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Since
psychology began to evolve as a distinct subject back in the nineteenth
century, different ‘psychologists’ have had different ideas about what
aspects of human development should be the focus of attention. These
differences are most apparent in their methods and in the theories they
have produced. Loosely, these different approaches can be grouped
together into what today are referred to as ‘perspectives’ or simply
‘approaches.’
Many
should be familiar to you, including psychodynamic, behaviourist,
cognitive, medical (biological) and humanistic. However, others will be
strangers, such as evolutionary and social constructionist and will not be
covered here!
Basically an approach is a collection of ideas or basic principles that
share some common underlying structure. Approaches are broader than
theories and not so clearly defined. In fact all the approaches we shall
consider are built up around two or more theories, so for example, the
behaviourist approach includes operant and classical conditioning, the
work of Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner, amongst others. However,
although the theories are different their underlying principles are
similar, i.e. behaviour is learned.
Psychodynamic theory incorporates the work of Freud, Jung, Eriksson, Adler
and co. Although some chose to concentrate on sexual influences whilst
others focus more on social or cultural aspects they all consider the
overriding importance of the unconscious mind in determining our behaviour!
That
brings me to another consideration. Most of the approaches we shall look
at believe our behaviour is determined, either by our genes, our past or
our environment. Only the very nice people behind the humanistic approach
believe that we shape our own destiny and have ‘free-will.’
Clearly you should by this stage have a good idea of what the approaches
are, so inevitably much of what follows should be old hat. As a result
the format and purpose of this booklet will be a little different. This
will hopefully be more of a practical guide to answering question 8 or 9
of unit 5! I will try to concentrate on aspects of the approaches that
are useful in explaining everyday behaviours and provide examples of how
the questions should be tackled. We will then look at an evaluation of
the theories, their methods of research and finally evaluations of
methods, since as we shall see, this is how the questions are set out.
Before we start, a quick reminder of other areas of the course that have
considered the approaches.
Memory: Freud and repression
Attachments: Explanations of attachment (Freud, Learning theory, SLT)
Abnormality The psychodynamic, behaviourist, cognitive, medical models
Schizophrenia, depression, phobias: as above!
Some
examples of questions 8 and 9
This
is the only paper you’ll probably ever sit where the questions are the
same every year! Unfortunately, the all important stimulus material that
precedes them is different and this means your answers will have to be
flexible. Confused? Here are questions 8 and 9 from the summer 2002
paper. You would be expected to provide an answer to one or t’other!
Section C
8. All the people who know
Errol agree that he is a very attractive young man. He has a fine dress
sense and muscular physique and handsome features. Errol is also
shortsighted. He tried wearing contact lenses but found them
uncomfortable. He was prescribed a pair of glasses but only rarely wears
them because he thinks they spoil his good looks. Some people think he is
extremely vain.
(a) Describe how two
approaches might try to explain Errol’s vanity. (6 marks + 6
marks)
(b) Assess one of these
explanations of Errol’s vanity in terms of its strengths and limitations.
(6 marks)
(c) Analyse how one of the
approaches you described in part (a) might investigate Errol’s vanity.
(6 marks)
(d) Evaluate the method of
investigating Errol’s vanity that you referred to in part (c).
(6 marks)
9. Anne enjoys fast
driving. She enjoys it when she is in someone else’s car going fast but
she enjoys it even more when she is driving fast herself. She finds high
speeds exhilarating. Within a year of passing her test Anne has been
charged with breaking motorway speed limits three times and is now in
danger of losing her licence.
(a) Describe how two
approaches might try to explain Anne’s exhilaration from speeding.
(6 marks + 6 marks)
(b) Assess one of these
explanations of Anne’s exhilaration from speeding in terms of its
strengths and limitations.
(6
marks)
(c) Analyse how one of the
approaches you described in part (a) might investigate Anne’s exhilaration
from speeding.
(6 marks)
(d) Evaluate the method of
investigating Anne’s exhilaration from speeding that you referred to in
part (c).
(6 marks)
The same four
questions each time:
-
Describe how
two approaches might try to explain the stimulus material.
(6 and 6)
-
Assess
one of these explanations of the stimulus material in terms
of its strengths and limitations. (6)
-
Analyse how
one of these approaches might investigate the stimulus
material. (6)
-
Evaluate the
use of this method of investigating the stimulus material. (6)
Good news:
the four questions always follow the same pattern, only the stimulus
material changes.
Suppose you
use the medical and psychodynamic approaches for part a; you can assess
either of these for part b, and analyse either for part c. That is you
could assess the psychodynamic in part b and then decide to analyse the
medical for part c. However, in part d you need to evaluate the methods
of the approach used in part c! Follow that?
Make sure you
take this into consideration before starting your answer. In practice I
find that the choice of approaches for part (a) is clear cut. Hopefully,
two likely approaches will jump out at you! For part (b) obviously
choose the approach that you are best able to evaluate. However, when
considering your choice for part (c) bear in mind you’re stuck with the
same approach for part (d) as well!
Rules for
deciding the stimulus material
Topics can be
chosen from:
-
AS topics
such as stress, eating disorders, attachments etc.
-
Psychology
topics not covered on the AQA syllabus such as sports psychology
-
Real life
topics such as lottery addiction and joy riding.
Note this list
excludes A2 topics, including many that we have not covered! The reason
for this is obvious. At AS all students cover the same six topics. At A2
different schools cover different topics so examining these areas would
put some students at a clear advantage.
However, there
have been occasions recently when the rules on this seem to have been bent
a tad, with questions on fear of ageing (phobia perhaps) and loss of
contact with reality (a schizoid symptom).
Some possible
subjects:
Bullying, joy
riding, white knuckle rides, wanting to be on stage, dangerous sports,
desire to own your own home, lottery addiction, desire to be in charge,
desire to look good, wanting to have a baby, disobedient behaviour, rave
behaviour…
Think of some
of your own. Remember that in your answers you need to be constantly
referring to the stimulus material.
Joe grew up in
the town but spent his summers staying with his grandfather on the farm.
The summers were always the best time and he felt more at home there,
helping his beloved grandfather look after the livestock and the crops.
When he was asked about what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said ‘a
farmer.’ This pleased the old man enormously, though he didn’t really
believe it. When he was old enough Joe moved to the farm and eventually
took it over.
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Sylvia
climbs mountains for a hobby. She
doesn’t walk up them but ropes herself up to ascend sheer faces of rock.
It’s a hobby that requires skill, patience and no fear of heights.
If you’re not a rock climber it’s hard to understand what drives some
people to it. |
It has been
claimed by some people that there is a growing trend for ‘body decoration’
in young people in Britain today. Many young men and young women now
display a wide range of tattoos and have almost every conceivable part of
their bodies pierced and adorned with jewellery. How might this be
explained?
Henry is a man
who often finds it difficult to distinguish between reality and fantasy.
For example, he believes that he is better than anyone else at the job he
does, and that rapid promotion will inevitably follow when other people
realise this too. However, few of his colleagues believe this and feel
that Henry is not really facing up to the realities of his everyday life.
How might this be explained?
When I am on
playground duty at the primary school where I teach I have observed quite
significant differences in the behaviour of boys and girls. Most of the
boys spend the playtime running around, chasing each other and often have
little scraps. Sometimes one of them actually gets knocked to the ground
and an adult has to intervene. Occasionally one or two of the girls join
in the racing around the playground but more typically they sit in small
groups and play make-believe games.
A survey has
shown that a large number of people have a dread of ageing. They are
particularly worried about looking old and spend a great deal of time and
money to ensure that they look young for as long as possible.
The
approaches
Psychodynamic
“Psycho”
meaning mind and “dynamic” suggesting movement. Central to Freud’s theory
was psychic energy that motivates us and creates conflicts. Like energy
in the physical world, psychic energy cannot be created or destroyed, but
moves from one form to another for example from love to hate, or from
thinking to acting. Psychodynamic therefore refers to this constant
movement of psychic energy within the mind and how this influences our
thoughts and behaviours.
Freud was the
founding father and concentrated largely on the unconscious forces
underlying our personality. In fact the first sentence of most part (a)
answers using the psychodynamic theory, could begin with a sentence such
as:
“The
psychodynamic approach would explain X’s behaviour in terms of
conflict within the unconscious mind resulting from childhood
experiences.”
You would then
need to go on and consider other aspects of Freud’s, Jung’s or possibly
even Eriksson’s or Adler’s theories. Obviously you are most familiar with
Freud’s but there are aspects of the others that may be useful, and for
these a very limited knowledge will suffice. For example, Sylvia’s desire
to climb mountains may be an attempt to overcome an “inferiority complex,”
an concept created by Alfred Adler.
