Comparison of Approaches

• What is the biological approach’s view on nature vs nurture?

  Nature: behaviour can be passed through the genetic make up of the individual
• What is the cogntiive approach’s view on nature vs nurture?

  Both (interactionist): Babies are born with a select few innate schemas (e.g. sucking) but develop other sophisticated schemas over time
• What is the behaviourist approach’s view on nature vs nurture?

  Nurture: believes everyone is born free of predispositions (tabula rasa) and their environment forms their behaviour
• What is the Social learning theory’s view on nature vs nurture?

  Nurture: behaviour is learned from role models in the environment
• What is the psychodynamic approach’s view on nature vs nurture

  Both: argues for the existence of innate drives, represented by the id. However, the way parents raise a child affects the formation of the personality
• What is the humanistic approach’s view on nature vs nurture

  Both: there is a drive to be the best you can be (nature) but that the environment can aid or help that process (nurture)
• Is the behaviourist approach holistic or reductionist?


  Environmental reductionism: all behaviour is explained in terms of simple stimulus-response links
• Is the social learning theory holistic or reductionist?

  Reductionist, as it reduces complex learning to a simple stimulus and response relationship
• Why is social learning theory less reductionist that behaviourism?

  It also considered cogntitive factors that mediate learning behaviour
• Is the cognitive approach holistic or reductionist?


  Machine reductionist: as it compares the human mind to computers, presenting people as information processing systems
• Is the psychodynamic approach holistic or reductionist?

  Reductionist: reduces much of our behaviour to the influence of sexual drives and biological instincts
• Why might the psychodynamic approach be considered less reductionist?

  It takes a more holistic approach considering the influence of our environment as well the interaction of our personality structures in determining our behaviour
• Is the humanistic approach holistic or reductionist?


  Holistic: The whole, subjective human experience is used to study behaviour, without formulating general laws.
• Does the behaviourist approach consider free will or is it deterministic?

  Environmental Determinism — All behaviour is the result of classical and operant conditioning, where we have no conscious insight into our behaviour
• Does the social learning theory consider free will or is it deterministic?

  Reciprocal determinism: we operate on the environment but the environment in turn operates on us
• Does the cognitive approach consider free will or is it deterministic?

  Soft determinism: we are free to make conscious decisions and reason within the limits of what we know/our cognitive system
• Does the humanistic approach consider free will or is it deterministic?

  Free will: humans are free to reject the external forces that operate on us, because we have control of our own development
• Behaviourist explanation for mental disorders

  Caused by associations made between the unconditioned and neutral stimulus (classical conditioning) and maintenance through operant conditioning e.g. avoidance behaviour in OCD is negatively reinforced.
• Social learning theory explanation for mental disorders

  Caused by the observation and imitation of inappropriate role models, using the 4 mediational processes (attention, retention, motor reproduction and motivation). The role model is seen as particularly desirable.
• Cognitive approach explanation for mental disorders

  Faulty schemas generated through specific experiences, leading to perceptual errors and sensory stimuli distortions.
• Biological approach explanation for mental disorders

  There may be candidate genes for specific mental health disorders and criminality. These genes then influence neurotransmitter and hormone production.
• Humanistic explanation for mental disorders

  A lack of unconditional positive regard in childhood, due to conditions of worth imposed by parents, leads to incongruence and an inability to self actualise.