Psychology
Approaches and Methods in
Psychology
Section 1: A Look at Psychology
[HIGHER]
A LOOK AT PSYCHOLOGY
SECTION 1
Aims
Welcome to the first section of the ‘Approaches and Methods in
Psychology’ unit.
The aim of this section is to introduce you to psychology as a science,
illustrate the kind of work that some psychologists are involved in, and
introduce you to five different approaches in psychology.
By the end of this section you should be able to:
• give a definition of psychology
• explain the role of evidence in psychology
• name five different approaches used in psychology.
There may be some names and terms that you find difficult to begin
with. When you first come across a new word or term you will find that
an explanation is provided for you. Thereafter, you can look the word
up in the Glossary which is contained within your Introductory Student
Guide.
Remember that it is quite common to find things a little difficult at first –
once you get into the swing of things you will almost certainly find that
you are able to cope. If you have been away from studying for some
time, try to pace yourself slowly. This will build up your concentration
skills – they may have become a little ‘rusty’ since you last studied.
Above all, don’t panic. If you find some areas of this section difficult to
grasp first time around, take a break and return to it later. If you
continue to have difficulty, contact your tutor and explain the problem.
Your tutor will then advise you how best to proceed.
Approximate study time for this section
As a rough guide, this section will take approximately 2 hours to
complete.
Other resources required for this section
A loose-leaf folder A4 size
Suitable paper for use with the folder
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Assessment information
How you will be assessed for this section
Your learning of the material in this section will be assessed in a closed
book, invigilated end of unit assessment. Your tutor will contact you to
make appropriate arrangements. The assessment will consist of a range
of questions that will require you to produce structured answers (i.e.
not essays). The required answers will vary in length depending on the
mark allocation of each question.
In addition to the internal assessment, if you choose to complete the
entire Higher Psychology course, this section will be assessed in a formal
external exam. The exam will sample your knowledge from all areas
studied in the Higher Psychology course.
When and where you will be assessed for this section
The internal assessment of the material in this section will take place
once you have completed all sections of the Higher Psychology:
Approaches and Methods unit. You should aim to sit this assessment
within about three months of starting the course.
The internal assessment of the Higher Psychology: Approaches and
Methods unit can be completed at one sitting. However, your tutor may
arrange for you to sit it in two parts on separate days.
The external exam takes place in June of each year.
Both the internal assessment and external exam will normally be held at
your centre. They will be formally invigilated and carried out in exam
conditions.
What you have to achieve for this section
You have to achieve satisfactory completion of all Tutor Assignments.
Opportunities for reassessment for this section
If necessary, opportunities can be made available for you to resit the
internal assessment. This policy will be explained to you by your tutor if
the need arises. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as for the
first attempt at assessment.
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At present, there is only one sitting available for the external exam. If
you wish to resit the exam, you will need to wait until the following
June. Credit for internal assessments can be carried over into the new
academic year, so there is no need to resit internal assessments if you
decide to resit the external exam.
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Defining psychology
You have now begun your psychology unit and the first thing must be to
get a general ‘feel’ for the area of study you have chosen. Before you
start, though, pause and consider how you would explain to someone
what psychology is.
Suppose a friend asks you what you are studying. You say ‘psychology’
and your friend says ‘that sounds like fun, but what is it?’
Most people would have trouble explaining what psychology is all about.
While we have some idea what we mean by psychology, it’s quite difficult
to explain this.
The word ‘psychology’ actually comes from two words: psyche and
logos. The word psyche (pronounced ‘sigh-key’) is Greek and means
‘breath of life’, ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’. This translates very loosely as ‘mind’.
The word logos means ‘knowledge’ or ‘study’. Hence, psychology was
originally defined as: the study of the mind.
However, quite a few psychologists don’t like this definition because it’s
impossible to study the mind directly. Indeed, just trying to say what
the mind is gives us immense problems. Such psychologists have in fact
avoided this problem completely and study only behaviour,
concentrating on what is seen to be happening. Nevertheless, the
‘mind’ is very much part of the unique experiences of each individual
and therefore is still generally considered to be central to psychology.
The pursuit of the mind and the study of behaviour is a large part of the
work of psychologists in their many different fields today.
A commonly accepted definition of psychology is:
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour of humans
and animals.
A1
Write here in your own words how you would now answer your friend’s
question about what psychology is:
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A1 Response
You probably said something like ‘psychology is the study of how our
mind works and how we behave’ or ‘psychology tries to find out why we
behave in certain ways and also how our mind works’.
Remember that any definition of psychology should always refer to both
mind and behaviour.
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Psychology as a science
Psychologists have developed their own rigorous methods for studying
humans. Many psychologists use methods that are known to be
scientific – controlled experiments, careful measurements and clear
procedures for example. They also may use animals in their research
because they believe that what they learn about animals can be applied
to humans.
Psychology is a young science compared to other sciences such as
chemistry and physics. It began properly as a science in 1897 when
Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory in Germany.
Wundt wanted to make the study of mental processes more systematic.
Instead of just developing his own ideas, he devised experiments to try
to find evidence to support his theories. In this way he made
psychology more scientific.
In the same way John B Watson, the father of Behaviourism, wanted
psychology to adopt the experimental methods that had proved so
successful within the physical sciences. For Watson, however, the
primary subject matter (or data) from psychology must be items of
behaviour. He saw psychology as the science of behaviour, and placed
particular emphasis on measurement and objectivity as ways of achieving
this.
Partly because psychology is such a new science, and partly because the
subject matter it studies is people, research progress is slower than with
the natural sciences. We can’t go around carrying out experiments on
people without carefully considering any possible harm this might cause
them!
One thing psychology can’t do therefore is give us completely correct
answers to all the questions we have about behaviour and about mental
processes. What psychology can do, however, is tell us what is definitely
not the right answer and suggest a number of very useful ideas about
what the right answer might be. We then must use our own judgement
to consider the evidence and decide which one of several possible
‘theories’ is closest to the truth.
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Here are some questions for you to try.
?1
Please answer the following questions by indicating whether the
statement is either true or false.
Tick the correct answer
1.
Psychology is the study of mind
and behaviour
TRUE
FALSE
2.
Psychology never began properly
as a science
TRUE
FALSE
3.
Wundt devised experiments in
a laboratory
TRUE
FALSE
4.
Wundt tried to find evidence about
how the mind works
TRUE
FALSE
5.
Watson did not use the scientific
method
TRUE
FALSE
6.
Watson only studied behaviour
TRUE
FALSE
7.
Watson was a physicist
TRUE
FALSE
8.
Research in psychology takes place
very quickly
TRUE
FALSE
9.
Psychological research often uses
people
TRUE
FALSE
10.
Psychology has provided us with
the complete truth about the mind
and behaviour
TRUE
FALSE
Now check your responses with those given at the end of this study
section.
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Let’s think for a moment about what it is that makes science special.
A2
Give each of the following a number from 1 to 5, according to how
reliable you think it is. (If something is reliable, you can depend on it
always being true or at least accurate.)
In this activity, ‘1’ means very reliable, ‘5’ means not reliable at all.
Gossip
Advertisements
Superstitions
Scientific explanation
Common sense
1.
Which of the above did you judge to be most reliable?
2.
Which of the above did you judge to be least reliable?
Place your reliability ratings in order, starting with the most reliable and
finishing with the least reliable.
1.
Most reliable
2.
3.
4.
5.
3.
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Least reliable
How did you rate scientific explanations compared to the other
things on the list?
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A2 Response
1.
I expect you said that scientific explanations were the most reliable
or nearly the most reliable type of explanation to have. This is
probably because you know that science is highly valued in our
society and that we rely on it a lot in our daily lives, e.g. medicine,
technology, national security.
2.
It may be that you thought that gossip/superstitions are not very
reliable types of explanations for a lot of things.
Maybe you have direct experience of this – for example, the story
you heard about so and so just did not ring true although it was
really interesting to listen to; nothing terrible happened to you on
Friday 13th or when you walked underneath a ladder or when you
broke a mirror.
People often use common sense and see it as something that is
sound because it is based on their own experience and
understanding. For example, if someone in your household is
particularly grumpy in the morning, it is common sense not to ask
that person for ten pounds as soon as he/she gets out of bed. Your
experience will tell you to wait until later in the day before you
bring up the subject. In this case, your common sense is mainly
reliable because it is based on your own observations and
experiences of this person’s behaviour patterns. However,
common sense can also be unreliable in situations where you are
depending on your own interpretations. This is because of course
we are only human and can easily become biased, jump to
conclusions or just simply misunderstand a person or situation.
Advertisements are supposed to be reliable in the statements they
make about what things are like or what they can do. However, I
think we all realise that advertisers deliberately exaggerate in order
to make their products more appealing and difficult for a
consumer to resist.
3.
While there is no real right or wrong answer to this question, it is
generally acknowledged that a scientific explanation can be relied
upon more than any of the other types of explanation given.
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A3
Read carefully the article from The Guardian newspaper on bullying of
children who have a stammer. The article is on the following pages.
1.
Once you have read the passage, separate out all the personal
accounts of ‘how it feels to be bullied’ from the research work
relating to the problem. You can do this by marking the passage if
you like.
2.
Answer the questions that follow the article.
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Stammerers targeted by school bullies
Most children with stammers get bullied
persistently at school and many are scarred
for life by the experience, according to
evidence published yesterday by the
British Psychological Society.
Researchers found that 83% of the adult
stammerers they questioned had
experienced bullying at school, including
name-calling, threats, rumour-spreading,
theft of belongings and physical
aggression.
Nearly one in five victims said they were
bullied every day, and 71% said it
happened at least once a week.
In almost every case the bullying started
after the onset of stammering and so could
not be regarded as its cause. Typically,
children started stammering by age 10 and
the bullying began between 11 and 13.
Three-quarters of the victims said the
bullying affected their schoolwork and
nearly half reported long term effects,
including low self-esteem, anxiety,
nightmares, hatred of teachers and
paranoia.
A man, 62, told the researchers: ‘As a
child I spent the best part of an afternoon
trying to say one word. As long as I live I
shall never forget that day: the fear, the
tension, sweat running down my small
body, the facial distortion and eye
movements. It was unbelievable.’
A woman, 36, said: ‘The bullying has
haunted me all my life. I sometimes have
difficulty staying in employment and often
wonder if this could be an effect of the
school bullying.’
A man, 30, said: ‘I was really hurt by the
laughter and the jibes. Emotionally it has
made a big dent in me.’
Another victim spoke of the constant
fear of being asked to speak in school.
‘Even years later I can’t overstate the
constant fear, day in day out, right from the
first week of school. It never improved.’
A man, 47, said ‘My worst experience
was at 14 to 15 years when I was asked to
recite a Masefield poem, Quinquireme of
Nineveh. The teacher took sadistic
pleasure in making me stand and recite it
until I finished. I couldn’t finish, unable to
get the words out, but he carried on
insisting I finished, sneering and angry.’
An 18-year-old said: ‘I became physically
ill; I only had a 59% attendance rate. I
attempted to commit suicide when I was 14.
My parents thought it was just an allergic
reaction to a sleeping drug.’
The study, by Siobhan Hugh-Jones of
Leeds University and Peter Smith of
Goldsmith’s Centre, University of London,
found that teachers and parents were
usually unaware of the bullying or did
nothing about it. Most of the stammerers
in their sample were middle-aged and so
attended school before teachers became
more aware of the problems of bullying.
‘However, as yet there is little sign that
the particular difficulties of dysfluent
children in school are fully recognised,
despite the fact that it is likely that every
average sized school will have at least five
children who stammer’, the researchers
said in today’s issue of the British Journal
of Educational Psychology .
Children might not know they had a
problem with a stammer until they
encountered difficulties at school. ‘The
verbal demands produced in the classroom
environment – from answering the register
to reading aloud – are often very different
to the informal, relaxed speech that the
child has become accustomed to with
family and friends.
‘Dysfluent children may also have to deal
with a stereotypical view of stammerers as
being awkward, shy and of lower
intelligence. Some become adept at
managing their stammer, but many are
unable to control their overt symptoms: the
more they try, the more they stammer.’
The study found that stammerers had
difficulty making friends, perhaps a main
reason why they experienced more bullying
than other pupils.
John Carvel, Education Editor, The
Guardian , 4 June 1999
From the Guardian Unlimited archive
www.guardian.co.uk
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Boys most afflicted by condition
•
5% of children aged under 5 stammer (about 188,000 children of
pre-school age across Britain).
•
Twice as many boys as girls stammer among the under-5s.
•
Four times as many men as women have the condition.
•
Stammering affects around 1.2% (about 109,000) of children aged
between 5 and 16.
•
1% of adults stammer (about 459,000).
•
It is not known what causes the condition, and the incidence does
not appear to be increasing or decreasing. It occurs across all
cultures and in all social groups.
•
Stammering is more likely to occur at the beginning of sentences, on
words that carry information or on complex words of several
syllables.
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Answer the following questions.
1.
Describe in a few sentences how much of this article is about
research work into bullying of stammerers.
2.
How much of the article is about personal experiences?
3.
Do you feel that the research work being done in this area is
necessary? Give reasons.
4.
Do you feel that the research work being done in this area is
relevant? Give reasons.
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A3 Response
1 and 2.
You may have noticed that the newspaper article contains
very brief accounts of research into the problems of
stammering and focuses fairly heavily on the personal
experiences of some of those people involved. Given that
this article is to provide information in a fairly interesting way,
this is not a criticism of it.
3 and 4.
The research work being done here is both necessary and
relevant.
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The role of evidence in psychology
However, what is not made very clear in the article is that the opinions
of psychologists are based on evidence. What is important for you to
note is that the expertise that Siobhan Hugh-Jones and Peter Goldsmith
have in the area of stammering is based on studies that they and other
psychologists have carried out.
When you come across any claim in the area of psychology you are
entitled to ask ‘What is the evidence here?’ You should then assess the
claim in the light of the evidence presented.
All psychological studies aim to produce evidence that can be verified.
That is, the studies can be repeated by other people with the
expectation of producing the same results. If the same results are not
obtained, then it is necessary to uncover the source of any difference.
In order for results to be verifiable, a study must be carried out with
precision. This means a psychologist must be extremely precise when he/
she reveals the conditions involved in implementing a particular study.
Also, the data obtained must be objective rather than subjective. When the
47-year-old man in the article describes his own experience of stammering
at school, he is giving a subjective account (‘The teacher took sadistic
pleasure in making me stand...’). While you may sympathise and feel his
account must be true, there is no way to establish its accuracy.
All of this should help you with the answers to the questions given. You
may have felt that the article did little more than repeat what could have
been obtained from the personal account of people who stammer. This
is partly true. In fact, many studies in psychology confirm rather than
contradict ideas you already believe to be correct. However, there is
real value in testing such ideas precisely and objectively since it is the
only way to avoid disagreement and controversy about what is and what
is not the case.
This brief discussion should help you begin to recognise the importance
of evidence in psychology. Evidence is of course central to the scientific
method that psychology aspires to. However, evidence on its own has
little real meaning. The numbers that Siobhan Hugh-Jones and Peter
Smith gathered during their study only came to life once they were
interpreted. Psychology is not only about evidence but also about how
you interpret that evidence. You will inevitably come across
disagreements among psychologists on what a particular study means
and how the results should be interpreted. This is all part of the intrigue
and challenge of psychology.
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Different approaches to one behaviour
It is important to grasp the idea that the same behaviour can be
explained in a variety of ways by psychologists who adopt different
approaches to psychology.
Any action a person takes can be explained from several different points
of view. Consider, for example, running to catch a bus. This act can be
explained in terms of its purpose or goal for you, i.e. catching the bus
will allow you to get to school/college or work on time. It can also be
explained in a biological way. Nerves activate the muscles which make
the legs move quickly. Running to catch a bus can also be explained in
terms of the bus being a stimulus which causes you to react by running
towards it.
Perhaps you have begun to realise that there are different ways of
explaining even the simplest of our actions. In the same way, there are
also different approaches to explaining behaviour in psychology.
The important divisions within psychology that you need to understand
are those between the different approaches. The emergence of these
different approaches is best viewed historically. While there is little sense
in learning about the history of psychology for its own sake, the
different approaches within psychology make perfect sense when placed
in their correct historical context.
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?2
Please re-read the section on the emergence of psychology on page 90,
and in particular the part that refers to Wilhelm Wundt and John B
Watson.
As is pointed out, the emergence of psychology is usually dated from
1874 when Wundt established the first experimental psychology
laboratory. Wundt deliberately set out to make psychology into a
scientific discipline. Wundt and his associates focused their
investigations on conscious mental experiences. Unfortunately it was
extremely difficult to do this in an objective and scientific way. The main
method used, introspection (individual self reports about sensations,
feelings and mental experiences), soon became unpopular. This was
because introspection as a method was not successful. It became clear
that this was a highly subjective way of collecting information about
someone’s mental processes. In addition, disagreements between
different observers could not be resolved. However, modern
psychology has begun again to examine mental processes, but using
methods which are very different from introspection. The cognitive
approach today examines mental processes such as memory and
perception using methods which were not available in Wundt’s time, i.e.
computer simulations and other technological advances which allow us
to observe mental processing more directly and therefore objectively.
As a direct consequence of the failure of introspection to reveal the
secrets of the mind, psychology turned sharply to the study of
behaviour. According to Watson, the main focus for psychology should
be objectively observable behaviour rather than any internal process
which you cannot see or measure. Thus the behaviourist approach in
psychology was born. The behaviourist approach is sometimes also
referred to as stimulus–response (S–R) psychology since the
behaviourists focused on the immediate stimuli which trigger a
particular behaviour or response. This approach enjoyed considerable
influence throughout the twentieth century and is still used extensively
today.
The influence of biology on early psychology was also considerable. By
the time Wundt had established his laboratory, great advances had been
made in understanding the nervous system, in linking language ability to
different areas of the brain and in measuring the speed of nervous
conduction. Furthermore, Darwin’s evolutionary theory suggested a
degree of continuity between man and other animals that had not been
acknowledged before. This marked the emergence of the biological
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Approach – an approach that studies how the functions of the body’s
physical systems, e.g. nervous system, endocrine system, are related to
and influence both behaviour and mental processes.
At the same time as behaviourism was being developed, Sigmund Freud
introduced a very different type of approach in order to explain human
behaviour. Freud’s psychoanalytic approach was based on the case
studies of individual patients he was attempting to treat for a variety of
difficulties. The psychoanalytic approach is based on the assumption
that human behaviour is determined by our unconscious mind. Our
unconscious mind is ‘hidden’ from us, yet it has much more influence
over our behaviour than does our conscious mind of which we are
always aware, according to Freud.
The final approach to be examined so far, and the most modern of all of
them, is the humanistic approach. Humanistic psychology emerged
around the middle of the twentieth century. It is an approach to
psychology that emphasises the uniqueness of the individual.
Humanistic psychology stresses the importance of personal motivation
when accounting for behaviour. According to the humanistic approach,
the search for personal growth and fulfilment is the basis of all human
behaviour and interactions.
You may feel that now you have looked more closely at psychology, it
appears very fragmented and disparate. In one sense this is true. Most
psychologists would not pretend to understand all of psychology, they
only have real expertise in one main area, and are involved
predominantly with one approach. However, you should recognise that
the divisions within psychology are to some degree arbitrary. Parts of
cognitive psychology drift naturally into S–R psychology, parts of
humanistic psychology drift into psychoanalysis. Try not to let the
pigeon holes prevent you from making interesting connections between
the different areas of psychology you are studying in this unit.
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Let’s see what you have learned so far. Try out this task:
?2
Given below is a list of descriptions of the different approaches in
psychology. Name the approach that is being described in each case.
Description of approach
1.
An approach that focuses on the
influence of the environment,
and is not concerned with the
internal mechanisms which occur
inside the organism.
2.
An approach that believes that
the events occurring within a
person must be studied if
behaviour is to be fully
understood.
3.
An approach which emphasises
the uniqueness of human beings
and their potential for
psychological growth.
4.
An approach which arises from a
theory about the existence of the
unconscious mind.
5.
An approach which states that
our behaviour, even what we
think and feel, is linked to our
physiological make-up.
Name of approach
Check your responses with those given at the end of this study
section.
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Summary
Psychology is about finding evidence that explains our behaviour and
how our minds work.
Psychology is a scientific discipline and shares many of the
characteristics of the natural sciences. Psychologists therefore aim to
collect information in a scientific way. Evidence must be collected
objectively and with precision. Results must always be verifiable.
Psychology is not a unified discipline. There are a number of different
approaches to explaining the human mind and behaviour. These
approaches should not be considered as being contradictory, but rather
as valid alternatives. Within each approach, research is constantly being
carried out and updated. Research into human behaviour is not however
confined to any one particular approach. It can often be applied to a
number of approaches at the same time.
You have now completed Section 1 of your Psychology unit. All that
remains is for you to complete the TA on the next page and send it or
give it to your tutor. Before you do this, however, use this checklist to
remind you of what has been covered in this section.
I now know:
Tick here:
what the definition of psychology is
why psychologists gather evidence
five different approaches used in psychology and how
they differ
If you are unsure about any of the points above, go back and look at
them again in this section.
When you feel you are ready, have a go at the Tutor Assignment on the
next page.
Good luck!
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Tutor Assignment
T1
1.
Give a definition of psychology.
2.
Distinguish between the behaviourist approach and the
psychoanalytic approach.
3.
How do psychologists gather psychological knowledge?
4.
What is meant by the ‘scientific method’ in psychology?
5.
Why did the cognitive approach fall into decline in the early
twentieth century?
6.
Contrast the biological approach with the humanistic approach.
Write your answers on a separate sheet, attach it to this Tutor
Assignment and then send them to your tutor for marking.
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Answers to Self Assessed Questions
Answers to SAQ 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
True
False – psychology has always tried to be scientific.
True
True
False – Watson was known as ‘the father of behaviourism’, a highly
objective and scientific way of studying behaviour.