Sigmund Freud
Freud
separated the mind into two distinct domains, the conscious mind that we
are aware of and the unconscious that is unknown to us. The conscious
part he likened to the tip of an iceberg with the unconscious forming the
larger part beneath the surface of conscious awareness. According to
Freud, the unconscious, holding our deepest, darkest thoughts and desires
has a much greater impact on our personality and behaviour than the
conscious mind.

Personality
The structure
of personality that you all know and love, illustrates this
conscious/unconscious dichotomy. When considering personality, try to
remember how it ties in with the psychosexual stages that follow.
Id
The id
motivates you to seek pleasure whilst avoiding pain and do so at whatever
cost to others; it is entirely selfish. The Id operates on what Freud
called the Pleasure Principle and is present at birth. The Id in
turn is driven by two other instinctive drives:
-
Eros
or life instinct: which gets its energy from the libido. Eros drives us
to behave in life preserving and life enhancing ways, to avoid danger,
keep warm and well fed and to reproduce.
-
Thanatos:
or death instinct which will cause us to attack anyone that gets in the
way of satisfying the libido. Thanatos however can be destructive when
turned inwards.
The Id
therefore drives us to seek instant gratification and is happy for us to
destroy anything that gets in our way. If a person we love is standing in
the way of pleasure, we can according to Freud, unconsciously love that
person whilst hating them at the same time. Whereas such conflicting
emotions would be questioned by the conscious mind they are tolerated by
the unconscious Id!
For those
interested:
Thanatos is the
Greek equivalent of the Roman God Mors (from which we derive words like
mortuary and the French for dead ‘mort.’ In Greek myth he is the brother
of Hypnos (God of sleep) who seeks to imitate his older brother. Helios
(the God of the Sun) never shines on Thanatos. Eros of course was the
Greek God of love, who’s statue stands in Picadilly Circus.
Use in questions 8 and 9:
Anyone behaving in a selfish manner, craving pleasures such as chocolate,
wealth, promotion, behaving in a violent manner towards others or involved
in dangerous sports or pastimes.
Ego
The Ego
develops to resolve the conflict arising from potty training during the
anal stage of development. The Ego represents what the conscious mind
believes is the real ‘us.’ Operating on the reality principle,
the Ego is measured and logical and seeks to maintain balance in a real
world, allowing the Id some satisfaction but laying down boundaries which
it cannot cross. If the Ego feels that the conscious mind id being
threatened by unpleasant material it deploys its armoury of defence
mechanisms that we’ll look at later.
Uses in questions 8 and 9:
If the person is facing dilemmas or looking for balance or stability. The
defence mechanisms are more useful for these questions.
Superego
The ego
develops during the phallic stage as a resolution to the Oedipus complex
or Elektra conflict. The Superego operates on the morality principle
and motivates us to behave in a socially responsible and acceptable
manner.
Freud
subdivided the Superego into two parts:
Ego-ideal
which tells us how we should behave and
Conscience
which nags us when we don’t!
The Superego
is often underestimated in its influence on personality, as, like the Id
it is mostly unconscious.
Uses in question 8 and 9
If the person is overly concerned about what others are thinking or trying
to please others. Anyone behaving in an authoritarian or overly
moralistic way.
Healthy and
unhealthy personalities
Freud believed
that a strong Ego was essential to psychological health. Psychological
well-being depends on minimising conflict and satisfying the needs of the
different parts of personality. If the Id gains the upper hand we are
likely to become selfish, antisocial perhaps even psychopathic. If the
Superego comes out on top the person will be straight-laced, bossy,
worried and moralistic.
On occasions a
weak Ego can result in a see-sawing effect with personality alternating
between different states. Freud’s explanation for manic-depression was a
swinging between the Id (causing mania) and then overcompensation by the
Ego causing depression.
Ego defence
mechanisms
Some of these
will be familiar, such as repression, whereas others will be new, for
example reaction formation. However, these are very useful in attempting
to explain a person’s behaviour, and afterwards I’ll include a set of
behaviours for you to attempt to explain.
All ego
defence mechanisms are operations of the unconscious mind and as a result
the real reasons underlying your behaviour that results is not known.
Repression
Thoughts or
desires that are likely to be disturbing or cause psychological harm are
locked away in the unconscious mind. However, though hidden from
conscious thought they can still cause psychological disturbance and
influence your actions.
Displacement
Re-directing
an emotion or action towards a substitute. Classic example would be anger
towards your boss displaced onto the dog! Displacement usually involves
anger!
Note: a
particularly useful form of displacement for these questions would be
displacement of anger inwards or against yourself. Freud considered this
to be an explanation of depression, but could also be used to explain any
form of self-abuse such as alcohol, drugs or perhaps even multiple
piercing!
Projection
Seeing your
own unpleasant or socially unacceptable characteristics in others. An
example would be animal rights activists who complain about other people’s
aggression towards animals when they use violent methods themselves.
Reaction
formation
Taking an
outward stance that is opposite to the unacceptable desire you have.
Obvious examples would b young boys saying they hate a girl when secretly
they fancy her, or men with homosexual desires taking an overly homophobic
stance.
Denial
One that
you’re all familiar with. The person simply denies the existence of the
problem. Topical example, Charles Kennedy denying his drink problem.
Sublimation
Different to
all the others in that the person does something positive with the
desire. The person may take the aggression and channel it into running,
boxing, management etc. In fact Freud believed that all our positive
attributes were sublimations of our sexual desires and drives!
Regression
Faced with
stress the person reverts to an earlier, usually childhood, stage of
development. For example they may suck their thumbs, wet the bed, throw
tantrums etc.
Having learned
the various defence mechanisms have a go at the exercise at the back of
the booklet, matching the behaviour with the appropriate mechanism.
Regression
brings me nicely to the next useful aspect of Freud’s theory, and again an
aspect that you’re all familiar with, the psychosexual stages.
The
psychosexual stages of development
Freud believed
that as we developed our sexual or life energy (libido) focused on
different parts of the body. Each stage would have an optimal level of
satisfaction, too much or too little satisfaction in each stage would lead
to fixations and these would shape later personality. The stages and
fixations are particularly useful for explaining personality types in
questions 8 and 9.
Oral (0-2ish)
The child is
born into this stage and satisfaction centres on the mouth, eating and
sucking. Too little oral stimulation (if I can say that) results in a
person that is uncaring and treats people like objects. In later life
they may develop behaviours such as smoking, drinking, nail-biting and
over-eating.
Too much oral
stimulation results in a personality that is gullible and overly
enthusiastic.
Anal (2-4ish)
Pleasure is
now centred on the anus, particularly defecation and the pleasure of
having a good dump! The Ego develops in order to resolve conflict
between the Id (which wants instant pleasure and pooing at will) and
parents who require restraint!
Overly strict
potty training or too little anal pleasure, (I definitely can’t say
that!), results in an anally retentive personality. The person grows up
to be obsessively tidy and organised.
Relaxed potty
training (too much of that pleasure mentioned above) and the person
develops into an anal expulsive, which sounds messy and is! The person
may also be over generous and for some reason sadistic!
Phallic
(4-6ish)
Pleasure is
now centred on the penis (boys) and clitoris (girls). Its during the
Phallic stage that the child starts to develop desires for the same sex
parent and as a result fear of the same sex parent finding out.
The boys
desire for the mother results in him wanting to take the place of the
father (Oedipus complex). This causes anxiety since they believe if the
father discovers their desire he will castrate them.
A similar
process (Elektra conflict) occurs in girls, with them blaming their mother
for removing their penis, and desiring their father since he has one!
Both sexes eventually resolve the situation by identifying with the same
sex parent and adopting their moral values and so the Superego is born!
However, since boys have more to lose (their willy) their anxiety is
greater and so they develop a stronger conscience. Girls on the other
hand only lose their penis envy when they have children themselves.
The Oedipal
feelings are repressed until adolescence when they become displaced onto
members of the opposite sex.
Latency (6ish
to puberty)
A quiet period
almost dormant period during which time the sexes go their separate ways
and the child learns appropriate social and gender specific rules and
patterns of behaviour.
Genital
(puberty onwards)
Libido is now
directed towards the genitals and sexual maturity begins. According to
Freud, in a few cases, the defence mechanisms prevent some people from
ever reaching this stage. In the highly unlikely event of a question 8
or 9 on anal or oral sex, or on masturbation (can’t really see it
somehow), then this would be ideal because Freud saw these as immature
forms of sex in those who had never reached full sexual maturity!
Other theorists
Not a lot more
I can think of to add about Freud that would be useful. However, remember
that there are other psychodynamic theorists that you could include.
Adler and the
inferiority complex
According to Adler's theory, each of us is born into the world with a
sense of inferiority. We start as a weak and helpless child and strive to
overcome these deficiencies by become superior to those around us. He
called this a striving for superiority, and like Freud's Eros and
Thanatos, he saw this as the driving force behind all human thoughts,
emotions, and behaviours.
