humanistic approach comparison essay

Humanistic Approach in Psychology (humanism): Definition & Examples

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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Humanistic, humanism, and humanist are terms in psychology relating to an approach that studies the whole person and the uniqueness of each individual.  Essentially, these terms refer to the same approach in psychology.

Humanistic psychology is a perspective that emphasizes looking at the the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual. Humanistic psychology begins with the existential assumptions that people have free will and are motivated to acheive their potential and self-actualize.

The humanistic approach in psychology developed as a rebellion against what some psychologists saw as the limitations of behaviorist and psychodynamic psychology.

The humanistic approach is thus often called the “third force” in psychology after psychoanalysis and behaviorism (Maslow, 1968).

Humanism rejected the assumptions of the behaviorist perspective which is characterized as deterministic, focused on reinforcement of stimulus-response behavior and heavily dependent on animal research.

Humanistic psychology rejected the psychodynamic approach because it is also deterministic, with unconscious irrational and instinctive forces determining human thought and behavior. 

Both behaviorism and psychoanalysis are regarded as dehumanizing by humanistic psychologists.

Humanistic psychology expanded its influence throughout the 1970s and the 1980s.  Its impact can be understood in terms of three major areas :

1) It offered a new set of values for approaching an understanding of human nature and the human condition. 2) It offered an expanded horizon of methods of inquiry in the study of human behavior. 3) It offered a broader range of more effective methods in the professional practice of psychotherapy .

Summary Table

Basic assumptions.

Humanistic psychology begins with the existential assumption that people have free will:

Personal agency is the humanistic term for the exercise of free will . Free will is the idea that people can make choices in how they act and are self-determining.

Behavior is not constrained by either past experience of the individual or current circumstances (determinism).

Personal agency refers to the choices we make in life, the paths we go down, and their consequences. Individuals are free to choose when they are congruent (Rogers) or self-actualized (Maslow).

Although Rogers believes much more in free will, he acknowledges that determinism is present in the case of conditional love because that may affect a person’s self-esteem. In this way free will and determinism are integral to some extent in the humanistic perspective.

People are basically good, and have an innate need to make themselves and the world better:

Humanistic psychology: a more recent development in the history of psychology, humanistic psychology grew out of the need for a more positive view of human beings than was offered by psychoanalysis or behaviorism. 

Humans are innately good, which means there is nothing inherently negative or evil about them (humans).

In this way the humanistic perspective takes an optimistic view of human nature that humans are born good but during their process of growth they might turn evil.

The humanistic approach emphasizes the individual’s personal worth, the centrality of human values, and the creative, active nature of human beings.

The approach is optimistic and focuses on the noble human capacity to overcome hardship, pain and despair.

People are motivated to self-actualize:

Major humanistic psychologists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow believed that human beings were born with the desire to grow, create and to love, and had the power to direct their own lives.

Self-actualization concerns psychological growth, fulfillment, and satisfaction in life.

Both Rogers and Maslow regarded personal growth and fulfillment in life as basic human motives. This means that each person, in different ways, seeks to grow psychologically and continuously enhance themselves.

However, Rogers and Maslow both describe different ways which self-actualization can be achieved.

According to Maslow, people also have needs which must be met for self-actualization to be possible.  The basic needs e.g. food and water have to be satisfied before the higher psychological and emotional needs. This is shown in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

According to Rogers, people could only self-actualize if they had a positive view of themselves (positive self-regard).  This can only happen if they have unconditional positive regard from others – if they feel that they are valued and respected without reservation by those around them (especially their parents when they were children).

Self-actualization is only possible if there is congruence between the way an individual sees themselves and their ideal self (the way they want to be or think they should be). If there is a large gap between these two concepts, negative feelings of self-worth will arise that will make it impossible for self-actualization to take place.

The environment a person is exposed to and interacts with can either frustrate or assist this natural destiny. If it is oppressive, it will frustrate; if it is favorable, it will assist. 

Behavior must be understood in terms of the subjective conscious experience of the individual (phenomenology):

Humanistic psychologists also believe that the most fundamental aspect of being human is a subjective experience. This may not be an accurate reflection of the real world, but a person can only act in terms of their own private experience subjective perception of reality.

Humanistic psychologists argue that physical objective reality is less important than a person’s subjective (phenomenological) perception and understanding of the world. Thus, how people interpret things internally is (for them), the only reality. 

Sometimes the humanistic approach is called phenomenological. This means that personality is studied from the point of view of the individual’s subjective experience. Meaning is the purpose or value that a person attaches to their actions or experiences

According to Rogers, we each live in a world of our own creation, formed by our processes of perception. He referred to an individual’s unique perception of reality as his or her phenomenal field. 

As Rogers once said, “The only reality I can possibly know is the world as I perceive and experience it at this particular moment. The only reality you can possibly know is the world as you perceive and experience at this moment. And the only certainty is that those perceived realities are different. There are as many ‘real worlds’ as there are people! (Rogers, 1980, p. 102).

For Rogers, the focus of psychology is not behavior (Skinner), the unconscious ( Freud ), thinking (Piaget), or the human brain but how individuals perceive and interpret events. Rogers is therefore important because he redirected psychology toward the study of the self .

Humanistic theorists say these individual subjective realities must be looked at under three simultaneous conditions.

First, they must be looked at as a whole and meaningful and not broken down into small components of information that are disjointed or fragmented like with psychodynamic theorists. Rogers said that if these individual perceptions of reality are not kept intact and are divided into elements of thought, they will lose their meaning.

Second, they must be conscious experiences of the here and now. No efforts should be made to retrieve unconscious experiences from the past.

Phenomenenological means ‘that which appears’ and in this case, it means that which naturally appears in consciousness. Without attempting to reduce it to its component parts – without further analysis.

Finally, these whole experiences should be looked at through introspection. Introspection is the careful searching of one’s inner subjective experiences.

Humanism rejects scientific methodology:

Rogers and Maslow placed little value on scientific psychology , especially the use of the psychology laboratory to investigate both human and animal behavior.

Rogers said that objective scientific inquiry based on deterministic assumptions about humans has a place in the study of humans (science) but is limited in the sense that it leaves out inner human experiences (phenomenology).

Studying a person’s subjective experience is the biggest problem for scientific psychology, which stresses the need for its subject matter to be publicly observable and verifiable. Subjective experience, by definition, resists such processes.

Humanism rejects scientific methodology like experiments and typically uses qualitative research methods .  For example, diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, unstructured interviews, and observations.

Qualitative research is useful for studies at the individual level, and to find out, in-depth, the ways in which people think or feel (e.g. case studies ).

The way to really understand other people is to sit down and talk with them, share their experiences, and be open to their feelings.

Humanism rejected comparative psychology (the study of animals) because it does not tell us anything about the unique properties of human beings:

Humanism views humans as fundamentally different from other animals, mainly because humans are conscious beings capable of thought, reason, and language. 

For humanistic psychologists’ research on animals, such as rats, pigeons, or monkeys held little value. 

Research on such animals can tell us, so they argued, very little about human thought, behavior, and experience.

Humanistic Theory of Personality

Central to Rogers” personality theory is the notion of self or self-concept .  This is defined as “the organized, consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about oneself.”

The self is the humanistic term for who we really are as a person.  The self is our inner personality, and can be likened to the soul, or Freud’s psyche .  The self is influenced by the experiences a person has in their life, and out interpretations of those experiences.  Two primary sources that influence our self-concept are childhood experiences and evaluation by others.

According to Rogers (1959), we want to feel, experience, and behave in ways that are consistent with our self-image and which reflect what we would like to be like, our ideal-self.  The closer our self-image and ideal-self are to each other, the more consistent or congruent we are and the higher our sense of self-worth.

A person is said to be in a state of incongruence if some of the totality of their experience is unacceptable to them and is denied or distorted in the self-image.

Rogers believed this incongruence stems from the distorted perceptions that arise from adopting others’ conditions of worth , starting in infancy. As we depart from accurately integrating all of our authentic experiences into our self-structure, we are no longer a unified whole person. Rather, we develop different facets of self, some of which may feel threatened by certain experiences.

The humanistic approach states that the self is composed of concepts unique to ourselves. The self-concept includes three components:

Self-worth (or self-esteem ) comprises what we think about ourselves. Rogers believed feelings of self-worth developed in early childhood and were formed from the interaction of the child with the mother and father.

How we see ourselves, which is important to good psychological health. Self-image includes the influence of our body image on inner personality.

At a simple level, we might perceive ourselves as a good or bad person, beautiful or ugly. Self-image affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves in the world.

This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals and ambitions in life, and is dynamic – i.e., forever changing.

The ideal self in childhood is not the ideal self in our teens or late twenties etc.

Historical Timeline

• Maslow (1943) developed a hierarchical theory of human motivation.
• Carl Rogers (1946) publishes Significant aspects of client-centered therapy (also called person-centered therapy).
• In 1957 and 1958, at the invitation of Abraham Maslow and Clark Moustakas, two meetings were held in Detroit among psychologists who were interested in founding a professional association dedicated to a more meaningful, more humanistic vision.
• In 1962, with the sponsorship of Brandeis University, this movement was formally launched as the Association for Humanistic Psychology .
• The first issue of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology appeared in the Spring of 1961.
• Clark Hull’s (1943) Principles of behavior was published.
• B.F. Skinner (1948) published Walden Two , in which he described a utopian society founded upon behaviorist principles.

Issues and Debates

Free will vs. determinism.

It is the only approach that explicitly states that people have free will, but its position on this topic is somewhat incoherent as on one hand, it argues that people have free will.

However, on the other hand, it argues that our behavior is determined by the way other people treat us (whether we feel that we are valued and respected without reservation by those around us).

Nature vs. Nurture

The approach recognizes both the influence of nature and nurture, nurture- the influence of experiences on a person’s ways of perceiving and understanding the world, nature- influence of biological drives and needs (Maslow’s hierarchy of needs).

Holism vs. Reductionism

The approach is holistic as it does not try to break down behaviors in simpler components.

