Comparing Approaches to Psychology

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  • Created by: karysbar
  • Created on: 09-11-16 21:55
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  • Comparing Approaches
    • Development
      • Psycho-dynamic - ties concepts to psychosexual stages determined by age. However Freud saw little further development once the child reached the 'genital' stage (teen years).
      • Cognitive - stage theories have contributed to understanding of child development; children form increasingly complex schema as they age.
      • Biological - Maturation; where genetically determined changes in a childs' physiological status influence psychological and behavioural characteristics
      • Humanistic - development of self is ongoing throughout a childs' life. a childs' relationship with their parents is a key determinant of psychological health.
      • Behaviourism - None. Learning processes continuous and occur at any age.
      • Social Learning Theory - None. Learning processes continuous and occur at any age.
    • Nature vs Nuture
      • Behaviourism - characterises babies as 'blank slates' at birth. All behaviour comes from NURTURE; learnt associations, reinforcement.
      • Social Learning Theory - same as behaviourism: but learn through observation and imitation. NURTURE.
      • Biological - behaviour is a genetic blueprint inherited from our parents. Comes from NATURE.
      • Psycho-dynamic - Freud thought much of behaviour was driven by biological drives/instincts. However also thought relationships with parents as fundamental in future development.
      • Humanistic - regard parents, friends and wider society as having critical impact on a persons' self-concept.
      • Cognitive - many of our information processing abilities are innate; they are constantly refined through experience.
    • Determinism
      • Biological - advocates genetic determinism; much of our behaviour is directed by innate influences.
      • Behaviourism - all behaviour as environmentally determined by external influences that we are unable to control.
      • Psycho-dynamic -  psychic determinism; where we don't know the unconscious forces driving behaviour, but can be explained by our conscious minds.
      • Cognitive - we are 'choosers' of our own thoughts and behaviours, but these choices can only operate within the limits of what we know and have experienced.
      • Social Learning Theory -  reciprocal determinism; where as well as being influenced by the environment, we exert some influence onto it through our behaviours.
      • Humanistic - human beings have 'free will' and operate as active agents who determine their own development.
    • Reductionism
      • Behaviourism - breaks up complex behaviour into stimulus response units for ease of testing in the lab.
      • Biological - explains human behaviour and psychological states at the level of a gene and neuron.
      • Psycho-dynamic - Reduces lots of behaviour to influence of sex drives and biological instincts. However Freud's idea that the personality is dynamic interaction between three parts is more holistic.
      • Cognitive - accused of being machine reductionist; presenting people as information processing systems, and ignoring influence of emotion on behaviour.
      • Social Learning Theory - reduce complex learning to a handful of key processes (eg. imitation, modelling). However place emphasis on cognitive factors that mediate learning and how these interact with external influences.
      • Humanistic - holistic approach to understanding human behaviour; investigates all aspects of an individual (including effects of interaction with others and wider society).
    • Abnormal and Atypical Behaviour
      • Humanistic - use of counselling with Rogers' philosophy that personal growth is stimulated through closing the gap between the self-concept and ideal self.
      • Psycho-dynamic - Freud believed anxiety stems from childhood trauma, unconscious conflicts and an overuse of defense mechanisms. Psychoanalysis as a treatment was somewhat successful, but requires a lot of input from the patient time-wise and emotionally.
      • Behaviourism - Maladaptive learning can cause abnormality by reinforcing destructive patterns of behaviour. Systematic desensitisation can be applied to treat phobias.
      • Biological - drug therapy can be used to treat mental disorders by regulating chemical imbalances in the brain.
      • Cognitive - can treat mental disorders such as depression, by identifying faulty thinking; the root cause of maladaptive behaviour.
      • Social Learning Theory - little application in treatment, but principles of modelling and observational learning can explain how negative behaviour can be learnt through the influence of dysfunctional role models.

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