True
False – Watson studied behaviour. He was a psychologist.
False – researching people and their behaviour is less
straightforward than researching objects, therefore it takes longer.
True
False – there is no such thing as the complete or total truth about
the mind and behaviour. Psychology contains many alternative
ideas about this.
Answers to SAQ 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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Behaviourist approach
Cognitive approach
Humanistic approach
Psychoanalytic approach
Biological approach
APPROACHES AND METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY (H)
Psychology
Approaches and Methods in
Psychology
Section 2: The Behaviourist Approach
[HIGHER]
THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH
SECTION 2
Aims
In the last study section you were introduced to five main approaches in
psychology. In this section you will start to study one of these
approaches in detail – the behaviourist approach.
As you work through this section you will learn about the main historical
figures associated with the behaviourist approach. As you do this, you
will start to appreciate the important role that learning plays in our
behaviour. The more important principles of learning will become
apparent to you. Finally, you will be shown some of the ways in which
the behaviourist approach is used with both animals and humans and
how it can help solve some of the problems which people have. Some of
the drawbacks associated with this approach will also be covered.
There is a glossary of terms used in this study section on pp16–17 of
your Introductory Student Guide.
By the end of this section, you will be able to:
• state the aim of the behaviourist approach in psychology
• explain the main principles of learning
• give at least two applications of the behaviourist approach
• give at least two limitations of the behaviourist approach.
Approximate study time for this section
As a rough guide, this section will take approximately 5 hours to
complete.
Other resources required for this section
A loose-leaf folder A4 size
Suitable paper for use with the folder
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Assessment information for this section
How you will be assessed for this section
Your learning of the material in this section will be assessed in a closed
book, invigilated end of unit assessment. Your tutor will contact you to
make appropriate arrangements. The assessment will consist of a range
of questions that will require you to produce structured answers (i.e.
not essays). The required answers will vary in length depending on the
mark allocation of each question.
In addition to the internal assessment, if you choose to complete the
entire Higher Psychology course, this section will be assessed in a formal
external exam. The exam will sample your knowledge from all areas
studied in the Higher Psychology course.
When and where you will be assessed for this section
The internal assessment of the material in this section will take place
once you have completed all sections of the Higher Psychology:
Approaches and Methods unit. You should aim to sit this assessment
within about 3 months of starting the course.
The internal assessment of the Higher Psychology: Approaches and
Methods unit can be completed at one sitting. However, your tutor may
arrange for you to sit it in two parts on separate days.
The external exam takes place in June of each year.
Both the internal assessment and external exam will normally be held at
your centre. They will be formally invigilated and carried out in exam
conditions.
What you have to achieve for this section
You have to achieve satisfactory completion of all Tutor Assignments.
Opportunities for reassessment for this section
If necessary, opportunities can be made available for you to resit the
internal assessment. This policy will be explained to you by your tutor if
the need arises. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as for the
first attempt at assessment.
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At present, there is only one sitting available for the external exam. If
you wish to resit the exam, you will need to wait until the following
June. Credit for internal assessments can be carried over into the new
academic year, so there is no need to resit internal assessments if you
decide to resit the external exam.
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The behaviourist approach
In the behaviourist approach, psychologists study individuals by looking
at their behaviour. They observe and measure changes in behaviour.
The focus of study is objectively observable behaviour rather than any
internal process that you cannot see or measure. Behaviour is
explained in terms of how it is learned from the environment.
The role of learning
Learning is generally taken to refer to the acquisition of new knowledge
or skills, e.g. learning to drive a car, or to use a computer. In
psychology, however, the word learning has a broader meaning. It
means any change in behaviour that occurs as a result of our experience,
i.e. things that happen to us.
There are two theories of particular importance, which help to explain
how we learn. Let’s look at the first theory now. This theory was
developed by the Russian physiologist and Nobel Prize winner, Ivan
Pavlov. It was Pavlov who first described learning by association.
When studying the digestive systems of dogs, Pavlov noticed that the
dogs salivated readily even when no food was actually present. Careful
observation by Pavlov revealed that certain important cues, such as the
sight or smell of food, made the dogs behave as if food were present, i.e.
they produced saliva in their mouths.
Pavlov then carried out an experiment where a bell was sounded in the
presence of the dogs. A few seconds later, food was presented so that
the dogs salivated and ate. This procedure, linking bell and food, was
repeated several times. Next, the bell was sounded but no food was
produced. It was found that the dogs now salivated in response to the
bell alone. The bell had become the stimulus for salivation to occur.
After this, whenever the bell was sounded the dogs salivated and
continued to do so even although no food was given. The name given
to these procedures used by Pavlov is classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning
In classical conditioning there is always a naturally occurring action, a
reflex. In the case of Pavlov’s dogs the reflex was salivation. Other
reflexes which have been shown to be conditioned in this way in
humans include blinking, knee jerking, sucking and vasoconstriction.
There is an activity for you to try on the next page.
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A1
Think about why your hands go very pale in colour when it is cold.
1.
2.
3.
What is this kind of reaction called?
Are you in control of this reaction?
Could you control it if you tried to?
Write your answers below.
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A1 Response
1.
The reaction that has just been described is called vasoconstriction
– the constriction of your blood vessels in your skin when it is very
cold.
2.
Vasoconstriction is a reflex reaction – it happens automatically and
normally we have no control over it. It is the body’s way of
retaining heat by withdrawing as much of it as possible to the
centre of the body.
3.
Someone called Menzies, in 1937, demonstrated that he could
condition humans to make their hands turn pale blue without
them being in the cold at all. He did this by ringing a bell each time
subjects had their hands in very cold water. After doing this a few
times he showed that if he sounded the bell, even when the
subjects hands were not in cold water, the blood vessels in their
hands would constrict.
This experiment is interesting because it shows what an unconscious
process classical conditioning is. We cannot deliberately control
vasoconstriction, but we can learn to produce it in response to different
stimuli.
There has been a great deal of research investigating classical
conditioning. The research example below illustrates one of the better
known studies.
Research example
Little Albert
Watson and Raynor, 1920
Research question
Can our emotions be conditioned in the same way as our reflexes?
Research participant
Albert, an 11-month-old infant
Research method
Experiment. A fluffy white rabbit was placed in front of baby Albert.
Whenever Albert reached out to try and touch the rabbit, the
researcher made a very loud noise with some steel bars. Albert
produced a reflex fear response to this – he cried loudly. This
classical conditioning procedure was repeated seven times.
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Research Results
1.
The next time Albert was shown the rabbit, he immediately
began to cry. This was a conditioned emotional response.
2.
Later, this was shown to generalise to other similar objects
such as a fur coat, a ball of white wool, etc.
3.
Albert’s mother became unhappy with the situation and
withdrew her consent.
Here are some questions to help you think about what happened to
little Albert.
?1
Read the research example about little Albert and answer the following
questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What is the naturally occurring action, or reflex, in the above
research example?
What was initially responsible for the naturally occurring action?
Following classical conditioning, what stimulus now produced this
learned response?
What emotion would have occurred at the same time as this reflex
action?
How was this learned response actually established during this
experiment?
Was Albert’s mother justified in withdrawing her consent for this
experiment?
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Operant conditioning
Let’s now look at the second of the theories of learning mentioned
previously. This theory is particularly well known in psychology. It is
possible that you have heard of the person associated with this theory
before. He was an American psychologist called Burrhus Skinner.
Burrhus Skinner was one of the most influential psychologists this
century. He was responsible for developing the theory known as
operant conditioning. The key feature of operant conditioning is that
the subject behaves in some way first. This is then followed by a
consequence. The subject associates the behaviour with the
consequence. If the consequence is pleasant, the subject learns to
repeat the behaviour. Skinner used the term reinforcer to apply to
anything which would make the response be repeated.
Skinner’s early experiments were carried out with animals such as rats.
The rat would be placed in a closed box – now known as a Skinner Box
(see diagram below) – and watched carefully.
Eventually, the rat’s explorations take it close to a bar. While exploring
the bar the rat eventually places its front paws on the bar. This causes
the bar to depress and a pellet of food is delivered. The rat is now
attracted to that part of the box and returns there to repeat the process
over again.
According to Skinner, the food is the reinforcer for the behaviour of
depressing the bar. This behaviour will continue as long as it is
reinforced by food.
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The main purpose of reinforcement is to maintain a particular
behaviour. A reinforcer can be anything which leads to some behaviour
being repeated. We experience examples of the use of reinforcers every
day – sweets to increase good behaviour in children and the use of
money when you are paid for doing something well. These are very
good reasons for wanting to do these things again. We may also do
something because we know that it will please other people. Praise and
approval are also powerful reinforcers for people.
Here’s an activity for you to try. It will help you to think about the kind
of thing that reinforces your behaviours.
A2
Make a list of some of your own behaviours, and identify the reinforcers
that may be responsible for them. Try to stick to simple behaviours, e.g.
saying ‘good morning’ or ‘hello’, helping to make dinner at home,
offering someone your seat on the bus. Avoid complex behaviours like
going on a date or applying for a job.
Write your list here:
Behaviour
Reinforcer
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A2 Response
Did you find it difficult to name specific behaviours and identify the
reinforcers concerned? This may be because generally we are not aware
that what we do is so dependent on the reactions of others and the
feedback they give us.
The main thing about reinforcement is that it is responsible for the
behaviour continuing. Another important principle is that it is most
effective when it is immediate. There is no point in praising a child
twenty minutes after h/she has done something you approve of; by then
the child will be doing something else altogether!
Skinner also identified positive and negative reinforcers. A positive
reinforcer is something that pleases us personally and so causes us to
repeat the behaviour concerned (in order to repeat its pleasant effects).
A negative reinforcer is something that, because it is personally
unpleasant to us (e.g. pain, humiliation), causes us to do something that
avoids or reduces the unpleasant experience, for example giving the
school bully your lunch money in order to escape the pain of having
your arm twisted. Generally, the rule in operant conditioning is that if
the behaviour is staying steady or increasing in frequency, it is being
reinforced. Hence both positive and negative reinforcement increase
behaviour. Positive reinforcement increases behaviour by giving
something rewarding (or pleasant). Negative reinforcement increases
behaviour by removing something aversive (or unpleasant).
This activity will help you clarify in your own head the difference
between positive and negative reinforcement.
A3
Both positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood of a
behaviour happening again. In the space below, write down what you
think is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement.
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A3 Response
The main difference between positive and negative reinforcement has to
do with the reason why a particular behaviour is strengthened. In the
case of positive reinforcement, the behaviour is strengthened because
the immediate consequence of carrying out that behaviour is pleasant,
i.e. the positive reinforcer (food, money, praise, etc.). With negative
reinforcement, the behaviour is strengthened because the immediate
consequence of carrying out that behaviour is to reduce something
unpleasant that has been happening, i.e. the negative reinforcer (pain,
anxiety, humiliation, etc.).
A few examples might be helpful here.
• A rat will learn to ward off an electric shock by jumping into a box
when a light comes on. The rat is not receiving a reward for jumping
into the box as such, but it is avoiding the shock and so the behaviour
is learned by negative reinforcement.
• Doing your homework (or even working on your Open Learning
pack) to avoid getting into trouble with your teacher (or tutor) is an
example of learning through negative reinforcement.
Don’t take the second of these examples above too literally – most
teachers and tutors try to work firmly on the principle of positive rather
than negative reinforcement!
Another method of changing behaviour is by using punishment.
Punishment involves causing some kind of physical or mental distress
either by imposing something that is unpleasant (like a smack) or by
withholding something that is pleasant (like preventing someone
joining in a game). Unlike both positive and negative reinforcement,
punishment does not increase certain behaviours. It may reduce a
certain undesirable response in the short term but it does nothing to
replace this response by reinforcing a desirable response. For this
reason, operant learning theorists are critical of the use of punishment
and doubt its effectiveness in changing behaviour permanently.
Skinner experimented further with reinforcers. Instead of reinforcing
the animal every time it gave the required response, he reinforced it
only every second or third time. For some animals, he reinforced only
after a certain period of time had passed, e.g. every five minutes. In all
cases the animal seemed to learn that it would receive reinforcement
sometime and so continued to give the correct response until
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reinforcement occurred. These different ways of reinforcing are called
schedules of reinforcement.
The Skinner Box therefore revealed many interesting things about how
reinforcement comes to control a subject’s responses. Initially, the
delivery of one food item for every lever press had seemed the best way
of ensuring the response is learned and maintained but in fact Skinner
discovered that reinforcement exerts much more subtle effects on
behaviour. The results of his experiments using schedules of
reinforcement support this conclusion. It became Skinner’s life work to
show that behaviour can be reliably predicted from examining how a
response is dependent upon a reinforcer.
You have now learned quite a bit about the behaviourist approach. Here
is an activity which lets you try out what you have learned on others!
A4
Using reinforcement
In order to carry out this activity, you need the help of a friend, relative,
or fellow open learning student – in other words you need a partner to
work with for this activity. You will also need the use of a watch.
This is to be read by YOU only
There are many reinforcers which influence what we do and when we
do it. However social rewards, such as praise, attention, smiling, are
known to be very powerful shapers of human behaviour. This can be
shown in a fun way with a simple experiment.
Ask your partner to say the name of any object that comes into their
head. Tell them to try both single and plural names, e.g. shoe, shops.
All you have to do, without telling your partner in advance, is nod, smile
and say ‘good’ or ‘well done’ whenever he or she uses the name of an
object in the plural, e.g. books, keys. Then make a tick or similar mark
on the recording sheet provided overleaf. In this way, you are recording
the number of plural words used.
Keep a record of the number of plural words used over one minute
intervals. The sheet provided is divided into one-minute sections for
you.
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After five minutes, explain to your partner what is happening. Discuss
whether he or she realised what was going on. Discuss whether you feel
behaviour was changed significantly through the power of
reinforcement.
If time allows, make a bar chart of your own patterns of results. Bring it
in and show it to your tutor.
Write a brief account of this activity here:
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Using reinforcement
Recording sheet
1 minute
2 minutes
3 minutes
4 minutes
5 minutes
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Activity response
You should find a pattern of results similar to that shown below:
Minutes
5th
4th
3rd
2nd
1st
Number of times a plural word is used
Perhaps you can understand why many psychologists believe that
reinforcement is a very powerful factor in determining what we do!
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Let’s take a look at some of the words and terms that are commonly
used when the behaviourist approach is being discussed.
?2
Write a few lines explaining what the terms below mean. You can use
your books and handouts if you wish.
Learning
Reinforcer
Learning by association
Positive reinforcement
Classical conditioning
Negative reinforcement
Operant conditioning
Punishment
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Now try these questions. They will help you recall what you have
learned so far about the behaviourist approach.
?3
Circle the correct response to each question.
1.
In Pavlov’s experiment, the dog salivated in response to the sound
of a bell. The dog’s salivation is an example of:
(a)
(b)
(c)
2.
In classical conditioning a procedure where bell and food were
linked was:
(a)
(b)
(c)
3.
rats’ reflexes were tested
rats got sick after eating too much food
rats learned how to depress a bar for food
Positive reinforcement
(a)
(b)
(c)
6.
stops behaviour
increases the likelihood of the behaviour recurring
has no effect on behaviour
In Skinner’s experiments
(a)
(b)
(c)
5.
not performed
performed once
repeated several times
In operant conditioning, the reward:
(a)
(b)
(c)
4.
operant conditioning
classical conditioning
punishment
increases or maintains a behaviour
has no effect on behaviour
stops a behaviour in the short term
Negative reinforcement
(a)
(b)
(c)
increases or maintains a behaviour
has no effect on behaviour
stops a behaviour in the short term
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7.
Punishment
(a)
(b)
(c)
8.
The behaviourist approach
(a)
(b)
(c)
9.
the only approach in psychology
one of several different approaches in psychology
the most important approach in psychology
Schedules of reinforcement
(a)
(b)
(c)
12.
observe and measure changes in behaviour
focus on what we cannot see or measure
try to stop behaviour happening
The behaviourist approach is
(a)
(b)
(c)
11.
aims to explain that behaviour is conditioned
applies only to animals
examines internal processes or events
Behaviourists
(a)
(b)
(c)
10.
increases or maintains a behaviour
has no effect on behaviour
stops a behaviour in the short term
destroy the pattern of learning
enable the animal to learn that it will receive reinforcement
sometime
are not as effective as when you reinforce every time
In Skinner’s experiments, if a food reinforcer is not dispensed
every single time an animal gives the response, but only every
fourth or fifth time, the animal
(a)
(b)
(c)
stops responding immediately
continues to give the correct response regardless
responds only one or two more times after reinforcement has
stopped.
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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If you find that some of your answers are wrong, re-read those parts of
your open learning materials that the question comes from and make
sure that you now understand what the correct answer should be. If you
are still unsure ask your tutor before going on to the next part of this
study section.
Here is another activity for you to try.
A5
Try to answer this question in your own words. You can look back at
your materials and notes if you wish.
What is the aim of the behaviourist approach in psychology?
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A5 Response
How did you get on? It is possible that you found it a little difficult to
pin down an exact answer to this question. This is what a typical answer
involves:
In order to fully explain the aims of the behaviourist approach you need
to state firstly that it is an approach that aims solely to study the effect of
the environment (i.e. external influences) on individual behaviour. Of
course if you are saying this, you must also mention that learning is
involved and that there are two types of learning (conditioning) which
are associated with the behaviourist approach – classical conditioning
and operant conditioning. Briefly explain what each of these is, making
sure that you differentiate them clearly. A very full and comprehensive
answer to this question would also go on to explain the role of
reinforcement in learning and distinguish between positive and negative
reinforcement. Schedules of reinforcement could also be mentioned.
If your first attempt at answering this question fell short of the expected
answer shown above, have another go now. When you have finished,
show your answer to your tutor for comments and advice.
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Now that you are familiar with behaviourism and its main principles, it is
necessary to know how these ideas are applied in psychology – in other
words, how the behaviourist approach is used by psychologists in their
research and how this research is carried out.
Applications of behaviourism
One of the applications of psychology that has the widest use is
reinforcement. This is because reinforcement is one of the most
effective ways of encouraging behavioural change in the short term.
One study attempted to help people to give up drugs by using
reinforcement. This study was by Mestel and Concar (1994). They
worked with cocaine users and tried to use financial reinforcement to
get them to change their drug habits. The programme worked using a
voucher system. The voucher, which had monetary value, was the
reward for not using the drug (urine tests were carried out regularly to
ensure that no cocaine had been taken). If, next time they were tested,
these people continued to be clear of the drug, another voucher with a
higher money value was given. The way to get most of the money, then,
was to stay clear of the drug for as long as possible.
The voucher system was backed up by counselling to encourage
constructive use of the money. This combined approach to drug
rehabilitation resulted in 85% of the participants staying in the
programme for 12 weeks and approximately 65% staying for 6 months.
On the face of it, this appears to be a successful application of
reinforcement techniques. However, consider the problems associated
with using this on a large scale, i.e. hostile reactions of politicians,
police, general public, the problems of obtaining funding, the issue of
using money as an incentive. Also, consider how effective this might be
in the long term as a solution to an individual’s drug problem.
Another commonly cited application of psychology is aversion therapy.
This is derived from classical conditioning. Aversion therapy attempts to
reduce undesirable behaviour by making connections between
unpleasant reflexes and unacceptable behaviour(s). It has often been
used with alcoholics. What happens here is that an alcoholic is given a
drug which will result in violent vomiting and extreme nausea
immediately should alcohol be taken. The subject therefore avoids
alcohol in order to avoid these very unpleasant effects. Programmes
using aversion therapy techniques with alcoholics have claimed success
rates as high as 60% after one year. However, as many as half of these
people subsequently returned to drink (Weing and Menustik, 1983).
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This suggests a rather inconclusive result concerning the relationship
between classical conditioning and aversion therapy. On one hand,
aversion therapy offers a simple treatment that can have some dramatic
short term effects on behaviour. On the other hand, the effects do not
last. If aversion therapy were successful, then surely many people would
learn to avoid alcohol if they have become ill because of it. This is
clearly not the case. Most people continue to drink again despite
suffering bad hangovers!
Behaviourists believe that psychological disorders such as phobias arise
through inappropriate learning. If this is so, then conditioning
procedures should be useful in treating such conditions. One of the
best known treatments is systematic desensitisation. This assumes that
an emotional reaction such as fear (phobia) is classically conditioned.
Systematic desensitisation involves the subject in making a list of those
situations which make him/her anxious and arranges them in order to
create a ‘phobic hierarchy’. Then he/she is encouraged to relax as fully
as possible. Once the individual is relaxed he/she is asked to think
about or confront the lowest item in the phobic hierarchy. If the
individual is fully relaxed then the item should not cause any anxiety.
The individual is gradually moved up the hierarchy until the most fearful
situation is reached and he/she becomes ‘desensitised’ to it.
Systematic desensitisation has been successfully used to treat fears of
spiders and snakes and even school phobias. Research suggests that it is
an effective treatment, relatively fast and has no adverse side effects. An
up to date version is known as ‘Virtual Therapy’, where computer
technology simulates a real environment. Virtual therapy has been
successfully used to treat a fear of heights.
An application of operant conditioning which uses animals is how
pigeons are trained to search for people who are lost at sea. The coastguards train the pigeons, using operant conditioning, to recognise the
colour orange – the international colour of life jackets. Three pigeons
are then strapped into a chamber which is attached to the underside of a
helicopter. When a pigeon spots an orange object, it pecks a key that
buzzes the pilot. The pilot then heads in the direction indicated by the
bird that responded.
Pigeons are much better suited than people for the task of spotting
distant objects at sea. They can stare out over the water for a long time
without suffering eye fatigue and they have excellent colour vision. In
tests by the coast-guard in conditions where helicopter crews are known
to detect approximately 50% of targets, pigeons have been shown to
detect at least 85% of targets (Simmons, 1981).
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This activity will help you get to know the applications of behaviourism
more thoroughly.