Idiographic vs. Nomothetic

As this approach views the individual as unique, it does not attempt to establish universal laws about the causes of behavior; it is an idiographic approach.

Are the research methods used scientific?

As the approach views the individual as unique, it does not believe that scientific measurements of their behavior are appropriate.

Critical Evaluation

Humanistic psychologists rejected a rigorous scientific approach to psychology because they saw it as dehumanizing and unable to capture the richness of conscious experience.

As would be expected of an approach that is ‘anti-scientific’, humanistic psychology is short on empirical evidence. The approach includes untestable concepts, such as ‘self-actualization’ and ‘congruence’.

However, Rogers did attempt to introduce more rigor into his work by developing Q-sort – an objective measure of progress in therapy. Q-sort is a method used to collect data on outcome of therapy based on changes in clients self-concepts before, during, and after therapy in that it is used to measure actual changes based on differences between self and ideal self. 

In many ways, the rejection of scientific psychology in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s was a backlash to the dominance of the behaviorist approach in North American psychology. For example, their belief in free-will is in direct opposition to the deterministic laws of science.

However, the flip side to this is that humanism can gain a better insight into an individual’s behavior through the use of qualitative methods, such as unstructured interviews.

The approach also helped to provide a more holistic view of human behavior, in contrast to the reductionist position of science.

The humanistic approach has been applied to relatively few areas of psychology compared to the other approaches. Therefore, its contributions are limited to areas such as therapy, abnormality, motivation , education, and personality.

Client-centered therapy is widely used in health, social work and industry. This therapy has helped many people overcome difficulties they face in life, which is a significant contribution to improving people’s quality of life.

Humanistic therapies are based on the idea that psychological disorders are a product of self-deceit. Humanistic therapists help clients view themselves and their situations with greater insight, accuracy and acceptance.

The fundamental belief of this type of therapy is that clients can fulfill their full potential as human beings if they can achieve these goals. Examples of humanistic therapies include client-centered therapy and Gestalt therapy.

Client-centered therapy aims to increase clients’ self-worth and decrease the incongruence between the self-concept and the ideal self.

It is a non-directive therapy in which the client is encouraged to discover their own solutions to their difficulties in an atmosphere that is supportive and non-judgemental and that provides unconditional positive regard.

It focuses on the present rather than dwell on the past unlike psychoanalysis. This therapy is widely used e.g. health, education and industry.

Rogers’ view of education saw schools as generally rigid, bureaucratic institutions which are resistant to change. Applied to education, his approach becomes ‘student-centered learning’ in which children are trusted to participate in developing and to take charge of their own learning agendas. His attitude to examinations, in particular, would no doubt, find a most receptive audience in many students:

‘I believe that the testing of the student’s achievements in order to see if he meets some criterion held by the teacher, is directly contrary to the implications of therapy for significant learning’.

Humanistic ideas have been applied in education with open classrooms. In the open classrooms, students are the ones who decide how learning should take place (student-centered), they should be self-directed, they’re free to choose what to study and the teacher merely acts as a facilitator who provides an atmosphere of freedom and support for individual pursuits.

Summerhill School in UK, founded by A.S. Neill is one of the schools that have applied humanistic ideas fully with some success to enhance motivation in students.

The school has a clear structure and rules and that students from Summerhill are very creative, self-directed (free to choose subjects, learning materials, etc.), responsible and tolerant.

Limitations

Psychoanalytic criticisms claim that individuals cannot explain their own behavior because the causes are largely unconscious. Consequently, conscious explanations will be distorted by rationalization or other defenses.

The behaviourists have been the severest critics of humanistic psychology because of the phenomenological approach, which they feel, is purely subjective and dualistic.

Thus, according to behaviourists, the theories lack any empirical validity and scientific method is abandoned in favour of introspection. 

A possible reason for the limited impact on academic psychology perhaps lies with the fact that humanism deliberately adopts a non-scientific approach to studying humans.

The areas investigated by humanism, such as consciousness and emotion, are very difficult to scientifically study.  The outcome of such scientific limitations means that there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the key theories of the approach.

Another limitation is the humanistic approach is that it is ethnocentric . Many ideas central to humanistic psychology, such as individual freedom, autonomy and personal growth, would be more readily associated with individualistic cultures in the Western world, such as the United States.

Collectivist cultures such as India, which emphasize the needs of the group and interdependence, may not identify so easily with the ideals and values of humanistic psychology.

Therefore, it is possible that the approach would not travel well and is a product of the cultural context within which it was developed, and an emic approach is more appropriate.

Humanism proposes a positive view of human nature, however, it could be argued that this might not be very realistic when considering everyday reality, such as domestic violence and genocides.

Furthermore, the approach’s focus on meeting our needs and fulfilling our growth potential reflects an individualistic, self-obsessed outlook that is part of the problem faced by our society rather than a solution.

Maslow, A. H. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation . Psychological Review , 50, 370-96.

Rogers, C. R. (1946). Significant aspects of client-centered therapy. American Psychologist , 1,  415-422.

Maslow, A. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being (2nd ed.) . New York: D. Van Nostrand.

Rogers, C. R. (1946). Significant aspects of client-centered therapy. American Psychologist 1,  415-422.

Rogers, C. R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality and interpersonal relationships as developed in the client-centered framework. In (ed.) S. Koch, Psychology: A study of a science. Vol. 3: Formulations of the person and the social context . New York: McGraw Hill.

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AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY REVISION NOTES: APPROACHES IN PSYCHOLOGY

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PSYCHOLOGY AQA  A-LEVEL UNIT 2: 7182/2

The syllabus.

ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY

• Wundt, introspection and the emergence of Psychology as a science

LEARNING APPROACHES

• Classical conditioning and Pavlov’s research
• Operant conditioning, types of reinforcement and Skinner’s research
• Social learning theory including imitation, identification, modelling, vicarious reinforcement, the role of mediational processes and Bandura’s research
• Evaluation of Learning Approaches

THE COGNITIVE APPROACH

• The study of internal mental processes
• The role of schema
• The use of theoretical and computer models to explain and make inferences about mental processes
• The emergence of cognitive neuroscience
• Evaluation of the Cognitive Approach

THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH

• Evolution and behaviour
• Genotype and phenotype, genetic basis of behaviour
• The influence of genes, biological structures and neurochemistry on behaviour
• Evaluation of the Biological Approach

THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH

• The structure of personality: id, ego and superego
• The role of the unconscious
• Defence mechanisms including repression, denial and displacement
• Psychosexual stages
• Evaluation of the Psychodynamic Approach

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY

• Free will, self-actualisation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• Focus on the self, congruence, the role of conditions of worth
• The influence on counselling psychology
• Evaluation of the Humanistic Approach

COMPARISON OF APPROACHES

• Biological, behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic

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INTRODUCTION

For centuries, philosophers and biologists theorised about the causes of human behaviour. However, Psychology as a separate academic discipline did not emerge until 1879 when Wundt established the first Psychology laboratory using a method known as introspection – reflecting on one’s own mental processes such as emotions and sensations.

Freud developed the psychoanalytic/psychodynamic approach from approx. 1895 onwards. Freud was incredibly influential on 20 th C. Psychology arguing that humans were governed by instincts and irrational unconscious conflicts which arose in early childhood experience . However, Freud’s emphasis on unobservable aspects of human behaviour (e.g. the unconscious mind ) attracted criticism from psychologists who argued that Psychology should be scientific in aims and methods, and focus on observable behaviour .

The Behaviourist approach ( or Learning Theory) was developed by Watson who argued that Psychology should adopt a strictly scientific , empirical approach (i.e. only focus on outwardly observable , measurable behaviour ). Throughout the 20 th C. Behaviourism explored the variety of way in which behaviours are acquired (learnt), maintained (kept) and extinguished (unlearnt) via classical conditioning , operant conditioning and social learning .

By the 1950’s Cognitive psychologists returned to studying internal mental processes (such as memory , perception , attention , decision-making , etc.) and the development of the first computers in the ‘50’s allowed Cognitive psychologists to model human mental processes artificially (e.g. chess computers). The Cognitive approach also favoured scientific methods and controlled experimentation .

The Biological approach has always existed within Psychology, focusing on the way in which internal structures and processes (the brain , neurotransmitters , hormones , genes , etc.) influence the mind and behaviour. Biological psychology employs highly scientific methods and shares much in common with biology and chemistry.

Humanistic Psychology emerged in the 1960’s and was critical of Behaviourist and Psychodynamic arguments that behaviour was controlled by the either the environment or the unconscious mind. Humanistic psychologists argued that people had free-will (can actively choose how they want to act, feel and behave) and the potential to guide their own personal growth to achieve psychological health , overcome traumas in their past and achieve self-actualisation (personal fulfilment and happiness).

ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY: WUNDT, INTROSPECTION AND THE EMERGENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE ( AQA A-level Psychology resources)

For centuries, philosophers and biologists theorised about the causes of human behaviour, however Psychology as a separate academic discipline did not emerge until 1879 when Wundt established the first Psychology laboratory in Germany. Wundt employed introspection as his main method – asking subjects to systematically report on their inner mental processes such as emotions and sensations, and asking them to describe the quality, duration and intensity of what they felt.

Wundt used experimental methods to try to establish the basic building blocks ( structures ) of thought and investigate how they interacted with each other. Thus, he attempted to break down participants’ observations of objects, images and events down into constituent parts in the same way that an anatomist would study a body by trying to find its constituent parts (e.g. heart, liver, etc.) and how they interact.

For example, in studying reaction time , Wundt systematically changing the stimuli he presented to participants and measured how long it took them to respond - inferring that the longer it took them to respond the more mental processes must be involved.

One major criticism of Wundt’s approach relates to the methodology of introspection. Critics argue that relying on individuals' self-reporting of their thoughts and feelings is subjective : i.e. depends on individual perception and interpretation. Variability in individuals' introspective reports, the inability to access certain mental processes consciously, and the potential influence of biases all undermine the reliability of introspection as a method of inquiry.

