AQA Psychology A-Level: Behaviourist Approach Essay Plan

Behaviourist Approach

• Concerned with observable and measurable behaviour
• Rejects introspection due to difficulty in measuring concepts involved
• Relies on laboratory experiments to ensure objectivity and control
• Classical conditioning: learning through association (e.g. Pavlov's dogs)
• Operant conditioning: learning through reinforcement or punishment (e.g. Skinner's box)

Evaluation of Behaviourist Approach

• Focus on measurement of observable characteristics
• Systematic, reliable, and objective methods establish psychology as a credible scientific discipline
• Criticised for underestimating biological factors in explaining behaviour
• Limited in explaining cultural differences in behaviour
• Importance of cognitive factors in behaviour (e.g. mediational processes)
• Risk of participants responding to demand characteristics in laboratory experiments

Social Learning Theory (SLT)

• Learning through modelling and observation
• Mediational processes determine whether an individual perceives a behaviour as worth imitating
• Explains cultural differences in behaviour
• Importance of cognitive factors in behaviour
• Criticised for limited ecological validity (e.g. laboratory experiments)

Cognitive Approach

• Assumes internal mental processes can be studied scientifically
• Studies areas of psychology neglected by the behaviourist approach (e.g. memory)
• Uses computer models to represent human cognition (e.g. Multi-Store Model of Memory)
• Schemas: mental frameworks of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing
• Cognitive neuroscience: studies underlying neural bases of cognitive functions

Evaluation of Cognitive Approach

• Employs objective and scientific methods
• Theories founded on research are reliable
• Reduces human behaviour by comparing it to machines, ignoring the role of emotion
• Takes a soft-determinist stance, recognising the role of free will
• Forms the basis of many successful therapies (e.g. CBT)

Psychodynamic Approach

• Suggests the mind is largely unconscious (Freud)
• Unconditional positive regard has implications for psychological treatments
• Impact of the humanistic approach on psychology is minimal due to limited research using the scientific method
• Merits of the humanistic approach include its holistic view of human behaviour, which may be more comprehensive than other approaches (e.g. biological approach)