A6
Answer the following questions as fully as you can.
1. What, according to behaviourists, is the most important influence on
the development of behaviour?
2. What do you understand by ‘aversion therapy’?
3. Give an example of the use of the technique of systematic
desensitisation.
4. Briefly describe how the technique of ‘pigeon training’ has been
used to find people who are lost at sea.
5. What role can reinforcement play in the rehabilitation of drug
addicts?
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A6 Response
How did you do? Questions such as these are called ‘short answer
questions’. Their main purpose is to allow you to test your
understanding of the material you have just read and to express your
knowledge of it in written form. In general, the answer to each one of
these questions should be between one quarter and one third of the
length of an A4 side of paper. Always answer questions as fully as you
can. Keep sentences short and precise. Structure your answer into
short paragraphs. When you have finished writing your answers, read
them through at least once to check for spelling errors and any other
problems such as irrelevant information or repetition of information.
The answer to question 1 should state that the environment is the most
important influence on the development of behaviour. You should then
go on and explain that the environment contains the reinforcers that
are responsible for whether a response (behaviour) is repeated or not
and that immediate reinforcement is the most effective kind. Now
distinguish between positive and negative reinforcement and provide
some examples if you can.
In question 2 you should be explaining that aversion therapy is an
application of classical conditioning and that its aim is to reduce or
eliminate behaviours which are undesirable, dangerous or distressing.
Give an example to illustrate your point here. Then go on and explain
the principles of aversion therapy. The basis on which aversion therapy
works is that it produces a particularly unpleasant reflex reaction in the
individual whenever the unwanted or undesirable behaviour occurs.
The individual then learns to associate the undesirable/unwanted
behaviour with having a very bad experience, i.e. the reflex reaction
which is highly unpleasant. In this way, the behaviour is reduced (in the
short term) in order to avoid the unpleasant consequences of it.
Question 3 is asking you to explain how systematic desensitisation is
used by giving an example. Your materials give the example of
treatment of phobias using this technique. You should start by
explaining that a phobia is a learned response, acquired by classical
conditioning. Next, mention that the desensitisation procedure is
designed to allow the individual to gradually break the existing
connection between specific situations and a learned fear response. You
must explain that this is done in a hierarchical way, i.e. exposure to
situations that are a little frightening, gradually working up to exposure
to situations that are very frightening indeed for the individual. An
important element of this therapy (and something that you really should
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mention in your answer) is that the individual is taught to relax properly
– when they apply this relaxation technique during exposure to the
feared object or situation, they do not experience a ‘phobic’ reaction at
all. In this way, the phobia is ‘broken’.
Question 4 is a slightly more straightforward question – it asks for a
factual answer that is generally brief. Your answer should therefore
focus specifically on the fact that pigeons are trained to (1) recognise
the colour orange specifically and (2) peck a particular part of the
helicopter if they see that colour when out at sea. However, you should
also mention the principles of operant conditioning that are the basis of
this training, i.e. reinforcement, shaping techniques.
Question 5 is asking you to describe the study by Mestel and Concar
(1994). This is given in your materials. Make sure that in your answer
you identify the reinforcer being used by Mestel and Concar to reduce
drug addiction. It would also be a good idea to state whether the
rehabilitation programme is operating on the basis of positive or
negative reinforcement. Try to include information about whether the
drug rehabilitation programme consists of the use of reinforcement only,
or if other types of treatment are also involved. This will allow you to
suggest whether reinforcement plays a major or a minor role in such
treatment.
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Now read this article carefully.
?4
Pupils learn it pays to be good!
Burnside is for
children with
emotional or
behavioural
difficulties who do
not thrive in
mainstream
education, even
although many have
high IQs. It has now
been selected for
special praise by Her
Majesty’s Inspectors
in a national report.
Under the Burnside
scheme, children earn
tokens for good
behaviour, such as
coming into lessons
and sitting down
quietly, or for good
work, but lose them
for rudeness, laziness,
disrupting lessons or
violence. The tokens
can be cashed in for
extra swimming,
football, or to be
given extra free time
on Fridays!
Paul, 10, who has
hundreds of tokens,
says he tries to
behave because of
them:
‘I was fined tokens
for messing about
the other week and
I couldn’t go to the
adventure
playground. They
made me do jobs
instead, so I
behaved the next
week.’
Answer these questions. Your answers should be short, i.e. a few words
or one sentence.
1. How is good behaviour reinforced in this rehabilitation programme?
2. How is bad behaviour dealt with?
3. Give an example of the use of negative reinforcement in this
programme.
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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I am sure you will agree that the examples of how behaviourist
principles are used in real life situations are both interesting and
revealing. Like the other approaches in psychology, the behaviourist
approach has been utilised and developed thoroughly in order to help
people and to explain their behaviour scientifically.
Operant and classical conditioning contribute a great deal to our
understanding of human and animal behaviour. Behaviourists try to
analyse behaviour by studying those external factors that shape it.
Consequently there are many useful and highly valuable ways in which
conditioning is used to help people change their own difficult or
distressing behaviours. Also, the behaviourist approach tries to be
particularly objective and uses the experimental method rigorously in
order to support its valuable conclusions.
However the behaviourist approach is not without its drawbacks. Its
limitations are well known in psychology and have been the subject of
heated debate for quite some time. Let’s take a look at some of those
limitations now.
Limitations of behaviourism
It is important to realise that not every behaviour is conditioned
behaviour. Behaviourism therefore cannot explain all behaviours in
humans (and even in animals). Language development in humans, and
imprinting behaviours in some animals for example, cannot be
accounted for solely by behaviourist type explanations.
Even where behaviour is learned, behaviourists can be simplistic in their
explanations of it, i.e. by accounting for it in terms of stimulus–
response connections. Behaviourism therefore can suggest that people
are generally mechanistic. It sees people as mainly predictable in the
ways in which they react and behave. It is well established in
psychology, however, that people can consciously change and control
their own behaviours. People value this aspect of control highly. They
frequently exercise their own control over their behaviour at will.
Finally, behaviourism has often been criticised because its conclusions
are largely based on work carried out predominantly with animals in
laboratory settings. This is seen as a false situation by some. It may not
be possible to infer the results of animal experiments into a human
situation. This suggests that the insights gained from animal
experiments in laboratory situations may not be directly applicable to
humans in their variety of social and interpersonal situations.
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Try out this activity – it tests your knowledge of the limitations of
behaviourism.
A7
Answer the following question:
Give two limitations associated with the behaviourist approach in
psychology.
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A7 Response
The activity is asking you to choose two of the limitations from the
selection presented in your materials under the heading ‘Limitations of
the Behaviourist Approach’. These limitations can be summarised as
follows:
1.
2.
3.
The behaviourist approach cannot explain all human or animal
behaviours
The behaviourist approach paints humans as mechanistic and
entirely predictable
The behaviourist approach is based mainly on findings from the
study of animals
Your answer should explain two of the above limitations in some detail
but should be generally brief and precise. If you have chosen to explain
point 1 above as a limitation, you should have stated that although
behaviourism offers a good explanation for how certain behaviours are
learned, there are many human (and animal) behaviours that cannot be
explained adequately in this way. Your answer should include at least
one example from the selection given in your materials.
If you have chosen to explain point 2 above as a limitation, you should
have stated something along the lines that behaviourism paints a
portrait of human beings as being passive and totally determined by
their environments. You need to point out the importance of free will to
the human condition and mention that this is often used by individuals
to change and control their own behaviours.
If you have chosen to explain point 3 above as a limitation, you need to
mention that generalising the findings of animal research to that of
humans may not be sound. You should state that findings from studies
of animals in a laboratory situation may not apply directly to that of
humans in their natural environment, i.e. rich social and cultural
situations.
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You have now covered what you require to know about the behaviourist
approach in psychology.
Use the following checklist to remind yourself about what you should
know from this study section.
I now know:
Tick here:
what the behaviourist approach in psychology
is about
what the aim of the behaviourist approach is
what is meant by classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, and reinforcement
how the behaviourist approach is used
how the behaviourist approach is limited
Don’t forget that if you are feeling unsure about any part of this study
section, let your tutor know. Do not attempt the Tutor Assignment until
you are feeling comfortable with and confident about the material in this
section.
The following page contains a short summary of the behaviourist
approach. Read through this just before attempting your Tutor
Assignment.
If you feel you are ready, complete the Tutor Assignment at the end of
this study section. Your tutor should receive this as soon as you have
completed it.
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Summary
The behaviourist approach states that all behaviour is the result of
learning. This approach therefore studies the process of learning –
classical conditioning and operant conditioning techniques.
Behaviourists often focus on reinforcement. This is based on the idea
that our behaviour is entirely influenced by external influences.
Behaviourists believe that reinforcers are solely responsible for
maintaining our behaviours.
The behaviourist approach very much advocates an objective and
rigorously scientific method when studying human and animal
behaviour. As a result, the insights gained have been applied usefully in
areas such as behaviour modification and the treatment of phobias.
It has been suggested however that the behaviourist approach is
simplistic and cannot explain all human or even animal behaviours. In
addition, the laboratory based approach which uses the results of animal
experiments to infer human behaviour is not seen as acceptable by some
psychologists.
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Tutor Assignment
T2
1.
Explain the aim of the behaviourist approach.
2.
What are the limitations of the behaviourist approach in
accounting for human behaviour?
3.
How is the behaviourist approach used by psychologists or other
professionals when working with people? Give one example of
this.
Submit this to your tutor for marking.
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Answers to Self Assessed Questions
Answers to SAQ 1
1.
The naturally occurring reflex is crying.
2.
The loud noise was initially responsible.
3.
Following classical conditioning, the white rabbit produced this
same response.
4.
The emotion of fear would have occurred at the same time.
5.
This learned response was established through pairing and
repetition – the rabbit and the loud noise repeatedly occurring
together.
6.
Since Albert was clearly distressed during this experiment, his
mother was entirely justified in withdrawing her consent.
Experiments such as this would not be permitted today – ethical
guidelines now exist to protect participants from being harmed or
distressed during any psychological investigation.
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Answers to SAQ 2
Learning
A relatively permanent change
in knowledge, behaviour, or
understanding that occurs as a
result of experience.
Reinforcer
Something which strengthens a
learned response, i.e. which makes
a learned response more likely to
occur again.
Learning by association
Producing the same response to
one or more cues (that are
presented at the same time as the
original stimulus) as would be
produced to the original stimulus.
Positive reinforcement
When we repeat a particular
behaviour because of its pleasant
consequences.
Classical conditioning
Learning that results from the
association of two stimuli. Also
referred to as Pavlovian
conditioning or respondent
behaviour.
Negative reinforcement
When we repeat a particular
behaviour in order to avoid
unpleasant consequences.
Operant conditioning
Learning that happens when an
organism associates its own
behaviour with the results of
that behaviour. Also referred
to as instrumental conditioning
Punishment
A procedure which uses aversive
stimuli in order to stop a
response occurring or to reduce
the likelihood of a response
occurring.
Answers to SAQ 3
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
142
b
c
b
c
a
a
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
c
a
a
b
b
b
APPROACHES AND METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY (H)
THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH
Answers to SAQ 4
1.
Good behaviour is reinforced by the use of tokens which can then
be exchanged for sporting/leisure activities, outings, or just free
time.
2.
Bad behaviour is dealt with by tokens being taken away from
individuals so that they have fewer tokens to use for the things
they want to do.
3.
Paul’s good behaviour is an example of negative reinforcement.
He does this in order to avoid losing tokens and so losing
privileges.
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References
Mestel, R and Concar, D (1994), ‘How to heal the body’s craving’, New
Scientist, 1 October 1994
Simmons, J V, Project Sea Hunt: a report on prototype development and
test, Technical Report 746, Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego
227, 1981
Wieng, A N and Menustik, C E, ‘Treatment outcomes and patient
characteristics in an aversion treatment programme for alcoholism’,
American Psychologist 38: 1089–96, 1983
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Psychology
Approaches and Methods in
Psychology
Section 3: The Cognitive Approach
[HIGHER]
THE COGNITIVE APPROACH
SECTION 3
Aims
The second approach we will look at is the cognitive approach.
The cognitive approach also has a main historical figure, Jean Piaget,
with whom we associate the origins of this approach. You will find that
the cognitive approach varies drastically from the behaviourist approach.
While the latter focuses almost exclusively on stimulus and response
connections, the former is more interested in what happens in between
the stimulus and the response. In other words, the cognitive approach
is about what is going on within an individual during the time that
stimulus–response connections are being established. As you study the
cognitive approach you will learn more about these internal events (or
mediators), better known as perception, memory, language, attention
and thinking.
You will also study some of the very interesting ways in which the
cognitive approach is used with people. Finally you will be given an
opportunity to consider some of the drawbacks associated with this
approach.
There is a glossary of terms used in Section 3 on p18 of your
Introductory Student Guide.
By the end of this section you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
state the aim of the cognitive approach
describe the mediational processes involved in cognition
give at least two applications of the cognitive approach
give at least two limitations of the cognitive approach.
Approximate study time for this section
As a rough guide, this section will take approximately 5 hours to
complete.
Other resources required for this section
A loose-leaf folder A4 size
Suitable paper for use with the folder
Record turntable or similar device
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Assessment information for this section
How you will be assessed for this section
Your learning of the material in this section will be assessed in a closed
book, invigilated end of unit assessment. Your tutor will contact you to
make appropriate arrangements. The assessment will consist of a range
of questions that will require you to produce structured answers (i.e.
not essays). The required answers will vary in length depending on the
mark allocation of each question.
In addition to the internal assessment, if you choose to complete the
entire Higher Psychology course, this section will be assessed in a formal
external exam. The exam will sample your knowledge from all areas
studied in the Higher Psychology course.
When and where you will be assessed for this section
The internal assessment of the material in this section will take place
once you have completed all sections of the Higher Psychology:
Approaches and Methods unit. You should aim to sit this assessment
within about three months of starting the course.
The internal assessment of the Higher Psychology: Approaches and
Methods unit can be completed at one sitting. However, your tutor may
arrange for you to sit it in two parts on separate days.
The external exam takes place in June of each year.
Both the internal assessment and external exam will normally be held at
your centre. They will be formally invigilated and carried out in exam
conditions.
What you have to achieve for this section
You have to achieve satisfactory completion of all Tutor Assignments.
Opportunities for reassessment for this section
If necessary, opportunities can be made available for you to resit the
internal assessment. This policy will be explained to you by your tutor if
the need arises. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as for the
first attempt at assessment.
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At present, there is only one sitting available for the external exam. If
you wish to resit the exam, you will need to wait until the following
June. Credit for internal assessments can be carried over into the new
academic year, so there is no need to resit internal assessments if you
decide to resit the external exam.
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Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is the study of how we take in information and
make sense of it. Cognitive psychologists therefore study internal
mental processes such as memory and thinking. They see the brain as
a processor which selects, organises, stores and uses information (data).
Information generally reaches us by way of one of the five senses. For
human beings, the two most important senses are probably sight and
sound, so cognitive psychology looks at the way we see things, e.g.
colours, distances, and how we understand the things we hear.
Cognition is about how we process this information in order to build up
our knowledge of the world. It asks how we remember things, how we
recognise them and how we interpret them.
Cognitive psychologists argue that we are not passive receptors of
stimuli. The mind actively processes the information it receives, and
changes it into new forms. New information is combined, compared,
transformed and integrated with that which is already present. People
therefore build up a picture or concept of their world. This is done in a
particularly systematic way and not simply through trial and error. It is
these concepts which determine how a person behaves. As people
gain more experience and knowledge of the world, their concepts
change. Accordingly, their behaviour will also change as they grow
older.
A psychologist called Jean Piaget used this idea of ‘cognition’ to explain
how children’s minds develop into adult forms. He firmly believed that
children change their concepts of the world as they grow and that this is
the reason why they seem to look at things differently, behave differently
and are capable of doing things at different ages.
Over the last few decades, the cognitive approach to psychology has
become very influential. Jean Piaget’s work in particular has had an
immense effect on the way we view children. This has directly affected
things like the kind of toys we give children of different ages, and the
way in which we educate them in school. Jerome Bruner has also made
an outstanding contribution to our understanding of cognitive
development in children. Bruner’s work is about the development of
logic, concepts and language skills in children.
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Mediational processes
The cognitive approach in psychology developed partly as a reaction
against the ‘narrowness’ of the behaviourist (stimulus-response)
approach. Cognitive psychologists argue that events within a person
are at least as important as environmental stimuli. Such internal events
are termed ‘mediators’. They come between external stimulus and
response. These ‘mediators’ will perhaps be more familiar to you as the
processes of memory, perception, thinking, attention and language.
Internal event/mediational processes
Stimulus/
input
Memory
Response/
output
Perception
Attention
!
!
!
Thinking
Language
All of the above mediational processes are studied by cognitive
psychologists in an attempt to determine how they affect our behaviour
and enable us to make sense of the world around us. Cognitive
psychologists often ask questions such as: ‘How do we remember?’,
‘Why do we forget?’, ‘What do we do when we solve problems in our
heads?’, ‘What is language for?’
It is probably fairly clear to you by now that the main aim of the
cognitive approach is to explain our behaviour in terms of our mental
(internal) processes. This is of course in complete contrast to the
behaviourist approach which accounts for behaviour exclusively in terms
of environmental (i.e. external) factors.
Can you remember what we meant by the term ‘mental processes’? This
is just another way of referring to the mediators that occur between
stimulus and response in an individual. In other words they are the
processes we already know as memory, perception, attention, thinking
and language.
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Here, briefly, is what each process is:
Memory
The process of storing and retrieving information we
have received via the senses.
Perception
The process by which we analyse and make sense out
of incoming sensory information. Perception is more
than just sensation – it involves higher-level brain
activity. There are distinct areas of perception, e.g.
visual perception, auditory perception, person
perception.
Attention
The process by which we focus on sensory information
so that we are prepared to respond appropriately to a
particular type of signal or sensory input.
Thinking
The process of generating ideas and using symbols
(e.g. language, numbers) to represent these ideas.
Thinking also includes problem solving. This is when
a sequence of ideas concerned with solving a
particular problem is produced.
Language
A complex system of communication in which symbols
(words) are organised to produce meaningful
messages.
Clearly, the processes that cognitive psychologists study are not directly
observable. You simply cannot look directly into someone’s brain and
watch their memory at work! However, it is possible to study someone’s
behaviour/reactions and infer from this what processes operate. Such
inferences must of course be supported by objective and reliable
evidence. For this reason, the experimental method, which emphasises
objectivity, control and replicability, is popular with cognitive
psychologists.
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Information processing
Sometimes cognitive processes are said to operate in a similar way to a
modern computer, i.e. as a high-speed information processing system.
This is because a flow of information is acquired, stored, retrieved and
used in some way during cognitive activity. The diagram below
illustrates this:
Information processing system
Storage processes
!
!
Input
processes
Output
processes
Input processes deal with analysis of, for example, sensory information.
Storage processes deal with everything that happens to the
information once it is in the brain, i.e. coding and selection of
information for storage.
Output processes deal with the production of appropriate responses.
It can be seen therefore that such a model is based on assumption
regarding the flow of information through a system. With the advent of
the computer, many computer programs have been developed which
attempt to model human thinking. This is known as computer
simulation.
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Now try to recall some of the information you have read about the
cognitive approach. Try to answer the following questions.
?1
Circle the correct response to each question.
1.
Cognitive psychologists study
(a)
(b)
(c)
2.
Jean Piaget
(a)
(b)
(c)
3.
think just like people do
can operate like some of our cognitive processes
do not process information like we do
Mediators
(a)
(b)
(c)
154
trial and error
growing older
actively changing information
Modern computers
(a)
(b)
(c)
6.
the best approach in psychology
one of several useful approaches in psychology
the only scientific approach in psychology
People build up a concept of the world by
(a)
(b)
(c)
5.
disagreed with Jerome Bruner about how children grow
studied how we remember things
studied how children’s concepts change as they grow
older
The cognitive approach is
(a)
(b)
(c)
4.
internal mental processes
external mental processes
behaviour
are the same as stimulus-response
come between stimulus and response
are always external to a person
APPROACHES AND METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY (H)
THE COGNITIVE APPROACH
7.
The cognitive approach is about how we
(a)
(b)
(c)
8.
measure salivation in dogs
teach rats to open boxes
process information
Cognitive processes
(a)
(b)
(c)
can always be observed
can be studied scientifically
are impossible to study scientifically
Check your responses with those given at the end of this study
section.
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Take a look at the activity below. It is designed to help you learn about
one mediational process in particular – the process of memory.
A1
Try out this activity with a friend, relative or partner.
The following list of words is for you to use during this activity. Do not
allow your friend, relative or partner to see this list before you carry out
the activity.
This is the complete list of words:
Early
Wool
Cup
Time
Run
Mouse
Chair
Paper
Hedge
School
Late
Table
Cup
Mr Blobby
Dog
Work
Paper
Still
Paper
Sheep
Home
Laugh
Table
Tight
Finish
Now read out the following instructions to your friend, relative or
partner.
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You will be read a list of words. Listen carefully, and try to remember
as many of them as possible. When the list is completed, write down as
many of the words as you can in the box provided.
Words remembered:
Now check this list of words against the original list you were given.
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As you may have realised, this activity was about testing memory.
Memory is one of the cognitive processes or mediators studied by
cognitive psychologists. Memory cannot be observed directly but
insights into how memory works may be gained from looking at how
your friend/relative/partner performed during this memory test. The
following questions will perhaps help you to recognise certain features
present in your friend/relative/partner’s pattern of recall. Consider
these question now, together with your friend/relative/partner.
1.
How many words were remembered before the first error was
made?
2.
Were any of the words that were repeated remembered? How
many?
3.
Were any animal words remembered? How many?
4.
Did your friend/relative/partner recall a word that was
outstandingly different?
5.
How many of the last five words were remembered?
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A1 Response
1.
