What Sort of

Psychologist Are You?The Different

Approaches in Psychology

Approaches in Psychology• Biological • Behaviourist• Social Learning Theory• Cognitive• Psychodynamic• Humanistic

BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE AND EVALUATE EACH APPROACH AND ASSOCIATED METHODS

Behaviourists• All behaviour is learnt

• Learning depends on association

• Study only what they can see – outward behaviour, not thinking!

• Use objective, scientific methods

Key Behaviourists

• Ivan Pavlov

• John B Watson

• Frederick Burrhus Skinner

Ivan Pavlov• Classical conditioning• Learning through association between

stimuli that occur at the same time• Studied salivation in dogs• Repeatedly pairing bell and food he

conditioned dogs to salivate to the sound of the bell

Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiment

Know the Classical Conditioning diagram

1Food (UCS)

elicitsSalivation (UCR)

2 Food (UCS)

+Bell (CS)

elicitsSalivation (UCR)

3 Bell (CS)elicits

Salivation (CR)

Classical Conditioningapplied to Human Behaviour

Watson & Rayner conditioned a phobia of rats in Little Albert

Example of generalisation

Apply CC to examples such

as school phobia

Frederick Burrhus Skinner• Operant conditioning

• Learning through association between response and consequence

• Studied lever-pressing in rats

(and dancing in pigeons etc)

• Used positive reinforcement (food) to strengthen the lever-pressing behaviour

Reinforcement• Positive – given to strengthen the

behaviour

• Negative – removed if behaviour is performed: clean room to avoid nagging

• Punishment – given when undesired behaviour is performed

Skinner’s Experiments

Types of Reinforcement• Primary – in itself rewarding eg

• Secondary – not in itself rewarding, but can be exchanged for a primary reinforcer eg

Behaviourist Main Method

Controlled laboratory experiment (think Skinner)

Social Learning Theory(new Behaviourism)

• Observational learning• Key terms: observation, imitation, identification,

modelling, vicarious reinforcement• Learning involves thinking – observed

behaviours are attended to and remembered

Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study

Social Learning Theory and real life

“Daniel sees his classmate rewarded for helping tidy the classroom. The next day he asks the teacher if he can tidy up after class”

“Vikram watches TV super-heroes. He likes to think he can fly like superman”

Q. Can you spot observation, imitation, identification, modelling and vicarious reinforcement?

Mediating Cognitive Factors

• All the thinking processes that come between (mediate between) stimulus and response

Social Learning Main Method

Experiment with observation

(think Bobo Doll)

Cognitive Psychologists• Study internal mental processes eg

attention and memory

• Use controlled experimentation

• Liken human information processing to computer processing

• Propose models to explain mental processes e.g.

Information Processing ModelStages of

information processing

INPUT PROCESSES

STORAGEPROCESSES

OUTPUT PROCESSES

PERCEPTION

ATTENTION

MEMORY

THINKING

LANGUAGE

MOVEMENT

Backhand or

forehand?

Cognitive experiment – Condition 1

RedGreenBlackBlueBlackGreenBlueRed

Cognitive experiment – Condition 2

RedGreenBlackBlueBlackGreenBlueRed

CognitiveMain Methods

Controlled laboratory experiments

(Think – memory experiment)Computer modelling

Occasional case studies

Psychodynamic Psychologists

SIGMUND FREUD (little Siggy!)

• Born in Vienna• Trained as a doctor• Founded the psychodynamic

approach• Invented psychoanalysis

Freud• Behaviour is motivated by the unconscious

• Personality is tripartite (has three parts)

• Unconscious defence mechanisms protect us from unpleasant events, facts

• Development takes place in psychosexual stages

• Adult problems are due to repressed conflicts, fears, wishes

Defence Mechanisms

• Unconscious processes that protect the conscious self from unpleasant events or facts

Know some examples:

Repression

Denial

Displacement

Psychosexual stagesOld

Age

Pensioners

Like

Gin

Psychodynamic Main Method

Case study in a clinical setting with retrospective

psychoanalysis

(think Little Hans)

Humanistic psychologists

Humanistic Psychologists• Believe we have free will

• Focus on the self

• Everyone is unique

• Therapy should be client centred

• People strive for self-actualisation

• We are motivated by a hierarchy of needs

Famous Humanistic names

• Carl Rogers

• Abraham Maslow

Carl Rogers• Client-centred therapy – non-directive,

therapist as a mirror• Low self-esteem due to incongruence

(gap) between perceived and ideal self• Others set conditions of worth ‘I will only

love you if……’• People will grow if they are given

unconditional positive regard ‘I love you no matter what .….’

Abraham Maslow• Studied motivation

• Proposed the hierarchy of needs

• People strive for self-actualisationAre you self-actualised?

Do you ‘enjoy the means to the end’?

Do you ‘appreciate basic

experiences of life’

e.g. sunset?

Humanistic Methods

Case studies

One-to-one therapy

Group therapy

(think counselling)