Wundt's structuralism, with its emphasis on breaking down mental processes into isolated elements, has also been criticised for oversimplifying the complexity of human cognition and emotion. Critics argue that the reductionist nature of this approach neglects the holistic and dynamic nature of human consciousness and fails to capture how various mental processes interact and influence each other in real-world scenarios.

Lastly, Wundt's work lacked the cross-cultural perspective that contemporary psychology recognises as crucial. His studies were primarily conducted on Western, middle-class populations, which limits the generalisability of his findings to non-European populations.

LEARNING APPROACHES (BEHAVIOURISM) ( A-level Psychology notes)

The behaviourist approach, including classical conditioning and pavlov’s research, operant conditioning, types of reinforcement and skinner’s research; social learning theory including imitation, identification, modelling, vicarious reinforcement, the role of mediational processes and bandura’s research.

  From the 1920’s-60’s Behaviourism attempted to develop a more scientific approach in Psychology focusing on observable behaviour and how individuals acquire/learn behaviours through interaction with their social environment : e.g. family, peers, teachers.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND PAVLOV’S RESEARCH

Classical Conditioning (CC) argues that behaviours are acquired through ‘ stimulus-response’ associations : e.g. an event in the environment ( stimulus ) will cause a physiological effect ( response ) such as fear , happiness , etc. If this association is repeated a number of times the response will automatically occur every time the stimulus is presented.

In 1927 Pavlov formulated the basics of CC after studying why dogs in his laboratory salivated in the presence of his research assistants.

Dogs naturally salivated in the presence of food. He described this link as an unconditioned stimulus ( UCS - the food) causing an unconditioned response (salivation - UCR ).

By repeatedly pairing the UCS of food with a neutral stimulus (a bell ringing) just before presentation of food, Pavlov found that eventually dogs salivated simply at the sound of the bell. Therefore, the neutral stimulus of the bell had become a conditioned stimulus (CS ) producing a conditioned response (CR) of salivation.

RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER SYLLABUS AREAS

• Watson later showed how phobias could be acquired through CC in the ‘Little Albert’ experiment . (Psychopathology)
• Systematic Desensitisation is based on the principles of CC to ‘unlearn’ phobic responses. (Psychopathology)
• Learning Theory of attachment partly explains attachment through CC . (Attachment)

This material could be described and evaluated in an Approaches question on CC to provide practical applications/explanations from this approach.

OPERANT CONDITIONING, TYPES OF REINFORCEMENT AND SKINNER’S RESEARCH

Operant Conditioning (OC) focuses on how behaviour is influenced by the consequences of our actions.

If behaviours are reinforced ( rewarded ) then they are strengthened and more likely to be repeated in the future. If behaviours are punished (or ignored ) they will be less likely to be repeated in the future and may eventually be extinguished . For example, aggressive behaviours in a child could be strengthened through the positive reinforcers of praise, attention, respect, etc.

Skinner (‘53) developed a ‘Skinner Box’ to study leaning through OC in rats and pigeons. An animal placed in the box would discover accidentally at some point that pressing a lever in the box would release a food pellet. This positive reinforcement would increase the frequency of lever-pressing. This would also occur if the lever took away an unpleasant stimulus such as a loud noise – i.e. negative reinforcement . Unsurprisingly, punishments such as the lever generating an electric shock would lead to decreased lever-pressing.

  RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER SYLLABUS AREAS

• Learning Theory of attachment partly explains attachment through OC . (Attachment)

This material could be described and evaluated in an Approaches question on OC to provide practical applications/explanations from this approach

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY (SLT) INCLUDING IMITATION, IDENTIFICATION, MODELLING, VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT, THE ROLE OF MEDIATIONAL PROCESSES AND BANDURA’S RESEARCH

SLT was developed by Bandura in the 60’s and focuses on how behaviours such as aggression may be learnt via observation and imitation of others .

• Modelling : imitating observed behaviour (e.g. aggression) of a model.
• Vicarious Learning : imitation as a result of seeing another individual being positively reinforced (e.g. praise, popularity, respect, etc.) for a behaviour (e.g. aggression).

Imitation is most likely if the learner (e.g. a boy) identifies with the person whom they are imitating – the model (e.g. the boy’s father, a media hero, a peer, etc.)

Bandura identified 4 mediational processes in social learning.

Mediational processes refer to the thoughts/cognitions which influence whether we will or will not imitate others and how motivated we are to do so.

• Attention : the observer must observe the model behaving in a particular way.
• Retention : the observer must remember what they’ve seen.
• Reproduction : the observer must be capable of imitating the observed act.
• Motivation : the observer must be willing to imitate the observed act.

A study into imitative aggression based on SLT

Bandura (61) divided 72 children aged 4 into 3 groups of 12 boys and 12 girls.

• In condition 1 the children saw a male and a female adult model physically and verbally attack a 5’ tall inflatable doll ( bobo doll ).
• In the 2 nd condition the adults did not aggress against the doll.
• In condition 3 there was no adult model at all.

Children were then taken to a room and prevented from playing with some attractive toys (to frustrate them).

They were then taken to a 3 rd room with a bobo doll and various weapons. Bandura’s observation of imitative aggression found that children in condition 1 who had witnessed the violent model were far more likely to aggress against the bobo doll than those in the other conditions.

Bandura’s research implies that violence in the media and the family can cause imitative aggression in children.

• Bandura’s study is described in more details in the Aggression
• SLT is discussed in the Gender

This material could be described and evaluated in an Approaches question on SLT to provide practical applications/explanations from this approach

EVALUATION OF LEARNING APPROACHES

• Behaviourism adopts a strictly empirical approach: i.e. it only focuses on observable behaviour which can be measured and tested – it does not make reference to hypothetical, non-measurable or observable states such as ‘the super-ego, ‘emotion’, ‘motivation’, etc. Equally, Behaviourism employs scientific methods – experiments conducted under tightly controlled laboratory conditions aimed at understanding the cause-effect relationships which govern the acquisition, maintenance or extinction of behaviours.
• Behaviourism illustrates how our social environment – family, peers, teachers, etc. – influences our behaviour through reinforcement, punishment or imitation. Clearly this is an important ‘nurture’ influence governing a huge range of behaviours ranging from gender role to aggression to language acquisition. Therefore, Behaviourism is important in understanding how our social experiences with others in the family, our peer group, at school, at work, etc. mould our behavioural responses.
• Learning theory has been used to develop methods for controlling behaviour in real-world situations: for example, classroom and family discipline, managing the behaviour of prisoners or inmates in mental institutions, and treating mental disorders such as phobias (SD).
• Behaviourists argued that humans are born a ‘tabula rasa’ (blank slate) whose behaviour, personality and attitudes are acquired as a result of learning. Behaviourism is criticised for its extreme ‘nurture’ viewpoint: e.g. it argues that all behaviours are acquired through learning and ignores the importance of biology, instinct, evolution and thought (cognition) in influencing behaviour. Thus, Behaviourism is reductionist (reduces all behaviour to learning) and deterministic (argues that our behaviours are determined by previous learning experiences and we possess no free-will or choice).
• The laws of Behaviourism were originally formulated using research conducted on animals such as rats, dogs and pigeons. Behaviourists believed that the fundamental laws governing the acquisition of behaviours were similar for all species including humans. Clearly, there is a problem of generalising from animals to humans in regard to the complexity of human cognitive processes . Although animals may respond fairly mechanically to conditioning, human cognitions make human behavioural responses much more complex.
• You can also gain marks for evaluation by stating what Learning Theory ignores which other approaches do take account of .

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THE COGNITIVE APPROACH ( AQA A-level Psychology notes)

The study of internal mental processes, the role of schema, the use of theoretical and computer models to explain and make inferences about mental processes. the emergence of cognitive neuroscience.

Cognitive (from the Latin cogito – I think) refers to the study of human mental processes .

Cognitive Psychology developed from the 1950’s onwards partly as an improvement on Behavioural Psychology which failed to recognise the importance of mental processes in determining behaviour; partly, as a result of the development of computers which were able to mimic human mental processes.

THE STUDY OF INTERNAL MENTAL PROCESSES

Cognitive Psychology is concerned with internal mental processes such as

• Perception – how we take in and make sense of external environmental stimuli.
• Attention – how we focus in on and filter out external environmental stimuli.
• Memory – how we retain and recall information.
• Language – the use of mental symbols to represent, manipulate and communicate aspects of internal and external reality.
• Thinking – judgement, reasoning, logic, problem-solving.

Thus Cognitive Psychology is concerned with all the ways in which knowledge of the world is attained, retained and used .

THE ROLE OF SCHEMA

Schemas are mental maps of understanding about the world, ourselves and others: for example, we have schemas of understanding about how to use the Underground, how to act in a job interview, how a policeman is likely to behave, etc. Our schemas help us make sense of, understand and predict what is likely to happen in situations. In the field of eye-witness testimony (EWT) schemas about race, gender and social class have been shown to bias witness’s memories of events in that stereotypes may cause us to believe that some people are more likely to commit crime.

THE USE OF THEORETICAL AND COMPUTER MODELS TO EXPLAIN AND MAKE INFERENCES ABOUT MENTAL PROCESSES

The mind is often conceptualised as a computer/information processor . The mind has an input of information from the external world via the senses; throughput in the form of memory, thinking and language; and output in the form of decision-making, speech and action.

Parallel processing is processing different tasks at once (e.g. driving a car and holding a conversation). Sequential processing is performing one task and then another, in order.

The brain can be conceptualized as ‘hardware’ , our experiences and learnt responses as ‘software’ .

Cognitive abilities such as memory and attention have limited capacities and if concentration/focus on one task is interfered with by competing stimuli we may lose focus/be distracted. For example, when learning to drive we may find that holding a conversation is causing interference meaning that we lose focus and driving ability suffers.

Inference refers to going beyond the immediate evidence to make assumptions about mental processes that cannot be directly observed. Much memory research makes inferences about the underlying processes of memory by drawing inferences from studies which involve, for example, asking participants to recall lists of words.