It is usual for people to be able to remember about seven items
from a list of things like the one you presented. This is because
the time available to store each item in short term memory is very
limited. Short term memory has a very small capacity. Of course
any information that is transferred to long term memory will
remain around for a great deal longer. It is likely that your friend/
relative/partner was able to recall perhaps the five, six or even
seven items correctly before making an error
2.
It is characteristic of how our memory functions that we tend to
remember more effectively if the information is repeated, i.e.
rehearsal aids recall. For this reason you may have found that your
friend/relative/partner remembered more of these kinds of words
than others, e.g. cup, table, paper.
3.
Again, we remember best if we can categorise the information we
receive. The words that fitted into animal categories may have
been successfully remembered in your case, i.e. dog, mouse,
sheep.
4.
If something unusual or novel is presented to us, the chances are
we will remember this rather than the more usual humdrum type
of information that is being given to us. Did your friend/relative/
partner have ‘Mr Blobby’ as one of the items remembered from the
list? This is almost certainly because this item ‘stuck in their mind’
due to its novel character – the fact that it was so different from all
the other items.
5.
Often when we have a list of things to remember, we will recall the
first few items and also the last few items. The items in the middle
of the list are more likely to be forgotten. Does this pattern
describe what happened in your friend/relative/partner’s case?
Perhaps you have begun to realise how a task such as this can be used to
reveal important information about the way in which our memory
system operates. Cognitive psychologists often base their research
around similar ‘cognitive tasks’ which involve subjects in using not only
their memory but other cognitive processes as well, i.e. attention,
perception, etc. The insights they gain from such research allow them
to build hypothetical ‘models’ of how a particular cognitive system must
work. Such models might represent different aspects of our cognitive
functioning. These models are then ‘tried out’ to see if they are
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THE COGNITIVE APPROACH
supported by objective, empirical data during further experiments. In
this way the cognitive approach attempts to reveal the way in which our
‘hidden’ cognitive processes actually operate.
So far in this study section you have covered the cognitive process of
memory. Another very interesting cognitive process is that of
perception.
In order to learn more about perception, try activity 2 on the next page.
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A2
Look at the spiral on the next page. Place it on a revolving turntable (a
record-player turntable is ideal) or make it spin yourself by pushing a
pencil or a straw through the centre and rotating it around with your
finger. Keep your head and eyes still and fix your gaze on the middle of
the spiral for about one minute. Then look away and immediately stare
at somebody else’s face.
What happens?
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Swirl diagram
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A2 Response
Yes, it appears that the head you were looking at increased in size right
before your eyes! Of course the other person did not feel that their
head was expanding so in fact their head probably didn’t really expand
at all. However, you perceived that their head expanded. This means
that the head expansion took place in your perceptual system only. In
other words the messages you received from your senses told you that
there was an expanding head out there!
We do tend to think that we perceive exactly what is ‘out there’ – but in
fact what we perceive is the information which reaches our sense organs
and which is then reconstructed, organised and translated by our
perceptual systems. Perception isn’t the same as seeing – seeing is the
patterns of light entering your eye. Perception is about what happens to
that information inside our brain in order to convert it into something
useful and meaningful to us.
Suppose you are watching a person as they walk away from you. They
seem to get smaller, but not by very much. In fact, if we were to
measure the size of their image on your retina, we would see that the
size of their image when they were four metres away from you was half
the size of that at two metres away from you. Yet we perceive that
person as being not much smaller at four metres away than they are at
two metres away. Some perceptual process keeps the size of things fairly
constant – that is, it gives us size constancy.
Size constancy is just one example of the way in which our perceptual
system organises incoming information so that it is of the best possible
use to us. Another example is depth constancy – when we perceive
objects in a three dimensional way, i.e. as having length, breadth and
height, when in fact the image on the retina only has two dimensions:
length and breadth. Depth constancy allows us to judge the relative
distance of objects from each other and from us.
Both depth and size constancy occur automatically – they do not really
require any thinking on our part. Because of this, it is in fact possible to
trick our perceptual systems. The illustration on the next page is an
example of a well-known ‘illusion’ called ‘The Ames Room’.
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The Ames room is constructed in such a way that it leads to your
perceiving this person as being twice as big when she is nearest you than
when she is further away from you. The Ames room interferes with the
usual depth and distance cues used by your perceptual system – the
room is constructed to make the back left-hand corner appear to be as
near to us as is the back right-hand corner, although it is in fact twice as
far away. Consequently, our perceptual system is forced to conclude that
the person is small when at the far end of the room and very tall when at
the near end!
You have now learned something about the cognitive processes of
memory and perception. Another cognitive process is attention.
Here is a simple and fun activity that is designed to show you exactly
what we mean by the term ‘attention’. Try this now.
A3
Try shutting your eyes and instead of paying attention to the
information your eyes and ears are receiving, pay attention instead to
your touch senses. Concentrate on your weight pressing down on the
chair, the feel of your clothes on your body, the slight pressure on your
skin of your jewellery or your glasses (if you are wearing any).
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A3 Response
You probably found that fairly easy to do. Clearly, we are not aware of
these types of touch stimuli normally. It is only when we are asked to
pay attention to them that you become aware of them. ‘Attention’
therefore involves selecting some of the many stimuli that reach you
and concentrating on them.
What makes one stimulus be selected by us and attended to in favour of
some other stimulus? Well, some stimuli almost force us to pay
attention to them: a sudden loud noise, for example, especially if you
are sitting in a quiet room! Again, if something stops suddenly
(background music, ticking clock) we sit up and pay attention – the
change from a constant to an absence of stimuli actually makes us pay
attention.
Something that gains our attention very effectively is repetition. Think
of a child who wants a biscuit! If the child’s request is ignored by a
parent, the child is highly likely to repeat this stimulus (the request)
until he/she gains the parent’s attention. Television advertisements make
use of this device when, for example, they repeat the name of the
product several times over.
So far, all of the examples we have used have involved stimuli that are
external to ourselves. Quite simply, this means stimuli that are coming
from outside of us. But internal factors, things that happen inside us,
also cause us to pay attention to particular things. A good example of
internal factors that affect our attention is how when we are hungry we
notice food smells, food advertisements, food shops and restaurants
much more than we do when we are not feeling hungry!
Now that you are familiar with the cognitive process of attention, it is
time to consider what cognitive psychologists mean by the term
‘thinking’.
Psychologists have been particularly ingenious in the way they have
researched thinking. You can read about one such piece of research on
the next page. This research focuses on one particular aspect of
thinking – problem solving. This is a good example of the type of
research that typifies the cognitive approach.
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Research example
The General Problem Solver
Newell and Simon, 1963
Research problem
How can a computer be programmed to solve problems? What does
this tell us about human problem solving?
Research method
Investigation. The method involves breaking a problem down into
smaller stages or goals. This will reduce the problem space. The
problem space is the distance between your current state and the
goal state.
Strategy
Note the problem space
Create a sub-goal to reduce this difference
Solve the sub-goal
Recalculate the problem space and set a new sub-goal
Research results
1.
Computer programs can use a process of setting sub-goals, e.g.
as in playing chess. They also use number crunching methods,
which examine all the available possibilities.
2.
Computers work by algorithms. These are a set of instructions
like a knitting pattern, which guarantee a solution.
3.
Computers and humans can both use well-defined goals. In
everyday life, however, humans have to solve problems with
unclear goals and many ambiguities. This requires different
cognitive strategies.
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Try out the following activity:
A4
Read the research example about the General Problem Solver. Answer
the following questions:
1.
Some cognitive psychologists believe that setting sub-goals is an
effective way of solving problems? Do you agree? Explain why or
why not.
2.
In what way(s) are your brain and a computer similar?
3.
What kind of things can humans do that computers cannot?
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A4 Response
1.
The idea behind setting sub-goals is that by reducing a problem
into smaller components and solving each of these components
systematically you are able to arrive at a solution to the whole
problem. This is similar to the principle of atomism. Atomism is a
belief that, in order to understand a phenomenon, it is always best
to break it down and investigate its constituent parts. While this
can be a highly successful way of arriving at a working solution, it
does not necessarily work for all types of human problems. Often
real life problems, e.g. relationship problems, addictions, do not
lend themselves to this highly logical approach.
2.
Computer programs have been developed which have attempted
to model human thinking. These operate in a way that is similar to
how your brain works in that they attempt to use problem-solving
techniques in the same way that the human brain does.
3.
Humans have some cognitive abilities that cannot be simulated
using computer programs. Our perceptual abilities, for example,
cannot be replicated in this way because they are essentially
dynamic processes. Similarly, our ability to selectively attend to or
screen out sensory information is not something that computers
can be easily programmed to do. Finally, social cognition and
emotion cannot really be replicated mechanistically.
We have now looked at the cognitive processes of memory, perception,
attention and thinking. However, there is one further cognitive
process left for us to deal with. This is the cognitive process of
language. Language – the ability to communicate with words – is
perhaps the one cognitive process with which we are most familiar. It is
a distinctly human ability and it is central to our cognitive activities.
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This next activity is designed to highlight the close relationship that
exists between the cognitive process of language and the cognitive
process of thinking.
A5
For this activity you need access to at least ten other people. These
people can be friends, relatives, partners or other open learning
students. The activity is fun to carry out and interesting to discuss.
‘Mock election’
Materials:
Both versions of the ‘mock election’ student activity sheet
(see next two pages)
Method:
1.
Distribute one version of the ‘mock election’ to five people and
the other version to the other five. Do not allow your ‘subjects’ to
become aware of the difference between them. (One version says
‘chairman’ and the other version says ‘chairperson.’) Ask them to
follow the instructions given on the sheet.
2.
Collect the ballot papers in from both groups of subjects.
3.
Explain to your subjects the difference between the two versions
and that this might have been expected to produce a higher
proportion of votes for the female candidate in the ‘chairperson’
version. Discuss the results you obtained with your subjects.
4.
Study the activity sheet ‘How language affects how we think’ and
try to answer the questions.
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Mock election
You are a member of your school/college students’ committee which
represents the interests of all students at your institution.
A ballot is to take place to elect a new chairperson. There are two
candidates. Read their statements below, then use the ballot paper to
cast your vote. Detach the ballot paper and hand it in.
Candidates’ statements
Mark Grant:
I have been an active member of this group for the last two years,
and have served on the committee for the last fifteen months. I
have acted as membership treasurer for ten of those months. I am
committed to representing all our students fairly and strongly.
Jennifer White:
During the last year I have been the group’s social secretary, being
particularly active in organising charity week and general
fundraising. Before that I was a general member for six months,
having been a student here now for three years. I wish to make
sure all our students get the best service possible from their
students’ representative committee.
BALLOT PAPER
Election of chairperson
Record your vote by placing X beside the name of the candidate of your
choice:
GRANT, MARK
WHITE, JENNIFER
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Mock election
You are a member of your school/college students’ committee which
represents the interests of all students at your institution.
A ballot is to take place to elect a new chairman. There are two
candidates. Read their statements below, then use the ballot paper to
cast your vote. Detach the ballot paper and hand it in.
Candidates’ statements
Mark Grant:
I have been an active member of this group for the last two years,
and have served on the committee for the last fifteen months. I
have acted as membership treasurer for ten of those months. I am
committed to representing all our students fairly and strongly.
Jennifer White:
During the last year I have been the group’s social secretary, being
particularly active in organising charity week and general
fundraising. Before that I was a general member for six months,
having been a student here now for three years. I wish to make
sure all our students get the best service possible from their
students’ representative committee.
BALLOT PAPER
Election of chairman
Record your vote by placing X beside the name of the candidate of your
choice:
GRANT, MARK
WHITE, JENNIFER
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How language affects the way we think
?2
1.
Examine the results of your ‘mock election’. Was there any
evidence that the choice of words influenced decision making?
2.
Can you think of any other areas where language influences
thinking?
Check your responses with those given at the end of this study
section.
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So far what we have covered in this study section is the cognitive
approach and the processes of memory, perception, attention, thinking
and language.
Now that you have learned what you need to know about the cognitive
approach and the different mediational processes, try to answer the
following questions.
?3
1.
Explain briefly what is meant by the following terms:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
2.
Memory
Perception
Attention
Thinking
Language
What is the aim of the cognitive approach?
Check your responses with those given at the end of this study
section.
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We now need to look at some of the different ways in which the
cognitive approach is used by psychologists. You may recall that part of
the aim of this study unit was to find out how the cognitive approach is
applied. As you will see, cognitive psychology is not restricted to
academic research – it works usefully in a number of areas that are part
and parcel of our everyday experiences.
Applications of cognitive psychology
One common application of cognitive psychology lies in the area of
perception. There are many common and everyday examples of our
visual perception being deliberately ‘fooled’ in order to create certain
effects. Television, in particular, often distorts our perception of size.
For example, the Starship Enterprise is perceived by us to be hundreds
of feet wide. The main cause of this mistake is an ambiguity in the
distance between the perceiver and the perceived object. Similarly, our
perception of movement is deliberately being distorted when we see
actors in what seems to be a moving car. In fact, it is the background
which is moving while the car remains stationary.
There are several practical and very interesting applications of the study
of memory. Elizabeth Loftus is the psychologist most associated with the
re-constructive theory of memory. She conducted a number of key
experiments to test the reliability of the eye witness testimony and the
influence of the exact wording of questions. She came up with some
very dramatic results. In a typical experiment, 100 students saw a film of
a multiple car accident and then answered a questionnaire (22
questions). Six of these questions were particularly ‘critical’ and their
wording would vary from one group to another. Just changing a single
word made a big difference to the result. For instance, a critical
question might be ‘about how fast were the cars going when they hit?’.
The word ‘hit’ could be changed to ‘smashed’, ‘bumped’, ‘collided’ or
‘contacted’ on different questionnaires. Because these different words
carried a different implication of seriousness, the speed estimates given
varied accordingly.
The Loftus research, amongst other studies, did lead to specific changes
in legal practice. Of all the contextual factors that have an effect on the
reliability of memory, the form of the question is the one that has most
influence. Leading questions are those which aim to produce a specific
answer. The Devlin Report (1976) recommended that a trial judge
should tell the jury that it is not safe to convict someone on the basis of
single eyewitness testimony alone.
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Now imagine that you are at a cocktail party and there are a large
number of groups talking to each other. For some reason, you are
particularly interested in a conversation taking place six feet away from
you, even though there are many people making a noise around you.
Cognitive psychologists know it is possible to pay close attention to the
important conversation and filter out the other, possibly louder, noises.
Eysenck (1984) describes a basic test in which the subject is ‘fed’ two
different messages, one in each ear. The subject may be asked to
concentrate on one message and ignore the other or the subject may be
asked to pay attention to both messages simultaneously. The technique
of filtering out one unwanted voice is called ‘shadowing’ while the skill
of attending to both messages is called ‘dual tasking’. Depending on the
differences between the instructions and a number of other factors,
most subjects seem to be able to take in two messages more or less
simultaneously if they know that they are required to do so.
Psychologists have applied what they know about how humans process
information to building computer models. They build such models to
take a heuristic approach (a trial and error method for solving problems
using rules) or an algorithmic approach (a set of instructions like a
knitting pattern, which guarantees a solution). This is based on what
they know about problem solving strategies in humans. People,
however, generally show characteristic differences in their approach to
problem solving, i.e. cognitive style.
Training may be successful in encouraging the use of a less favoured
method. Many psychologists have written books on how to develop
lateral thinking, effective problem solving strategies and effective study
skills through the application of memory techniques such as mnemonics
and brain maps.
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Let’s find out what you have learned about how the cognitive approach
is applied.
?4
Answer the following questions.
1.
Which two mediational processes came under scrutiny during the
Elizabeth Loftus research?
2.
Why are the results of the Elizabeth Loftus research useful?
3.
Why are television producers able to create special effects like the
Starship Enterprise?
4.
Which mediational process was studied by Eysenck in 1984?
5.
Suggest what the results of this research might be used for.
6.
Why do psychologists try to build computer models?
7.
How useful is this research in solving human problems?
Check your responses with those given at the end of this study
section.
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The final part of this study section deals with the limitations of the
cognitive approach. In common with all of the approaches in
psychology that you will learn about in the Approaches and Methods
unit, the cognitive approach cannot provide a complete explanation of
human behaviour. Indeed no such single explanation could ever exist.
Human behaviour is much too complex and varied to be accounted for
by one single psychological approach.
Limitations of the cognitive approach
Cognitive psychology has contributed a great deal to our understanding
of how we think, remember, perceive, solve problems, etc. Cognitive
psychologists try to study the internal mental processes that are relevant
to behaviour. The cognitive approach strives to be rigorously scientific
and prefers to use laboratory-based experimental methods in order to
support its important conclusions.
However, there are certain limitations associated with this approach to
the understanding of human behaviours. Cognitive science tends to
omit the very important emotional influences on our behaviour. Since
cognitive investigations tend to be carried out in laboratory settings
which are artificial, they may therefore give results which are at worst
inaccurate and, at best, not representative of behaviour in real life
situations. Cognitive science also minimises the effect of external factors
such as family conditions, education, etc. More recently, however, there
have been some attempts to change this ‘narrowness’ of the cognitive
approach and work towards a more ‘holistic’ view of the factors that
shape our behaviours.
It has been suggested that cognitive psychology views human thinking as
a mechanistic and machine-like process (i.e. computer models of
thinking, remembering) and that this leads to a simplistic view of human
cognitive functioning. While computer modelling has stimulated a large
amount of research, cognitive psychology generally has been successful
in restoring the concept of mind which behaviourism had previously
dismissed. For this reason, cognitive psychology tends to emphasise
individual control rather than minimise it.
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Now that you have read about how the cognitive approach might be
limited in its attempt to explain human behaviour, try and answer the
following questions.
?5
1.
What are the disadvantages of carrying out laboratory-based
investigations of cognitive processes?
2.
To what extent does a computer model explain cognitive
functioning?
Check your responses with those given at the end of this study
section.
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You have now completed all the work that you need to in order to
understand the cognitive approach in psychology.
Use the following checklist to remind yourself about what you should
know for this study section:
Tick here:
I now know:
what the cognitive approach in psychology
is about
what the aim of the cognitive approach is
what is meant by memory, perception, attention,
thinking and language
how the cognitive approach is used
how the cognitive approach is limited
All that remains is for you to complete the Tutor Assignment at the end
of this study section. Give this assignment to your tutor as soon as you
have completed it.
Remember, if you are having any difficulty with activities or Self Assessed
Questions, seek help from your tutor before attempting the Tutor
Assignment for this study unit.
Otherwise, read through the Summary section on the next page and
then try the Tutor Assignment that comes after.
Well done so far and keep up the good work!
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Summary
The cognitive approach in psychology is about how we take in
information and make sense of it. The cognitive approach varies from
the behaviourist approach in that it focuses on the mediational
processes of memory, perception, attention, thinking and language.
These mediational processes are internal and occur between stimulus
and response according to the cognitive approach.
Cognitive psychologists often use an informational processing model.
This is based on the idea of a flow of information from input processes
(sensory information) to mediational processes (memory, perception,
attention, thinking, language) to output processes (responses).
The cognitive approach can be very much a laboratory-based approach.
This means that experiments are carried out in controlled settings.
However, the cognitive approach is also used usefully in situations
where real-life problems apply, such as to assess the reliability of the
memory of a witness to a crime.
It has been suggested that the cognitive approach gives a mechanistic
and simplistic account of how people think. Nevertheless, the cognitive
approach has successfully restored the concept of mind to psychology as
a discipline. This had previously been discarded by the behaviourist
approach.
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Tutor Assignment
T3
Read this description and then answer the questions that follow:
Two psychologists disagreed about who would behave best in
school. The first psychologist said that the children who usually
received a lot of praise from their teacher would behave best. The
second psychologist said that those children who were always kept
busy revising and thinking about how to solve things would behave
best.
1.
What psychological approach does:
(a) the first
(b) the second
psychologist favour?
2.
What is the aim of the cognitive approach?
3.
What is the aim of the behaviourist approach?
4.
In what sense is:
(a) the cognitive approach
(b) the behaviourist approach
limited?
5.
Give one example of the use of the cognitive approach.
6.
How is the behaviourist approach used by psychologists or other
professionals when working with people?
Submit this to your tutor for marking.
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Answers to Self Assessed Questions
Answers to SAQ 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
a
c
b
c
b
b
c
b
Answers to SAQ 2
1.
The ‘mock election’ activity is designed to show that when the
term ‘chairman’ is used, people tend to vote for the male
candidate. However, if the more neutral term ‘chairperson’ is
used, the female candidate will probably attract the majority of
votes. If your results did not reflect this, don’t worry – your
‘study’ was based on a very small sample indeed and this may be
the reason your results did not turn out as intended. Perhaps you
can see however that choice of words does influence how we
think, make judgements and, of course, the kind of decisions we
make. It should be fairly apparent from the mock election activity
that our thinking can be influenced by something as simple as a set
of instructions. This is because these instructions use particular
words or phrases that have specific associations or connotations
for us.
2.
Language and thinking are closely related during cognitive activity.
Some psychologists believe that we could not think as well as we
do without the help of language. Because language is a symbolic
activity, i.e. words and phrases are used to represent our ideas,
these ideas are in turn very susceptible to the influence of
language. Consequently we may form impressions of other
people, for example, based on the choice of words used by others
to describe them. Again, talking about and rephrasing a problem
may help to clarify that problem and find a solution. (Have you
ever found that you talk to yourself out loud when you are
concentrating intently on trying to work something out?) The
areas where language affects thinking are therefore multiple. They
include decision making, problem solving and making judgements.
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Answers to SAQ 3
1.
2.
(a)
Memory – Memory involves storing information that comes to
us via the senses and retrieving it whenever we need to use
it.
(b)
Perception – Perception is when we take in information from
our senses and then organise it in some way so that it is
meaningful to us.
(c)
Attention – Attention is about how we are able to screen out
a lot of information around us and concentrate on one or a
few specific thing(s).
