Approaches

• Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology lab


  Opened in Leipzig, Germany in 1879. The aim was to describe the nature of human consciousness (the 'mind') in a carefully controlled and scientific environment—a lab
• Controlled procedures


  The same standardised instructions were given to all participants and stimuli (objects or sounds) were presented in the same order (standardised procedures). For instance, participants were given a ticking metronome and they would report their thoughts, images and sensations, which were then recorded
• Introspection


  Wundt pioneered introspection, the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind. It is a psychological method which involves analysing your own thoughts and feelings internally. Wundt used introspection to study sensation and perception.
• Structuralism


  Introspection led to identifying the structure of consciousness by breaking it up into the basic structures: thoughts, images and sensations. This marked the beginning of scientific psychology, separating it from its broader philosophical roots.
• One strength is that aspects of Wundt's work are scientific


  P - One strength is that aspects of Wundt's work are scientific

  E - For instance, he recorded the introspections within a controlled lab environment

  E - He also standardised his procedures so that all participants received the same information and were tested in the same way

  L - Therefore Wundt's research can be considered a forerunner to a later specific approaches in psychology that were to come
• One limitation is that other aspects of Wundt's research are subjective.


  P - One limitation is that other aspects of Wundt's research are subjective.

  E - Wundt relied on participants selfreporting their 'private' mental processes. Such data is subjective. Participants may also have hidden some of their thoughts.

  E - This makes it diffcult to establish meaningful 'laws of behaviour', one of the aims of science

  L - Therefore Wundt's early efforts to study the mind were naive and would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
• 1900s Early behaviourists rejected introspection.


  Watson (1913) argued that introspection was subjective, in that it is influenced by a personal perspective. According to the behaviourist approach, 'scientific' psychology should only study phenomena that can be observed and measured.
• 1930s Behaviourist scientific approach dominated psychology.


  Skinner (1953) brought the language and rigour of the natural sciences into psychology. The behaviourists' focus on learning, and the use of carefully controlled lab studies, would dominate psychology for 50 years
• 1950s Cognitive approach studied mental processes scientifically.


  Following the computer revolution of the 1950s, the study of mental processes was seen as legitimate within psychology. Cognitive psychologists likened the mind to a computer and tested their predictions about memory and attention using experiments.
• 1980s The biological approach introduced technological advances.


  Biological psychologists have taken advantage of recent advances in technology, including recording brain activity, using scanning techniques such as fMRI and EEG, and advanced genetic research.
• One strength is that research in modern psychology can claim to be scientific.


  P - One strength is that research in modern psychology can claim to be scientific.

  E - Psychology has the same aims as the natural sciences — to describe, understand, predict and control behaviour

  E - Learning, cognitive and biological approaches all use scientific methods e.g. lab studies are controlled and unbiased

  L - Throughout the 20th century and beyond, psychology has established itself as a scientific discipline.
• One limitation of psychology is that some approaches use subjective data.


  P - One limitation of psychology is that some approaches use subjective data.

  E - Humanistic approach does not formulate general laws of behaviour. Psychodynamic approach uses case studies with unrepresentative samples.

  E - Psychologists study humans who are active participants and therefore respond to demand characteristics

  L - Therefore a scientific approach to the study of human thought and experience is not desirable or possible.
• Focus on observable behaviour only.


  The behaviourist approach is only concerned with studying behaviour that can be observed and measured. It is not concerned with mental processes of the mind. Introspection was rejected by behaviourists as its concepts were vague and diffcult to measure
• Controlled lab studies.


  Behaviourists tried to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies to achieve this.
• Use of non-human animals.

  Behaviourists suggest the processes that govern learning are the same in all species, so animals (e.g. rats, cats, dogs and pigeons) can replace humans as experimental subjects.
• Classical conditioning.


  Classical conditioning refers to learning by association
• Pavlov's research.


  Pavlov's research — conditioning dogs to salivate when a bell rings: Before conditioning: UCS = food, UCR = salivation, NS = bell During conditioning: Bell and food occur at same time. After conditioning: CS = bell, CR = salivation Pavlov showed how a neutral stimulus (bell) can come to elicit a new learned response (conditioned response, CR) through association.
• Operant conditioning.


  Operant conditioning refers to learning as an active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment. Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences.
• Skinner's research


  Skinner's research — rats and pigeons, in specially designed cages (Skinner boxes). When a rat activated a lever (or a pigeon pecked a disc) it was rewarded with a food pellet. A desirable consequence led to behaviour being repeated. If pressing a lever meant an animal avoided an electric shock, the behaviour would also be repeated.
• Positive reinforcement


  Positive reinforcement — receiving a reward when behaviour is performed.
• Negative reinforcement


  Negative reinforcement — avoiding when something unpleasant a behaviour is performed.
• Punishment


  Punishment — an unpleasant consequence of behaviour.
• What do positive and negative reinforcement do?

  Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood that behaviour will be repeated. Punishment decreases it
• One strength of behaviourism is that it uses well-controlled research


  P - One strength of behaviourism is that it uses well-controlled research

  E - The approach has focused on the careful measurement observable behaviour within controlled settings.

  E - Behaviourists have broken behaviour down into stimulus—response units and studied causal relationships.

  L - This suggests that behaviourist experiments have scientific credibility

  C - However this approach may oversimplify learning and ignore important influences on behaviour (e.g. thought). other approaches (e.g. social learning and cognitive) incorporate mental processes. This suggests learning is more complex than just what we can observe.
• one strength is behaviourist laws of learning have real-world application.


  P - one strength is behaviourist laws of learning have real-world application.

  E - The principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real- world behaviours and problems.

  E - Token economy systems reward appropriate behaviour with tokens that are exchanged for privileges (operant conditioning). Successfully used in prisons and psychiatric wards

  L - This increases the value of the behaviourist approach because it has widespread application.
• One limitation is behaviourism is a form of environmental determinism.


  P - One limitation is behaviourism is a form of environmental determinism

  E - The approach sees all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned and ignores any influence that free will may have on behaviour.

  E - Skinner suggested that free will was an illusion. When something happens we may think 'l made the decision to do that' but our past conditioning determined the outcome

  L - This is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decisionmaking processes on behaviour (as suggested by the cognitive approach).
• Learning that occurs indirectly.

  Albert Bandura agreed with the behaviourist approach that learning occurs through experience. However, he also proposed that learning takes place in a social context through observation and imitation of others' behaviour.
• Learning related to consequences of behaviour — vicarious reinforcement.


  Children (and adults) observe other people's behaviour and take note of its consequences. Behaviour that is seen to be rewarded (reinforced) is more likely to be copied = vicarious reinforcement
• Mediational (cognitive) processes play a crucial role in learning.


  There are four mediational processes in learning:

  1. Attention — whether behaviour is noticed.

  2. Retention — whether behaviour is remembered.

  3. Motor reproduction — being able to do it. 4. Motivation — the will to perform the behaviour.

  The first two relate to the learning, the last two to the performance (so, unlike behaviourism, learning and performance do not have to occur together).
• Identification with role models is important

  People are more likely to imitate the behaviour of those with whom they identify. Such role models are similar to the observer, attractive and have high status.
• Bandura et al. (1961) procedures


  Bandura et al. (1961) Children watched either:

  • An adult behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll.

  • An adult behaving non aggressively towards a Bobo doll.
• Bandura et al. (1961) findings


  When given their own doll to play with, the children who had seen aggression were much more aggressive towards the doll.
• Bandura et al. (1961) conclusions


  The Bobo doll studies suggest that children are likely to imitate (model) acts of violence if they observe these in an adult role model. It is also the case that modelling aggressive behaviour is more likely if such behaviour is seen to be rewarded (vicarious reinforcement).
• One strength is SLT emphasises the importance of cognitive factors.


  P - One strength is SLT emphasises the importance of cognitive factors

  E - Neither classical conditioning nor operant conditioning can offer a comprehensive account of human learning on their own because cognitive factors are omitted.

  E - Humans and animals store information about the behaviour of others and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions.

  L - This shows that SLT provides a more complete explanation of human learning than the behaviourist approach by recognising the role of mediational processes.

  C - Recent research suggests that observational learning is controlled by mirror neurons in the brain, which allow us to empathise with and imitate other people. This suggests that SLT may make too little reference to the influence of biological factors on social learning.
• One limitation is SLT relies too heavily on evidence from contrived lab studies


  P - One limitation is SLT relies too heavily on evidence from contrived lab studies

  E - Many of Bandura's ideas were developed through observation of children's behaviour in lab settings and this raises the problem of demand characteristics.

  E - The main purpose of a Bobo doll is to hit it. So the children in those studies may have been behaving as they thought was expected.

  L - Thus the research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life.
• Another strength is SLT has real-world application.


  P - Another strength is SLT has real-world application.

  E - Social learning principles can account for how children learn from other people around them, as well as through the media, and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted.

  E - This has proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours such as how children come to understand their gender role by imitating role models in the media.

  L - This increases the value of SLT as it can account for real-world behaviour.
• Scientific study of mental processes.

  In direct contrast to the behaviourist approach, the cognitive approach argues that mental processes should be studied, e.g. studying perception and memory.
• Role of inference in the study of mental processes.

  Mental processes are 'private' and cannot be observed so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences (assumptions) about what is going on inside people's heads on the basis of their behaviour.
• The idea of schema is central to the cognitive approach.


  Schema are packages of information developed through experience. They act as a 'mental framework' for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system. Babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as sucking and grasping. As we get older, our schema become more detailed and sophisticated
• Theoretical models to explain mental processes.

  The information processing approach suggests that information flows through a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval, as in the multi-store model (see page 32 of our Year 1 revision guide)