that behaviour (demonstrated in Bandura 1965, where children who saw a film of an adult rewarded with sweets for hitting a Bobo doll imitated far more aggression than those who saw the adult punished, until all children were offered a direct incentive, proving learning vs performance are distinct). 2. Four mediational processes (bridging behaviourism and cognitive psychology): Attention (noticing the behaviour), Retention (remembering it in LTM), Motor Reproduction (having the physical ability to perform it), and Motivation (the desire to perform it, driven by expected vs punished consequences).

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The Cognitive Approach & Cognitive Neuroscience

In contrast to behaviourism, the Cognitive Approach argues that internal mental processes (perception, attention, memory, language) can and must be studied scientifically by making inferences from observable behaviour in lab experiments. It uses the Theoretical and Computer Models of the mind (information is input via senses, processed/encoded by the central processor/brain, and produces behavioural output) and emphasises schemas: mental frameworks of beliefs and expectations built from past experience that allow us to process vast amounts of sensory data rapidly, though they can also distort eyewitness memory (Bartlett's 1932 'War of the Ghosts') or generate negative cognitive triads in depression (Beck). Since the 1990s, cognitive neuroscience (coined by George Miller) has mapped mental processes to physical brain structures using fMRI and PET scans (e.g., Tulving et al. 1994 linking episodic and semantic memory to opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex).

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4

The Biological Approach (Genetics, Neurochemistry, Evolution)

The Biological Approach asserts that everything psychological is at first biological: thoughts, feelings, and behaviours have a physical basis in genes, neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, and hormones. 1. Genetic basis: Twin studies compare concordance rates between Monozygotic (MZ, 100% shared genes) and Dizygotic (DZ, 50% shared genes) twins; because MZ concordance is never 100% for psychological traits (e.g., 48% MZ vs 17% DZ for Gottesman's 1991 schizophrenia meta-analysis), a person's genotype (actual genetic makeup) interacts with the environment to produce their phenotype (observable characteristics). 2. Neurochemistry & brain structure: Imbalances in neurotransmitters (such as low serotonin in OCD/depression or high dopamine in schizophrenia) and localised brain damage (e.g., Phineas Gage's frontal lobe damage) alter behaviour. 3. Evolutionary theory (Darwin): Genetically determined behaviours that enhance survival and reproduction (such as Bowlby's attachment or Buss's mate preferences) are naturally selected and passed down.

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5

The Psychodynamic Approach (Freud)

Sigmund Freud argued that conscious awareness is just the 'tip of the iceberg' and most behaviour is driven by the unconscious mind (a vast storehouse of biological instincts and repressed traumatic memories that surface in slips of the tongue/parapraxes and dreams). 1. Tripartite personality: The Id (pleasure principle, innate from birth, unconscious, demanding instant gratification); the Ego (reality principle, develops around age 2, mediates between Id and Superego using defence mechanisms - Repression, Denial, and Displacement); and the Superego (morality principle, develops around age 5 at the end of the Phallic stage, internalised sense of right and wrong from the same-sex parent). 2. Psychosexual stages: Oral (0-1 yr), Anal (1-3 yrs: anal retentive vs expulsive), Phallic (3-5 yrs: Oedipus complex and castration anxiety in boys: Little Hans, and Electra complex/penis envy in girls), Latency, and Genital; unresolved conflict causes fixation.

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The Humanistic Approach (Maslow & Rogers)

Known as the 'Third Force' in psychology (rejecting both deterministic behaviourism and Freud's pessimistic view of the unconscious), Humanistic Psychology emphasises free will, conscious subjective experience, and studying the whole person holistically and idiographically. 1. MASLOW'S hierarchy OF needs (1943): A five-tier motivational pyramid starting with deficiency needs (Physiological → Safety → Love/Belonging → Esteem) that must be satisfied before a person can achieve the growth need of self-actualisation (fulfilling one's innate creative potential). 2. CARL ROGERS (1951) & client-CENTRED therapy: For psychological health, a person's Perceived Self (Self-concept) must be CONGRUENT (aligned) with their Ideal Self. When parents impose conditions OF worth ('I will only love you if you get straight As'), a large gap (incongruence) opens up between the self-concept and ideal self, which Rogers treated by providing Unconditional Positive Regard, empathy, and genuineness in therapy.