(d)
Thinking – Thinking involves coming up with ideas and
keeping these in your head by using words and/or numbers.
Thinking can also involve solving problems in your head
using more than one idea at a time.
(e)
Language – Language means using words to express ideas. It
is a symbolic activity.
The cognitive approach aims to explain that we behave the way we
do because of the cognitive (mediational) processes that we have.
These mediational processes are responsible for processing the
information that we receive from the environment. Just like an
information processor, we take in information, process it and
produce a response based on this processing. Different
‘mediators’ do different things with this information. Memory
stores and retrieves it, perception organises it, attention selects
and focuses on it, thinking uses it to produce ideas and language
represents it in symbolic forms. According to the cognitive
approach, it is these mediational processes that determine our
behaviour. (For example, we ignore a certain person because we
perceive their face and remember how boring they are!) The aim
of the cognitive approach is to explain our behaviour in terms of
these mediational processes.
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Answers to SAQ 4
1.
Memory and language.
2.
The research is useful because it showed that the type of language
used during courtroom questions can affect how well witnesses
remember a particular incident, in some cases making it unreliable.
This research has now led to changes in legal practice surrounding
the use of leading questions.
3.
Television producers exploit how our perceptual systems work and
deliberately ‘fool’ them in order to create certain effects. The
Starship Enterprise is an illusion. It works because there is
ambiguity between the distance from the perceiver of the Starship
and the Starship’s location in outer space. This distorts our
perception of size.
4.
Attention.
5.
The results of this research suggest that people are able to take in
two messages simultaneously if they need to. This information
might be useful where people have jobs that require such skills e.g.
airline pilot, telephone operator, traffic co-ordinator.
6.
They build such models to try to simulate how people solve
problems.
7.
It is useful in that it may reveal alternative ways of solving problems
that some people do not normally use, e.g a more systematic
approach or more emphasis on using strategies. It is probably less
useful for solving ‘human’ problems such as relationship problems
or emotional difficulties.
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Answers to SAQ 5
1.
The use of laboratory-based experimental methods in cognitive
psychology has been criticised because findings are said to be
‘artificial’ and not representative of behaviour and events in real
life. It has also been suggested that people’s behaviour may be
influenced unduly by the laboratory setting itself and perhaps also
by characteristics associated with the experimenter.
2.
Computer models are useful in that they can simulate certain
abilities such as problem solving and allow researchers to closely
examine how such systems operate. However, it has been widely
acknowledged that the computer analogy fails to recognise even
the most fundamental differences between humans and machines
such as the presence of emotions in humans, the potential for
making errors in humans and the tendency that humans have to be
irrational.
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Approaches and Methods in
Psychology
Section 4: The Psychoanalytic Approach
[HIGHER]
THE PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACH
SECTION 4
Aims
The next approach to be studied in the Approaches and Methods unit is
that of the psychoanalytic approach. The person most often associated
with the psychoanalytic approach is Sigmund Freud who is of course
particularly well known for his now famous theory about the
unconscious mind. However his ideas were not well accepted at first.
During his lifetime, Freud was treated with much suspicion and there
was often great opposition to his work. Today, however, Freud’s
contribution is acknowledged and respected.
Freud’s theories represent an approach to human behaviour which
focuses very much on an individual’s personality and the more
qualitative aspects of their experience. This therefore differs from the
behaviourist approach which is about the acquisition of responses and
from the cognitive approach which is concerned with the different
cognitive processes.
In this section you will learn about how the psychoanalytic approach
came about and how it is still effectively used to treat the different
problems that people have. You will also hear a lot about some of the
criticisms that are made of the psychoanalytic approach, particularly
from modern psychology. You will be asked to weigh up these different
advantages and criticisms and come to an understanding about the value
of the psychoanalytic approach today.
By the end of this section you be able to:
•
•
•
•
state the aim of the psychoanalytic approach
describe Freud’s theory of personality
give two applications of the psychoanalytic approach
give two limitations of the psychoanalytic approach.
Approximate study time for this section
As a rough guide, this section will take approximately 5 hours to complete.
Other resources required for this section
A loose-leaf folder A4 size
Suitable paper for use with the folder
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Assessment information for this section
How you will be assessed for this section
Your learning of the material in this section will be assessed in a closed
book, invigilated end of unit assessment. Your tutor will contact you to
make appropriate arrangements. The assessment will consist of a range
of questions that will require you to produce structured answers (i.e.
not essays). The required answers will vary in length depending on the
mark allocation of each question.
In addition to the internal assessment, if you choose to complete the
entire Higher Psychology course, this section will be assessed in a formal
external exam. The exam will sample your knowledge from all areas
studied in the Higher Psychology course.
When and where you will be assessed for this section
The internal assessment of the material in this section will take place
once you have completed all sections of the Higher Psychology:
Approaches and Methods unit. You should aim to sit this assessment
within about three months of starting the course.
The internal assessment of the Higher Psychology: Approaches and
Methods unit can be completed at one sitting. However, your tutor may
arrange for you to sit it in two parts on separate days.
The external exam takes place in June of each year.
Both the internal assessment and external exam will normally be held at
your centre. They will be formally invigilated and carried out in exam
conditions.
What you have to achieve for this section
You have to achieve satisfactory completion of all Tutor Assignments.
Opportunities for reassessment for this section
If necessary, opportunities can be made available for you to resit the
internal assessment. This policy will be explained to you by your tutor if
the need arises. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as for the
first attempt at assessment.
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At present, there is only one sitting available for the external exam. If
you wish to resit the exam, you will need to wait until the following
June. Credit for internal assessments can be carried over into the new
academic year, so there is no need to resit internal assessments if you
decide to resit the external exam.
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Freud and psychoanalysis
The psychoanalytic approach is about the study of the unconscious
mind. Sigmund Freud (1865–1939), the first psychoanalyst, likened the
mind to an iceberg, only the tip of which can be seen above the surface
of the water. The remainder is hidden. Freud believed that people are
only aware of a small part of themselves and the greater part of the mind
– our deepest thoughts, fears, passions and unspeakable yearnings – are
hidden from us. The part of us which we are aware is the conscious
mind. Our unconscious mind, however, is full of hidden forces and has
much more influence over our behaviour than does our conscious
mind.
Freud was a young doctor who encountered many patients suffering
from a disease with no apparent cause. Patients with the illness known
as hysteria were afflicted with many various symptoms including
blindness, loss of memory and paralysis. Little was known about this
affliction except that it was at odds with all neurological evidence.
While tracking down the possible causes of hysteria, Freud and his
colleagues began formal investigation into that domain of the human
mind that is not usually accessible – The Unconscious.
Freud believed that hysterical symptoms were often preceded by great
fear. One of his patients, Anna O, had many strong emotions and
anxieties. However, as soon as these emotions were expressed and the
events connected with them remembered and identified, pent-up
feelings were released and the symptoms completely disappeared.
Although giving patients the opportunity to talk about pent-up emotions
often was very therapeutic, there were many patients who simply could
not remember the original event or trauma that first caused the
problem. Initially, Freud used hypnosis to help the patient recall
previous events that were associated with their hysterical symptoms.
However, he found hypnosis unreliable and soon turned to a technique
for recovering the past called ‘Free Association’. Often, when using free
association, a constant stream of ideas and events lead to the patient’s
past becoming revealed to them. The cardinal rule in free association is
to allow each thought to lead naturally to the next, no matter how
surprising or uncomfortable that might be.
Using free association, Freud began to devise a theory of how the mind
works. He soon learned that thoughts are not organised in random
fashion, nor do they appear in strict logical order. There are patterns of
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association in thoughts that are unique to each individual. However,
there are many common chains of thought which are used by everyone.
Freud studied these chains of thought and found many universal
symbols, i.e. words, pictures, or events, which actually stand for
something else.
Clinical research
This was the start of several decades of clinical work in which Freud
continued to develop his ideas into theories of how the mind works.
Freud’s investigations were focused on the dreams and thoughts of
adult patients. They flocked to his consulting rooms with a variety of
mental disorders and for each he prescribed the ‘talking cure’. Bit by
bit, he pieced together the childhood histories of each, for it was here
he believed their development had ‘gone wrong’, giving rise to their
physical and emotional problems in adult life. Freud insisted that the
mental disorders in his patients were merely distortions of normal
mental functions. Armed with the conviction that many of our wishes
and memories are inaccessible to us – that they have gone
‘underground’ – he looked for examples of the unconscious in normal
people.
The unconscious and everyday life
A new source of evidence for Freud’s ideas was what we call ‘slips of the
tongue’. These words were errors of speech made by normal people,
including himself, his family and friends, or even reported in the news.
Freud collected errors of speech with a passion, then analysed his list
with great pains. He used each slip as a possible clue to the workings of
the unconscious.
Examples of ‘slips of the tongue’:
1.
‘I have an incurable infernal disease!’
2.
‘Few men appreciate the ineffectual qualities in a woman!’
3.
‘You have thrown together that dress really well!’
4.
‘My doctor says my husband needs no special diet. He can eat and
drink whatever I choose.’
Freud believed that such slips come about when the second,
unconscious, meaning surfaces.
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In addition to slips of the tongue, Freud found many apparent errors in
action. These could easily be explained as the underlying wishes of the
unconscious. He said:
‘They are not accidents, they are serious mental acts, they have their
meaning.’
Freud said that even very ordinary, everyday events, e.g. losing things
such as keys, pens, etc., had an unconscious purpose.
A book on slips of the tongue and other Freudian errors was published
in 1901. It was Freud’s last work on ordinary behaviour and it satisfied
him that the thoughts and feelings of which normal people are directly
aware are but the tip of the iceberg. Underneath is the unconscious
with a host of other thoughts, some difficult, some merely faded.
Freud sometimes spoke of the unconscious as though it was a real
‘place’ in the mind, but of course it is not. He used it as a convenient
metaphor for material not in our awareness but which, nonetheless,
influences daily emotions and well being.
Freud’s view of the personality
According to Freud, personality is the pattern of thoughts, emotions and
intellectual skills that makes a person unique. He believed that much of
personality is unconscious and that the hidden parts are responsible for
much of our behaviour.
Although personality is what prompts each of us to act in characteristic
ways, we cannot directly study this because personality is internal.
Freud, however, was very confident that he could uncover people’s
personalities by listening to their thought associations and their dreams.
Using exactly this kind of evidence, Freud pieced together what he
thought were the crucial childhood experiences that shaped the
personalities of his patients.
Freud believed that psychological disturbance could be explained by
early problems in childhood. He named these problems ‘conflicts’. In
order to explain the causes of these conflicts, Freud came up with a
theory of personality. In this psychological theory of personality,
Freud’s main idea was that the personality was made up of three parts.
The idea was that the ego is the conscious part of personality. This is
the part which is rational and deals with everyday life. Learning,
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thinking, perceiving and evaluating all take place in the ego. As we grow
and change into older children and adults, we need to be able to use
ego functions in order to live in a realistic manner.
The id is the part of the personality that demands to be given what it
wants immediately and at all costs. The id constantly demands
satisfaction and is governed by what Freud termed the pleasure
principle. It can be likened to a toddler, i.e. likely to have a tantrum if it
doesn’t get its own way!
The superego is the part of the personality that controls the id. It wants
to stick to the rules, it knows what is right and wrong and will try to
influence the personality to behave properly. You could say that the
superego is like a conscience. It also provides us with a model of what
we ought to be like (sometimes called the ego ideal). Both the
conscience and the ego ideal form as a result of the teachings of our
parent(s) and of other influential figures who are involved with us
during our childhood.
The ego, as well as making conscious everyday decisions, has to keep an
even balance between the id and the superego. It is the balancing part
of the personality.
Sometimes we need to have fun and let our id have its own way. At
other times we need to listen to the superego and stick to life’s rules
more strictly.
Freud’s theory was that a child has to manage some difficult conflicts
between the unconscious desires of the id and the powerful controlling
messages of the superego.
Whilst growing up, the child develops from being totally controlled by
the id as a new baby is, screaming when cold or hungry or tired and
demanding instant satisfaction, to a place where the personality is
balanced between its different parts.
Achieving this healthy balance is not easy and there are various phases a
child must go through as he or she matures.
These phases of development are called the psychosexual stages of
development.
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The oral stage
The first phase, according to Freud, is the oral stage. In its first year of
life a baby is completely dominated by its mouth. It is as though the
baby’s mouth is the centre of its universe and it is totally involved with
what goes into it.
Freud believed that this stage had to be successfully completed for a
child to move on to the next one. If a child becomes fixated, i.e. stuck,
in this stage it grows up orally fixated. The likely result of this is an
adult who likes to put things into his or her mouth, e.g. a smoker.
The anal stage
The anal phase comes at the time a toddler is learning to control his/her
bowels and bladder. In other words it is the potty training stage. At this
stage a toddler is learning some self control and independence and will
either experience a feeling of delight and satisfaction at managing
bowel/bladder control or will become anxious and afraid of a failure to
achieve this. This may result in the toddler becoming unwilling to use
the toilet. In this way, anxiety may lead to withholding bowel
movements because of fear of failure.
Freud believed that while negotiating this difficult stage, a child could
easily become fixated in it. This could lead to problems in the future.
Certain personality characteristics associated with fixation during the
anal stage are being over-possessive, stubborn and being overly clean
and tidy.
The phallic stage
The third psychosexual phase of development described by Freud is the
one he is most renowned for.
From the age of about three, Freud suggested that a small boy falls in
love with his mother. He has a powerful desire to have her all to himself
and because of this he suffers strong feelings of jealously and
resentment towards his father. These strong negative feelings cause the
small boy to become anxious. He may fear that his father knows about
his feelings and will punish him. According to Freud, he thinks that his
father will punish him by cutting off his penis. This castration anxiety
causes the small boy to try to find a way to appease his father.
To do this, he identifies with his father, imitating his behaviour and
becoming interested in the father’s masculine ways. Freud believed that
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in successfully resolving his anxiety in this way the small boy would learn
to adopt his gender role.
For a girl, the situation, according to Freud, would be similar, if
reversed. The small girl loves her father and feels jealous of the
mother’s role in his life. In order to deal with the conflicting negative
emotions the small girl identifies with her mother, thus learning to
adopt her appropriate gender role.
The latent stage
Freud believed that between the ages of around 5 and 12 children’s
psychosexual development goes into a latent phase whilst their social
and intellectual development comes to the fore.
The genital stage
The final stage of sexual development begins at adolescence and
continues throughout adult life. This is when the young person
becomes a consciously sexual being moving towards the formation of
adult sexual relationships.
Now let’s check how much you know from what you have just read. Try
the SAQs on the next page.
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?1
Supply the missing words in the sentences below. Choose from the list
on the next page. Some words are used more than once.
1.
The psychoanalytic approach to human behaviour was developed
.
by
2.
The psychoanalytic approach is about how our thoughts, fears,
wishes and past experiences affect our
.
3.
The basic assumption of the psychoanalytic approach is that much
.
of our behaviour stems from processes that are
This means that we are not aware of them.
4.
Freud’s psychoanalytic ideas were based on extensive case studies
of individual patients such as
. These
.
patients had an illness which was known then as
5.
Freud used techniques such as hypnosis and
when he studied his patients. Both of these were used to help his
patients recover difficult past events.
6.
Freud eventually found that
was the more effective technique for recovering the past. Freud
said that this was because it allowed the patient to produce a
constant stream of ideas.
7.
Based on his work with individual patients, Freud went on to
of how the mind works.
develop a complete
8.
Whenever he used his therapy with his patients, Freud always
. Each patient would talk
called it his
about their own dreams and thoughts and also their childhood
experiences.
9.
According to Freud, unconscious impulses are often expressed in
dreams and thoughts. However, he also believed that the
underlying wishes of the unconscious are present in everyday
and
.
behaviours such as
10.
Freud analysed many of the errors of speech he noticed being
made by normal people whose behaviour was ordinary. This
further convinced him of the existence of the
mind.
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Word list
Talking cure
Freud
Theory
Losing things
Hysteria
Slips of the tongue
Anna O
Behaviour
Unconscious
Free association
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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One main technique used in psychoanalytic therapy is free association.
The therapist instructs the client to say whatever comes into his or her
mind. There should be no attempt to censor any material that comes to
consciousness – it should all be verbalised, no matter how irrelevant,
unimportant or embarrassing it may seem.
Here’s an activity that you can try out by yourself. It is a very simple
exercise, but it will give you a better understanding of what goes on in
therapy, and will help to show you why therapy takes so long.
A1
No equipment is needed, but if a tape recorder is available it would
prove useful.
Go to a place where you know you will not be disturbed or overheard.
It is important that you have complete privacy here. When you are sure
that you are alone and no one else can hear you, try to follow the rules
of free association. Say everything you are thinking out loud in a clear
tone. If possible, tape record your ‘free associations’ so that you can
listen to them and attempt to analyse them later.
1.
Was it easy to do? If not, why do you think it was not?
2.
Can you imagine what it would be like to do this in the presence of
another person?
3.
How long do you think it would take you to be able to do this in
the presence of another person?
4.
Can you trace some of the cues that made one thought lead to
another?
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A1 Response
1.
I expect you found this activity quite difficult to do at first. This is
probably because we are not used to saying our thoughts out loud
at all. Also, it is hard to keep up a one-sided ‘conversation’ for any
length of time.
2.
However, it is almost certainly even more difficult to do this
activity in the presence of another person. There are many
reasons for this, the most likely of which are: embarrassment, lack
of response from another person, boredom, confusion, etc.
3.
Most people need several therapy sessions before they feel even
remotely comfortable with this technique and are able to
participate in it fully.
4.
If you do persist with this technique and examine your thoughts
thoroughly, you should find some evidence of linkages between
your thoughts. If you don’t find this, don’t worry. Analysing your
thoughts in this way is a highly specialised and sophisticated task –
perhaps you are beginning to realise why successful therapy takes
so long to achieve!
Now try the SAQs on the next page.
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?2
Here are some definitions taken from the psychoanalytic approach.
Write a few lines explaining what these terms mean. Consult your notes
or a textbook if you need to.
Hysteria
Free Association
Unconscious Mind
Personality
Id
Fixated
Ego
Phallic Stage
Castration Anxiety
Psychoanalysis
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Defence mechanism
So far in your study of the psychoanalytic approach, you have learned
about the unconscious, Freud’s view of the personality and the
psychosexual stages of development. Another important aspect of
psychoanalytic theory is the defence mechanism. Defence mechanisms
are unconscious ways of resolving conflicts between the id, ego and
superego, hence reducing tension. Freud claimed that defence
mechanisms were used by everyone.
When a child reaches the latency phase, i.e. around about the age of
twelve years, social factors start to play an increasingly important role in
their ego development. It is at this time, when the child is exposed to
the world outside the family, that defence mechanisms start to develop
properly.
The ego has a number of defence mechanisms, or emergency measures,
which it uses to protect itself from unpleasant feelings of anxiety or
guilt. These feelings can arise because the person feels threatened by a
real danger or because the id or superego become too demanding.
Defence mechanisms are therefore used in order to reduce anxieties.
Here are some examples:
1.
Repression: this entails excluding from consciousness thoughts or
memories that provoke anxiety, for example ‘forgetting’ to turn up
for a dental appointment.
2.
Displacement: this involves transfer of ideas and impulses from
one object or person to another. For example, you may feel
hostile and aggressive towards your boss but because you can’t
express this (you would lose your job), you snap at and criticise a
colleague instead.
3.
Regression: this occurs when a person behaves in a manner
suitable to an earlier stage of life, e.g. adults who resort to
stamping, kicking, shouting in an effort to get their own way or
reverting to thumb sucking as a defence against something that is
making you anxious (exams, first date, job interview, etc.).
4.
Denial: this is when someone refuses to believe difficult events are
happening/have happened or to even admit they are upset/anxious
about them. The ego argues that there is no problem to worry
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about. For example, a child may refuse to admit that a parent is
dead and insist he/she is coming home soon, or an alcoholic may
refuse to admit that he/she is dependent on alcohol.
Try the SAQs on the next page.
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?3
Which of the defence mechanisms you know about are being used when:
(a)
an adult has a temper tantrum in response to frustration?
(b)
a patient in therapy fails to keep an appointment when sessions
begin to provoke anxiety?
(c)
a teenager bursts into tears when his/her parents refuse to let him/
her go to an all night party?
(d)
a salesman gets annoyed with his daughter after failing to secure a
big order?
(e)
a woman who has just been told she has cancer tells her doctor she
never felt better?
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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A2
Read this case study and answer the questions that follow.
Case Study
Jo has been referred to a psychoanalyst because the physician can
find nothing physically wrong. Most of the time, however, Jo feels
tense and apprehensive, has difficulty sleeping and experiences
headaches. Minor stresses that were once handled with ease, such
as driving in heavy traffic, or presenting a paper in class, are
impossible for Jo to endure. In addition to feeling constantly
nervous and sick, Jo has moments of terror and believes that
something dreadful is about to happen. Jo has no clear idea of the
source of these fears.
1.
Are symptoms shown by Jo common in mentally healthy people?
2.
Suggest what, according to psychoanalytic approach, might be
behind these difficulties that Jo has.
3.
How do you think a Freudian psychologist would attempt to help
Jo?
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A2 Response
1.
In one sense, Jo is having the kind of difficulties that are
experienced by quite a lot of people to some degree, i.e. tension,
sleeping difficulties, etc. These ‘symptoms’ are often found in
people who are experiencing stress of some kind. However, in
Jo’s case, these difficulties are interfering with normal life and its
activities. In addition, Jo is feeling acutely frightened in situations
where there is little to be frightened of. This indicates that Jo’s
difficulties are different and more severe than those experienced
by most of us at some time in our lives.
2.
Psychoanalytic theory would suggest that Jo’s difficulties could
probably be traced to a traumatic event in which he was unable to
express the appropriate emotions. The event and emotion have
been forgotten or repressed (hence the fact that Jo has no clear
ideas of the source of his fears). In other words, they have been
pushed into the deeper parts of the mind because they were too
painful for Jo to face. However, the energy from these
unexpressed emotions continues to be expressed in Jo’s symptoms
(headaches, sleeplessness) and present feelings (fear, dread, etc.).
