Comparison of approaches

• What are the different elements that approaches are compared by?

  • Determinism vs free will
  • Reductionism vs holism
  • Nature vs nurture
  • nomothetic vs ideographic
• Determinism


  The belief that all behaviour has an internal and external cause and is thus predictable (e.g. genes and violence), ignores the role of free will in behaviour
• Hard determinism

  Where behaviour is purely determined from external factors (e.g. behavioural, biological, psychodynamic)
• Soft determinism

  Where individuals have free will but is influenced by external factors (e.g. cognitive, SLT)
• Nature vs nurture

  The debate whether human behaviour is influenced by more innate biological factors or internal factors, compared to our behaviour being influenced by experience
• Reductionism

  The practice of breaking down + simplifying a complex idea into constituent parts to the point of minimising and distorting it (the theory behind it is that every complex phenomenon can be explained by analysing the simplest, most basic physical mechanisms that occur)
• Holism

  The belief that each phenomenon is best understood by looking at the interplay and interaction of many different parts
• Nomothetic

  • Attempts to generalise people - superficial
  • Uses objective knowledge
  • Based on numerical data or data that can be categorised (experimental methods - scientific)
• Idiographic

  • Focuses on recognition of uniqueness
  • Uses subjective experiences (unscientific)
  • Based on study of uniqueness of individuals - good for personalised therapy
• Nature vs nurture scale

  Is human behaviour more influenced by innate factors or environment and experiences?

  A) Biological

  B) Psychodynamic

  C) Cognitive

  D) Humanism / SLT

  E) Learning / behaviourism

  
• Reductionism vs holism scale

  Biological -> Behaviourist (environmental reductionism)-> Psychodynamic -> Cognitive (machine reductionism) -> SLT (mixed) -> Humanism

  A) holistic

  B) reductionist

  
• Determinism vs free will scale

  Hard determinism -> Soft determinism -> Free will

  A) Genetic determinism

  B) Reciprocal determinism

  C) Determinism

  D) Genetic determinism

  E) Psychic determinism

  F) Free will

  
• What method does nomothetic approaches use?

  Experimental methods to generalise laws - scientific
• What method does idiographic approaches use?

  In-depth qualitative methods such as case studies and unstructured interviews
• Practical applications of each approach?

  Behaviourism -> Systematic desensitisation

  SLT -> Prevention of bad role model (e.g. age guidelines)

  Cognitive -> CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy)

  Biological -> Drug therapy

  Psychodynamic -> Psychoanalysis

  Humanistic -> Client-centered therapy
• What is eclecticism in psychology?

  Combining several approaches, methods and theoretical perspectives in order to provide a more comprehensive account of human behaviour, beneficial with the combination of treatment options (e.g. drugs and CBT)
• Diathesis-stress model

  Psychiatry accounts are complex interactions of biological predisposition and environmental triggers
• The biosocial approach

  Rejects traditional distinction between nature and nurture by explaining how basic biological differences are reinforced by the environment during their development