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1. Q1

   Outline Social Learning Theory and evaluate how it extends the traditional Behaviourist approach. (8 marks)

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   Click “Check Mark Scheme” to compare your answer, 1. [AO1 - 4 marks] Social Learning Theory (Bandura 1961) proposes that learning occurs in a social context through observation and imitation of role models with whom the observer identifies. Unlike behaviourism, SLT emphasises indirect learning via vicarious reinforcement (observing a model being rewarded increases imitation) and four internal cognitive mediational processes that intervene between stimulus and response: Attention, Retention, Motor Reproduction, and Motivation. 2. [AO3 Strength 1: Recognising cognitive factors - 2 marks] Unlike Skinner's radical behaviourism, which treats the mind as an unknowable 'black box' driven purely by automatic stimulus-response associations, SLT provides a more full explanation of human learning by incorporating internal mental storage and anticipation of future consequences (supported by Bandura 1965). 3. [AO3 Limitation: Underestimating biological factors & lab artificiality - 2 marks] Bandura's Bobo doll experiments were conducted in artificial laboratories where the doll was designed to be hit (demand characteristics), and SLT underestimates biological influences - in every Bobo doll condition, boys were consistently more physically aggressive than girls regardless of the model's sex, pointing to hormonal differences (testosterone).

2. Q2

   Describe and evaluate the Biological Approach in psychology. (8 marks)

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   Click “Check Mark Scheme” to compare your answer, 1. [AO1 - 4 marks] The Biological Approach assumes that all thoughts, feelings, and behaviours have a physical basis in genetics, neurochemistry, brain structure, and evolution. Genetic influence is investigated through twin concordance studies (comparing 100% genetically identical MZ twins with 50% DZ twins) and distinguishing genotype from environmentally influenced phenotype, while Darwinian natural selection explains adaptive behaviours that enhance survival and reproductive fitness. 2. [AO3 Strength 1: Scientific rigour and real-world drug therapies - 2 marks] The approach uses objective, highly reliable scanning and laboratory methods (fMRI, PET, genetic sequencing) and has revolutionised psychiatric treatment through psychoactive drugs such as SSRIs for OCD/depression, allowing patients to manage symptoms and live outside institutions. 3. [AO3 Limitation: Biological determinism & confounding environmental variables - 2 marks] It is biologically deterministic (claiming behaviour is governed by genes and neurochemistry, which has troubling implications for legal responsibility if a 'criminal gene' is blamed), and twin studies struggle to separate nature from nurture because MZ twins are treated more similarly by parents than DZ twins.

3. Q3

   Compare the Psychodynamic Approach and the Humanistic Approach in terms of determinism vs free will, methodology, and view of human nature. (6 marks)

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   Click “Check Mark Scheme” to compare your answer, 1. Determinism vs Free Will: The Psychodynamic Approach is governed by psychic determinism, arguing that free will is an illusion and all behaviour is determined by unconscious instincts and childhood psychosexual conflicts; in contrast, the Humanistic Approach is the only approach that fully embraces free will, arguing humans are active agents capable of choosing their own personal growth [2 marks]. 2. View of Human Nature: Freud held a pessimistic, conflict-driven view in which humans are constantly battling base biological urges from the Id and anxiety, whereas Maslow and Rogers held an optimistic, growth-oriented view that humans are innately good and driven toward self-actualisation [2 marks]. 3. Methodology and Scientific Status: Both approaches reject experimental laboratory reductionism in favour of idiographic case studies and subjective experience (e.g., Freud's Little Hans vs Rogers's Q-sort client assessments), though Karl Popper criticised psychoanalysis as unfalsifiable pseudoscience whereas Rogers introduced measurable congruence scores to evaluate therapy outcomes [2 marks].

4. Q4

   Sam developed a severe phobia of dogs after being bitten by a neighbour's Alsatian in the park at age 6. Now aged 17, Sam crosses the street whenever he sees anyone walking a dog on a lead, and immediately feels a wave of relief. Explain both how Sam's phobia was acquired and how it is maintained using the Behaviourist approach. (4 marks)

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   Click “Check Mark Scheme” to compare your answer, 1. Classical Conditioning (Acquisition): Originally, dogs were a Neutral Stimulus (NS) and the painful bite was an Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) that automatically triggered an Unconditioned Response (UCR) of fear/pain [1 mark]. 2. Through this traumatic pairing (one-trial learning) and stimulus generalisation to all dogs, dogs became a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) that now triggers a Conditioned Response (CR) of fear [1 mark]. 3. Operant Conditioning (Maintenance): Sam's phobia is maintained by negative reinforcement (Mowrer's 1947 two-process model) [1 mark]. 4. By crossing the street to avoid the dog (escape/avoidance behaviour), Sam removes the unpleasant feeling of anxiety; the immediate wave of relief negatively reinforces his avoidance behaviour, preventing him from ever learning that most dogs are harmless [1 mark].

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