3.
A Freudian psychologist would undoubtedly recommend therapy.
Here, Jo would be given the chance, through time, to talk about
his pent-up emotions. In so doing Jo would rid himself of them
and also of all the physical and psychological discomfort associated
with them.
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Before going on to look at some of the ways in which the psychoanalytic
approach is applied, let’s pause for a minute and consider what the aim
of this particular approach is.
Of course you are already aware that every approach in psychology
attempts to explain the mind or behaviour (or both) in its own way. For
example, the behaviourist approach attempts to explain behaviour in
terms of our reactions to the external environment. Similarly, the
cognitive approach attempts to explain both the mind and behaviour in
terms of our metal processes.
Here’s another activity for you to try.
A3
From what you have learned about the psychoanalytic approach so far,
suggest what its aim might be.
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A3 Response
The psychoanalytic approach attempts to explain both the mind and
behaviour in terms of our personality. As you know, personality consists
of the id, ego and superego. This means that, according to the
psychoanalytic approach, our behaviour is largely motivated by the
unconscious forces of the id – the most basic and most demanding part
of our personality. However, since the id is modified by the ego (the
rational part of the personality) and by the superego (the ‘conscience’)
our behaviour is also a result of these more conscious processes as well.
Finally, those defence mechanisms we develop and use in an effort to
reduce inner tension form part of our personality as well. These also
govern our behaviour to some degree.
Because of its emphasis on a person’s personality (i.e. id, ego, superego,
defence mechanisms), the psychoanalytic approach offers a highly
detailed and dynamic account of any individual’s mind in a way that
explains their behaviour. This is of course its main aim.
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Applications of the psychoanalytic approach
When we studied both the behaviourist and the cognitive approaches,
we looked at how these ideas could then be usefully applied in order to
help people with particular problems or to contribute to society in
general. In both of these approaches, such applications came about as a
direct result of the ideas developed by that approach. In other words,
the applications followed on from the approach itself.
Psychoanalysis however was first a therapy and thereafter developed by
Freud into an entire theory. It came into being first and foremost as a
technique designed to help people who suffered from different ailments
for which there was no known physical cause. Freud, who started his
career as a physician, publicly challenged the prevailing view that such
people deserved little time from the doctor because they exaggerated
and malingered. He said that their suffering was real and that they
needed help. As you know, it was while tracking down the possible
causes of these ‘hysterical’ ailments that Freud and his colleagues
started to discover things about the unconscious mind and its workings.
Before this, however, Freud and his colleagues had successfully used the
talking cure and free association techniques with several patients.
Such applications, and direct derivatives of them, are still used today.
Psychotherapy refers to the treatment of mental disorders by
psychological rather than physical or biological means. Freud and his
colleagues developed psychoanalysis, the first formalised method of
psychotherapy. Freud believed that most mental disorders are the
results of unconscious conflicts between the aggressive and sexual
impulses of the id and the constraints imposed by the ego and
superego. These conflicts, repressed since childhood, prevent the
individual from coping with the environment in a mature fashion. The
purpose of psychoanalysis is to bring repressed fears and motives into
awareness so they can be dealt with in a more rational and realistic way.
When people understand what is motivating them, they can deal more
effectively with their problems.
Since Freud’s time, numerous forms of psychotherapy based on
Freudian concepts have developed. They share in common the premise
that mental disorders stem from unconscious conflicts and fears, but
they differ from classical psychotherapy. The psychoanalysts who came
after Freud gave greater recognition to the importance of social and
cultural factors, as opposed to biological drives. Correspondingly there
is less emphasis today on the role of unconscious sexual and aggressive
drives and more emphasis on the role of the ego in directing behaviour
and solving problems.
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Contemporary psychotherapy consists of much shorter and less intense
sessions. The therapist limits the length of sessions, giving both clients
and therapists fixed time within which to work on problems and to
achieve certain goals. Sessions are usually once or twice a week, so that
the client has time between meetings to think about what was discussed
and to examine his or her daily interactions in the light of analysis.
There is less emphasis on a complete reconstruction of childhood
experiences and more attention on problems arising from the way the
individual is currently interacting with others. Free association is
replaced with a direct discussion of critical issues and the psychoanalyst
may be more direct, raising pertinent topics when it seems appropriate
rather than waiting for the client to bring them up. Still central,
however, is the psychoanalytic therapist’s conviction that unconscious
motives and fears are at the core of most emotional problems and that
insight and the working-through process are essential to a cure.
Cognitive therapy is a form of psychotherapy which is based on
changing people’s beliefs, attitudes and attributions about their world
and so helping them to act more positively and to change things for the
better. The cognitive therapist attempts to help people control
disturbing emotional reactions, such as anxiety and depression, by
teaching them more effective ways of interpreting and thinking about
their experiences. Folkman and Lazarus (1988) developed a Ways-ofCoping questionnaire which listed a broad range of cognitive and
behavioural strategies that people use to manage the demands of
specific stress encounters. They discovered that the questionnaire
responses showed up six important coping strategies which were
focused on ways of dealing with the emotional response to a problem,
e.g. distancing, seeking support. Wilson and Cairns (1992) used an
adapted version of the Lazurus and Folkman checklist to explore
differences in coping among people in different areas of Northern
Ireland. They found that there were ‘denial’ mechanisms which linked
directly with the ‘distancing’ mechanisms identified by the checklist.
Post-traumatic stress disorder was first described in the third edition
of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric
Association (DSM-III) in 1980. The condition has three main groups of
symptoms: re-experiencing phenomena (e.g. distressing memories of a
traumatic event), avoidance or numbing reactions (e.g. efforts to avoid
the thoughts or feelings associated with the trauma and feeling detached
or estranged from other people) and symptoms of increased arousal
(e.g. difficulty in staying asleep, irritability and outbursts of anger). The
individual with post-traumatic stress disorder has symptoms which are
particularly severe and long lasting. The symptoms can disappear and
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reappear. They can also appear some time after the event, even several
months or years, and delayed versions of the condition are no less
severe.
There is a considerable amount of controversy as to whether therapy for
disaster victims offers any benefit. For example, a follow-up study of the
survivors and the bereaved from the Zeebrugge ferry disaster asked for
an evaluation of the quality of the support after the disaster. The people
who reported that the support was ‘mixed’ or ‘unhelpful’ fared no
worse than the people who reported it as ‘helpful’ (Hodgkinson and
Stewart, 1991). However, psychologists have argued that it may indeed
alleviate symptoms even though people do not necessarily perceive an
improvement, since the people concerned will be comparing how they
were before the disaster rather than how severe PTSD usually is in such
situations. Longer term follow-ups using direct observations and clinical
measures rather than self-report do seem to suggest that therapy may be
effective.
Play therapy is based on the idea that a child who is experiencing
emotional distress and who may have developed some defence
mechanisms is unlikely to be able to explain or describe what is wrong.
However, the problems may appear – in a disguised form – in the child’s
playing. By allowing the child to play freely and be creative and
expressive, the therapist may be able to identify what is bothering the
child and so be able to offer help and emotional support.
Very often, in make-believe play, a child will express its real-life worries
or problems and, in this way, it has an opportunity to sort things out
and perhaps to come to an understanding of them. The picture below
was drawn by a child in response to a request for a self-portrait. She has
drawn herself and her ‘imaginary friend’ without a mouth. This could be
seen as an example of denial, because the child stuttered so badly she
was almost unable to talk.
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When children are showing disturbed behaviour and are distressed by
something going on around them, they are highly unlikely to tell an
adult – or even another child – what the problem is. By giving them
time, with an adult present, to play as they want with a variety of toys,
the children will frequently express their worries through their play. In
a study of one particular child – Dibs – by V Axline, in 1964, the child
repeatedly buried a male doll from the doll’s house in the sandbox,
which was also in the play therapy room. In this way, Dibs was
expressing the hostility he felt towards his father, who was very
intolerant of the child. By playing with the models in this way, the child
was gradually able to overcome his mixed-up emotions about his family
and to relate to them more positively. Eventually, the problems of the
family were resolved and the whole home set-up became more relaxed
and easy for the child.
On the next page there is an activity containing some short answer
questions for you to try. They are designed to test what you know about
the applications of the psychoanalytic approach. Try them now.
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A4
1.
What do you understand by the term ‘psychoanalysis’?
2.
Give an example of the use of the technique of play therapy.
3.
Briefly describe the technique of play therapy.
4.
What is post-traumatic stress disorder?
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A4 Response
Let’s look at what the answers to the questions should ideally contain.
Question 1
Question 1 should state that psychoanalysis is a form of therapy whose
purpose is to bring repressed feelings and motives out of the
unconscious and into our conscious awareness. Psychotherapy focuses
on helping people understand what is motivating them to behave in the
way that they do and helps them to deal with these strong emotions and
desires in a more rational and realistic way.
Question 2
In question 2 you should first of all explain that play therapy is a form of
psychotherapy that is used with young children in order to help them
express their anxieties and problems in a way that is appropriate for
them, i.e. through the medium of play activities. A good example of the
use of the technique of play therapy is the case of ‘Dibs’ by V Axline and
she describes how Dibs, when playing freely with toys, was able to use
boy dolls from the doll’s house to express his hostility towards his
father. Axline was then able to help Dibs come to some understanding
of his feelings towards his father and so help him to relate to him more
positively.
Question 3
In question 3 you need to explain that cognitive therapy is a more
modern type of psychotherapy which concentrates on the way the
individual is currently interacting with others rather than on their past
childhood experiences. Cognitive therapy challenges depressed
people’s belief systems and personal attitudes if it is felt that these are
preventing the individual from behaving in a positive and socially
constructive way. Cognitive therapy also tries to give depressed people
specific strategies that they can use when reflecting on their individual
experiences, i.e. a range of effective coping strategies. Cognitive
therapy still, however, assumes that emotional problems such as
depression are the direct result of unconscious fears and motives that
need to be recognised and worked through.
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Question 4
Question 4 should explain the term ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’ and
state its symptoms. You should therefore explain that it is a
psychological reaction to an unusual and catastrophic event – for
example an earthquake, air crash, violent crime or war. Then say that
people who experience this disorder can develop deep anxiety and/or
depression and/or aggression as a result. While some people may reexperience the distressing event regularly in their minds, others may
‘distance’ themselves from the experience to the extent of becoming
detached from other people and situations that remind them of it. You
need to emphasise that post-traumatic stress disorder interferes
significantly with daily life, upsetting relationships and damaging health.
This is especially because the symptoms can subside and then reappear
for no apparent reason a long time after the event, even years later.
Remember that your short answers to the questions should be relatively
brief and concise. However, they should also contain the essential
information outlined above and be well organised and clear. When you
have checked the content of your answers ask your tutor to comment
on them. You will find such advice and feedback invaluable in helping
you to improve the quality of your written work.
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Now, let’s take a look at an example of research that has been carried
out using the psychoanalytic approach.
Research example
Repression
Levinger and Clark, 1961
Research problem
Does repression exist?
Research method
Experiment. Participants were to attempt to make word
associations to 30 neutral and 30 ‘emotionally charged’ words.
They were then asked to remember the associations they had made
in each case.
Research results
Participants were significantly more likely to forget the associations
for the emotional words than for the neutral words.
Try Activity 5 on the following page.
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A5
1.
Some psychologists believe that experiences which make us
uncomfortable are repressed. Explain why we would repress an
uncomfortable experience.
2.
Can you provide any examples from your own knowledge and/or
experience where regression might apply?
3.
In what other ways does the unconscious show itself in everyday
behaviour?
Hint: Examine the cartoon below.
Source: Psychology: Approaches and Methods in Psychology (H) Teacher Resource Pack
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A5 Response
1.
According to the psychoanalytic approach, repression forces
unacceptable thoughts and desires into the unconscious where we
cease to remember them or else remember them in a way that they
no longer make us feel uncomfortable. We therefore repress
experiences in order to reduce the discomfort we feel.
2.
Most of us will have repressed thoughts, or know of someone who
has done so. When we repress something we usually forget about
it. Examples of situations/incidents we tend to repress may include
the following: painful accidents we have had, embarrassing/
humiliating situations we have been in, being shown to be in the
wrong, being let down badly by someone, being abused or misused
by someone we trust, seeing ourselves in a way that we do not like.
3.
As the cartoon illustration shows, the unconscious shows itself
quite clearly in our everyday actions when we produce ‘slips of the
tongue’. These expressions actually reveal what we really think –
we did not mean to say them in quite the way that we did. There
are several examples of ‘slips of the tongue’ on page 193 of this
study section. Other ways in which the unconscious shows up in
our everyday behaviour is when we lose something (keys, diary) or
forget something (dentist appointment, work meeting)
‘accidentally’ because, unconsciously, we are trying to avoid
something or somebody.
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Most of us would probably agree that the psychoanalytic approach is not
only an interesting theory about human personality but also a way of
offering real help to people who are in psychological distress. Freud’s
theory is particularly useful in that it provides an effective therapeutic
technique for people with mental health problems. Freud’s theory was
radical at a time when psychological problems were regarded as signs of
possession by evil spirits. Freud’s new and informed ideas resulted in a
more compassionate attitude to people with mental illness.
Freudian theory has been very influential in reforming our ideas about
the mind, the personality, and mental illness in particular. In addition,
Freud’s theory drew attention to the emotional needs of children and to
the possible long-term effects of traumatic events that occur during
childhood.
Many Freudian ideas, such as defence mechanisms, have wide and
popular appeal and have become an accepted part of people’s
understanding of common behaviours. Psychoanalysis shows how
people may conceal the real motives for their actions, even from
themselves. This has considerable intuitive appeal to many.
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Limitations of psychoanalysis
Nevertheless, the psychoanalytic approach cannot offer a complete
explanation of the human mind and behaviour, any more than the
behaviourist or the cognitive approaches can. Needless to say, the
psychoanalytic approach has certain limitations associated with it and
cannot, by itself, account for all aspects of human behaviour. One
particular criticism of Freudian theory is that it cannot be tested
properly because it is hard to measure things like ‘instincts’ and ‘urges’.
Much of Freudian theory is about the ‘unconscious’. However, the
unconscious is invisible and we are not aware of it, so it is impossible to
prove its existence or otherwise. The evidence Freud used to support
his theory of the unconscious and the structure of the psyche all came
from the dreams and associations of his patients. It is well known that
these are unreliable sources of evidence. In addition, the sample from
which Freud obtained his data was very biased, consisting of middle
class, middle-aged women who suffered from mainly neurotic symptoms.
Although Freud’s case studies of these patients were very extensive and
detailed, it is not possible to generalise the results of these in a real
scientific way and they cannot be used to predict future behaviour. At
best, Freud’s methods offer an explanation for existing behaviour on a
very individual basis.
The Freudian idea that personality is decided so early on in life is a
rather pessimistic and deterministic one. Strictly speaking, the events of
the first 5 years of life dictate how you develop through the rest of your
life, according to psychoanalysis. It is now generally accepted, however,
that Freud overemphasised the importance of the early years in
personality formation. Studies have consistently shown that some
children can suffer severe deprivation in early life and recover, while
others can be damaged in later life and suffer permanently. Many more
modern theorists, including some psychoanalysts (for example,
Erickson) believe that personality goes on changing throughout life.
Although Freud’s theory has many limitations it has produced lasting
benefits, partly due to development of his ideas by other psychologists
and partly due to the mode of therapy he used. Psychoanalysis aims to
help the patient help him/herself, whilst the analyst intervenes as little as
possible.
Let’s now try and explain how the psychoanalytic approach is limited.
Try Activity 6 on the following page.
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A6
Select two criticisms of the psychoanalytic approach and explain them
fully.
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A6 Response
The materials that appear immediately prior to this activity describe a
number of different ways in which the psychoanalytic approach is limited
and has, therefore, been criticised. These limitations can be summarised
as follows:
1.
A lot of the ideas which form the basis of the psychoanalytic
approach cannot be tested objectively and reliably (i.e. things like
libido, and the unconscious) and therefore cannot be proven.
2.
Much of the evidence Freud used to support his theory came from
personal accounts by individual patients. This ‘evidence’ was
highly subjective and therefore unreliable.
3.
The sample of subjects that Freud used in his work was very small.
Also, since these subjects were from a select type of background
and experience, they did not constitute a representative sample.
4.
Freud’s idea that a person’s whole personality depends on what
happened to them during early childhood has been shown to be
incorrect by more modern studies of early deprivation and its
effects.
In your response to Activity 6, you should have mentioned two of the
criticisms given above and explained them fully. Check that you have
done so. Make any changes you feel are necessary to the answers that
you have given.
Don’t forget that your tutor needs to see your work regularly. Show
your tutor your answers to this activity at your next visit. It’s very
important that you get useful feedback and understand how to improve
your answers further.
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All you need to know about the psychoanalytic approach has now been
covered.
This checklist summarises what you should have learned in the study
section.
I now know:
Tick here:
what is meant by the psychoanalytic approach
in psychology
what the psychoanalytic approach aims to do
what is meant by the unconscious, personality
development and defence mechanisms
two ways in which the psychoanalytic approach
is used
two limitations of the psychoanalytic approach
If you are not completely confident about any of the above, re-read the
relevant parts of this study section. If you feel you are still having
difficulties, let your tutor know. Make sure that you sort out any
problems you have in this study section before you attempt the Tutor
Assignment on page 226.
The next page contains a short summary of the psychoanalytic approach.
You should read this carefully and then go on and attempt the Tutor
Assignment for this study section. As soon as you have completed it to
your satisfaction, give it or send it to your tutor.
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Summary
The psychoanalytic approach states that behaviour is the result of our
personality. This approach describes how personality is formed in early
childhood through the process of psychosexual development.
A large element in the psychoanalytic approach is the unconscious
mind. The unconscious is that part of the personality that is not in our
awareness but which continues to influence our feelings and behaviour
throughout life.
The psychoanalytic approach is based on results of case studies of
patients treated by Sigmund Freud. The observations and analyses that
Freud made of these patients provided the basis for both a theory of
personality and a therapeutic technique designed to help people with
psychological problems.
The psychoanalytic approach attracts both wide acclaim and vigorous
criticism. Some of the main criticisms made of it include its lack of
scientific rigour, its deterministic and pessimistic views about human
personality development and its highly subjective methodology.
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Tutor Assignment
T1
Read this description and then answer the questions that follow:
A man who was said to be suffering from depression could not
remember his name or the name of any of his family. During
therapy, he said that he often dreamed about being a world-famous
celebrity. At the next therapy session, he said he could remember
his son’s name. His son’s name was Harry, but he distinctly said
‘Hates me’.
1.
What psychological approach is being used to help this man?
2.
What does the psychoanalytic approach aim to do?
3.
Give two examples of how the psychoanalytic approach is used to
help people.
4.
What limitations do we associate with the psychoanalytic approach?
Submit this to your tutor for marking.
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Answers to Self Assessed Questions
Answers to SAQ 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Freud
Behaviour
Unconscious
Anna O
Hysteria
Free association
Free association
Theory
Talking cure
Slips of the tongue
Losing things
Unconscious
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Answers to SAQ 2
Hysteria
Free Association
A psychological disorder
where there is a physical
symptom, but no apparent
physical cause. The cause
of the symptom(s) is
psychological.
A technique where the individual
produces a completely
uncensored and unprepared
account of what they are thinking
and feeling. There is no
interference whatsoever with the
patient during free association. As
a result what is said by the patient
represents the real concerns of
the person’s unconscious.
Unconscious Mind
Personality
A reference to mental activity
that is not available to
consciousness because it
concerns material which is
too threatening or upsetting.
Interactions between the id, ego
and superego which result in
relatively consistent features of an
individual and characteristic
ways of behaving.
Id
Fixated
The primitive part of the
unconscious personality
which is responsible for
extreme emotional reactions
and demands for immediate
satisfaction.
An inability to progress from an
earlier stage of development
(e.g. oral fixation) or an earlier
relationship (e.g. mother fixation).
Ego
Phallic Stage
The part of the personality
structure that deals with
external reality and controls
the energies of the id.
The third psychosexual stage of
development, in which interest
is focused on the genitals.
The stage of development which
involves the Oedipal conflict.
Castration Anxiety
Psychoanalysis
The anxiety experienced by a
young boy during the Oedipus
complex. The fear of being
castrated by his father as a
punishment for his feelings
towards his mother.
Method of psychological treatment
which uses free association in a
therapeutic situation in order to
bring unconscious material into
the conscious.
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Answers to SAQ 3
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Regression
Repression
Regression
Displacement
Denial
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Psychology
Approaches and Methods in
Psychology
Section 5: The Biological Approach
[HIGHER]
THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
SECTION 5
Aims
The psychological approach we will now study is called the biological
approach. The biological approach to psychology, as its name implies,
views man as a biological organism. What we do, and even how we
think, is seen as having its basis in our physiological structure.
The person most associated with the biological approach is Charles
Darwin. Darwin was responsible for suggesting that there was an
evolutionary link between humans and other species. He also proposed
the idea of inheritance, i.e. that certain characteristics, including
behavioural characteristics, can be passed down through generations of
the same species. Today, this idea is the foundation of the biological
approach to psychology. Compared with the other approaches, the
biological approach emphasises actually looking closely at the internal
structure of the organism.
In this section you will learn about the origins of the biological approach
and about the different ways in which it is used. You will also be
presented with some of the criticisms of the biological approach and
asked to consider for yourself how sound these criticisms are.
By the end of this section you should be able to:
• state the aim of the biological approach
• describe the human nervous system and the structures and functions
of the human brain
• give two applications of the biological approach
• give two limitations of the biological approach.
Approximate study time for this section
As a rough guide, this section will take approximately 5 hours to
complete.