Our feelings of inferiority motivate us to become influential, famous and
successful. However, failure to succeed can lead to the ‘inferiority
complex’ in which we see ourselves as weak and failing.
Inferiority complexes: always
easy meat for the cartoonists!
Using the
psychodynamic approach to tackle the ‘Sylvia’ question
The
psychodynamic approach would look at unconscious forces driving Sylvia to
climb mountains. Childhood would be considered crucial as would conflict
between opposing forces in the unconscious mind. Two such opposing
drives, according to Freud, are Eros and Thanatos both of which provide
instinctive energy for the id. Thanatos is seen as destructive and drives
the individual to harm others or themselves. Taking part in a dangerous
sport such as climbing would help fulfil the unconscious wishes of
Thanatos. However, balance between the opposing forces would be
maintained by a healthy Ego that would keep Eros (the life instinct)
satisfied by keeping Sylvia safe by ensuring she uses ropes and takes
other sensible precautions. The desire to climb mountains could be an
example of sublimation, an Ego defence mechanism, with the Sylvia’s
aggressive tendencies channelled into the socially desirable activity of
climbing mountains.
If you had
time:
Although Freud
pioneered the psychodynamic approach, others with slightly different ideas
came later. One of these was Alfred Adler. Adler may consider Sylvia’s
attempts to overcome her unconscious feelings of inferiority by climbing
mountains as a means to exert her authority and superiority over others.
Assessing the
psychodynamic approach (question b) using Sylvia as an example:
The
psychodynamic approach would consider the motivating forces behind
Sylvia’s desire and would be able to explain why some people are driven to
climb whilst others are not. Unconscious forces can be seen to be at work
in observable ways such as through so called ‘Freudian slips.’ However,
there is no scientific or empirical evidence for the theory and different
analysts would have different ideas on the nature of the forces at work.
As such it is subjective and non-falsifiable. Concepts such as id and
Thanatos are hypothetical and used merely as means of explaining ideas we
know little about. The approach also fails to consider conscious thought
processes or the effect of role models. Other factors such as brain
chemistry and the role played by hormones and neurotransmitters such as
adrenaline in producing the ‘buzz’ of climbing are ignored.
Assessment of
the Psychodynamic approach (part b questions)
This should be
like teaching grandma to suck eggs! How many criticisms of Freud’s
theory can you come up with in 6 minutes?
However, the
question does ask for an assessment, so don’t forget the good points too!
Word of warning however, a later question asks for an evaluation of the
methods used, so try to avoid answering this question in section (b).
Good points
The
psychodynamic approach was the first to consider the importance of
childhood in shaping adult behaviour and personality. Although many later
psychological theories have adopted a similar idea, most modern theories
believe that Freud probably did place too great an emphasis on the early
years.
Freud’s
theories are bases upon detailed case studies that provide an in-depth
consideration of the human mind; (oops… an evaluation of methods, not
theory!)
The methods
that Freud developed have been built upon by later theorists and many of
his ideas are still used as forms of treatment today.
Freud’s theory
is probably the most influential in psychology.
However
Psychodynamic
theory has little or no objective or scientific evidence to support it.
Freud’s concepts of id, ego, superego, Thanatos etc., are constructs from
his own mind and as such are subjective. Later psychodynamic theorists
have provided alternative explanations for our behaviour, but these too
can be criticised in the same way.
The concepts
suggested are sufficiently vague to allow them to be adapted to any
situation, so can be used to explain any pattern of behaviour. However,
the true test of a scientific theory (which is what Freud was aiming for)
is its predictive value. Sadly Freud’s and other psychodynamic
theories seem to be low in predictive value.
On a similar
point, a true scientific theory should be open to proof. Because
of its vagueness and use of unconscious desires, Freud’s theory is
impossible to test or prove one way or the other.
Freud’s
emphasis on the early years appears to be overstated. As we saw in year
12, even the most sever privation in early childhood can be overcome in
later years.
Psychodynamic
theory is reductionist since it seeks to explain complex human
behaviour in terms of instinctive drives. Like most other approaches it
is also deterministic, believing that our behaviour is beyond our
control since it results from unconscious forces and our past.
Methods used
by the psychodynamic approach
Psychoanalysis
assumes that our behaviours are determined by unconscious desires,
feelings and fears. In order to either treat or study further the
underlying reasons for behaviour, we must, according to the psychodynamic
approach tap into these unconscious thoughts. Typically research involves
case studies in which patients undergoing treatment for neurotic
disorders. Various methods are used for exploring their unconscious
minds.
Psychoanalysis
(or
catharticism)
Typically
Freud would use hypnosis to tap into the unconscious mind. Often
uncovering the repressed material at the cause of a patient’s neuroses
would be emotionally painful. Later, Freud abandoned this method for free
association.
 |
Freud’s
couch in the
Freud
Museum,
London |
Free
Association
Patients are
encouraged to say anything that comes into their mind regardless of how
trivial it may seem, or how embarrassing it may be to the person. It is
similar in some respects to word association, so for example if the
patient says ‘anger’ after talking about their boss it would signify an
unconscious loathing of their boss, which may be the root cause of their
problems. Usually Freud would concentrate on childhood experiences and
look for associations dating back to early life. Freud believed that
patients stuck in a ‘train of thought’ who are finding it difficult to
change subject, are close to uncovering the unconscious thought at the
root of their problems.
Freudian slips
These may be
uncovered during free association or during everyday conversation and give
away unconscious thought processes or desires, such as saying ‘I loathe my
sister’ rather than ‘I love my sister.’

Dream analysis
Freud believed
that dreams are symbolic representations of our unconscious thoughts. By
deciphering the code, Freud, and others since, have believed that they can
explore the unconscious mind.
Assessment of
the methods used (part d questions)
Case studies
provide us with depth as well as breadth of detail. Carried out over long
periods of time they can produce a very detailed and thorough account of a
person’s thoughts, desires, motives and troubles.
Given that
psychodynamic theorists need to study the unconscious mind these are the
only methods available. They would argue that in the past one hundred
years or so that they have been effective in treating countless numbers of
patients.
However, the
methods are very subjective. It is unlikely that different analysts will
ever agree on the nature or meaning of the material uncovered. In
addition, as we saw in AS memory, there have been claims of ‘false memory
syndrome, in which patients undergoing analysis may have had their
memories altered by the treatment they were receiving.
 |
Eileen
Franklin, whose father claims that during hypnotherapy she was left with a false
memory. She subsequently claimed
that he had killed her friends Susan over twenty years previously. |
There is no
way of knowing whether what appears in a dream or is uncovered during free
association tells us anything about the unconscious mind as psychoanalysts
would have us believe. There is no scientific way of verifying any of the
claims made.
To benefit
from the methods used (these so-called talking cures), the patient
requires a certain level of intelligence and verbal dexterity to be able
to communicate what they are experiencing. This clearly rules out swathes
of the population, such as children or the less well educated, so as a
result the approach is limited and even more difficult to use to create a
general theory.
Speaking of
generalisation, the case study method is used on patients with
psychological problems! Can we really generalise from such troubled
people to the population as a whole?
Finally,
analysis of this sort is very time consuming and expensive. This may be a
bonus to the therapist, but again it limits the sample size and again
limits our ability to generalise, since only the relatively wealthy and
those with time on their hands can undergo the procedure.
Methods used
by the psychodynamic approach using Sylvia as an example
Sylvia’s
desire to climb mountains would most likely be researched using the case
study method of investigation. This would involve Sylvia making a number
of visits to see a therapist over many weeks or months. The therapist may
use any one of a number of methods to try and uncover the unconscious
workings of Sylvia’s mind in an attempt to discover what motivates her
behaviour. The most likely method would be free association in which
Sylvia would be asked to explore her mind and talk about anything and
everything that comes to mind whilst the analyst would make notes.
Occasionally the analyst may intervene but mostly Sylvia would be expected
to talk without interruption. The analyst may for example want Sylvia to
explore her childhood memories and relationship with parents. The analyst
would be looking for tell-tale signs that unconscious material was coming
to the surface. Other methods may include hypnosis, word association or
dream analysis.
Evaluation of
the methods used by this approach using Sylvia as an example
The task of
making unconscious material conscious is not easy! However, the methods
suggested have been tried and tested over many years and are considered by
therapists to have been successful. Unfortunately the methods,
particularly dream analysis, are very subjective. There is no objective
or scientific way of checking their validity and they all depend to some
extent on the individual interpretation of the analyst. In a similar way
there is no way of knowing whether the material uncovered is actually a
true reflection of the material in the unconscious or even whether or not
the material recalled as in some way been influenced by the therapy
itself. There have been many cases in recent years in which analysts have
been accused of unwittingly creating false memories in the minds of their
patients.
