approaches

• Cognitive approach


  Thought processes can and should be studied scientifically, the mind works like a computer with inputs, processing, and outputs
• Cognitive psychology


  • Uses theoretical models (e.g. multi-store model of memory), looks at behaviour in distinct steps, applies the idea of computation to the human mind by comparing it to a computer, acknowledges the role of schemas (cognitive representations formed through experience)
• Cognitive neuroscience


  A more recent adaptation to the cognitive approach, looks for a biological basis for thought processes by combining cognitive and biological psychology
• George Miller first used the term 'cognitive neuroscience' in 1971
• MRI and PET scans have enabled scientists to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes
• Strengths of the cognitive approach

  • Uses scientific methodology, much research uses highly controlled lab studies to infer cognitive processes in a reliable and objective way, cognitive neuroscience uses biological means of measuring cognitive processes to enhance scientific credibility
• Weaknesses of the cognitive approach

  • Uses abstract concepts (schemas, theoretical models) that are difficult to scientifically evidence, methods rely on inference and subjective interpretation, may oversimplify complex processes and overlook the role of emotion, could be considered reductionist and not acknowledge free will
• Psychodynamic approach


  Suggests that human behaviour results from unconscious processes, of which we are unaware
• Tripartite Personality


  • Id
  • Ego
  • Superego
• Id


  Primitive biological part of the mind, present from birth, consists of basic biological impulses or drives, known as the pleasure principle
• Ego


  Mediates between the id and superego, develops around age 2, tries to reduce conflict between id and superego using defence mechanisms, known as the reality principle
• Superego


  Inner parent voice, judges whether actions are right or wrong, internalised representation of same sex parent, known as the morality principle
• Psychosexual stages


  1. Oral

  2. Anal

  3. Phallic

  4. Latency

  5. Genital
• If a child does not resolve the conflict at each psychosexual stage, they will become fixated in that stage and carry it into adulthood, reflected in their behaviours
• Freud's case studies


  • Little Hans demonstrating the Oedipus Complex
• Freud's case studies could be open to researcher bias as he could be looking for evidence for his own theories
• It is hard to generalise from one individual to the general population, lacking generalisability
• Freud's methods could be said to lack scientific credibility and validity
• Freud's theories contain abstract concepts that cannot be operationalised or measured in a scientific way, making them non-falsifiable and lacking scientific credibility
• Despite subjective research methods, the psychodynamic approach has good explanatory power for human behaviour
• Psychodynamic approach is deterministic, suggesting childhood experiences shape adult personality and ignoring free will, known as 'psychic determinism'
• Psychodynamic approach could be limited, and Humanism may be a more effective and holistic way of explaining human behaviour, acknowledging both psychodynamic and biological causes