Issues & debates•Contributions to Society- Cognitive, Social, Psychodynamic,
biological and learning approaches
•Contributions to Society- Criminological and Clinical
psychology
The Cognitive approach
(1) The Cognitive Interview:
• Elizabeth Loftus and others have found that EWT can be unreliable,
e.g. Because leading questions can affect someone’s account of a
situation.
• A witness's memory can be altered by how they are questioned; the
amount of time lapsed since the incident; and by their own
schemas.
• The cognitive interview has been developed from research by
Geiselman (and others) into problems with memory e.g. The
cognitive interview can start from any one of a sequence of events
so that the witness can tell the story in their own way. It can also
take place at the scene so that the cues present at encoding are also
present at retrieval: this links to cue dependant forgetting.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• Studies such as Loftus & Palmer (1974), which showed how just the
change of a verb could affect a witness’s judgement of speed,
showed that more than ‘just’ questioning was needed to get
accurate EWT. Therefore, a technique that took into account the
power of words was needed- the cognitive interview was developed
from well evidenced theory.
• Evidence that led to the cognitive interview came from wellcontrolled lab experiments, which were replicated and found to be
reliable, such as in Loftus’ many studies.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• Milne (1997) found that the cognitive interview did not seem to
lead to the recall of more material than other techniques did.
• Memon et al. (1997) found no greater effect when asking the
witness to recall from different places in the sequence of events
than asking for recall more than once from the start. Perhaps asking
the witness to start in different places does not have much effect.
• The enhanced version of the cognitive interview (Fisher &
Geiselman, 1992) includes many different features. It is hard to test
it to see which features are effective.
(2) Cognitive behavioural therapy:
• CBT is used for depression and other mental health problems.
• Many counsellors now use CBT, which has been found to be
successful in the short-term, with clients finding relief from
symptoms quite quickly.
• CBT focuses on how thoughts lead to feelings that in turn lead to
behaviour, which has consequences.
• Learned experiences can trigger negative automatic thoughts, giving
patterns of thoughts and responses that can be maladaptive for an
individual
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• The therapist works with the client to help them learn new
strategies to cope with their negative automatic thoughts. The
client does homework focused on their thinking and behaviour, so
learning tools that can help them in the future. They are in charge
of the therapy- which means that it is quite likely to last a long time
even without the therapist’s support.
• It has been said that CBT is a scientific approach because it draws on
empirical evidence. From that evidence the client draws their own
conclusions about their thoughts and feelings. There is objectivity in
that the therapist explores the clients meanings and does not
impose on their own frames of reference.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• A client has to be able to consider their thoughts, carry out
homework and remember their early experience. They have to be
cognitively able to do these things, so the therapy may not work for
everyone.
• If the client believes that the therapist is responsible for the
outcome, CBT might not work. A study in Switzerland (Delsignore et
al., 2008) looked at the 49 people suffering from social anxiety
disorder. At a 3-month follow up, clients who felt they were
responsible for their progress were more likely to feel the continued
benefits of CBT than those who thought the therapist was
responsible. Long-term outcomes seem to depend on the
expectations of the client as to how far they are responsible for
their own improvements.
The Social approach
(1) Reducing prejudice:
• Reducing prejudice is about interactions between people, including
group behaviour, so it is the social approach which offers
suggestions about it.
Social identity theory:
• Tajfel’s social identity theory suggests that prejudice is formed
because people identify with members of their in-group and, to
raise their self-esteem, denigrate members of the out-group. You
would see the group that you belong to as useful, good, relevant or
successful, for example.
• You would be prejudiced against the out-group, and believe the
opposite because that would boost your in-group.
• This explanation of prejudice would suggest that in-groups and outgroups need to merge in order to reduce prejudice.
(1) Reducing prejudice:
Social conflict theory:
• Sherif’s social conflict theory goes further and says that not only are
two groups likely to be prejudiced against one another but that
prejudice also arises because groups are in conflict over resources.
• In order to reduce prejudice the two groups need to work together
to solve a common problem- called a superordinate goal.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• Sherif (1954) found that two groups where he had instilled
prejudice worked together to solve common problems and then
claimed more friends in the opposing group than they had beforeevidence that working towards superordinate goals reduces
prejudice.
• Studies have used either laboratory (e.g. Tajfel) or field (e.g. Sherif)
experiments where there are clear controls and measurable
independent and dependant variables, so reliable cause and effect
conclusions can be drawn.
• Both these theories suggest that it is the formation of groups that
leads to prejudice and the removal of group delineation that
reduces it, so they support one another.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• It is not easy t remove in-group/out-group behaviour as it is a
feature of society that people have different affiliations. Even if
some groups merge, they are likely then to be hostile to another
group.
• It is likely that many different circumstances have to come together
to reduce prejudice, as well as merging groups and having common
goals. For example, it depends on the status of the groups, and on
cultural norms that lead to stereotyping.
