The Biological approach
- Behaviour and thought processes have an innate, biological basis.
- The mind and brain are one.
- Human genes have evolved to adapt behaviour to the environment.
- Human characteristics, e.g. Intelligence are due to our genetic makeup.
- The biological approach stresses the importance of nature in the nature-nurture debate.
- The principles of biology are applies to psychology in order to understand behaviours such as imprinting.
- we are able to manipulate a species' genetic makeup in order to investigate the genetic basis of behaviour.
- Darwin's theory of evolution shows how strongest genes survive and are passed onto the next generation, whilst maladaptive genes die out.
- We can observe many examples of evolutionary behaviour in non-human species, for example sexual selection and in humans the rooting reflex.
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The behaviourist approach
- Behaviourism is learned from the environment .
- Behaviour is determined by reinforcement or punishment of past learning experiences.
- Observable behaviour, not minds should be studied.
- Psychology should investigate the laws of learning.
- Psychology should focus on observable behaviour, not minds, if it is to be regarded as a scientific discipline.
- All behaviour is learnt, or determined by, interactions and experiences in our environment.
- Operant conditioning is concerned with the use of consequences or reinforcements to modify and shape behaviour.
- Classical conditioning demonstrates how a new association can be made between a neutral stimulus and an already existing response.
- There are many practical applications of the behaviourist approach, for example the modification of speech in autistic children.
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Social learning theory
- Meditational processes, which lie between stimulus and response, influence our behaviour.
- Observational learning has four conditions: attention, retention, motor reproduction, motivation.
- Learning can occur by observing role models in the environment.
- Learning can be a result of direct reinforcement and indirect, or vicarious reinforcement.
- Social learning theory takes into account the cognitive processes involved in learning.
- we learn by observing others (role models) in our environment.
- There are four conditions necessary for effective modelling to occur: attention, retention, motor reproduction, motivation.
- Social learning theory has been applied to many areas of psychology, for example gender development.
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The cognitive approach
- Mental processes lie between stimulus and response.
- Humans are information-processors.
- Humans actively organise and manipulate information from the environment.
- The mind operates in the same way as a computer - both encode, store and output data.
- Cognitive psychologists focus on internal mental processes that lie between stimulus and response.
- Humans are like computer in which both encode, store and retrieve information.
- Many models, for example connectionist, have been used to explain internal metal processes.
- The approach has provided many useful applications, for example improving reliability of eyewitness accounts.
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The psychodynamic approach
- Unconscious processes, of which we are unaware, determine our behaviour.
- Instincts, our drives, motivate our behaviour and energise the mind.
- Childhood experiences determine adult personality.
- Personality has three parts: the id, ego and superego.
- The unconscious mind contains instinctive drives, needs and psychic actions of which we are unaware.
- The way in which we progress through the five psychosexual stages of development as a child will determine our adult behaviour.
- Our personality is structured by the interactions of the id, ego and superego.
- The ego employs defence mechanisms, such as denial, to protect us from feelings of guilt and anxiety.
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The humanistic approach
- Humans should be viewed as a whole and not reduced to component parts.
- Humans are active agents - able to control and determine their own development.
- Humans strive towards achieving self-actualisation.
- To be psychologically healthy, the real self and the ideal self must be congruent.
- Human beings are active agents who have free will to control and determine Their own development.
- Rogers stated that that to be psychologically healthy, a person's ideal self and real self must be congruent.
- Maslow stated that all individuals strive towards self-actualisation - the ability to realise one's potential.
- Person centred therapy is still used in counselling today as an effective tool to achieve personal growth and psychological health.
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