It could be
that Sylvia is well educated and able to communicate her thoughts and
feelings eloquently. However, if she is not then these ‘talking cures’
are not going to be as effective and the job of the analyst will be even
more difficult and time consuming.
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| Rorschach ink blots |
Hypnotherapy |
Behaviourist
The
behaviourist approach developed over a number of years and was influenced
by a number of pioneering thinkers and scientists/psychologists. I have
seen 1913 mentioned as a ‘birth date’ for the approach, however, Pavlov’s
work on dogs which was to become crucial to the perspective started many
years earlier.
Behaviourism
developed largely out of dissatisfaction with the psychodynamic approach
and earlier theories of consciousness. Freud had set out to create a
scientific study of the mind but his methods and resulting theory were
most unscientific. His methods relied on introspection and subjective
interpretation by analysts, his theory was based on hypothetical
constructs and non-testable or verifiable ideas.
John Watson
(he of Watson & Raynor fame and Little Albert) wanted a theory of
behaviour that was testable. The problem was in the early decades of the
twentieth century there was no way of recording brain activity let alone
mental processes. Result….ignore the workings of the brain, treat it as
a black box, receiving information from the environment (stimulus) and
creating a reaction (response). At its simplest behaviourist psychology
is simply that: stimulus-response (S-R) psychology.
Watson built
his theory on the earlier work of others, most notably Ivan Pavlov and
Edward Thorndike.
Pavlov’s work
on the digestive system of dogs in the late nineteenth century had given
rise to one way of learning, classical conditioning. Edward Thorndike’s
work on observation of learning in various species had led to his “Law of
Effect.” He claimed that animals learn by trial and error. A successful
outcome (reinforcement) will result in that behaviour being repeated
whereas a negative outcome (punishment) will result in that behaviour
becoming extinct. This formed the basis of Skinner’s later work on
operant conditioning.
John Watson
himself coined the term ‘behaviourism’ in 1913, though being American he
spelt it incorrectly (behaviorism!).
Classical and
operant conditioning were there at the birth of behaviourism and were
later joined by their younger bastard brother (or sister) social learning
theory. As far as questions 8 and 9 are concerned, if you decide to apply
the behaviourist approach then use conditioning with confidence. If you
decide to throw in SLT as well, then try to add that strictly speaking it
is neo-behaviourist and is a form of learning based on imitation.
Behaviourists
therefore believe that we are a product of our environment. At birth we
are a ‘tabula rasa’ or blank slate. Our genetic make-up is largely
ignored. Our personality, IQ, achievements and behaviour are shaped by
the environment in which we are reared. Behaviourism is therefore at the
extreme nurture of the nature-nurture debate. However, like the
psychodynamic theory it is determinist, seeing our outcomes as under the
control of our environment rather than of our unconscious minds.
Classical
conditioning
Pavlov noticed
that his dogs would start to salivate when they heard the footsteps of the
research assistant who they knew was going to feed them. Pavlov realised
that the dogs had learned to associate food with the footsteps and
wondered if this association would extend to other things, most famously
the ringing of a bell.
This bit is
for the purposes of explanation and to remind you of the terminology, it
is unlikely to be of use in answering the question 8 and 9s.
Although the
terminology seems daunting, if you just remember that conditioning refers
to learning it helps. The unconditioned response is one that does not
require learning, such as a reflex. You do not learn to salivate to food
it happens naturally from birth. In the case of Little Albert, the
unconditioned stimulus is being frightened by a loud noise.
A conditioned
response on the other hand needs to be learned, such as salivating to the
sound of a bell or being frightened of white rats.
For the
purposes of answering the questions, most things can be associated with
other things, for example my association of seeing after-images with a
tone, or association of the number 3 with receiving an electric shock.
Joe’s desire
to be a farmer may stem from an early association between farming and long
hot summer days.
Other
behaviourist principles
Higher order
conditioning.
Best explained
using Pavlov’s dogs as an example. Pavlov trained his dogs to salivate to
a bell by pairing it with food. He then paired the bell with a light,
eventually resulting in the dogs salivating to the light….even though it
had never been paired with food.
In human terms
most of our associations are probably higher order, for example our
association of money with pleasure. Money has no intrinsic
pleasure-giving value, but it can be exchanged for all manner of things
that do.
Extinction
Sooner or
later if the association is broken the learning will be extinguished. In
Pavlovian terms if the bell is continually rung and no food presented then
the association is lost.
Spontaneous
recovery
Having been
extinguished an association is much quicker to establish a second time
around, perhaps after just one renewed pairing. So having extinguished
the association between bell and food, a single pairing in future may
re-establish the link and the dogs will begin salivating once more.
Generalisation
Pavlov’s dogs
would salivate if they heard a similar sort of sound. In humans people
that are scared by spiders will often also fear crane flies (daddy long
legs) since they are sufficiently similar in appearance. Little Albert
generalised his fear of white rats to cotton wool and Santa’s beard.
Discrimination
I suppose the
opposite of generalisation. People frightened of spiders aren’t usually
afraid of ladybirds because they look sufficiently different. Little
Albert wasn’t afraid of other toys such as wooden blocks.
Practical applications to answering approaches questions
Classical conditioning is particularly good at explaining the acquisition
of fears such as phobias, as in the case of Little Albert. Advertising
makes heavy use of this method too, getting us to associate products with
other various pleasures. Cars are often associated with women, diet coke
with half naked men, Hagan Das ice cream with sex, oxo with family life,
coffee with romance, John Smith’s with a care-free lifestyle etc…
Classical conditioning is best used for explaining the acquisition of a
behaviour, for example how we learn a phobia, how we learn to associate
climbing with glamour, clubbing with enjoyment etc. As we’ll see later,
operant conditioning is better for explaining how a given behaviour is
maintained or increased.
Operant
conditioning
Edward
Thorndike ‘founded’ this form of learning when in 1911 he described his so
called ‘law of effect.’ Working on a variety of species he reported that
a behaviour followed by favourable consequences would cause the behaviour
to be repeated whereas one followed by negative consequences would result
in the behaviour being less likely in future.
However, it
was BF (Burrhus Frederick) Skinner that popularised operant conditioning
through research carried out on rats and pigeons in his Skinner boxes.
Students are
often confused about the difference between these two forms of
conditioning.
-
Classical
conditioning is simply the association of two events that occur
together, bell and food, rat and loud noise etc., which then results in
a response being transferred from one to the other, e.g. fear,
salivation. The response is often an automatic one such as a reflex.
-
Operant
conditioning requires that a behaviour be performed and the consequences
of this, punishment or reward, determine whether that behaviour will be
repeated in future. ‘Operant’ since the animal/person operates on the
environment and then faces the consequences, positive or negative.
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|
The
Mekon-like Mr BF Skinner |
and the box that carries his
name |
To discover
the precise effect of reinforcement and punishments on behaviour Skinner
would observe animals in laboratory conditions where environments could be
tightly controlled.
Reinforcement and Punishment
Reinforcement:
anything that increases the chances of the behaviour that preceded it
being performed in future.
Primary
reinforcers
are ones that satisfy a biological need, for example food, drink, sex.
Secondary reinforcers
are reinforcers that we have come to associate with primary reinforcers.
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Money: will
buy us primary reinforcers
Promotion:
will get us more money
Exam success:
will help us get promotion…
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Other
secondary reinforcers would include smiles, compliments, gifts etc.
Secondary
reinforcers are every bit as powerful as primary reinforcers.
Reinforcement
can be negative!
However, this
does not mean it is bad! A negative reinforcer is something that takes
away an unpleasant consequence so still results in the behaviour being
more likely in future. For example, taking an aspirin that takes away a
headache. The removal of the unpleasant headache makes the behaviour that
preceded it, taking an aspirin, more likely in future. Other negative
reinforcers would include parole, escape from danger etc.
Punishment:
an outcome
that decreases the probability that the behaviour that preceded it would
be repeated in future.
Primary
punishers
are ones that cause biological unpleasantness such as pain, extreme heat
or cold.
Secondary
punishers
are ones associated with these, such as being criticised, a frown or dirty
look etc.
Punishment can
also be positive or negative in the same senses of the words as used for
reinforcement. A positive punishment is one that causes pain or
unpleasantness, a negative punisher is one that takes away something
pleasant such as loss of pocket money, being grounded, being dumped, a
drop in pay etc.
Applying to the approaches questions
I find operant conditioning approach to be the easiest and most flexible
to apply.