(2) Understanding obedience:
• Milgram (1973/74) explained obedience using the agency theory,
where he suggested that people act as agents of society to
authority figures, obeying orders from people in power than acting
autonomously.
• Hofling et al. (1966) found that nurses obeyed someone they
thought was a doctor even when what they were told to do went
against their training. They obeyed an authority figure.
• Understanding such issues about obedience, and that the situation
(such as being in the role of a nurse) can affect whether people
obey, helps to understand brutal acts such as have happened
recently to prisoners of war.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• Many studies have show evidence of blind obedience to an
authority figure, such as Milgram’s and Hofling et al.’s studies, as
well as studies in other cultures. Participants were obedient even
when it went against their own moral code.
• Studies have used laboratory (e.g. Milgram) or field (e.g. Haney et
al.) experiments where there are clear controls and measurable
variables, so reliable cause and effect conclusions tend to be
assumed.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• Obedience is a complex issue. Factors such as the setting, the
presence of the authority figure, what task the ‘obedient’ person
has to carry out are all important. It is hard to measure ‘obedience’
in one way, so hard to research it validly.
• Although obedience has been found in studies such as Milgram’s,
there is often a lot of disobedience as well (35% in Milgram’s main
study, though only one of Hofling et al.’s nurses). Thus reasons for
not obeying must also be studied.
The Psychodynamic approach
(1) Success of psychoanalysis:
• The psychodynamic approach is about psychoanalysis and Freud’s
ideas about the power of the unconscious and the need to make
unconscious thoughts conscious.
• It is a therapy to help those who are mentally ill, so helps society to
maintain mental health
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• Psychoanalysis is still used over 100 years later, and the theory
continues to be built on, by the object relations school, for example.
The idea has led to other practical applications and theories.
• Unlike other therapies, such as drug treatments or some
counselling, psychoanalysis involves very in-depth probing of an
individual’s whole life and background, which can have value when
trying to help them live more successfully from their own
viewpoint.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• Psychoanalysis involves intensive visits for a long time so is timeconsuming and expensive. CBT, for example, is more accessible,
often free and limited to under ten weeks.
• It is hard to measure the concepts involved, such as the unconscious
and dream symbols, so the therapy doesn’t rest on scientific
foundations. This makes it hard to test and show to be effective.
(2) Understanding gender:
• The psychodynamic approach explain that boys learn their
behaviour from identifying with their father during the phallic stage
through the Oedipus complex.
• Girls, in a similar (but different) way, identify with their mothers
and copy their behaviour.
• It helps society to understand gender differences in behaviour such
as why a woman may choose as a partner a man like her father.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• The Little Hans study has been used as evidence for the Oedipus
complex and the need a small boy has to identify with his father.
• There is evidence (e.g. Connor and Brown, 2007) that girls have
later relationships with (or marry) males like their father and boys
have later relationships with (or marry) females like their mother.
This is evidence for the Oedipus complex and the idea of
identification.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• It is hard to test ideas such as the Oedipus complex as the ideas are
not measureable in a scientific way.
• The therapy is long, expensive and huge commitment- in some
cases someone has to attend everyday for psychoanalysis- so it is
not a therapy that society can easily fund or recommend.
The Biological approach
(1) PET scanning evidence:
• The biological approach has contributed PET scanning evidence to
society.
• PET scanning involves generating computerised pictures of the brain
by using a radioactive tracer to highlight areas of activity.
• This helps society to contain mental health problems by better
understanding them.
• Health problems are expensive and do not help productivity, as well
as causing individual stress.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• PET scanning is objective in that another person can check the
printouts from the scans to make sure there is no subjectivity.
• A PET scan is repeatable so can be tested for reliability. This makes
it a scientific method with scientific standing.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• PET scans only show certain areas of the brain to be active but
cannot pinpoint precise areas of this very complex organ.
• It is hard to say whether brain changes cause certain behaviour or
whether that behaviour causes changes in the brain. Raine et al.’s
(1977) study is evidence of this difficulty
(2) Understanding gender:
• The Biological approach explains gender through hormones and
genes.
• Males are XY and are more governed by androgens and females are
XX, governed by oestrogens.
• The Biological approach points out that some people are XXY, or
wrongly sex assigned at birth.
• This allows society to help such people, if that is appropriate, to
maintain good mental health.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• The finding about gender are measurable and testable, so results of
studies have objectivity- the results do not need interpretation.
• Those with sex differences with regard to genes and/or hormones,
such as Turner’s syndrome, have consistently similar observable
differences, suggesting that the explanation is reliable.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• There are other explanations for gender development, such as from
the Learning and Psychodynamic approaches, that show a role for
nurture and the environment, The Biological Approach does not
take nurture into account to the same extent.
• Some studies are done with animals, such as injecting testosterone
into female mice to see the effect, and findings from animals may
not be validly generalised to say they are true of humans.
