Approaches in Psychology

Welcome to the World of Psychological Approaches!

In this chapter, we are exploring the different "lenses" or "perspectives" psychologists use to explain why humans behave the way they do. Imagine you are looking at a painting: one person might focus on the colors (the Biological approach), another on the story it tells (the Cognitive approach), and another on the artist's childhood (the Psychodynamic approach). None are necessarily "wrong"—they just look at the same thing in different ways!

Don’t worry if some of these ideas seem a bit strange at first. We’ll break them down step-by-step so you can master them for your exams.

1. The Learning Approaches: (i) The Behaviourist Approach

The Behaviourist Approach is all about what we can see. Behaviourists aren't interested in your thoughts or feelings because they can’t be measured. Instead, they focus on observable behaviour and how the environment shapes us.

Key Concept: Classical Conditioning (Learning by Association)

Think about how you feel when you hear your phone’s notification sound. You probably reach for it immediately! This is an association.

Ivan Pavlov showed this with his famous dogs:

1. Before conditioning: Food (Unconditioned Stimulus) caused the dog to salivate (Unconditioned Response). A bell (Neutral Stimulus) caused no response.
2. During conditioning: Pavlov rang the bell every time he gave the dogs food.
3. After conditioning: The dogs salivated just by hearing the bell (Conditioned Stimulus), leading to salivation (Conditioned Response).

Key Concept: Operant Conditioning (Learning by Consequences)

B.F. Skinner suggested that we learn through the results of our actions. He used the "Skinner Box" with rats and pigeons.

Types of Reinforcement:
• Positive Reinforcement: Receiving a reward for a behaviour (e.g., getting a sticker for doing homework). This makes you more likely to do it again.
• Negative Reinforcement: Doing something to avoid an unpleasant consequence (e.g., putting on your seatbelt to stop the annoying "beeping" sound in the car). This also makes you more likely to repeat the behaviour.
• Punishment: An unpleasant consequence that makes you less likely to repeat the behaviour.

Quick Review Box:
• Classical = Association (Bell + Food)
• Operant = Consequences (Rewards + Punishments)

Takeaway: Behaviourism suggests we are born as a "blank slate" and everything we do is learned from our environment.

2. The Learning Approaches: (ii) Social Learning Theory (SLT)

Albert Bandura agreed with behaviourists but thought they missed a big piece of the puzzle: we also learn by watching others!

How SLT Works

• Imitation: Copying the behaviour of others.
• Identification: We are more likely to copy people we look up to (Role Models). This is often someone similar to us, like a sibling or a celebrity.
• Vicarious Reinforcement: This is a big one! It means learning from someone else’s rewards. If you see your friend get praised for being polite, you are more likely to be polite too.

The "Mediational Processes" (The Mental Bridge)

Unlike strict behaviourists, Bandura believed thought is important. He identified four mental stages that happen before we copy someone:

1. Attention: Do we notice the behaviour?
2. Retention: Do we remember it?
3. Motor Reproduction: Are we physically able to do it?
4. Motivation: Do we want to do it (based on rewards/punishments)?

Mnemonic: Use ARMM (Attention, Retention, Motor, Motivation) to remember these!

Did you know? Bandura's Bobo Doll study showed that children who watched an adult act aggressively toward a plastic doll were much more likely to copy that exact same aggression themselves.

Takeaway: SLT is the "bridge" between traditional behaviourism and the cognitive approach because it includes mental processes.

3. The Cognitive Approach

The Cognitive Approach focuses on internal mental processes like memory, perception, and thinking. If the behaviourist approach sees humans as simple "input-output" machines, the cognitive approach wants to know what's happening "inside the machine."

Key Terms to Know:

• Inferences: Psychologists can’t see thoughts, so they make inferences (logical guesses) about what is going on inside the brain based on the behaviour they observe.
• Schema: These are "mental blueprints" or packages of information developed through experience. They help us predict what will happen. For example, you have a "restaurant schema" so you know to wait to be seated and look at a menu.
• Theoretical and Computer Models: Psychologists often use a Computer Analogy. They compare the brain to hardware and mental processes to software (Input -> Processing -> Output).