• Memory : the whole topic is based on the Cognitive Approach.
• Psychopathology : the cognitive approach to understanding and treating depression focuses on cognitions (thoughts).
• Gender : Kohlberg’s theory and Gender Schema Theory are based on children’s changing cognitions about gender

This material could be described and evaluated in an Approaches question on the Cognitive Approach to provide practical applications/explanations from this approach

EVALUATION OF COGNITIVE APPROACH

• The cognitive approach has been useful in researching, describing and understanding the effects of mental processes and cognitions on behaviour : e.g. Loftus and Palmer’s study of eyewitness testimony showed that memory can be warped and distorted after the event by leading questions. Studies such as these have real-life applications – in this case how witnesses are questioned by police and cross-examined by lawyers. Similarly, cognitive therapies are widely employed in the NHS and research evidence indicates they are an effective in the treatment of a wide range of disorders – depression, stress, anxiety, social phobias, etc.
• The cognitive approach lends itself to laboratory experimentation , therefore hypotheses can be tested under highly controlled conditions, confounding variables can be eliminated, and cause-effect relationships between variables established. The testing of mental processes such as memory or perception often makes use of technical measuring instruments which ensures high levels of precision in measurements taken.
• Although the computer analogy of the mind is, in some respects, suitable, computers essential number-crunch quantitative data at high speeds. Humans are far less capable than computers in this respect, but computers do not possess most of the characteristics of the human mind – intuitive decision-making, emotion, personal beliefs and motivations, self-consciousness, moral judgment, etc. Thus humans are qualitatively different to computers. Even the most advanced computer technology is far from able to mimic more complex human mental states.
• The cognitive approach views thought processes as all important in determining emotional state and behaviour . It ignores, therefore, alternative influences on behaviour such as instinct, genetics, neurotransmitters, learning experiences and social environment. For example, a depressive’s maladaptive cognitions could be the result of a biochemical imbalance, and mood and behaviour could be improved by a drug such as Prozac rather than through altering cognitions.
• You can also gain marks for evaluation by stating what the Cognitive Approach ignores which other approaches do take account of . 

THE EMERGENCE OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE

Cognitive neuroscience brings together knowledge of the structure and functions of the brain (from Biological Psychology) with cognitive psychologists’ knowledge of mental processes such as memory and perception. By studying individuals who have suffered damage to the brain, brain scanning techniques can illustrate which parts of the brain are involved with which mental processes. For example, HM had his hippocampus removed in an operation to reduce his epilepsy. After the operation he could remember things he had just been told suggesting that his STM was intact, but he could not transfer this information to the LTM. Thus he could not form new long-term memories. He could, however, remember things (LTM) from before the surgery. This provides evidence for the MSM’s argument that STM and LTM are 2 separate stores.

THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH ( A-level Psychology revision notes)

The influence of genes, biological structures and neurochemistry on behaviour. genotype and phenotype, genetic basis of behaviour, evolution and behaviour.

EVOLUTION AND BEHAVIOUR

Darwin’s theory of evolution argues that physical and psychological characteristics which increase the chances of an organism surviving and reproducing ( adaptive traits ) mean that these characteristics will be more likely to be passed onto the next generation. For example, during the evolution of homo sapiens (approx. 150,000 – present) traits such as physical strength and intelligence would lead individuals to being more likely to survive (by gaining resources: e.g. hunting and gathering food) and reproduce , thus passing on these characteristics genetically to the next generation. Traits such as physical beauty in humans or length and quality of plumage in a peacock are indicators of ‘good’ genes and health: characteristics which are attractive to potential mates.

GENOTYPE AND PHENOTYPE

Adaptive traits which brought advantages to our ancestors are coded in our genes. At the point of conception 2 sets of chromosomes (23 from the father and 23 from the mother) combine to form the unique combination of 46 genes present in each individual. The term genotype refers to the unique combination of genes present in the DNA of every cell in an individual’s body.

From conception, genes interact with the environment in various ways – first of all within the mother’s body: for example, toxins such as alcohol may be passed through the placenta, then from the outside world: for example, exercising will make one stronger. The way in which the genotype is modified and influenced by the environment is referred to as the phenotype .

THE INFLUENCE OF GENES ON BEHAVIOUR

Twin studies can be used to assess to what extent psychological characteristics are genetically inherited ( nature ) or caused by the environment ( nurture ). Schizophrenia, intelligence and personality type are some of the characteristics which evidence suggests are partially genetically determined. By studying large numbers of identical (MZ) and non-identical (DZ) twins where 1 of the twin pair has a characteristic (such as schizophrenia) we can calculate a ‘concordance rate’ – the average % probability that the other twin will also possess that characteristic. If the concordance rate is higher for MZ’s (who share 100% genetic similarity) than DZ’s (who are only 50% alike) we can deduce that the disorder is genetic to some extent. For example, concordance rates for depression are about 46% of MZs and only 20% for DZs.

THE INFLUENCE OF NEUROCHEMISTRY ON BEHAVIOUR

It is believed that inherited genes which cause mental disorders operate by causing abnormal neurotransmitter levels .

Excessive levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine are associated with schizophrenia. Phenothiazines (drugs used to treat schizophrenia) inhibit dopamine activity and reduce symptoms , and L-Dopa (used to treat Parkinson’s disease ) stimulates dopamine production and produces schizophrenic symptoms in unaffected individuals.

The Relationship between Dopamine, Phenothiazines & L-Dopa

THE INFLUENCE OF BIOLOGICAL STRUCTURES ON BEHAVIOUR

The link between brain structures and their functions is referred to as brain localisation.

Brain localisation can be studied via

• Invasive methods

Animals can have brain sites electrically or chemically stimulated , or cut / burnt out ( lesions ). Psychologists then monitor the animal for changes in behaviour.

• Non-invasive methods

Brain scans such as CAT, PET and MRI scans use a variety of techniques to ‘see’ inside live brains. By asking people taking scans to perform certain tasks and monitoring electrical activity and blood flow we have been able to build up a picture of brain localisation.

For example, HM had his hippocampus removed in an operation to reduce his epilepsy. After the operation he could remember things he had just been told suggesting that his STM was intact, but he could not transfer this information to the LTM. Thus he could not form new long-term memories. He could, however, remember things (LTM) from before the surgery. This provides evidence for the MSM’s argument that STM and LTM are 2 separate stores.

• Biological explanations and treatments for Schizophrenia ( Schizophrenia ) or OCD (Psychopathology)
• Biological explanations of gender role (Gender)
• Neural and hormonal mechanisms in aggression (Aggression)

This material could be described and evaluated in an Approaches question on the Biological Approach to provide practical applications/explanations from this approach.

EVALUATION OF THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH

• The biological approach employs scientific methods such as laboratory experiments on physiological structures and processes conducted under controlled conditions. These produce quantitative data which can be statistically analysed to show cause-effect relationships between variables . For example, experimentation have proven that schizophrenia is linked to high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The drug chlorpromazine blocks dopamine receptors, reduces dopamine levels and lessen the disorder’s symptoms. Thus, scientific experimentation allows us to determine cause-effect relations between biological and psychological factors.
• Findings have resulted in practical applications which reduce suffering. For example, chemotherapy - the use of drugs to treat mental disorders - improves the quality of life of the mental ill. Before the invention of drug therapies, there was little that could be done to help schizophrenics ; chlorpromazine reduces the severity of symptoms and helps schizophrenics live independently and take care of their own basic needs. Anti-depressants may improve the mood of depressives to motivate them to engage in therapy and become more sociable.
• The biological approach is determinist – all behaviours are believed to be biological in origin – the influence of ‘nurture’ factors is ignored. For example, biological psychologists focus on the role of genetic and neurological factors in understanding intelligence and under-estimate the role of social and environmental factors or past experience : e.g. intelligence is affected by family values and schooling. Thus, the biological approach oversimplifies human psychology.
• The biological approach is reductionist – it reduces the complexity of human consciousness and behaviour to biological ‘parts’ and ignores the role of cognition (thoughts). For example, the biological approach reduces mental disorders such as depression or schizophrenia to genetic and neurological causation and ignores the role that an individual’s thoughts about their self, others and their life may contribute to the onset of a disorder.
• Much experimental research conducted by biological psychologists is based on animal research . For example, Selye’s research into how bodies respond to stress was based on the stress responses of rats. Apart from the obvious physical differences, the human stress response is influenced by complex sets of cognitions (thoughts) about the stressor whereas animals generally respond to stress in a fairly predictable manner. Thus, findings from animal studies are not directly generalisable to humans.
• You can also gain marks for evaluation by stating what the Biological Approach ignores which other approaches do take account of .

THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH ( AQA A-level Psychology revision notes)

The role of the unconscious; the structure of personality: id, ego and superego; defence mechanisms including repression, denial and displacement, psychosexual stages.

THE STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY: ID, EGO AND SUPEREGO

Freud viewed the personality as being composed of

• Id - the biological, instinctual, asocial part of ourselves concerned with the satisfaction of basic desires such as food and warmth, and drives such as sex and aggression.
• Super-Ego - concerned with obeying social norms and rules, shaped by the authority and discipline of the parents and society. Composed of the conscience (which punishes the ego with feelings of guilt) and the ego-ideal (which rewards us when we behave in socially appropriate ways).
• The Ego - manages the conflict that takes place between the impulses of the Id and the realities of the external world (the reality principal).

THE ROLE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND

Freud argued that only a small part of the mind was Conscious - the far greater proportion is Unconscious and thus we have limited insight and self-understanding of our own motives, emotions and behaviour. Much human behaviour is, therefore, irrational and caused by unconscious impulses such as

• Anxiety caused by conflict between the Id and the Super-Ego
• Socially unacceptable unconscious wishes and desires : e.g. aggressive urges toward a parent, etc.
• Repressed memories – painful memories that have been pushed down from the Conscious to the Unconscious (without us consciously deciding to do so)
• Fears and anxieties
• Sexual and aggressive drives

Painful, anxiety causing material is repressed (pushed down) into the Unconscious to prevent us being overwhelmed in everyday life.