The Learning approach
(1) Systematic desensitisation:
• Systematic desensitisation (SD) is a treatment used for phobias.
• It works by linking relaxation instead of fear to something that
causes a phobia.
• Someone is taught to relax deeply and then maintain that
relaxation state whilst being gradually introduced to the phobic
situation.
• The treatment follows classical conditioning principles.
• Therapies are useful to society to help avoid health problems, which
can be expensive in terms of work lost and individual dissatisfaction
and stress.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• SD is a therapy that gives the client some control over what they
agree to and it is a gradual therapy. This means it is ethical in the
sense of having informed consent and allowing the right to
withdraw.
• SD can be self-administered and does not need a therapist, which
means it is free and can be undertaken in someone's own time and
at their own pace.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• SD is not suitable for clients who are unable to relax well or to
imagine scenarios where their phobia might occur. It is limited to
people with insight and some control over their thoughts and
emotions.
• It is better for specific phobias rather than for free-floating anxiety
or social phobia. This is because a specific issue needs to be broken
down into a hierarchy which is not as easy with general phobias.
• SD may not be as effective for phobias that might have a survival
element, such as fear of closed spaces or fear of dangerous animals.
It is more effective for learned phobias, as classical conditioning
would predict.
(2) Token economy:
• The token economy programme (TEP) is used in schools, prisons and
other institutions to control behaviour and achieve required
behaviour.
• The required behaviour is rewarded by some sort of token that can
later be exchanged for time watching TV, sweets, or any other
reward. Gradually, required behaviour can be shaped in this way.
• The programme follows operant conditioning principles.
• It is useful in helping control behaviour so that society’ members
comply with norms and rules and the majority can feel safe and
comfortable.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• The TEP can be run by the people who are not therapists, although
they must be trained. The training can be done in-house and is not
very expensive. This is more cost-effective and less time-consuming
than using trained therapists.
• Behaviour of people who find it hard to be involved with therapies
that require analysis and concentration can be shaped using TEP’s,
so it is useful for those with less insight than the other therapies
need.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• It can be hard to transfer the learning in the institution to the
‘outside’ world as the environment is different.
• Ethically, there is an issue about the power of the people running
the programme as they can both reward and punish. Such a power
must be carefully controlled and supervised to protect the
individuals concerned.
Criminological psychology
(1) Offender profiling:
• Offender profiling is a relatively recent development in
criminological psychology and is carried out when there is a crime
that is repeated so that a pattern can be identified to help catch the
criminal.
• David Canter is a well-known name in the development of offender
profiling, and the case known as the Railway Rapist case is a famous
example of the usefulness of offender profiling.
• Society benefits from catching criminals of course, so offender
profiling is an important contribution.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• Offender profiling is done in cases where the police need as many
clues and hints as possible to follow up. The cases involved are
usually ones where there is an urgency to stop another similar
incident. Offender profiling can help to reduce the field of suspects,
saving police time.
• Offender profiling takes all aspects of the case into account, from
the crime scene to possible psychological aspects of the criminal.
This makes it a holistic way of looking at a crime and details are less
likely to be missed than if each aspect were looked at one at a time.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• It is hard to show that offender profiling is effective as it is just one
element in the search for the criminal and the profiler cannot come
up with the name of the criminal. This also makes it hard to show
its usefulness to society, which has made it suspect by some as a
method.
• Approaches to offender profiling differ (e.g. In the UK and in the US
with the FBI). This means it can be idiosyncratic, which is not
scientific and so might not be seen as useful.
Clinical psychology
(1) Understanding schizophrenia:
• If a mental health disorder can be treated, this helps the individual,
the family and society as a whole.
• When behaviour mirrors the norms and rules of society, the
members of society are generally happy.
• There is also a cost element in that mental health disorders are
often expensive to treat and deal with.
• Schizophrenia can be at least partially controlled by antischizophrenic drugs, and the dopamine hypothesis seems to explain
at least some forms of schizophrenia.
Evaluating the contribution:
Strengths:
• In about 1/3 of cases drug treatment controls schizophrenia as long
as the medication is taken. People are then able to function in
society rather than in an institution, which has benefits for them
and for society.
• Other treatments such as care in the community, which gives
support to someone with schizophrenia, have also been developed
from psychological explanations, such as labelling and the need for
social support. Taken with drug treatment, care in the community,
with its strong focus on the individual, is likely to be socially
responsible from an ethical point of view.
Evaluating the contribution:
Weaknesses:
• Medication does not work in all cases, though if it has a calming
effect perhaps that qualifies as ‘help’. The problem is that many
people say that being ‘drugged’ is not a successful treatment
because the person is no longer ‘themselves’. Perhaps society
benefits rather than the individual and their family.
• There are different forms of schizophrenia such as catatonia,
reactive and paranoid schizophrenia. These might have different
causes, which makes explaining the illness different.