Operant conditioning is good for explaining how behaviours can be
maintained or increased, for example climbing higher and higher mountains,
losing more and more weight, getting more tattoos, driving faster and more
recklessly, wanting bigger houses, more possessions etc. As we’ll see
with schedules of reinforcement, gambling behaviour lends itself
perfectly to operant explanations.
Schedules
of reinforcement
Continuous
schedule
So far we have
assumed continuous reinforcement in which every behaviour is followed by a
reward, for example giving the rat food each time it presses a lever.
However, this has problems. Firstly, the rat will soon become sated
(full), so less motivate to press the lever. Secondly, as soon as the
reinforcement stops the rat will stop pressing the lever. In human terms
drinks machines operate on a continuous schedule. Every behaviour,
inserting money should be reinforced with a drink. If on one trial the
reinforcement fails (no drink) the behaviour (putting in money) becomes
extinguished.
Other
schedules can be based on time (interval) or number of behaviours
performed (ratio).
Interval
schedules
A behaviour
may be rewarded every 5 minutes providing the behaviour has occurred in
that time. This is called fixed interval. Payment at the end of the
month would be a human example. Alternatively, reward may be on a
variable interval schedule. Reward may be after 5 minutes, or sometimes
15, perhaps sometimes 2 minutes etc. This is less predictable and leads
to slower extinction. If after 5 minutes there is no reward the animal
keeps pressing. Perhaps reward may be after 25 minutes this time.
Ratio
schedules
Time is no
longer an issue. In rat terms reward occurs after so many presses. This
may be every 10 presses (fixed interval) or it may be variable ratio.
Variable ratio
This is
the most unpredictable of all patterns of reinforcement.
Some times the rat will be reinforced after 20 presses, sometimes 200
etc. This shows the slowest of all
extinction rates, the rat may go on pressing the lever hundreds of times without
receiving any food. No
surprises therefore that fruit machines and other forms of gambling are based on
this schedule. The victim has no
idea when the next payout will be, but continues putting in money long after the
rewards have stopped.
All forms
of praise for weight loss, body art, fast driving etc. are based on this
schedule, ensuring that behaviour is maintained long after the reinforcement
ceases.
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Applying the
behaviourist approach to the ‘Approaches’ questions.
As I said earlier, the two forms of conditioning can be applied
differently, classical for development of the behaviour and operant for
maintenance. I’ll illustrate using ‘Sylvia the mountaineer’ as an
example:
The behaviourist approach would seek to explain how Sylvia learned her
mountain-climbing behaviour. Factors within the environment rather than
any internal or mental processes would be used.
Classical conditioning would explain how Sylvia acquired her climbing
behaviour through association. Rock climbing has a glamorous image as can
be seen from the glossy images of fit young lycra-clad people seen on the
front covers of numerous climbing magazines. Those that climb mountains
become associated with this image. Social learning theorists (neo-behaviourists)
would explain the acquisition of the behaviour in terms of imitation.
Having seen others climb, Sylvia may want to copy, particularly if she has
seen other people being rewarded for the behaviour through praise and
adulation. This is called vicarious reinforcement.
Operant conditioning would explain how Sylvia’s behaviour has been
maintained and shaped. Reaching a summit is in itself acting as a
powerful reinforcer, but the praise and social approval she receives on
her safe return will reinforce her behaviour resulting in her tackling
ever more difficult ascents. Giving up climbing would have the opposite
effect, resulting in social disapproval, a powerful secondary punishment.
Two points:
-
It isn’t easy to avoid the use of words such as ‘motivation,’
‘satisfaction, ‘thinking’ etc. However, since behaviourists do not
consider mental states these shouldn’t be used.
-
Social learning theory has been mentioned. This is clearly a
behaviourist approach of sorts but try to remember to qualify it as
‘neo-behaviourist’ or ‘a form of behaviourism.’
The case of Sylvia as an illustration of evaluating the behaviourist
approach
Behaviourist explanations of Sylvia’s mountain-climbing behaviour will be
well-grounded and scientifically based. Their theories have been used to
explain all manner of behaviours and used to treat a variety of disorders
such as phobias. It has also been used to predict behaviour which in
scientific terms adds to its validity as an explanation.
Although the approach will consider environmental factors involved in
determining Sylvia’s behaviour it completely ignores any mental functions
such as thoughts and emotions. Some mountaineers may suggest they get a
‘buzz’ for example, but behaviourists would not consider the importance of
this. Similarly any neuro-chemical influences such as adrenaline will be
ignored. The theory is therefore notoriously reductionist. There are
probably lots of different reasons contributing to Sylvia’s desire to
climb mountains but behaviourists only consider the simplest. The
explanation is also deterministic and allows Sylvia no free-will. Surely
if Sylvia really wanted to she could stop climbing mountains!
Evaluation of the behaviourist approach
The
behaviourist approach is approaching its 100th birthday. It
clearly provides an influential perspective on human and on animal
behaviour.
It offers a
scientific method of explaining human behaviour, arising as it did, from
dissatisfaction with the psychodynamic approach. Its ideas are testable
since it only considers the observable aspects of human behaviour (stimuli
and responses).
In practical
terms it has provided many useful applications. It is difficult to
imagine a modern day school without rewards such as credits or stars for
good behaviour, and punishments such as detentions and exclusions for poor
behaviour. Similar methods, such as token economy, are used in prisons
and psychiatric institutions. Guide and sniffer dogs are trained using
operant conditioning, as are sea lions and dolphins in safari parks and
zoos. Classical conditioning has been used to develop a variety of
methods for treating phobias.
As well as
explaining behaviour, the approach can at times be used to predict
behaviour… the true test of a scientific theory.
However, the
approach has its limitations:
It fails to
consider any biological factors in determining our behaviour, for example
genes or brain chemistry, when it is clear from studies and drug
treatments that these do play a part.
Behaviourism
is probably the most reductionist of all approaches. It takes very
complex behaviours and attempts the simplest of all explanations; that
they are due to associations or patterns of reinforcement. Hard
behaviourists still refuse to accept the importance of cognitive factors
such as memory, emotion and feelings in determining behaviour. Today most
behaviourists do now recognise the relevance of such factors and cognitive
behaviourists are increasingly common.
Behaviourists
are deterministic in that they believe we have little or no real control
over our actions. To be fair of course, the other approaches we look at
are also deterministic! Behaviourists believe we are simply the product
of our environment. From an ethical point of view this may have its
benefits since it suggests that a person should not be blamed for their
abnormal behaviour.
Whilst on
ethical grounds, behaviourists, particularly the late BF Skinner, have
been criticised for theories that can be used to control or shape people’s
behaviour.
Finally, the
approach does struggle to explain novel behaviours. Operant conditioning
for example, requires that a behaviour be performed before reinforcement
or punishment can occur. Behaviourists get round this one by suggesting
that what appear to be novel behaviours are simply combinations of
previous behaviours.
Methods
used by the behaviourist approach
Behaviourists
prefer the scientific method of studying behaviour. Their research tends
to be carried out in laboratories where all variables can be very
carefully controlled and manipulated. Total control of variables like
this can allow for clear causal relationships to be established.
In addition
all behaviours and variables must be very clearly defined or
operationalised in advance. No messing about here with terms such as
‘emotion’ or ‘frustration’ for example. All such characteristics need to
be defined in terms of observable characteristics. For example, Dollard
et al (1939) defined ‘frustration’ as “when environmental conditions
prevent access to an expected positive reinforcer.” Such definitions
must avoid use of any concept of mental states or feelings. Accurate
observations are essential to behaviourist methods.
Since
behaviourists believe that the same rules apply to both human and animal
learning it is not unusual for research to be carried out on other
species, particularly rats.
Applying to the Sylvia question
Behaviourists prefer a scientific approach to studying behaviour so would
prefer to conduct laboratory experiments wherever possible. No mention of
thoughts or feelings during or after the climb would be sought, the
research would centre on events and behaviour only since these can be
observed and measured. Any variables measured or observed would be
meticulously operationalised in advance allowing for objective
measurement. So for example a scoring system may be produced to measure
the precise reinforcement given to climbers in terms of feedback from
others and compliments received. Experimentation allows for tight control
of variables and allows cause and effect relationships to be determined.
Behaviourists would want to look for a possible vicarious conditioning
effect between watching others climb mountains and being inspired to do so
yourself and the role of praise as a reinforcer. Similarly the
reinforcing role of media portrayal of rock climbing may also be crucial
and would be investigated. Research may also consider extinction and
the effects of punishment caused by accidents or the deaths of others on
rock climbing behaviour.
Evaluation of behaviourist methods
Because of the
scientific methods and tight control of variables, causal relationships
can be established.
Because
research is so well controlled and planned precise replication is possible
so the findings of research can be carefully checked allowing for greater
reliability in theories. Such checking also means that all theories are
objective and testable, allowing for falsification.