Other resources required for this section
A loose leaf folder A4 size
Suitable paper for use with the folder
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Assessment information for this section
How you will be assessed for this section
Your learning of the material in this section will be assessed in a closed
book, invigilated end of unit assessment. Your tutor will contact you to
make appropriate arrangements. The assessment will consist of a range
of questions that will require you to produce structured answers (i.e.
not essays). The required answers will vary in length depending on the
mark allocation of each question.
In addition to the internal assessment, if you choose to complete the
entire Higher Psychology course, this section will be assessed in a formal
external exam. The exam will sample your knowledge from all areas
studied in the Higher Psychology course.
When and where you will be assessed for this section
The internal assessment of the material in this section will take place
once you have completed all sections of the Higher Psychology:
Approaches and Methods unit. You should aim to sit this assessment
within about three months of starting the course.
The internal assessment of the Higher Psychology: Approaches and
Methods unit can be completed at one sitting. However, your tutor may
arrange for you to sit it in two parts on separate days.
The external exam takes place in June of each year.
Both the internal assessment and external exam will normally be held at
your centre. They will be formally invigilated and carried out in exam
conditions.
What you have to achieve for this section
You have to achieve satisfactory completion of all Tutor Assignments.
Opportunities for reassessment for this section
If necessary, opportunities can be made available for you to resit the
internal assessment. This policy will be explained to you by your tutor if
the need arises. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as for the
first attempt at assessment.
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At present, there is only one sitting available for the external exam. If
you wish to resit the exam, you will need to wait until the following
June. Credit for internal assessments can be carried over into the new
academic year, so there is no need to resit internal assessments if you
decide to resit the external exam.
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Biological psychology
Biological psychology is concerned with the way in which what we do or
think is linked to physical states. For instance, what are the effects of
stress on our ability to make decisions, or how does a new drug affect
the brain and therefore behaviour?
Biological psychology makes two important claims:
• All our thoughts, experiences and actions are a direct result of the
activity of the brain, i.e. everything we do can be traced to physical
events in the nervous system.
• We act and process information the way we do because of our
evolutionary history. Some ancient groups of animals that acted the
way we do survived and reproduced more successfully than other
animals that acted in other ways. The first group of animals therefore
became our ancestors and the second group became extinct.
Evolution
The theory of evolution was put forward by Charles Darwin in the
nineteenth century. What he said was that a species would develop in
certain ways as a response to features in the environment. Darwin made
the point that those species who develop characteristics that allow them
to survive, be stronger and healthier, will inevitably pass these survival
characteristics down through genetic transmission. This means that
their offspring, too, will be stronger and healthier and, through
successive generations, will continue to survive and populate the planet.
Darwin’s argument about evolution includes the following points:
• ‘Like begets like’. Individuals tend to resemble their parents.
• ‘Variation’. Within any population, there is a certain amount of
variation with regards to any characteristic such as height, weight,
colour of hair. There is also an occasional new variation, i.e. a
characteristic that has not been seen before. There are, then, some
(rare) exceptions to the rule that like begets like. These new
characteristics can be transmitted to the next generation.
Darwin did not at the time understand the sources of variation, but we
now know that there are mutations (accidental changes in the genes,
the particles that control heredity) and recombinations (the result of
getting some genes from the father and some from the mother).
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According to the biological approach, the same principles that apply to
the evolution of physical structures apply to behavioural capacities also,
because those abilities are simply the product of the physical body. A
conclusion previously reached by Darwin was that humans in all
societies frown, smile, laugh and cry in basically similar situations.
Further, all societies have some kissing, although there are sometimes
strict taboos on who may kiss whom. An eyebrow raising gesture serves
as a friendly greeting in all or nearly all cultures; furthermore, this
gesture shows surprisingly little variation. A great many other
expressions such as pouting, winking, shaking hands, nodding the head
for ‘yes’ and shaking it for ‘no’, are either universal or at least very
common among human societies. This may suggest an innate,
unlearned basis to facial expressions.
At least for certain behaviours, like does beget like. The behaviour of
the young resembles that of the parents even in cases when the young
have had no opportunity to imitate the behaviour of the parents. Many
facial expressions, including laughing, crying, smiling and frowning,
appear at an early age in children born deaf and blind and even in
children born deaf, blind and without arms. For such children, there is
no opportunity to learn these expressions by imitation; the expressions
show up at such an early age that it is hard to imagine how they could
be learned at all.
Variations in behaviour do also occur, but psychologists often disagree as
to whether a particular item of behaviour has occurred through genetic
factors – hereditary – or through the animal’s experience in the
environment – learning. In psychology, this is known as the naturenurture debate. On one side of the nature-nurture debate there are
psychologists who believe that heredity is very important and they are
known collectively as nativists. On the other side, there are
psychologists who think that learning and environmental influences are
more important and these are known as empiricists.
Darwin’s theory and psychology
Darwin’s theory of evolution revolutionised psychology as well as
biology. It strongly suggested that the mechanisms which control
human behaviour must have some basic similarities with those that
control non-human animal behaviour. No longer could we insist, as
many people once did, that humans are guided by intelligence and
reason while other species are guided only by blind instinct. It should
therefore be possible to demonstrate intelligence in some non-human
animals, as well as unlearned ‘instinctive’ behaviours in humans!
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There are many instances in which captive chimpanzees demonstrate
‘insightful’ use of tools to get food. In one experiment, some fruit was
placed outside the cage just out of reach. The chimp quickly learned to
use a stick to pull the fruit closer. Then, the fruit was put beyond the
reach of the stick, but another longer stick was put outside the cage.
The chimp used the shorter stick to retrieve the longer stick, then used
the longer stick to retrieve the fruit. That is, the chimp set up an
intermediate goal, using one tool to get another tool.
The fact that it is possible to demonstrate human-like intellectual
abilities in other animals does not, however, imply that animal
intelligence is simply a scaled down version of human intelligence.
Evolution is capable of producing differences among species as well as
similarities. In many instances, a species seems to have a specialised
capacity to learn something of particular benefit to it and much less
capacity to learn something that it would not be likely to use in nature.
For example, suppose we try to train animals to respond one way to one
visual pattern and a different way to another pattern. For most pairs of
patterns, horses and donkeys learn faster than zebras, but if the
difference between the pattern is wide stripes versus narrow stripes,
then the zebra learns much faster than the others. Bees and ants are
exceptionally good at learning when and where to find food but their
abilities to learn in other situations are not great. Rats can learn to pick
out the object in a group that smells different from the others but not
the object that looks different from the others. In each of these
examples, a species seems to be most successful at learning those
connections that would do it some good in its natural way of life.
According to the biological approach, the mechanisms of human
behaviour are basically similar to the mechanisms of behaviour in other
species. One important consequence of this similarity is that we can
learn something about the mechanisms of human behaviour by studying
other animals. Animals have valuable behaviours and experiences, and
an animal’s previous experiences affect its behaviour in similar ways to
that of humans. Indeed, humans are animals, although very highly
evolved ones. We can learn about characteristics we share with animals
by studying the animals themselves. Although experiments involving
animals must be interpreted cautiously when applying them to humans,
they can, under appropriate circumstances, provide very valuable
information and insights.
Let’s see how much you have now learned about the biological approach
in psychology. Attempt the SAQ on the next page.
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?1
Write a few lines explaining what these terms mean. You do not have to
reply on your memory – you can use your notes and learning materials if
you need to.
Nature-nurture debate
Biological approach
Darwin’s theory
Mutations
Nativists
Empiricists
Recombinations
Instinctive behaviour
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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The body’s physical systems
The nervous system, particularly the brain, in human beings and other
animals, controls the way we initiate behaviour and respond to events in
our world. The nervous system receives information about changes in
the environment from sensory organs, including the eyes, ears and nose
and it transmits directions that tell our muscles and other internal
organs how to react. The brain also stores information – being a
repository for our memory of past events – and provides our capability
for thinking, reasoning and creating.
The nervous system provides these commands through an intricate
network of millions of specialised nerve cells called neurons. A neuron
is a cell specialised to receive, process and/or transmit information to
other cells within the body. There is a great variety of neurons, but they
all have the same basic structures (see below).
Source: Psychology: Approaches and Methods in Psychology (H) Teacher Resource Pack
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There are three major types of neuron:
1.
Sensory neuron (also called afferent neuron) carries messages
from sense receptor cells in the sense organs to the spinal cord
and brain.
2.
Motor neuron (also called efferent neuron) carries messages from
the brain and spinal cord towards the muscles and glands.
3.
Interneurons connect sensory and motor neurons since only very
occasionally do motor and sensory neurons connect directly.
Organisation of the nervous system
All parts of the nervous system are interrelated. However, for the
purposes of study, the nervous system can be separated into the
following divisions and subdivisions:
Nervous system
Central Nervous System
Peripheral Nervous System
Somatic Nervous Autonomic Nervous
System
System
Sensory and motor
nerves (voluntary)
Brain
Spinal Cord
Connects brain and
peripheral nerves
Sympathetic
Nervous System
Expends energy
Para-sympathetic
Nervous System
Conserves energy
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The central nervous system includes all the neurons in the brain and
spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves
connecting the brain and spinal cord to the other parts of the body. The
peripheral nervous system is further divided into the somatic system
and the autonomic system. The sensory nerves of the somatic system
transmit information about external stimulation from the skin, muscles
and joints to the central nervous system; they make us aware of pain,
pressure and temperature variations. The motor nerves of the somatic
system carry impulses from the central nervous system to the muscles of
the body, where they initiate action. All the muscles we use in making
voluntary movements, as well as involuntary adjustments in posture and
balance, are controlled by these nerves.
The autonomic nervous system itself has two divisions, the sympathetic
and the parasympathetic nervous system which often act in opposite
ways. The sympathetic nervous system helps us mobilise and expend
energy in responding to emergencies, expressing strong emotions and
performing strenuous activity. The parasympathetic acts alongside of,
and often in opposition to, the sympathetic division. The
parasympathetic nervous system regulates ‘quiet’ or calming processes,
helping our individual organ systems to conserve and store energy.
The nervous system is connected to and regulates all of our other body
systems.
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The endocrine system
The endocrine system is a network of glands that manufacture and
secrete chemical messengers called hormones into the bloodstream.
Although the endocrine system is not part of the nervous system, it is
closely related to it, especially to the autonomic nervous system.
Endocrine glands release hormones in response to the levels of
chemicals in the bloodstream or because they are stimulated by other
hormones or by nerve impulses from the brain. The hormones are
secreted into the blood and travel to distant target cells with specific
receptors.
Hormones control a wide variety of bodily functions and behaviours.
Some of these are slow and continuous processes, such as maintenance
of blood-sugar levels; others are extremely rapid and urgent such as the
‘fight or flight’ reaction. But the endocrine system is also responsible
for the immediate ‘fight or flight’ reaction by releasing the hormone
adrenaline into the bloodstream.
Hormones are controlled by the hypothalamus (in the forebrain) which
sends hormonal instructions to the pituitary gland (which lies just below
it), either stimulating or inhibiting the release of other hormones.
Structure and functions of the brain
The cerebrum, the seat of complex thought, is divided into two
separate hemispheres: the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere
(see below).
Source: Psychology: Approaches and Methods in Psychology (H) Teacher Resource Pack
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These two hemispheres have numerous interconnections, especially
through the corpus callosum, a bundle of about 200 million nerve
fibres that transfers information back and forth between the two
hemispheres. Most of the nerve fibres connecting the brain to the
various parts of the body cross from one side to the other. This means
that the right side receives sensory messages and controls movement in
the left side of the body and vice versa.
The two hemispheres make different contributions to the same
functions; both hemispheres contribute to language and memory
functions, to perceptual-cognitive functions and to emotional functions.
However, although they both contribute to these functions, each
hemisphere tends to dominate the control (see below).
Two drawings of the surface of the left hemisphere of the cerebrum. The left drawing
shows the four parts of the hemisphere and the right drawing points out the areas
associated with specific functions. The right hemisphere has the same four parts and
functional areas.
Source: Psychology: Approaches and Methods in Psychology (H) Teacher Resource Pack
The spinal cord is connected with basic reflexes, such as reacting to
sudden pain. Its most important function, though, is to take messages
to and from the other parts of the brain – without the spinal cord we
would be completely unable to coordinate any of our body functions.
The spinal cord is the vital link between the brain and the body.
The medulla (brain stem) is at the top end of the spinal cord. It
appears as a thickening of the spinal cord and it is the beginning of the
brain itself. The medulla controls basic bodily functions, such as
breathing, swallowing, digestion and heartbeat. These basic bodily
functions are essential to us, but for the most part we tend to be
unaware of them while they are happening.
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The cerebellum is a structure at the back of the brain, underneath the
cerebral hemispheres. It is very wrinkled, looking a little like a
cauliflower. The cerebellum is responsible for muscle tone, balance in
the body and for coordinating voluntary movement. The cerebellum
controls most of our physical activity, although it doesn’t make the
decisions about what we should do (that’s done by the cerebral cortex);
it coordinates our actions and makes sure that we can do them smoothly
and easily.
The limbic system consists of several structures that seem to be
important in the expression of emotions, such as fear, anger and
excitement. To the extent that heredity affects a person’s emotions, it
may do so by determining the structure and function of the limbic
system.
The thalamus is a very pivotal structure in the flow of information in the
nervous system. It functions as the chief relay station for directing
sensory messages, such as of pain or visual images, to appropriate points
in the cerebrum. The thalamus also relays commands going out to the
skeletal muscles from the motor cortex of the cerebrum.
The hypothalamus is a small structure situated just below the thalamus
and it plays an important role in emotions and in motivation. Its
functions affect eating, drinking and sexual activity, for example.
Another important function of the hypothalamus is to maintain
homeostasis in the body. It does this by keeping a constant check on
the functioning of the body and setting off homeostatic mechanisms if
things begin to go wrong. For instance, if you overheat you will start to
sweat in order to cool down. Sweating is a homeostatic mechanism.
These adjustments are under the control of the hypothalamus. The
hypothalamus also plays an important role in our reaction to stress.
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Now try the following task.
?2
Supply the missing words in the sentences below. Choose from the list
on page 248. Some words are used more than once.
1.
Many of our physical characteristics are inherited from our parents.
Physical characteristics such as eye and hair colour are transmitted
from one generation to the next. Psychological characteristics –
ability, temperament, emotional stability – may also depend to
.
some extent on
2.
The theory that suggested that the mechanisms which control
human behaviour are similar to those which control non human
.
behaviour is called the theory of
3.
We can learn something about human
studying other animals, according to the
approach.
4.
When your brain signals your hand to move, the message is carried
by
neurons.
5.
Information from the environment is carried to the brain by
neurons.
6.
The
is the connecting link between
sensory and motor neurons. They are found only in the brain and
spinal cord.
7.
The central nervous system consists of the brain and the
by
.
8.
Nerves that are not part of the brain and the spinal cord form the
nervous system.
9.
Nerves connecting the brain and spinal cord with the senses,
skeletal musclesand body surfaces form the
part of the peripheral nervous system.
10.
Another part of the peripheral nervous system is the
nervous system.
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11.
The central nervous system consists of the
and the
. All nerves outside of the brain
and spinal cord are grouped into the
nervous system, which has two divisions: the
division and the
division.
12.
The autonomic nervous system has two divisions, the
and the
divisions.
13.
division tends to be active in excited
The
tends to be more
states, while the
important in quiet or calm states, i.e. those activities that conserve
and protect bodily resources.
14.
The brain structure that maintains homeostasis and plays an
important role in motivation and emotion is the
.
15.
, secreted by
The chemical messengers, or
the endocrine glands help the hypothalamus maintain its normal
level of functioning.
16.
The endocrine gland located just below the hypothalamus is the
gland. It is often called the ‘master gland’.
17.
An important structure at the top end of the spinal cord is called
. It is sometimes called the brain stem.
the
18.
The complex movements involved in physical activities such as
dancing, walking and speaking are controlled by the
. This is a structure at the back of the
brain, underneath the cerebral hemispheres.
19.
The part of the brain which serves as a sensory relay station for
.
impulses/sensory messages is called the
20.
The expression of emotions such as fear, anger and excitement are
.
controlled by the
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Word list
Spinal cord
Autonomic
Motor
Behaviour
Peripheral
Evolution
Brain
Heredity
Somatic
Biological
Sensory
Interneurons
Sympathetic
Hypothalamus
Hormones
Pituitary
Parasympathetic
Limbic system
Medulla
Cerebellum
Thalamus
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Cerebral dominance
Cerebral dominance is the tendency for one hemisphere to be superior
for particular functions. In most people, one hand, foot, eye and ear are
usually preferred for many actions; for example, when standing, we
always begin walking with one particular foot.
The most visible indicator of dominance is handedness, i.e. whether you
are right handed or left handed. Theories of the origins of handedness
range from genetic factors to learning to brain damage. At present,
there is no conclusive evidence for any of these theories. While it is
known that dominance is somehow related to hemispheric
specialisation, no-one is sure exactly what the connection is.
Hemispheric specialisation
It was not always a known fact that specific functions are associated with
specific areas of the brain. In 1861, a doctor called Paul Broca
encountered a case in which a man lost the ability to speak coherently
following a head injury. Later, Broca was able to show, by post-mortem
autopsy, that the cause of the man’s deficit lay in damage to a specific
point in the brain. Broca had proven that speech was found in only one
hemisphere – the left hemisphere. Much more recently, in the 1950s, a
researcher called Roger Sperry demonstrated that cutting the fibres of
the corpus callosum (the nerve fibres that connect the two
hemispheres) results in patients being unable to say what they could see
being presented to them at the left-hand side of their visual field
(objects on the left-hand side of the visual field are seen by the right
hemisphere). Sperry’s research suggested that only the left hemisphere
is able to talk, while the right is silent. Of course, these results only
apply when the corpus callosum has been cut; in a normal person, there
is a continual exchange of information between the two hemispheres.
As it turns out, these differences are not quite what they first seemed.
The right hemisphere, while unable to initiate speech, is not completely
devoid of language.
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Consider the research example below:
Research example
Left and right hemispheres
Gross, Franko and Lewin, 1978
Research question
Can we perform some tasks better with the left hemisphere and
others with the right hemisphere?
Research method
Experiment. Participants were shown three words, such as Watch
Clock Block while gazing left or gazing right and were then asked
to identify the ‘odd one out’ in each set of words.
Research result
When gazing right, they almost always chose the word with the
odd meaning (block) indicating good language understanding.
When gazing left, there was increased probability of choosing the
word that was odd in sound (watch) indicating less attention was
being paid to language understanding.
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Now attempt these questions.
A1
1.
Psychologists believe that the left hemisphere is specialised for
language in most people, and the right hemisphere for complex
spatial relationships. Does this experiment support this view?
Why/why not?
2.
Can you provide any examples from your own knowledge and/or
experiences to support the view that language originates in the
left-hand side of the brain?
3.
When people are asked a verbal problem like ‘What does this
mean?’ they turn their eyes to the right. However, when they are
asked a spatial question like ‘What are the relative locations of
these landmarks?’ they turn their eyes to the left. Suggest why
they do this.
4.
The results in question 3 above apply only to right-handed people.
What do you think would happen in the case of a left-handed
person?
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A1 Response
1.
The experiment does support the view that the left hemisphere
deals with language because subjects were able to make sense of
the words and identify the word which had a different meaning
only when the words were in their right visual field (thus being
seen by the left hemisphere). The experiment does not, however,
offer any support for the view that the right hemisphere deals with
spatial relationships because there was no material that tested
spatial ability in this experiment. A further experiment that
included, for example, giving subjects geometric figures to copy
from a picture seen on their left visual field (right hemisphere
involvement) and then on their right visual field (left hemisphere
involvement) and comparing the two drawings would go some way
towards testing this idea.
2.
It’s possible that you thought about being right-handed and being
left-handed here. This is certainly a good example to use because
there is a possible connection between the hand you write with
and hemisphere dominance in language. In over 95% of righthanded people, the left hemisphere is dominant for language.
However, over 70% of left-handed people also have lefthemisphere dominance, so all in all the majority of people have
their language centres located in the left-hand side of the brain.
This does not mean that the right hemisphere is completely devoid
of all activity associated with language. Some functions
concerning speech and word recognition occur there. At the same
time, the right hemisphere does have musical and spatial abilities
that seem to be lacking in the left hemisphere.
3.
The direction in which the eyes are turned gives an indication of
which hemisphere is dominant while solving the particular
problem. Turning the eyes to the right would indicate that the left
hemisphere is more active – this would make sense in the case of a
verbal problem. However when a spatial problem is involved, the
turning of the eyes to the left would certainly indicate that the
right-hand side of the brain was engaged in solving the problem in
this case.
4.
As we have said, many left-handed people are left-hemisphere
dominant for language. Such people would therefore behave in
exactly the same manner as right-handed people while solving
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these different problems, i.e. turn their eyes to the right during
the verbal problem and turn their eyes to the left during the spatial
problem. However, some left-handed people (approximately 30%)
are right-hemisphere dominant for language. In this case, the
opposite reaction might be found during the verbal problem, i.e.
turning of the eyes to the left. It is not really possible to say,
however, on the basis of the information you have whether this
also means that these left-handed people are also right-hemisphere
dominant for spatial skills. We therefore cannot predict at all how
they would behave during the spatial problem.
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So far in your study of the biological approach we have covered Darwin’s
theory of evolution and the body’s physical systems. Perhaps it is time
to start thinking about the particular aim of the biological approach.
A2
Write below what you think the aim of the biological approach might be.
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A2 Response
In common with the approaches that you have studied so far in this unit
(i.e. behaviourist, cognitive, and psychoanalytic approaches), the
biological approach aims to understand and explain behaviour.
However, as I am sure you are beginning to realise by now, each one of
these approaches takes a different view of the reasons for behaviour.