During sleep, material from the Unconscious enters the Conscious mind to take the form of dreams – symbolic dramas of Unconscious conflicts.

DEFENCE MECHANISMS INCLUDING REPRESSION, DENIAL AND DISPLACEMENT

Conflicts between the Id, Super-Ego and Ego create anxiety . Anxiety may be reduced through defence mechanisms – irrational/abnormal ways of thinking or behaving. Common defence mechanisms include Denial (refusing to face up to an unpleasant aspect of reality); Repression (blocking of unacceptable or unpleasant feelings, thoughts or impulses); and Displacement (re-directing thoughts and impulses from one person to another: e.g. one feels aggressive towards one’s teacher but aggression is displaced onto a weaker, more accessible target).

PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES

The psychosexual theory of development proposes that children pass through five stages from birth to early adulthood. If a child finds a stage problematic or too pleasurable fixation occurs which will result in clusters of personality traits emerging.

• Over-indulgence – the infant is fed whenever it demands food – this results in traits such as being overly optimistic, dependency on others, egocentricity.
• Under-indulgence – the infant experiences problems breastfeeding – this results in traits such as pessimism, envy, cynicism, greed and ‘oral’ habits.
• Anally retentive – excessive discipline – causes traits such as obsession with cleanliness, orderliness, control, obedience, conformity, being overly moral.
• Anally expulsive – lax discipline – impulsive, rebellious, non-conformist, expressive, disorganized, creative.
• Phallic Stage. Aged 4-5 boys experience conflicting emotions towards the mother (love and desire for possession) and the father (jealousy and fear). This ‘Oedipus Complex’ needs to be resolved for the infant to develop their appropriate gender role. Fixation may result in homosexuality, exhibitionism, excessive ambition, vanity, excessive masculinity or femininity.
• The Oedipus Complex - Gender

This material could be described and evaluated in an Approaches question on the Psychodynamic Approach to provide practical applications/explanations from this approach

EVALUATION OF THE PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH

• Freud highlights irrational behaviour and thought processes arguing that we are motivated by deep, Unconscious desires and instincts we are unaware of and have little control over. Thus humans are viewed as lacking self-insight and self-control. This perspective is important in helping us understand the many irrational behaviours individuals and groups display: for example, the obsession with cleanliness, routine and regularity which marks the major symptoms of OCD, or an anorexic’s refusal to eat.
• Many studies report psychodynamic therapy as effective , particularly for clients whose psychological problems arose in childhood. Lindgren (2010) found that after 18 months of therapy 134 young adults who had suffered long-term depression, anxiety and low self-esteem reported their symptoms had significantly decreased. Psychodynamic therapies are still recommended by the NHS in some instances – for example, complex cases of depression accompanied by other symptoms.
• Freudian methods are unscientific . He is criticised for constructing theories through self-analysis or based on unrepresentative studies of a small numbers of neurotics. Thus, the psychodynamic approach is subjective , its findings not generalisable to the population as a whole, and Freud is often accused of making false links between case studies and theory he wished to prove. For example, the concept of the Oedipus complex was based on Freud’s memories of his own childhood and the case study of Little Hans. This case study is highly criticisable for generalising from a sample of 1 boy, and that Freud may have interpreted Han’s behaviour to provide proof for the Oedipus Complex.
• Psychodynamic theory is deterministic . It is argued that Freud puts too much emphasis on childhood experiences - a time people have no memory of or control over events in their life - thus they are a ‘victim’ of childhood experience and parents are to blame for their offspring’s psychological problems. For example, overly strict discipline during an infant’s toilet training may cause an anally-retentive personality type.
• Freud’s theories are based on case studies generally conducted on young 19 th Viennese neurotic women: therefore, his theories are gender biased and may not be relevant to 21 st C. society.
• You can also gain marks for evaluation by stating what Psychodynamic Theory ignores which other approaches focus on/do take account of .

THE HUMANISTIC APPROACH ( Psychology A-level revision)

Free will, self-actualisation and maslow’s hierarchy of needs; focus on the self, congruence, the role of conditions of worth. influence on counselling psychology.

FREE WILL, SELF-ACTUALISATION AND MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Humanistic Psychology emerged in the 1960’s and was critical of Behaviourist and Psychodynamic arguments that behaviour was controlled by the either the Unconscious mind or the environment (i.e. both these approaches are ‘determinist’ ). Humanistic psychologists argued that people had free-will (can actively choose how they want to act, feel and behave) and the potential to guide their own personal growth to achieve psychological health , overcome traumas in their past and achieve self-actualisation (personal fulfilment and happiness).

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory argues that humans all exist somewhere on a hierarchy associated with particular needs/desires . At a basic level people needs to satisfy simple physiological needs to do with food, warmth and survival. Once these needs are satisfied we are motivated to focus on needs relating to physical and psychological safety (e.g. not feeling threatened). The next level relates to love and belonging – the desire for acceptance from family and friends. The 4 th level relates to self-esteem – feeling positive towards oneself and a sense of competence and achievement. Once all of these needs have been satisfied we may engage with the need for self-actualisation – the desire for personal fulfilment. Self-actualisation is associated with creativity, spontaneity and thinking in original, unconventional ways.

FOCUS ON THE SELF, CONGRUENCE, THE ROLE OF CONDITIONS OF WORTH

Rogers argued that humans have an innate drive towards personal growth . During childhood we develop a sense of self (who we are and what we’re capable of) and self-esteem (how we feel about ourselves) from our parents, friends, teachers, etc.

A child’s self-esteem may be dependent on approval from parents. If a parent only gives conditional love (what Rogers refers to as conditions of worth: i.e. only shows love when the child behaves as the parent wishes them to) this may interfere with positive psychological growth and health. Rogers argued, therefore, that parents should give unconditional positive regard to their children.

Roger’s also argued that psychological problems arise when a person experiences a state of incongruence (where their ideal self – how they would like to be – does not fit with their perception of how they actually are). Congruence can be encouraged by others giving unconditional positive regard. Self-actualisation is only possible when a state of congruence is achieved.

INFLUENCE ON COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY

Humanistic psychology inspired Person-Centred Counselling – where clients are encouraged to explore their emotions/thoughts and discover their own solution to their problems. The therapist encourages the client to talk openly and tries to enter into the world view of their client and clarify exactly what the client is expressing. The therapist should be (i) empathetic, (ii) give unconditional positive regard to the client without imposing conditions of worth .

EVALUATION OF THE HUMANISTIC APPROACH

• The humanistic approach emphasises our ability to exercise free-will and choice in deciding how to behave, thus the approach is not deterministic .
• The approach focuses on how humans make sense of their experiences – thus, there is a focus on individuals’ personal, subjective experience which cannot be studied in laboratory settings . Thus there is more a focus on the ‘whole’ human being and what they feel is important and relevant to their life.
• Humanistic Psychology is not reductionist . Whereas behaviourism reduces behaviour to what has been learnt in the past, and the biological approach focuses on genes, the brain and neurotransmitters, the Humanistic Approach focus on the whole person and understanding them in the context of their life and their experiences .
• Person-centred Counselling is supportive of people with psychological problems and argues they must be treated with respect and unconditional positive regard . The aim of therapy is to empower the client so that they are able to help themselves overcome their own problems. This should provide a more long-term improvement in mental health.
• Humanistic Psychology has been criticised for being overly-optimistic about human nature: e.g. that humans are fundamentally ‘good’ and naturally attempt to make ‘positive’ progress in their lives. This contrasts strongly with Freud’s view where humans are thought to be motivated by unconscious drives which are often aimed at self-satisfaction and a disregard for others.
• Humanistic Psychology’s emphasis on free-will and choice may be a reflection of wealthy, western cultures where money and liberal laws allow people to choose how to act and behave and pursue personal growth rather than dealing with basic issues such as food and safety.
• Due to the focus on personal subjective experiences , Humanistic Psychology is not open to scientific study , therefore it is difficult to ‘prove’ Humanistic approaches right or wrong or make scientific predictions about how people are likely to behave.
• The focus on ‘conscious experience’ ignores the fact that we may be motivated by unconscious forces we have little awareness of (as the Psychodynamic Approach argues).
• CCT is of little use for individuals with low intelligence, learning difficulties or the mentally ill , as they may lack the insight or ability to reflect on their own life and experiences and benefit from the guidance and advice provided by the therapist.
• You can also gain marks for evaluation by stating what the Humanistic Approach ignores which other approaches do take account of .

COMPARISON OF APPROACHES ( A-level Psychology revision)

Biological, behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic.

You may be asked to compare any of the 5 major approaches with each other and this may be an 8 or 16-mark essay question.

So – the 10 possible combinations are…

The easiest way to tackle these questions is in terms of their view on some of the major topics covered in the paper 3 Issues & Debates topic.

Use the chart below to understand how the different Approaches compare (are similar) and contrast (are different) with each other in terms of:

• Basic assumptions about human psychology/behaviour
• Methods of investigation they tend to use
• Their scientific status – i.e. is the Approach regarded as scientific or not?
• Nature vs. Nurture
• Free-will versus Determinism
• Holism versus Reductionism
• Idiographic versus Nomothetic

 Your essay should be based around comparing and contrasting the Approaches in terms of points 1-4 above and (if appropriate or if you have enough time) illustrating these similarities/differences by referring to the main topics you have studied from each Approach.

Click here for a detailed chart illustrating how the different Approaches compare and contrast with each other.

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What Is Humanistic Psychology?

A Psychology Perspective Influenced By Humanism

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

 James Lacy, MLS, is a fact-checker and researcher.

Other Types of Humanism

• How to Use It

Potential Pitfalls

Humanistic psychology is a perspective that emphasizes looking at the whole individual and stresses concepts such as free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization. Rather than concentrating on dysfunction, humanistic psychology strives to help people fulfill their potential and maximize their well-being.

This area of psychology emerged during the 1950s as a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, which had dominated psychology during the first half of the century.  Psychoanalysis was focused on understanding the unconscious motivations that drive behavior while behaviorism studied the conditioning processes that produce behavior.