However, the
scientific method also has obvious disadvantages. Use of laboratory and
other artificial settings means that research is low in ecological
validity so findings are difficult to generalise to real life situations.
As a result, research triggered by lab research often needs to be further
investigated using more natural techniques in real life situations.
Similarly use
of animals also creates difficulty in generalising theories to humans.
Humans have crucial differences such as use of language and socialisation
that makes theories difficult to generalise across different species.
Because of
their preoccupation of only observable characteristics, many other crucial
factors are missed during observation. No attempts are made to record
participants emotional responses or their thoughts which might provide
valuable insights into the reasons for a particular response.
The scientific approach has a number of advantages such as being able to
isolate cause and effect through tight control of variables. In this
case researchers would try to isolate factors that stimulate the desire to
climb and record the effect this has on climbing behaviour. The methods
used are objective and falsifiable so can be tested by others. However,
being largely lab based they do lack ecological validity making it
difficult for results to be generalised to real life climbing situations
and to other people. A scientific appraisal of climbing for example may
involve climbing walls that do not carry the same risk or glamour has a
real mountain side. In seeking to isolate variables it is possible that
crucial factors may be overlooked so only a narrow explanation of the
behaviour is uncovered.
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All the
approaches mentioned in the booklet are deterministic to a greater or lesser
extent and do not consider the possibility of ‘free-will.’
The
behaviourist approach is probably the most deterministic of all!
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Medical
(biological) approach
Different to
all the other approaches covered in that it believes all of our behaviour,
personality etc. has physical causes and is the approach favoured by
psychiatrists when dealing with psychological abnormality.
You will all
be familiar with the approach since we’ve come across it already on a
number of occasions, for example; stress, eating disorders, schizophrenia,
depression, phobias, intelligence etc.
The medical
model, like the psychodynamic and behaviourist, is deterministic, but is
diametrically opposed to the behaviourists, in that it takes the strictly
‘nature’ stance in the nature-nurture debate.
If you cast
your minds back to previous encounters with this model you should recall
that it proposes genes, biochemistry and brain structure as possible
causes of all aspects of human behaviour. Examples include serotonin as
possible causes of depression, eating disorders and sleep trigger,
enlarged ventricles as a cause of schizophrenia, a genetic predisposition
to practically everything including phobias and the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis as the basis of our feelings of
stress.
Unlike the
other approaches there aren’t really any specific founding fathers or
famous names to rival Freud, Jung, Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, Rogers and
Maslow (humanists), most medical research and theory now seems to be done
as part of larger research teams. However, a few names do spring to mind,
for example Sperry, who in 1981, won a Nobel prize for his work on split
brain patients, and Penfield who via his work on epilepsy, mapped the
surface of the brain.
Similarly,
there are no specific theories or sub-categories as you get with classical
and operant conditioning, or with psychosexual stages and ego defence.
However, as our knowledge of the brain and its structure and function
improves we are beginning to associate brain areas with certain functions
and brain chemicals with specific characteristics and we will look at some
of those in detail, particularly those that look as though they could be
useful in answering questions 8 and 9.
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| Genes |
Neurotransmitters (serotonin) |
Genes
This really
does have to be the easiest to apply explanation of those stimulus
behaviours in section C. You could feasibly make the case that any
characteristic, from joy-riding to farming to vanity, may have been
inherited from other family members. However, there is far more to
heredity than may at first appear the case.
The medical
model is not so blinkered as to assume that particular characteristics are
entirely genetic. Clearly the person’s environment also has an impact.
So, just as a characteristic as genetically determined as height depends
to some extent on environment (diet etc), all of our psychological
characteristics are seen as a combination of nature and nurture. It’s
just that the medical model tends to emphasise the importance of the
genetic. With intelligence for example, geneticists assume the measured
aspects of IQ to be anything between 50 and 80% genetically determined,
with schizophrenia it tends to be around 40% and so on. Heritability
refers to the proportion of the characteristic that is seen as being
genetic.
Many times
during the course we have come across the phrase ‘genetic predisposition’
and this is what the medical model suggests.
Sometimes,
however, the genetic may not be quite so obvious. For example genes may
not be having a direct causal effect, but there may be some intermediary
or go-between characteristic that is genetically determined. We saw with
social phobia for example, that the fear itself may not be inherited, but
a personality characteristic that predisposes a person to the fear, such
as introversion, may be genetic.
Genetics has
also crept into the behaviourist explanation. Again using phobias as an
example, it seems we are genetically primed to learn some associations
more readily than others. It is easier to be taught a fear of snakes and
spiders than it is flowers or houses. This would clearly be of survival
value and may be explained in terms of Darwin’s theory of natural
selection and as such determined by our genes.
Additionally,
when we have covered medical explanations of disorders and we have
considered genes, brain chemicals and brain structure as causes, there is
a tendency to see this as an either/or situation. However, it is
important to bear in mind that brain chemistry will be determined to a
large extent by your genetic make-up. Too many dopamine receptors will in
all probability be due to an inherited characteristic.
Sex
differences could possibly be explained by characteristics carried on the
sex chromosomes (X and Y). If the sex difference is related in some way
to aggression then this could be related to testosterone, which brings us
nicely to the next section:
Brain
chemistry
Clearly
chemicals can drastically affect our behaviour and personality. We only
have to look at the effects of recreational drugs such as alcohol and
cocaine to appreciate that. Many of these drugs are chemically very
similar to chemicals in the brain, for example morphine is similar to
endorphins and LSD is similar to dopamine. It therefore seems reasonable
to assume that varying levels of these brain chemicals could be
influential in altering the way we think and behave. Drug therapies turn
this assumption to our advantage. We know for example that Prozac alters
our levels of serotonin and in some people at least, seems to alleviate
some of their depressed symptoms.
The Board
don’t really expect you to know a full list of brain chemicals and their
various effects on our behaviour; however, a few obvious ones are worth
considering:
Adrenaline:
increases our levels of arousal, prepares us for a fast response,
particularly in the case of emergency. Men appear to be more responsive
to the effects of adrenaline and this could be due to our early role in
hunting and fighting. Clearly any activity that involves thrill-seeking
or a ‘rush’ could be explained in terms of adrenaline release.
Serotonin:
has a variety of roles, but generally appears to be the ‘feel-good’
neurotransmitter that increases our mood and also plays a role in getting
us to sleep, in appetite and in pain perception.
Dopamine:
known to be involved in muscle movement, memory, emotion and
schizophrenia.
Acetyl
choline: not one that we’ve mentioned often (maintaining REM springs
to mind). Also thought to play a role in thinking, memory and emotion.
Acetyl choline appears to be involved in alcoholism.
Endorphins:
these are a collection of chemicals β-endorphin (pronounced
beta-endorphin) being the most widely studies, which are involved in
reducing perception of pain and stress, pleasure (including sexual) and in
some forms of addiction (including heroin). Endorphins are chemically
similar to morphine and released at times of pain and during extreme
exercise. Sporting addiction such as running could be explained by
endorphin production.
It is
important to bear in mind however, that this list is not comprehensive and
is at best an over-simplification. In many cases the precise role of
neurotransmitters and the way they exert their effects is still not clear.
Brain
structure
Psychologists
and neuroscientists associate certain brain areas with certain functions,
but in general, once again, the situation isn’t that simple.
There are two
seemingly opposing general theories on brain function.
1.
Localisation of function
This states
that various functions such as memory, language, perception, focused
attention etc. are situated in specific brain areas. So we have come to
associate the pre-frontal cortex with attention and concentration, Broca’s
area with speech production and the temporal lobes and hippocampus with
memory. On top of this we have cerebral asymmetry, the concept that right
and left hemispheres of the brain are responsible for different skills.
The right side of the brain is arty and sporty, better at spatial
awareness, music and facial recognition, whereas the left is the logical
and mathematical side and controls our language.
2. Mass
action
Karl Lashely,
following his study of rat memory in the early twentieth century,
concluded that memories are stored throughout the brain and if one area is
damaged, another area can take over its function (equipotentiality
principle). This in part led to the bizarre theory, still popularly
believed today, that we only use or need 10% of our brains!
In fact there
are elements of truth in both theories. Generally, the first is most
widely accepted and we now know that certain areas do have certain
functions, but also that in any given activity, disparate parts of the
brain may all work together. Some have likened it to an orchestra with
lots of different sections all contributing to the overall ‘sound.’
So where does
all this get us?
Inability to
adapt to change, focus attention, or sudden changes in personality suggest
problems or abnormality with the frontal lobes of the brain.
Answers
involving the use of language could mention the temporal lobes,
specifically Broca’s area for speech production and Wernicke’s area for
the understanding of language.
Sporting
ability may be due to right hemisphere dominance allowing greater spatial
awareness, whereas language, mathematical or logic would suggest left
hemisphere dominance.
