A2 Psychology G544

• All behaviour occurs in a social context even when no one else is physically present
• A major influence on peoples behaviour is other people andthe society they have created
• An individuals behaviour is effected by situational factors

Strengths

• Social have stronger influence than dispositonal factors
• Provides explanations for phenomenons
• Explains prejudice and discrimination
• Uses scientific methods in research

Weaknesses

• Underestimates what people bring to a situation
• Ignores development over time
• Unrepresentitive samples
• Lab experiments so lack ecological validity

AS Studies

• Milgram - Obedience to authority
• Reicher and Haslam - Prison stimulation
• Piliavin et al - Subway samaritan

A2 Studies

• Farrington - Documenting offending behaviour from childhood to adulthood
• Sutherland - Influence of peers
• Wikstrom and Tafel - Poverty and disadvantaged neighbourhoods

• Behaviour is largely explained in terms of how the mind operates
• The mind is simliar to a computer, inputting, storing and retreiving data

Strengths

• Scientific methods - good controls
• Useful applications
• Contributes to understanding of human behaviour
• Intergrates well with other approaches

Weaknesses

• Over simplistic - ignores complexities of human functioning
• Unrealistic - lacks ecological validity
• Ignores emotion and freewill in humans

AS studies

• Loftus and Palmer - Language effect on eye witness testimonys
• Baron-Cohen - Cognitive explanation of autism
• Samuel and Bryant - Conservation in children

A2 studies

• Beck - Cognitive theory for depression
• Yochelson and Samenow - Thinking patterns in criminals
• Gudjohnsson and Bownes - Atrribution of blame in criminals

• Behaviour which deviates from the norm is considered abnormal
• Makes generalisations about differences between people
• Focuses on the unique characteristic of an individual

Strengths

• Good understanding of human behaviour
• Finds causes for disorders
• Exmplains differences and reduces prejudice
• Understands that humans are unique

Weaknesses

• Small samples due to rareity of participants
• Lacks generalisability
• Ethical issues - exploitation of participants

AS Sudies

• Thigpen and Cleckley - Case Study of Eve white
• Rosenham - Being sane in insane places
• Griffiths - Cognitive biases of gamblers on fruit machines

A2 Studies

• Rosenham and Seligman - Defining abnormality
• Ford and Widiger - Bias in diagnosis

• Adult behaviour is affected by childhood experiences
• Developmental changes are a result of inherited factors
• Life time experiences, including interactions with others, effect behaviour

Strengths

• Understands effects of childhood
• Contributes to understanding of nature/nurture debate
• Allows us to measure behaviour over time

Weaknesses

• Data susceptible to bias
• Can be deterministic
• Takes a long time to conduct and requires greated resources
• May lack generalisability
• May ignore cultural factors

AS Studies

• Bandura, Ross and Ross - Transmission of agression through imitation
• Samuel and Bryant - Conservation in children
• Freud - Case Study of Little Hans

A2 Studies

• Kohlberg - Moral Development
• Sutherland - The influence of peers

• Behaviour and experience can be reduced to functioning of physiological systems
• All that is psychological is first physiological
• All behaviour has a genetic basis

Strengths

• Scientific methods in research - good controls
• Provides evidence for nature in the nature/nurture debate
• Helps udnerstand behaviour that would be impossible to test any other way

Weaknesses

• Reductionist
• Can't explain how mind and body interact
• Over simplistic - ignores influecne of environment
• Simplifies complex behaviours

AS Studies

• Maguire - Hypocampus size in taxi drivers
• Sperry - Effect of removing the corpus callosum
• Dement and Kleitman - Relationship between eye movements and dreaming

A2 Studies

• Brunner - Study of a family of aggresive males
• Gottesman and Sheilds - Twin study on schizophrenia
• Karp and Frank - Comparing drug treatments with non drug treatments

• Human development is a dynamic process
• Early experience is very important as it shapes personality
• Mind is split into three areas, the preconscious, conscious and unconscious

Strengths

• Recognises childhood as a critical period
• Idiographic - one paricipant, rich data
• Qualitative Data - detailed understanding

Weaknesses

• No evidence just experiments
• Non-generalisable samples
• Deterministic - predicts behaviour and assumes reactions

AS Studies

• Thigpen and Cleckley - Case study of Eve White
• Freud - Case Study of Little Hans

• All behaviour is learnt from the environment after birth
• Behaviour is determined by the environment
• Only observable behaviour should be studied

Strengths

• Very good reliability
• Practical applications
• Understands nurture in the nature/nurture debate

Weaknesses

• Use of animals in research
• Controlled lab experiments - lack ecological validity
• Deterministic - assumes humans are passive to conditioning

AS Studies

• Bandura, Ross and Ross  - Transmission of aggression through imitation
• Savage - Rumabaugh - Language acquistion in chimps
• Milgram - Obedience to authority

A2 Studies

• Skinner - Operant conditioning using Skinners box 
• Pavlov - Classical conditioning in dogs
• Watson and Rayner - Little Albert classical conditioning