Humanist thinkers felt that both psychoanalysis and behaviorism were too pessimistic, either focusing on the most tragic of emotions or failing to take into account the role of personal choice.

However, it is not necessary to think of these three  schools of thought  as competing elements. Each  branch of psychology  has contributed to our understanding of the human mind and behavior.

Humanistic psychology added yet another dimension that takes a more holistic view of the individual.

Humanism is a philosophy that stresses the importance of human factors rather than looking at religious, divine, or spiritual matters. Humanism is rooted in the idea that people have an ethical responsibility to lead lives that are personally fulfilling while at the same time contributing to the greater good of all people.

Humanism stresses the importance of human values and dignity. It proposes that people can resolve problems through science and reason. Rather than looking to religious traditions, humanism focuses on helping people live well, achieve personal growth, and make the world a better place.

The term "humanism" is often used more broadly, but it also has significance in a number of different fields, including psychology.

Religious Humanism

Some religious traditions incorporate elements of humanism as part of their belief systems. Examples of religious humanism include Quakers, Lutherans, and Unitarian Universalists. 

Secular Humanism

Secular humanism rejects all religious beliefs, including the existence of the supernatural. This approach stresses the importance of logic, the scientific method, and rationality when it comes to understanding the world and solving human problems. 

Uses for Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic psychology focuses on each individual's potential and stresses the importance of growth and self-actualization . The fundamental belief of humanistic psychology is that people are innately good and that mental and social problems result from deviations from this natural tendency.

Humanistic psychology also suggests that people possess personal agency and that they are motivated to use this free will to pursue things that will help them achieve their full potential as human beings.

The need for fulfillment and personal growth is a key motivator of all behavior. People are continually looking for new ways to grow, to become better, to learn new things, and to experience psychological growth and self-actualization.

Some of the ways that humanistic psychology is applied within the field of psychology include:

• Humanistic therapy : Several different types of psychotherapy have emerged that are rooted in the principles of humanism. These include client-centered therapy, existential therapy, and Gestalt therapy . 
• Personal development : Because humanism stresses the importance of self-actualization and reaching one's full potential, it can be used as a tool of self-discovery and personal development.
• Social change : Another important aspect of humanism is improving communities and societies. For individuals to be healthy and whole, it is important to develop societies that foster personal well-being and provide social support.

Impact of Humanistic Psychology

The humanist movement had an enormous influence on the course of psychology and contributed new ways of thinking about mental health. It offered a new approach to understanding human behaviors and motivations and led to the development of new techniques and approaches to psychotherapy .

Some of the major ideas and concepts that emerged as a result of the humanistic psychology movement include an emphasis on things such as:

• Client-centered therapy
• Fully functioning person
• Hierarchy of needs
• Peak experiences
• Self-actualization
• Self-concept
• Unconditional positive regard

How to Apply Humanistic Psychology

Some tips from humanistic psychology that can help people pursue their own fulfillment and actualization include:

• Discover your own strengths
• Develop a vision for what you want to achieve
• Consider your own beliefs and values
• Pursue experiences that bring you joy and develop your skills
• Learn to accept yourself and others
• Focus on enjoying experiences rather than just achieving goals
• Keep learning new things
• Pursue things that you are passionate about
• Maintain an optimistic outlook

One of the major strengths of humanistic psychology is that it emphasizes the role of the individual. This school of psychology gives people more credit for controlling and determining their state of mental health.

It also takes environmental influences into account. Rather than focusing solely on our internal thoughts and desires, humanistic psychology also credits the environment's influence on our experiences.

Humanistic psychology helped remove some of the stigma attached to therapy and made it more acceptable for normal, healthy individuals to explore their abilities and potential through therapy.

While humanistic psychology continues to influence therapy, education, healthcare, and other areas, it has not been without some criticism.

For example, the humanist approach is often seen as too subjective. The importance of individual experience makes it difficult to objectively study and measure humanistic phenomena. How can we objectively tell if someone is self-actualized? The answer, of course, is that we cannot. We can only rely upon the individual's assessment of their experience.

Another major criticism is that observations are unverifiable; there is no accurate way to measure or quantify these qualities. This can make it more difficult to conduct research and design assessments to measure hard-to-measure concepts.

History of Humanistic Psychology

The early development of humanistic psychology was heavily influenced by the works of a few key theorists, especially Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Other prominent humanist thinkers included Rollo May and Erich Fromm.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow described his hierarchy of needs in "A Theory of Human Motivation" published in  Psychological Review.   Later during the late 1950s, Abraham Maslow and other psychologists held meetings to discuss developing a professional organization devoted to a more humanist approach to psychology.

They agreed that topics such as self-actualization, creativity, individuality, and related topics were the central themes of this new approach. In 1951, Carl Rogers published "Client-Centered Therapy," which described his humanistic, client-directed approach to therapy. In 1961, the  Journal of Humanistic Psychology  was established.

It was also in 1961 that the  American Association for Humanistic Psychology  was formed and by 1971, humanistic psychology become an APA division. In 1962, Maslow published "Toward a Psychology of Being," in which he described humanistic psychology as the "third force" in psychology. The first and second forces were behaviorism and psychoanalysis respectively.

A Word From Verywell

Today, the concepts central to humanistic psychology can be seen in many disciplines including other branches of psychology, education, therapy, political movements, and other areas. For example, transpersonal psychology and positive psychology both draw heavily on humanist influences.

The goals of humanism remain as relevant today as they were in the 1940s and 1950s and humanistic psychology continues to empower individuals, enhance well-being, push people toward fulfilling their potential, and improve communities all over the world.

Maslow AH. A theory of human motivation .  Psychological Review. 1943;50(4):370-396. doi:10.1037/h0054346

Greening T. Five basic postulates of humanistic psychology . Journal of Humanistic Psychology . 2006;46(3): 239-239. doi:10.1177/002216780604600301

Schneider KJ, Pierson JF, Bugental JFT. The Handbook of Humanistic Psychology: Theory, Research, and Practice. Thousand Oaks: CA: SAGE Publications; 2015.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

A Humanistic Approach to Mental Health Assessment, Evaluation, and Measurement-Based Care

• First Online: 13 July 2022

Cite this chapter

• William E. Hanson 7 ,
• Hansen Zhou 8 ,
• Diana L. Armstrong 9 &
• Noëlle T. Liwski 10  

Part of the book series: The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality ((SSHE))

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Mental health assessment and evaluation models have waxed and waned over the years. However, a contemporary humanistic approach, Collaborative/Therapeutic Assessment (C/TA), holds considerable promise and staying power. When combined with Measurement-Based Care (MBC), therapeutic processes and outcomes are enhanced. This chapter focuses on the integration of C/TA and MBC into clinical practice. It includes relevant theory and research, real-life applications and examples, and answers fundamental questions, like “Can mental health assessment and testing actually be collaborative and humanistic in nature?” and “As clinicians, why should we care about measuring clients’ treatment progress?” At the end of the chapter, illustrative graphs and verbatim scripts are provided for clinical use.

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Psychometrically sound measures also exist regarding clinicians’ attitudes toward MBC, including the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale-Routine Outcome Monitoring (Rye et al., 2019 ) and the Monitoring Feedback Attitude Scale (Jensen-Doss et al., 2018 ).

“Alex” is a pseudonym. Although she is an actual former client—and all process-outcome data are real—potentially identifying information was changed significantly to preserve anonymity and client confidentiality. Alex gave permission to be included in this case study for illustrative purposes.

The authors thank Aida Javaheri, a doctoral student in Concordia University of Edmonton’s PsyD program, for helping reconcile references and in-text citations

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Hanson, W.E., Zhou, H., Armstrong, D.L., Liwski, N.T. (2022). A Humanistic Approach to Mental Health Assessment, Evaluation, and Measurement-Based Care. In: Andrews, J.J., Shaw, S.R., Domene, J.F., McMorris, C. (eds) Mental Health Assessment, Prevention, and Intervention. The Springer Series on Human Exceptionality. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-97208-0_17

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Behavioral and Humanistic Approaches in Psychology

Introduction, behavioral approaches, humanistic approaches, similarities and differences.

Various aspects of human relationships promoted in the modern world are based on certain principles and approaches to the perception of reality and the assessment of factors affecting this perception. Behavioral characteristics are the result of various reasons, for instance, accumulated experiences, internal beliefs, and other causes. In the era of individualism and the desire for personal comfort and well-being, humanistic norms of communication among people are erased, which complicates interaction in society and does not allow solving many problems quickly and jointly.

As a result, the principles of interpersonal communication are based on the extraction of individual benefits, and such a worldview separates people from one another. Today, when much depends on mass opinions, behavioral aspects are the key factor determining the position of a person in society. Humanist norms, in turn, serve as an incentive for establishing positive interaction and help achieve mutual understanding and support. Both behavioral and humanistic approaches are drivers for the formation of a specific picture of society and contribute to a better understanding of the motives of certain actions.

Behavioral approaches are those aspects that are largely based on the use of psychological techniques and methods to influence specific motives or the pursuit of peculiar goals. Vyskocilova et al. (2016) give an example from medical practice and note that such principles of psychological influence are often promoted in the psychiatry sector, for instance, for addressing patient stresses. The features of perception directly depend on how a person accepts his or her current state psychologically, and an opportunity to influence one’s belief is the principle of behavioral intervention. As a result, as Vyskocilova et al. (2016) note, effective interaction with patients allows medical employees to minimize the manifestations of negative emotions and stresses in the target audience and exclude behavioral disorders. Such examples are numerous, and the background of these interventions lies in the cognitive characteristics of personal development.

The concept of the behavioral approach can be substantiated from a theoretical point of view as a set of external influences and responses to them. King (2017) states that this psychological method “emphasizes the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants” (p. 11). Psychologists belonging to the category of behaviorists study the features of motives that prompt a person to take specific actions and explore the methods of influencing these motives to adjust cognitive preferences. The detailed analysis allows developing the most detailed scenario for the occurrence of a symptom described in observable and measurable terms.