Thrill seeking
or risk taking may be due to lower levels of cortical arousal (perhaps due
to the RAS) that motivate the person to go looking for fun and
stimulation.
Emotional
responses are more complex and involve the more primitive structures of
the brain found beneath the cortex. The Papez-MacLean limbic model
appears to be most influential and suggests that a number of brain areas
including the limbic system, amygdale, hypothalamus (again!) and thalamus
all work together to produce emotion.
Its worth
pointing out here that if you are attempting to explain a feeling,
sensation or emotion using the medical model there’s a philosophical
issue. How does a physical state such as a change in neurotransmitter
levels or electrical signal in your cingulate girus produce that
subjective experience of bright ruby red, sadness or pain, because, that’s
how the medical model sees it….the physiological producing the
psychological? The medical model therefore relies on an element of
cognition, in which the brain has to interpret a physical change within
the body and translate it into a psychological state!
An example:
Coming out the
kebab house one night, a bloke takes a shine to your doner with chilli
sauce and red cabbage and becomes very aggressive waving his half empty
bottle of Bacardi breezer (watermelon and cranberry) too close for
comfort. Physiological result:
Increased
adrenaline, increased heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and
respiration, increased activity in the Papez loop of the brain, decreased
digestion (including of the doner) and dilation of the somewhat glazed
pupils! How do you feel? Fearful, panicked, stressed!
In fact, that
physiological response would be the same as if your partner had just
informed you that you were ditched, or if a teacher had sprung a surprise
test, or even if you were engaged in some moments of shall we say ‘adult
fun’ with that aforementioned partner. Your feelings in each of these
situations will however, be very different; sorrow, guilt, worry,
elation, ecstasy etc, but all stemming from the same changes within
the brain.
The medical or
biological explanation is that the mind knows it has to make a response
because there are physiological changes and it looks at the stimulus
producing the changes. If the stimulus is aggressive you have fear, if
it’s your half naked partner, the feeling is presumably pleasure and if
it’s Ms K. Minogue, ecstasy!
The issue here
is however, very complex and cuts at the very core of psychological
science. To what extent are physiological and psychological states
related and how can cause and effect be established? Could it be that the
psychological feelings and emotions result in corresponding physiological
changes? Some dualists would question whether a link between the two even
exists!
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Rene
Descartes, 17th Century French philosopher, scientist, mathematician
an all-round clever dick who believed that the mind and brain where separate
entities and called his theory dualism.
Descartes
of course gave us that most quoted of philosophical phrases ‘I think therefore I
am*’ or as he would have written it in Latin ‘cogito ergo sum’ or spoken it in
French ‘Je pense donc je suis.’
*variations
include: ‘I drink therefore I am’ and ‘I’m pink therefore I’m spam!’
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So how do we go about using this to tackle a Section C question?
The medical or biological approach would look for some physical
determinant of Sylvia’s desire to climb mountains. A likely contender
would be that Sylvia had in some way inherited a characteristic that would
make it more likely that she wanted to climb or to thrill-seek in this
way. Her desire may not be due to a direct genetic link but may stem from
some other inherited characteristic that then makes it more likely that
she will want to climb, perhaps lower levels of cortical arousal that will
make her go out and seek stimulation of this sort. This lower level could
be mediated through a structure in the midbrain called the reticular
activating system (RAS) which we know sends messages to the cortex during
waking hours and seems to act to increase activity throughout the brain.
Clearly climbing mountains in this way will produce a ‘rush’ as adrenaline
is released into the bloodstream. Sylvia’s desire to continue climbing
could be due to enjoyment of this ‘rush’ or even an addiction to other
chemicals such as endorphins that are released at times of stress, and are
known to produce addiction in some cases.
Impressed
myself with this answer! There should be nothing here that you’re not
familiar with. Most of it is covered in the booklet and the stuff on RAS
was mentioned in ‘sleep.’
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“Homunculus” as he is affectionately known, is an attempt to illustrate how the
somatosensory cortex perceives the relative importance of different parts of the
body. For example the area of the
cortex controlling movement of the lips, tongue and hands is far greater than
that controlling the legs and torso.
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Evaluation of the medical model
The medical
model can claim to be very scientific with its theories being well tested
and verifiable.
It can be
claimed with some certainty that there are known biological influences on
many behaviours including abnormal conditions, for example, genetic
predispositions to certain conditions such as bipolar disorder and
schizophrenia. Similarly brain structures are known to be associated with
certain functions, such as Brocas and Wernickes with speech production and
understanding.
The medical
model has produced many treatments for various psychological conditions,
which further strengthen their claim of a biological cause of
psychological conditions.
However:
The biological
model can be seen as reductionist in that it sees humans as little more
than machines built from proteins and controlled by electrical impulses
and chemicals. As a result there is no consideration of other factors
such as thoughts, learning, experience, culture and society, all of which
must surely have an impact on whatever it is to be human!
In a similar
vein (no attempt at ‘punnery’ intended), the approach is very
deterministic. All that you are is determined for you by your genes,
brain chemistry and structure. There is no attempt to explain the sort of
person you are in terms of your environment, upbringing, hopes,
expectations, feelings etc.
As a result
its treatments are ‘one size fits all.’ Suffering from depression? Then
take one of these twice a day! No consideration of individual
differences, apart from perhaps body weight. As a result the medical
approach does not get to the underlying causes of conditions such as
social and environmental etc.
As we saw in
psychopathology, it isn’t clear to what extent conditions such as
depression are caused by a chemical imbalance or create a chemical
imbalance. The medical model assumes a causal link and all their
treatments take this as a starting point. Remember ‘treatment aetiology
fallacy!’ In most cases cause and effect relationships are far from
proven.
Finally, our
knowledge of the brain is constantly improving and being up-dated.
Therefore the answers the medical model provides today will not be the
same as yesterdays, and crucially will have changed tomorrow. Brain
science is notoriously complex and a full knowledge of brain structure in
relation to function is probably centuries away! Today’s answers
therefore should be seen as no more than stepping stones in our
understanding and treatment.
Medical
methods of investigation
Like the
behaviourists, physiological psychologists like experiments, and for very
similar reasons. They allow for tight control of variables, testable
hypotheses and cause and effect relationships to be established. Strange
therefore that many of their theories do suffer from a lack of proven
causality (sic).
Twin and
family studies
Not a lot to
say about this one since we’ve seen it so many times in the past two years
(intelligence, eating disorders, depression etc). Comparisons of MZ and
DZ twins are used to determine whether or not conditions or behaviours are
genetically or environmentally determined. If concordance rates or
correlation coefficients for MZ are significantly higher than for DZ a
genetic component is assumed. Similarly comparisons between other family
members can be used.
Stimulation
To put it
bluntly poking around inside the brain. Usually done on animals, but
humans have been done as well. Penfield (1958) mapped out the
somatosensory areas of the cortex on conscious patients by stimulating the
surface of the brain with tiny electrical currents and seeing what moved
or was sensed!
Lesion studies
Lesion is a
posh way of saying ‘damage.’ In humans this would normally involve
studying patients with a known brain defect such as enlarged ventricles or
damage to the frontal cortex following an accident. If the area damaged
is known and the symptoms can be observed then a possible link between
area and function can e established. We know for example that patients
like Phineas Gage who had damage to the pre-frontal cortex, suffer
inability to concentrate and changes in personality. Damage to an area of
the temporal lobe called Brocas have problems producing language etc. In
animals lesions can be deliberately created and the deficits observed.
Brain scans
These have
become progressively more complex and subtle and now allow us to see
precisely what areas of the brain are working when we carry out certain
activities. Methods include PET (positron emission topography) scans, CAT
(computer-aided topography) scans and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
Almost forgot MFI (more furniture ideas!). Early techniques depended on
the EEG (electroencephalogram) but this is a very ‘blunt instrument’
compared to more modern methods.
Chemical
manipulation
Drugs may be
administered to see how they influence our behaviour. A classic study
that used this approach was the classic, but now largely discredited
Schacter & Singer (1962). See ethics booklet for more details.
Evaluation of
medical methods of investigation
Since it uses
scientific methods, the medical methods can be tested and cause and effect
relationships established.
In addition,
since variables are tightly controlled under laboratory conditions,
replication is usually also possible so theories can be verified allowing
for greater reliability.
Many links
between brain structure and function have been established, for example
the role of Brocas and Wernickes areas in language and the hippocampus in
some aspects of memory.
But
The brain
isn’t always that simple. It isn’t always possible to relate one
particular brain area to one function. As we saw at the start there is
still confusion between the laws of mass action and localisation of
function. Various areas of the brain seem to work together in many of our
behaviours so damage to one area may be having an unknown ‘knock-on’
effect all around the brain.