The Emergence of Cognitive Neuroscience

This is the modern side of the approach. It uses brain scanning (like fMRI scans) to see which parts of the brain are active during certain mental tasks. It’s the "marriage" of biology and cognitive psychology.

Takeaway: Your brain is like a computer, using schemas to process information and make sense of the world.

4. The Biological Approach

This approach says everything psychological is at first biological. To understand your behaviour, we must look at your genes, your brain structure, and your chemistry.

Genes and Behaviour

• Genotype: Your actual genetic makeup (your DNA).
• Phenotype: The way your genes are expressed through physical, behavioural, and psychological characteristics. This is influenced by the environment.

Common Mistake: Students often think Genotype and Phenotype are the same. Remember: Phenotype = Genotype + Environment. Identical twins have the same genotype, but if one exercises more, they will have different phenotypes (e.g., different muscle mass).

Other Biological Factors:

• Evolution: Behaviours that helped our ancestors survive (like the "fight or flight" response) have been passed down through our genes.
• Neurochemistry: Chemicals in the brain (neurotransmitters like Serotonin and Dopamine) affect our mood and behaviour.

Takeaway: Our biology (DNA and brain chemistry) provides the "hardware" that determines how we behave.

5. The Psychodynamic Approach

Founded by Sigmund Freud, this approach suggests that most of our behaviour is driven by the unconscious mind—a part of our mind we aren't even aware of!

The Structure of Personality

Freud said our personality is made of three parts that are always in conflict:
1. The Id: The "selfish beast." It operates on the pleasure principle and wants what it wants now.
2. The Ego: The "rational mediator." It operates on the reality principle and tries to balance the Id and Superego.
3. The Superego: The "moral guardian." It operates on the morality principle and represents our conscience and "ideal self."

Defence Mechanisms

To stop the Ego from getting overwhelmed by the conflict between the Id and Superego, the brain uses defence mechanisms:
• Repression: Forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.
• Denial: Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality.
• Displacement: Transferring feelings from the true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target (e.g., shouting at your brother because you’re angry at your teacher).

Psychosexual Stages

Freud believed children go through stages (Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital). If a child has a bad experience or "fixation" in a stage, it affects their adult personality.

Takeaway: Childhood experiences and the unconscious are the keys to understanding behaviour.

6. Humanistic Psychology

Often called the "Third Force," Humanistic Psychology is the most positive approach. It rejects the idea that we are controlled by genes or the environment and instead focuses on Free Will.

Key Concepts:

• Self-Actualisation: The desire to reach your full potential. Every human has an innate drive to be the best they can be.
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: A pyramid of needs. You must satisfy basic needs (food, safety) before you can reach the top (Self-actualisation).
• Congruence: To be happy, your Self-Image (how you see yourself) must match your Ideal Self (who you want to be). If there is a big gap, it causes incongruence.
• Conditions of Worth: When parents or others set "requirements" for their love (e.g., "I will only love you if you get an A"), it can prevent a person from reaching their potential.

Takeaway: You have the power to choose your path and grow into your best self.

7. Comparison of Approaches: A Quick Reference

When you are asked to compare these in the exam, think about these two main debates:

• Nature vs. Nurture: Biological is pure Nature (genes). Behaviourism is pure Nurture (environment). SLT and Cognitive are in the middle.
• Determinism vs. Free Will: Most approaches are Deterministic (they say your behaviour is controlled by something). Only the Humanistic approach believes in Free Will.

Quick Review Box:
• Behaviourist: Learning by association/consequences.
• SLT: Learning by watching others.
• Cognitive: Mind as a computer.
• Biological: Genes and brain chemistry.
• Psychodynamic: Unconscious conflict.
• Humanistic: Free will and self-growth.