Triggering and symptom-supporting factors are also analyzed to draw up and implement a step-by-step plan of action in both joint and independent work regimes. According to Vyskocilova et al. (2016), target participants in such interventions have an opportunity to feel the reasons that hinder their objective or natural worldview and acquire new skills to help get rid of specific negative preferences. This practice is promoted in many psychological correctional centers and has a number of unique approaches designed to address certain violations in people’s cognitive perception.

Behavioral approaches in psychology occupy a significant place and serve as valuable tools for interventions involving the addressing of patients’ various disorders and addictions. Vyskocilova et al. (2016) argue that appropriate assistance techniques help restore lost value priorities and choose personal interaction strategies individually. For the human mind, such an outcome is optimal since not the consequences of irrational behavior are corrected but symptoms themselves, which contributes to avoiding relapses and helps establish productive communication. In addition, addressing psychological problems by using behavioral approaches allows solving related problems, which is a chain reaction. As King (2017) remarks, the observation of human habits provides an opportunity to better understand the nature of specific actions and their motives. Therefore, the application of such approaches is relevant to the field of psychology and can be used as a valuable technique for helping patients with real problems.

According to humanistic views, human life is priceless, and particularly vulnerable groups of the population need protection. In practical psychology, such approaches are most expressed in psychotherapy, in helping people who find themselves in a difficult situation and in relieving them of mental pain and solving their problems. The ethical principles of interaction form a stable background according to which a service provider is an unconditional guarantee of safety for the target audience. As Bowers and Lemberger (2016) state, humanistic approaches, as a rule, are persona-centered and allow creating a productive framework for interaction in different social sectors.

The authors note that, despite the lack of evidence-based research on the benefits of such approaches, much attention is paid to the ethical aspects of the psychologists-population relationships (Bowers & Lemberger, 2016). Therefore, although qualitative studies prevail over quantitative ones, the value of humanistic approaches is considered in the context of successful interventions from an ethical perspective.

The special nuances of humanistic approaches distinguish these forms of interaction from many other psychological concepts. Despite their personal orientation, these practices differ from those promoting the idea of a behavioral background. According to Noer (2017), “observed behavior is incompatible with humanistic values” because, in the first case, any intervention is aimed at eliminating symptoms, and in the second, self-adaption is promoted (p. 109). With a humanistic approach, a psychotherapist accepts clients’ positions unconditionally, which is expressed, in particular, in empathic listening and emotional support.

No pressure or strict prescriptions are maintained, and the pursuit of understanding is a fundamental area of ​​work. Humanism prohibits imposing a particular worldview, coercion, strict limits, or manipulation. Conversely, a person’s individual value is emphasized as a key component of interventions. Inner harmony is one of the ultimate goals of approaches promoting humanism. Thus, the correction regime is soft and unobtrusive and does not stimulate fundamental changes in the psyche and worldview.

Regarding the areas of the application of humanistic approaches, different social areas may be proposed. Bowers and Lemberger (2016) focus on the educational sector and note that in the context of psychological assistance, a humanistic technique of interacting with the target audience is one of the most optimal mechanisms. Encouraging academic success and respecting students’ personal priorities and preferences stimulate their interest in learning and help them focus on achieving their ultimate goals (Bowers & Lemberger, 2016). Strictness and inflexibility, conversely, impede the process of interaction and are reflected negatively on the learning outcomes (Bowers & Lemberger, 2016).

Humanistic approaches as the principles of promoting freedom in the choice of worldview give psychologists an opportunity to establish contact with clients and discourage disagreements concerning the modes of intervention. When paying attention to the preferences of the target audience, specialists create a productive environment for the exchange of experience. The main achievements are due to clients’ personal initiatives that are enhanced by confidence in individual capabilities. Therefore, humanistic approaches are the convenient mechanisms of psychological impacts due to minimizing practical interventions and promoting individual values.

When comparing behavioral and humanistic approaches, one can note some similarities in these principles. Firstly, in both techniques, person-centered interaction norms are advanced, which contributes to establishing close contact. Secondly, achieving individual harmony is the ultimate goal of these principles, and minimizing negative stressors is promoted. Nevertheless, despite these similarities, some differences are observed not only in the specifics of work but also in the mechanisms of influence. For behavioral approaches, addressing symptoms is a key activity, while humanistic practices suggest the absence of any restrictions or prescriptions.

Also, for behavior correction, practical interventions are the most common, and in the interaction of psychologists and clients on a humanistic level, psycho-emotional interaction is the basic technique. Thus, despite their similar nature, behavioral and humanistic approaches have different goals and distinctive principles of implementation.

Behavioral and humanistic approaches are valuable psychological techniques that allow understanding the nature of certain disorders or stresses and contribute to the effective correction of clients’ psycho-emotional states. Each of the two principles of interaction has unique working methods and promotes unique schemes for establishing communication. Behavioral approaches focus on addressing symptoms in order to eradicate them. Humanistic practices imply abandoning strict regulations and prescriptions and promote respect for the personality in order to realize one’s individual value. The two categories of approaches under consideration may be used for different purposes and can be utilized as productive intervention mechanisms.

Bowers, H., & Lemberger, M. E. (2016). A person-centered humanistic approach to performing evidence-based school counseling research. Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies , 15 (1), 55-66. Web.

King, L. A. (2017). The science of psychology: An appreciative view (4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Noer, D. (2017). Humanistic consulting: Its history, philosophy and power for organizations . Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Vyskocilova, J., Prasko, J., Ociskova, M., Sedlackova, Z., Slepecky, M., Hruby, R.,… Marketa, M. (2016). Cognitive behavioral approaches to coping with suffering and hardship. European Psychiatry , 33 , S697. Web.

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There are many approaches to psychology, but which is the right one? While the answer to that question is far too complicated, we can get a better idea of each approach's strengths and weaknesses by comparing the approaches in psychology . Through the comparison of approaches in psychology, we can identify the most appropriate approach to explaining a phenomenon. 

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There are many approaches to psychology, but which is the right one? While the answer to that question is far too complicated, we can get a better idea of each approach's strengths and weaknesses by comparing the approaches in psychology . Through the comparison of approaches in psychology, we can identify the most appropriate approach to explaining a phenomenon.

• First, we will make a comparison of different approaches in psychology .
• Next, we will make a comparison of quantitative and qualitative research approaches.
• We will discuss the similarities between the biological and humanistic approaches.
• We will then examine the similarities between the cognitive and behaviourist approaches.
• Finally, we will compare the different psychological approaches in a convenient table.

Comparison of Approaches: Psychology

Comparison of approaches in psychology compares the various schools of psychology to identify where they differ and where they are similar. Examples include comparing the biological approach to the psychodynamic approach . Each approach attributes behaviour to different factors and uses various techniques to investigate these matters.

The biological approach often uses brain imaging techniques to understand behaviour, whereas the humanistic may use more observational tools to investigate behavioural phenomena.

Comparing the approaches in psychology focuses on their stance in the following debates:

• Free will vs determinism
• Nature vs nurture
• Reductionist vs holistic
• Scientific research process
• Nomothetic vs idiographic

Psychology Approaches

The major psychology approaches are the behavioural , biological , cognitive , social learning , psychodynamic , and humanistic approaches. Each differs somewhat in its techniques, priorities, and strengths. For instance, the humanistic approach is considered holistic, whereas the cognitive approach is reductionist.

The science of psychology touches the entire sphere of human existence. As such, the field has endeavoured to be as inclusive as possible. This is why debates are so important in psychology.

Debates give us a richer perspective on the human condition and topics we may not have encountered. With new discoveries and technological advancements, psychology evolves accordingly by addressing and debating issues as they arise.

Kuhn, a famous psychologist, argued the approaches in psychology are essentially paradigms. The paradigm that is accepted depends on whether it can explain theories. If it can't, then another paradigm becomes accepted.

Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Research Approaches

One of the most significant differences between approaches is whether they are based more on quantitative or qualitative analysis.

Quantitative research focuses on statistical analysis and aims to find information that can be generalised to the greater population. It is heavily based on the scientific method , focusing only on what can be directly observed and quantifiably measured .

Quantitative research approaches include behavioural psychology, social learning theory , and cognitive and biological psychology. These approaches are nomothetic, meaning they attempt to gather large amounts of data to make generalisable inferences about the nature of human psychology. The psychodynamic approach carries out a little quantitative and qualitative analysis.

Qualitative research typically works outside of the scientific method, delving deeper into subjects rather than trying to measure and make prescriptive judgements through observation. Qualitative research collects non-numerical data.

For example, the humanistic approach assumes that quantitative research is reductive and cannot accurately judge the psychology of all humans because everyone is unique.

Qualitative research approaches are idiographic, meaning that they focus more on unique individuals and have a more holistic view of each person's psychological profile, as humans differ significantly from one another.

Similarities Between the Biological and Humanistic Approaches

The biological and humanistic approaches are two very different approaches in psychology. Let's look at the differences and similarities between the biological and humanistic approaches.

The biological approach assumes that human behaviour results from biological, physical processes over which we have no control and may not even be aware. This idea is also known as biological determinism . Its applications mainly lie in drug treatments that aim to alter the biological processes behind our behaviour.

The biological approach is reductionist , using broad observations of human biology to make judgements about behaviour. It abides by the scientific method and typically uses lab experiments to gather data.

The biological approach is also nomothetic and creates generalised, prescriptive judgements about human psychology based on the fact that we all share physiology and may react predictably to specific treatments or activities in the brain .

Researchers that accept the biological approach may try to understand the causes of depression by using an MRI (brain imaging machine) to identify if changes or abnormalities in brain structures are related to depression.

In nomothetic research, findings are generalised, and so it could be argued as reducing a complex issue, like depression, to a single issue.

Because of its focus on physiology as the basis of psychology, it is a natural approach. It often uses animal studies to understand animal behaviour and extrapolate its findings to humans.