It is
notoriously difficult to establish cause and effect, particularly if using
scanning techniques or post-mortems on people who have suffered from
conditions for some time. We can’t be certain that the abnormal brain
structure caused the deficits in behaviour rather than the disorder has
caused the alterations to brain structure.
Twin studies
(as we have seen so many times) have all manner of related issues. They
do not entirely rule out environmental influences since MZ twins
undoubtedly share more similar environments than DZ twins.
Laboratory
studies such as scanning techniques have a number of issues. Firstly,
being in labs they have lack of ecological validity. Behaviours performed
in labs are not natural! Secondly, they usually require the person to be
perfectly stationery, limiting the number of behaviours that can be
studied.
Animal studies
suffer from ethical issues and from difficulties in generalising to other
species let alone to humans. The effects of drugs can have very different
effects from species to species, e.g. morphine has different effects on
rats to mice.
Cognitive
Model
Bizarrely,
cognitive psychologists tend not to be famous for being proponents of this
approach, unlike for example Freud and Jung are famous for being members
of the psychodynamic fraternity and Skinner and Watson are behaviourists.
Indeed it is difficult to think of any one central figure for the
cognitive cause. However, we have come across a number of famous
cognitive psychologists on our brief tour of psychology: Bartlett, Loftus,
Beck, Piaget and Tolman spring to mind, though the latter may need some
reminders, he’s the bloke (Edward Tolman) who discovered the ‘cognitive
map’ that we discussed in animal navigation and animal memory.
The cognitive
model is very much ‘new kid on the block’ not really getting going until
the 1950s with the advent of computers. The cognitive model basically
draws on computer analogies to explain the workings of the brain, so as
such, we have a problem already….as we build better and better computers
the model changes!
The cognitive
approach provides the ‘missing-link’ left by the behaviourists, that
mental process between stimulus and response. What happens between
receiving information about our environment and acting upon it. To fill
in this gap, the cognitive model generally adopts an information
processing approach, comparing mental functions to the latest developments
in computer hardware. And here we have the first criticism: the approach
is very much limited by the latest technology and is constantly being
updated as our ability to produce better hardware progresses. Back in the
40s the brain would be likened to a telephone exchange, at present it’s
the PC. Back in the 80s there was a very exciting period following the
proposed development of ‘protein computers’ but I’m not really sure what
happened to them!
Some examples
of computer analogy and brain function:
Computers are
based around a CPU or central processing unit that can loosely be compared
to the brain and central nervous system.
Computers have
hard disc space for the long term storage of information, analogous to LTM.
The RAM of a
computer system allows it to process information moment to moment, more
akin to the working memory we saw in year 12.
Computers
operate in terms of information flow through various components; again we
saw something similar last year with the multistore model of memory.
Cognition
(meaning ‘knowing’) has been mentioned on many occasions during the
course. Our first topic (memory) was a cognitive topic. Since then we
have looked at cognitive explanations of eating disorders, schizophrenia,
depression and phobias. In addition we have looked at cognitive
development (how the child develops its thinking), social cognition
(thinking processes behind attribution, prejudice etc) and at animal
cognition (animal language and memory). So in fact, without really
realising it, the course, particularly in year 13 has been dominated by
cognition!
Below are some
cognitive ideas and explanations useful for you section C questions.
Labelling
theory
If you look
back at my ‘rant’ during the medical approach about how our physiological
response to all manner of stimuli is pretty much the same, then what
follows will be easier to understand. As Schacter and Singer (1962)
pointed out following their flawed and ethically dubious procedure, the
body’s response to excitement, fear, sexual arousal etc. is almost the
same. So how does the person know how to feel?
According to
Schacter and Singer we look at what has caused the change in pulse etc.
and label our emotion accordingly. If it’s a knife wielding maniac we
feel afraid, if it’s a white knuckle ride we interpret the change as
excitement etc. This labelling of a physiological state is fast and is a
cognitive process. Cognition therefore is key to our emotional states.
Appraisal
theory
Appraisal
theory (Lazarus 1991) takes labelling to its natural conclusion.
According to Lazarus appraisal is a three stage process:
-
Primary
appraisal:
we decide whether the situation is good bad or indifferent. That is
will it have a positive outcome for us, will it be potentially harmful
or make no difference?
-
Secondary
appraisal:
we consider
the resources we have at our disposal to deal with the likely outcome.
This is particularly important if the outcome is likely to be negative.
-
Reappraisal:
we monitor how well our coping strategies are dealing with the situation
and modify our primary and secondary appraisals as the situation
changes.
This process
of appraisal determines our affective response or emotional state, so we
experience fear if we feel we are unable to cope in a situation with
negative consequences or guilt if we are the cause of the situation etc…
Schemas
Do you really
need to be reminded? Schemas, according to Piaget are internal mental
representations that we develop for everything in our lives. They allow
us to organise thoughts, categorise events and predict outcomes.
According to Piaget, our schemas (or that dreadful word ‘schemata’) start
simple in early life and we add to them continually throughout life,
developing new ones and altering those already there. New experiences
either broadly fit with existing thinking, in which case we assimilate, or
they may require alterations or entirely new schemas to be developed, in
which case we accommodate. Schemas exist for everything!
Importantly
however, schemas are not always accurate representations of events or
things, they are very much our own interpretation of these events and as
prone to distortion as our memories. Note: schemas for events are called
scripts. Others include role schemas that tell us how to behave when
performing different roles such as teacher, doctor, vicar etc.
Cognitive
miser
A term
encountered in social cognition. We try to make sense of our world and
those around us using as little information as possible. Schemas and
stereotypes enable us to categorise and summarise the huge amounts of
incoming information using as little effort as possible. Unfortunately
using these short cuts makes us prone to error and bias.
Evaluation of
the cognitive approach
The cognitive
approach seems to occupy ground central to the subject of psychology, in
that it considers our thinking, memory, emotions etc., however, unlike the
psychodynamic approach (which it could be argued does the same) it
attempts a scientific explanation and adopts a scientific methodology.
Because it
uses scientific methods its theories and assumptions are testable and more
objective than those of the psychodynamic approach. One could almost
describe it as ‘behaviourism for our inner world’ but having never read
this anywhere I wouldn’t quote it. However, hopefully it will help
illustrate what I mean.
Although it is
a relative newcomer, it has given rise to numerous applications as we saw
with the cognitive interview technique for improving EWT. The cognitive
approach is now a favourite for therapists and is widely applied in the
treatment of depression and anxiety and stress disorders. CBT (cognitive
behaviour therapy) combining cognitive and behaviourist approaches it
tackles the thought processes behind unwanted or abnormal behaviour. Its
widespread applications have also reached as far as artificial
intelligence (AI).
However, its
reliance on computer analogies means that it’s over-simplistic and
reductionist, attempting to draw similarities between human emotion and
the workings of a PC!
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Arising
from this we have a few Star Trek issues (not to be quoted):
Mr Spock and his over-reliance on logical and analytical
thought
Mr Data who has no concept of emotions, at least not until he
loads his ‘emotion chip.’ I find
this latter quite a useful analogy for the cognitive approach since here we
have the complexities of emotion reduced to computer hardware.
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Like all
approaches it can be criticised for the things it doesn’t consider. The
cognitive approach doesn’t consider genetic influences on behaviour or how
the environment shapes us. In particular it fails to consider the
individuals social environment and their social interactions.
Methods used
by the cognitive approach
Not a good one
to choose for this section, but here goes anyway. Best avoid it if you
can though!
Cognitive
psychologists like a scientific approach allowing for tight control of
variables. However, unlike the behaviourists, they’re more interested in
recording what is going on inside the mind (or brain) of their
participants.
Laboratory
experiments
As we saw in
memory, these are a favourite method of study in which the environment is
in some way manipulated to see what effect it has on the participant’s
thinking, memory, perception etc.
Some cognitive
studies (like Schacter & Singer 1962) have involved giving drugs such as
adrenaline to participants without their knowledge and then observing how
that person attempts to interpret their heightened arousal cognitively.
Difficult to think of many uses for this in your part c questions
though.
Case studies
Take advantage
of a naturally occurring abnormality or accident (such as brain injury) in
a patient and then carry out a detailed analysis of the cognitive defects
resulting. Classic cases would include amnesiacs such as HM and KF, but
also people like Genie who would have their cognitive functions (like
language acquisition) monitored.
As well as
using computer analogy, cognitive psychologists like to use the latest
technology in their experiments, for example, in presenting letters at
high speed for memory tests, or pattern recognition.
Interviews
Piaget’s
preferred method of study was the clinical interview in which participants
are often given a task followed up by questions that try to establish the
thinking behind their solutions or responses. Open questions are best for
this.
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