On the other hand, the humanistic approach assumes that the self ultimately shapes human behaviour, and we can choose how we react to things and conduct ourselves to some degree. This makes the humanistic approach a free-will approach .

Because of its focus on individual clients and the belief that each person is different and must be individually understood, the approach is holistic . The humanistic approach considers scientifically-based approaches like the biological approach to be reductive, so it works outside of the scientific method.

The holistic approach might put a person through various tests if a person presents with depression. They might conduct personality inventories, run a health screening to rule out physical causes for their depression, and establish regular therapy sessions to understand the patient's unique history and personality.

Or, they may prescribe pharmaceutical treatments that they regularly adjust to provide their patient with the treatment that fits their unique needs.

The humanistic approach is idiographic and focuses on individual-focused, deep analysis of individuals rather than broad prescriptions about human psychology based on quantitative analysis.

A humanistic approach is an interactionist approach , meaning that it believes a combination of nature and nurture ultimately drives human behaviour to achieve a form of self-actualisation.

As the humanistic approach is focused on humans and methods that only humans can participate in (i.e., talk therapy), animals are not typically used.

Similarities Between the Cognitive and Behaviourist Approaches

The cognitive and behaviourist approaches have more in common than the previously discussed approaches. Let's look into them and discuss the differences and similarities between the cognitive and behaviourist approaches.

The cognitive approach assumes that our behaviour results from cognitive processes in the brain but that we have the final say on how we choose to act. This makes the cognitive approach a soft deterministic approach , as it leaves room for an element of free will while explaining most behaviour as being a result of things we don't control.

The cognitive approach's applications are mainly found in CBT - cognitive behavioural therapy , a style of therapy that aims to assist the client in changing how they think and react to feelings.

The cognitive approach is experimentally reductionist , offering experimental reasonings based solely on cognitive observations. The cognitive approach uses a combination of lab experiments and brain imaging techniques to understand human behaviour, so it abides by the scientific method and is, therefore, nomothetic . However, concerning case studies, it adopts the idiographic approach.

Peterson & Peterson (1959) conducted a cognitive experiment investigating short-term memory . They conducted their investigation in a lab with a sample of 24 students. Researchers observed how long it took for participants to recall random three-letter pairings. They used their findings to draw a general conclusion on the duration of short-term memory .

The cognitive approach holds a neutral position in the nature vs nurture debate and does not use animals in its research, as they argue their cognitive processes differ from ours.

The behaviourist approach is reductive because of its focus on environmental stimulus/response relationships .

The behaviourist approach assumes that our behaviour results from simple stimulus/response combinations that occur when we interact and observe our surroundings. This makes it a determinist approach as it proposes that our environment is responsible for our actions.

The Little Albert experiment is a classic example of the behaviourist approach. John B. Watson conducted an experiment using a child they called Little Albert.

Watson banged on a steel pipe whenever the child reached out to a white rat, which caused him to have a fearful response; this pairing was repeated several times.

Soon, Little Albert began to cry at the sight of the white rat. His behaviour (crying) was the result of the stimulus (the rat), which became conditioned through the pairing of the animal with the loud noise.

The behaviourist approach abides by the scientific method and is nomothetic , generalising its findings around stimulus/response to the broader population.

It is on the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate, believing humans are born as blank slates (tabula rasa), and their experience of their environment determines behaviour.

Animals were used heavily in the early stages of this approach's development.

Comparison of Social Learning Theory and the Psychodynamic Approach

Comparing these two approaches is not so simple, as the psychodynamic approach operates on a less black-and-white view of how psychology works. Let's look at the differences and similarities between social learning theory and the psychodynamic approach.

Social learning theory (SLT) assumes that our behaviour is learned and reinforced by others; this makes SLT an example of reciprocal determinism. It identifies that we are influenced by what we observe but that there are other factors at play that determine whether we learn the behaviour, and these factors are called mediators.

SLT has been used to explain how behaviour such as aggression arises and how we can treat it. SLT uses a mixture of environmental and cognitive explanations for behaviour, so it is reductionist but less than, say, the biological approach.

SLT abides by the scientific approach and is nomothetic , believing that we all learn behaviour in the same ways. SLT is an example of a nurture-based approach , as it highlights the importance of the environment in shaping our behaviour. SLT does not use animals in its research.

Freud's psychodynamic approach assumes that human behaviour results from formative experiences from childhood and innate 'drives' (described as the id, ego and superego). This is known as psychic determinism . The psychodynamic approach led to the creation of psychoanalysis, which was an early precursor to our more modern forms of talk therapy.

It doesn't abide by the scientific method and has idiographic and nomothetic elements. It also contains elements of both nature and nurture , as it believes in the importance of innate drives and that early life experience can also influence our behaviour.

Comparison of Approaches in Psychology: Table

The following table compares the different approaches and their similarities and differences.

Comparison of Approaches - Key takeaways

• Quantitative research focuses on statistical analysis and aims to find information that can be generalised to the greater population. Qualitative research typically works outside the scientific method, delving deeper into subjects rather than trying to measure and make prescriptive judgements through observation.
• The behavioural, SLT, cognitive and biological approaches are scientific, nomothetic, and reductionist.
• While the psychodynamic and humanistic approaches are holistic, idiographic (or contain idiographic elements), and do not use the scientific method.
• The behavioural, biological and psychodynamic approaches are hard deterministic, while SLT and the cognitive approach are soft deterministic, and the humanistic approach believes in free will.
• The behavioural approach and SLT are both nurture approaches, while the cognitive, psychodynamic and humanistic approaches have elements of nature and nurture, and the biological approach is nature.

Frequently Asked Questions about Comparison of Approaches Psychology

--> what are the different types of approaches in psychology.

The different approaches in psychology are biological, behavioural, psychodynamic, cognitive, humanistic approaches and social learning theory.

--> What are the approaches in psychology?

The approaches in psychology are the different perspectives of psychology that are characterised by differences in explaining and investigating behaviour. 

--> What are two differences between the cognitive and psychodynamic approaches to psychology?

Two differences between the cognitive and psychodynamic approaches are the following: the cognitive approach is scientific and reductive. In contrast, the psychodynamic approach is holistic and does not follow the scientific method.

--> How do you compare psychology approaches?

You can compare psychological approaches by comparing their explanations and how they are investigated. 

--> What is a cognitive approach in psychology?

A cognitive approach in psychology assumes that our behaviour results from cognitive processes in the brain. The brain is often compared to a computer in which the theory explains that inputted information is processed, which leads to an output, i.e. the resulting behaviour. 

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The biological approach is ______.

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What are the different approaches in psychology?

The different approaches in psychology are behaviourist, social learning theory, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic.

How does the psychodynamic approach differ from the biological approach regarding child development?

The biological approach focuses on the physiological changes a child goes through during its development. In contrast, the psychodynamic approach focuses on the unconscious development the child goes through during the early stages of life.

 What does the biological approach claim as a determinant of behaviour?

The biological approach claims that our genetics, hormones, and biological influences determine our behaviour.

What is one example of soft determinism?

The cognitive approach suggests that we can choose the thoughts and behaviours we want to focus on and develop within the limits of what we know and have experienced.

What is free will?

Free will is the liberty to decide how to behave and think.

What is reductionism?

Reductionism is a theory used to simplify complex psychological processes into small parts or reduce something complex into something simple.

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• Revision notes >
• A-Level Psychology Revision Notes >

Comparison of approaches -A-Level Psychology

Comparison of approaches:, views on development.

Behaviourist approach and social learning theory do not offer coherent stage theories of development and see learning as continuous in comparison to other approaches e.g biological and cognitive(schema).

Nature vs nurture

For nature:biological approach

For nurture:social learning theory and behaviourist approach

Reductionism

Reductionism refers to the belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into constituent parts.(behaviourist approach,biological approach,psychodynamic approach)

The cognitive approach has been accused of machine reductionism by presenting people as information processing systems and ignoring the influence of emotion on behaviour.

Humanistic approach supports the opposing view of holism which investigates all aspects of the individual ,including the effects of interaction with others and wider society.

Determinism

Suggests that all behaviour has an external or internal cause and is thus predictable.

Hard determinism- behaviorism and biological approach

Soft determinism-humanistic approach

Explanation and treatment of abnormal behaviour

Behaviourist approach-arises from faulty learning and  treated by systematic desensitisation

Social learning theory-arises from modelling and vicarious reinforcement

Cognitive-CBT

Humanistic therapy-counselling

Biological theory-drug therapy

The purpose of comparing different approaches in A-Level Psychology is to understand the different theories, methods, and applications that psychologists use to study human behavior and mental processes. By comparing and contrasting these approaches, students can gain a deeper understanding of the strengths and limitations of each approach and develop a more comprehensive understanding of psychology as a whole.

The major approaches in A-Level Psychology include behaviorism, cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology, psychodynamic psychology, and biological psychology.

The major approaches in A-Level Psychology are different from each other in terms of their underlying assumptions, theories, and methods. For example, behaviorism focuses on observable behavior and uses conditioning to explain learning, while cognitive psychology focuses on mental processes such as perception, attention, and memory. Humanistic psychology emphasizes personal growth and self-actualization, while psychodynamic psychology focuses on unconscious motives and conflicts. Biological psychology looks at the role of biology and genetics in behavior and mental processes.

Yes, for example, behaviorism might explain a behavior such as smoking as a learned behavior that has been reinforced over time through conditioning. Cognitive psychology might explain smoking as a result of cognitive processes such as attentional bias or beliefs about smoking. Humanistic psychology might explain smoking as a response to unmet needs for self-actualization or personal growth. Psychodynamic psychology might explain smoking as a way of coping with unconscious conflicts or unresolved issues from childhood. Biological psychology might explain smoking as a result of genetic or physiological factors such as addiction or brain chemistry.

You can use the knowledge of different approaches in A-Level Psychology to analyze and evaluate research studies, develop your own theories and hypotheses, and apply psychological principles to real-world problems. By understanding the strengths and limitations of each approach, you can develop a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of psychology as a whole and be better prepared for your A-Level Psychology exams.

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