The view that the biological approach takes is that behaviour is the
direct result of our internal body systems (particularly the brain and
nervous system). In your answer above, you may well have mentioned
that the brain and the nervous system are determinants of behaviour,
according to the biological approach. This is of course correct. You
should always mention these two very important body structures
whenever you talk about the aim of the biological approach. When you
do this, also provide some detail about these physical structures, i.e.
state how the nervous system is organised, or name some of the
structures and functions of the brain itself. By doing so, you are
demonstrating that you understand what these bodily systems actually
are and how they work.
However, other internal physiological factors that directly affect
behaviour can also include the endocrine system (where hormones
originate) and our genes (the hereditary material responsible for all our
inherited characteristics). The biological approach also acknowledges
that behaviour is affected by any external influences that in turn affect
the body’s physiological system in some way. Such external influences
can include for example drugs, food additives and stress.
Take some time now to review your answer to the activity. You may feel
that you need to add something else to it. Again, there may well be
some things that you had written that you now wish to alter. One very
important aspect of study technique is self monitoring. This means that
you should always try to review your understanding of the material you
have learned so far and, if you feel that what you have written can be
improved further, to do so to the best of your ability.
When you have thoroughly reviewed your answer to Activity 2, ask your
tutor to look it over for you. Make sure you note down any comments
he/she makes about improving your answer further. Don’t forget to
discuss with your tutor whether it is necessary to make any more
changes.
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Here’s a fun activity for you to try.
A3
Reaction time
You need:
A ruler or a metre stick
This activity can be attempted by one person but it is much better if two
people work together so that one person tests another. Enlist the help
of a friend, family member or partner.
This is to be read by you only
Procedure:
1.
Have your partner stand in front of you and hold out one hand
(palm facing downwards). Your partner’s thumb should be
positioned about 1 inch or 2 cm in front of their index finger.
2.
Hold the ruler or metre stick between your partner’s fingers and
thumb, and tell him or her to grasp the ruler or metre stick as you
let it drop. Your partner is to watch your hand carefully so that as
soon as you release the ruler or metre stick, he or she is prepared
to grasp it.
3.
Measure the distance the ruler or metre stick falls by starting at
one of the markers of the ruler or metre stick. Your partner’s
middle finger should be opposite this marker before you let the
ruler or metre stick drop.
4.
The number of inches/centimetres the ruler or metre stick falls can
be translated into reaction time in seconds, by using the following
table.
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Inches
1
Centimetres
2.5
Seconds
0.072
2
3
5
7.5
0.102
0.125
4
5
10
12.5
0.144
0.161
6
7
15
17.5
0.176
0.190
8
9
20
22.5
0.203
0.216
25
0.227
10
For greater precision, carry out five trials and use the average distance
in calculating the reaction time.
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A3 Response
Both you and your partner may be surprised to discover that the ruler
or metre stick drops several inches/centimetres no matter how quickly
the subject tries to react.
This basic procedure can now be used to study things that affect
performance. You might try varying the cues: sometimes say ‘Get
ready’ and other times drop the stick or ruler without warning.
A different approach based on the same principle does not involve
measurements but is nevertheless dramatic. Suggest that you are going
to drop a £5 note through your partner’s fingers and that if he/she can
catch it, they can keep it! You can, of course, arrange the procedure so
that it is impossible for your partner to do so – if your partner took 6
inches/12 cm or more to catch the ruler or metre stick and the £5 note
is held halfway through your partner’s fingers, you can be sure that your
money is pretty safe!
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Here are a few questions on ‘Reaction time’ for you to try.
?3
1.
Why does the ruler/metre stick always drop several inches/
centimetres no matter how quickly the subject reacts?
2.
Could your partner catch the ruler/metre stick more quickly if he/
she dropped it him/her self?
3.
Could the person holding the ruler/metre stick in this experiment
unintentionally bias the results? Why/why not?
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Let’s now think about the use of animals in psychological research. The
biological approach, because it focuses on body systems, does use
animals when carrying out experiments.
The ethics of animal experimentation
Jose Delgado (1969) investigated the electrical stimulation of the brain
for a wide variety of behaviours in monkeys. Stimulation of some brain
points produced normal, coordinated walking, walking in circles or
running. Other areas elicited yawning, falling asleep, loss of appetite,
etc. In the most spectacular example, a 5 second stimulation of a brain
area elicited a sequence of behaviour which lasted 10–14 seconds: the
monkey stopped whatever it was doing, changed its facial expressions,
turned its head to the right, stood up on two feet, circled to the right,
walked on two feet to a pole in the centre of the room, climbed up the
pole and came down, growled, threatened, and sometimes attacked
another monkey, then approached the group in a friendly manner and
resumed its normal behaviour.
This stimulation was repeated, believe it or not, 20,000 times (until the
experimenter got bored) and the monkey went through almost exactly
the same sequence of behaviour every time.
What is true for animal brains such as monkeys’ brains may also be true
for human brains. It is, of course, unethical to experiment on human
brains without some legitimate medical purpose. Why then, one might
ask, is it not also unethical to do these experiments with laboratory
animals?
The issues involved are serious and complex. Some experimenters
suggest that if they did no experiments that caused suffering to animals,
then there would be very little progress in any field related to biology,
medicine or psychology – and in the long run the resultant human
suffering might be greater than what any experiment causes now.
The ethics of experimentation is a classic question – does the end justify
the means? There is no single, general answer to such questions. The
answer must depend on how good one expects the end to be, how bad
one expects the means to be and how sure you are that this means will
lead to that end. Sometimes the end justifies the means and sometimes
it does not. Sometimes experiments produce significant knowledge at a
modest price in animal suffering and sometimes the result is not worth
the investment. Unfortunately it is often difficult to predict how
valuable the results of an experiment will be.
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Now attempt this activity, based on what you have read above about
animal experimentation.
A4
Answer the following questions:
1.
What practical justification is given in the piece for animal
experimentation?
2.
What are the ethical objections to animal experimentation?
3.
How might psychologists justify their use of animals in animal
experiments?
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A4 Response
1.
The justification given is that animal experiments further
knowledge and understanding in fields like biology, medicine and
psychology. Without this knowledge, very little could be done
about much human suffering which is the result of disease or
disorders.
In 1985, Neal Miller produced a detailed article describing research
on animals that he considers to be valuable. Miller notes the ways
in which animal research has benefited animals. For example, a
better understanding of the behaviour of animals which damage
crops or carry disease has led to the development of deterrents,
thus doing away with the need for lethal control.
2.
Objectors who protest against animal experiments on ethical
grounds argue that since it is not acceptable to experiment on
humans without a clear medical reason, then the same applies to
animals also.
3.
As stated above, there are a number of things to consider here.
Any psychologist contemplating animal experimentation needs to
weigh up several factors before making such a choice. Firstly, there
needs to be a definition of suffering made and the amount of such
suffering to the animal(s) involved should then be predicted.
Secondly, the psychologist has to consider whether the results of
the experiment(s) would be of clear benefit to either animals or
humans or both. If the first of these factors was low and the
second was certain, then a psychologist might say that the animal
experiment was justified. However, if the first factor was high and
the second factor more uncertain, the psychologist may find it
difficult to justify the use of animal experiments. Unfortunately, it
is not easy to predict either the degree of suffering or the certainty
of useful results.
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Applications of the biological approach
It is quite likely that by now you are beginning to appreciate that the
biological approach may have a number of useful applications. As an
approach it has clear potential for helping people whose problems have
both a physical and psychological basis.
One of the most recent applications of the biological approach within
psychology is the development of the field of health psychology. Health
psychology is about the application of the discipline of psychology to
the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention and
treatment of illness and to the analysis and improvement of the health
care system and health policy.
The term psychosomatic illness is often misunderstood. It does not
imply that a person is only pretending to be ill or imagining an illness. A
psychosomatic illness is a real illness; there is an actual malfunction
somewhere in the body. There may be damage to some organ(s) and
there may even be real infection. However, the onset of psychosomatic
illness is due in part to some aspect of the person’s experience or
personality. In this sense, a large percentage of all illnesses, probably
even a majority, have psychosomatic components. In Health Psychology,
psychologists directly study the factors which affect a person’s health
status. For example, people with ulcers may be tense, ambitious and self
critical.
Events that produce stress are called stressors. Stressors may be
physical stimuli (e.g. electric shock, loud noises) or psychological (e.g.
social change, poverty, bereavement). Physical stressors exist in the
environment and naturally trigger basic physiological processes involved
with illness, pain or discomfort. On the other hand, our perceptions of
events play an important role in determining what is stressful. People
see things differently. For some, making a speech arouses anxiety and
tension. For others, it’s a pleasure. Such events are called
psychological stressors because they depend upon people first analysing
and then labelling them as personally uncomfortable or otherwise.
The idea that stress contributes to ill-health is not however a recent one.
Seyle (1956) carried out research investigating the effects on animals of
a range of stressors, such as heat, cold, injections of substances, etc. He
found that, irrespective of the nature of the stressor, the animals
displayed a similar pattern of responses. These included the
enlargement of the outer layer of the adrenal cortex, shrinkage of the
thymus, spleen and other lymphatic structures, and the development of
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gastrointestinal ulcers. Although Seyle’s model has been criticised on a
number of points it has been very influential in the field of stress
research in psychology. Systematic study of psycho-social stress (that
related to psychological or social factors) has in large part been based
on the assumption that it produces the same sort of bodily reactions as
those Seyle observed in relation to biological stressors.
When daily activities become too stressful, muscle tension increases,
people become anxious and tension increases. Various techniques for
relaxation are used by psychologists in order to counteract these
physiological changes associated with stress. Cognitive techniques are
also used in order to help people identify those situations which they
find most stressful and why. These various techniques restore energy so
that they can cope better with future stressful events.
Also in the area of health, psychologists have developed a number of
techniques for controlling pain without the use of drugs. Historically,
pain has been managed by medication and surgery, but increasingly
there is recognition of the part played by psychological factors in pain
and pain relief. Techniques with a high psychological element include
biofeedback, imagery and, as with treatment for stress, relaxation and
cognitive techniques.
In biofeedback techniques, people are connected to a recording device
which will monitor one of their bodily functions – for instance how high
their blood pressure is. The recording device will also have some way
of informing the person what their blood pressure is like. When that
person’s blood pressure goes down to the desired level, then the
person is informed of it – they have feedback about what they are doing.
Biofeedback has been used successfully with pain conditions, especially
tension headaches and migraines.
Imagery is another strategy which involves attempting to reduce
discomfort by imagining a mental scene which is unconnected to and
incompatible with the pain. Usually people think of a scene which is
pleasant or which means something special to them. The patient is
encouraged to engage the use of all of his or her senses – to smell the
flowers, hear the birds singing, feel the sunshine, etc.
Relaxation techniques are used with patients who are in pain as well as
those who are stressed. Initially, such techniques were developed for
use only with anxiety patients. However, relaxation reduces the
patient’s level of anxiety which can be a factor in the experience of pain.
In addition, relaxation directly affects physiological processes such as
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muscle tension that are responsible for pain. Relaxation strategies focus
on moving the person into a lower state of arousal and can be achieved
through instructions that guide the individual towards relaxing each
part of the body.
Cognitive techniques address the thoughts which people experience
with pain. A range of cognitive strategies is available. They include
focusing on the pain. Here the person is told to focus on the part of the
body which is in pain but then try to analyse the sensations rationally
and objectively. Brown, O’Keefe, Sanders and Baker (1986) found that,
by the age of 10, some children were using cognitive strategies such as
trying to think of something else or telling themselves to ‘be brave’ in
order to reduce dental pain.
Now attempt these short-answer questions about the applications of the
biological approach.
A5
1.
Explain why the research carried out by Seyle is particularly
relevant to the biological approach.
2.
Give two ways in which a health psychologist would help a patient
tackle pain.
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A5 Response
1.
This research by Seyle, although based on animal responses to
external stressors such as heat, cold, electric shocks, identified a
pattern of physiological symptoms that also occur in humans who
are experiencing psycho-social stress (i.e. stress related to
psychological factors or social factors). These symptoms include
enlargement of some glands and shrinkage of others, a lowering of
the immune system and the development of stomach ulcers.
2.
The question asks you to describe two of the following
psychological techniques for managing pain: biofeedback, imagery,
relaxation techniques, cognitive techniques.
Biofeedback is a way of giving patients immediate feedback
(information) about their own bodily states such as blood pressure,
muscle tension, etc. Biofeedback is based on the premise that
patients can exert voluntary control over these functions provided
they know what they are and are informed immediately about any
changes in them. With specific regard to pain management, a
person who is in pain will often be in a tense state. This of course
accentuates their experience of the pain. In fact in some cases
such as migraine headaches, it is tension that is causing the pain.
By retaining control over their state of relaxation, the intensity of a
patient’s pain is reduced.
Imagery techniques encourage patients to imagine a scene/
situation/experience that they find pleasant or meaningful.
Patients are encouraged and trained to use all their senses in order
to make this situation seem as real as possible. In imagining and
fully experiencing this pleasant situation, all the positive emotions
that are associated with it are experienced again. Pain is
temporarily forgotten and its effects are reduced for the duration
of this experience.
Relaxation techniques are well known for being effective in the
management of pain. This is because relaxation reduces a patient’s
high level of anxiety. High levels of anxiety can affect a patient’s
perceptions about their levels of pain, making pain seem more
intense and more frequent than it actually is. Once the patient is
able to be more relaxed, they can begin to control their own pain
instead of letting it control them. Physiological reactions such as
muscle tension and sweating which are associated with pain are
also reduced during relaxation techniques.
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Cognitive techniques are, as the name implies, techniques that
involve using thought processes to counteract the experience of
pain. A variety of thought processes can be developed and used
whenever pain is present. One method involves focusing all
thoughts on the part of the body that is in pain but instead of
having emotional and irrational reactions to this, analysing the
sensations in a rational and objective way. This helps make the
pain manageable and, most importantly, the patient now believes
that they are able to control it.
You should, by now, be becoming quite familiar with the biological
approach. As you know, biological psychology is the study of the
relationship between the body and behaviour. Biological psychologists
have clearly demonstrated that psychological events – particularly
emotions – influence body functions such as blood pressure.
Researchers have also shown that people can learn to control various
physiological systems. We have just discussed various techniques used
by health psychologists that are designed to help sick people achieve
this control.
All in all, research findings reveal that the link between the mind and
the body is more direct and pervasive than was previously thought and
suggest that the phrase ‘mind over matter’ may be more of a certainty.
However, as with all of the other approaches you have studied so far in
this study section, the biological approach has certain limitations
associated with it. Let’s take a closer look at some of these limitations
now.
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Limitations of the biological approach
Some psychologists are afraid that overemphasising physiological links
with behaviour may lead to narrow biological explanations that override
the value of psychological explanations. According to some, it is
certainly a remarkable view of human experience that it is simply the
result of electrical charges in a specific part of the brain or the
stimulation of a particular set of glands.
The biological approach takes such a reductionist view when it explains
behaviour and experience only in terms of a simple set of activities –
activity of nerve cells, hormones, etc. The biological approach to
understanding behaviour is therefore reductionist when it attempts to
explain behaviour in terms only of neurochemical and biochemical
processes. The argument is not whether these biological processes
exist, but whether they alone can provide insight into our higher mental
processes.
A great deal of evidence has accumulated about the biological basis of
behaviour. However, physiological psychology cannot yet offer total
explanations for memory, stress, learning, emotions and so on. In other
words, once we add the person and all that is unique about them to the
biological approach, we have a different and much broader picture of
how mind and body interact and of how this affects health and illness.
In particular the role of lifestyle and personality in health and illness
involves both behaviour and mental processes. Behaviour and mental
processes are the focus of psychology, in that they involve cognition,
emotion and motivation.
Now try out the following activity. It is designed to encourage you to
think about the limitations of the biological approach.
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A6
Read this short case study and answer the questions that follow.
Paul is 13. Recently, he has been punished at school because he
was aggressive. He hits other children to the point that he inflicts
much pain.
His parents have explained his behaviour by saying that this is
something that is fairly typical of a boy and it’s the changes in his
hormones that are to blame.
1.
Does the biological approach offer any kind of explanation for
Paul’s aggressive behaviour?
2.
To what extent does the biological approach fully explain Paul’s
aggressive behaviour?
Summarise your ideas in note form below.
How well did you cope with this activity? Take a look at the activity
response and review your answer carefully.
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A6 Response
1.
The biological approach may offer one possible explanation for
Paul’s behaviour in that there are hormonal changes taking place
in adolescence. These may well produce mood swings and
unpredictable feelings including aggressive feelings.
2.
However, the fact that Paul’s aggressive behaviour seems fairly well
established and is becoming more persistent over time suggests
that there are other possible reasons for it and that these reasons
may well be psychological rather than biological. The behaviourist
approach, for example, offers an explanation for Paul’s behaviour
based on the idea that his aggressiveness is being reinforced in
some way. According to the cognitive approach Paul understands
that he is being aggressive and knows how this affects others.
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory emphasises Paul’s stage of psychosexual development – the onset of puberty and start of sexual
maturity may be responsible for the sudden release of aggressive
drives by Paul.
Your answer to this activity should have mentioned, then, that the
biological explanation for Paul’s behaviour is a limited one since it relies
only on physiological or neurological processes as the reason(s) for his
behaviour. While biological changes may form part of the explanation
for Paul’s behaviour, other psychological factors, such as those
mentioned above, are also influential.
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Everything that you need to know about the biological approach has
been covered in this study section. Use this checklist to satisfy yourself
that you know all of the important points.
I now know:
Tick here:
what is meant by the biological approach in
psychology
the aim of the biological approach
what is meant by evolution
about the human nervous system, endocrine
system and the structure and functions of
the brain
two examples of how the biological approach
is used
two ways in which the biological approach
is limited
You should be completely sure that you know each of the above points
before attempting the Tutor Assignment. If you feel unsure about
anything that is mentioned above, go back to the relevant part of this
study section and review it. If you remain unclear or confused about a
particular point, ask your tutor to help you with it.
The next page contains a short summary of the biological approach for
you to read. Once you have done so, complete the Tutor Assignment,
which follows this summary. Send or give your completed work to your
tutor as soon as possible.
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Summary
The biological approach is the only approach which tries to explain
behaviour in terms of the workings of our physical system, in particular
the central nervous system and the brain. The biological approach
originates from the ideas of Darwin. Darwin emphasised our similarities
with non-human animals and stated that the mechanisms that control
behaviour must be the same in both animals and humans.
A primary concern of the biological approach is the workings of the
central nervous system. There is a particular emphasis on the structure
and functions of the human brain, since this organ, more than any other
in the body, is associated with both mind and behaviour.
The biological approach, more than any other approach, uses animals
for the purpose of experimentation. This is because it is believed that
the study of animal behaviour will reveal important information about
human behaviour also.
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Tutor Assignment
T1
Here is a description for you to read carefully.
attempt the questions below.
After you have done so,
Joan, a 34-year-old mother of three, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s
disease. This is a form of cancer that attacks the immune system.
Joan’s doctors were pessimistic about the outcome of her illness,
but Joan insisted that she would beat her illness and soon be well
again. Her doctors were so concerned at her refusal to
acknowledge her illness that they asked a therapist to visit her.
Joan was not willing to speak to the therapist but instead embarked
on a determined programme to keep up her spirits. A large part of
this plan involved viewing classic comedy films in her hospital
room. Joan firmly believed that laughter was the best medicine of
all and watched at least three such films a day, enjoying them fully.
She said that they helped take her mind off the pain. In the end,
Joan recovered fully.
1.
Which psychological approach best explains Joan’s recovery? Why?
2.
What other psychological approach is relevant here? Why?
3.
How do the aims of the cognitive approach and the biological
approach differ?
4.
Explain two uses of the biological approach in health care.
5.
Why is the biological approach limited? Give two reasons.
Submit this to your tutor for marking.
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Answers to Self Assessed Questions
Answers to SAQ 1
Nature-nurture debate
The name given to two opposing
points of view in psychology.
The ‘nature’ side emphasises the
inheritance of abilities or
characteristics. The ‘nurture’ side
emphasises learning or the effect
of the environment.
Biological approach
An approach which emphasises
the link between physiological
states and behaviour.
Darwin’s Theory
Another term for the theory of
evolution. The idea that
characteristics of a whole species
are altered over many
generations, effecting a physical
change that allows the species to
adapt to their environment.
Mutations
Changes in the genes, the
biological substances that
control heredity.
Nativists
Those who support the ‘nature’
side of the nature-nurture debate.
Empiricists
Those who support the ‘nurture’
side of the nature-nurture debate.
Recombinations
The result of getting some genes
from the father and some from
the mother.
Instinctive behaviour
Behaviour that occurs as a result
of the direct action of genes.
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Answers to SAQ 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Heredity
Evolution
Behaviour, Biological
Motor
Sensory
Interneuron
Spinal cord
Peripheral
Somatic
Autonomic
Brain, Spinal cord, Peripheral, Somatic, Autonomic
Sympathetic, Parasympathetic
Sympathetic, Parasympathetic
Hypothalamus
Hormones
Pituitary
Medulla
Cerebellum
Thalamus
Limbic System
Answers to SAQ 3
1.
The ruler will always drop a few inches because our nervous system
will always have a delayed reaction, i.e. it takes time for our
nervous system to register that the ruler has started to fall and
then to react to this by closing the hand.
2.
No – in fact it is likely that there would be slightly more delay
because the system of action-reaction is more complex when only
one person is involved.
3.
It is certainly possible that this might occur. The person holding
the metre stick or ruler may unconsciously be giving their partner
a signal that they are about to let the metre stick/ruler drop. This
helps the partner to react a little more quickly.
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Psychology
Approaches and Methods in
Psychology
Section 6: The Humanistic Approach
[HIGHER]
THE HUMANISTIC APPROACH
SECTION 6
Aims
The final approach to be studied in this unit is the humanistic approach.
Abraham Maslow, one of the pioneers of the humanistic approach, has
referred to humanistic psychology as being a ‘third force’ in psychology.
By this, he meant that it was at least as important as the more dominant
approaches of behaviourism and psychoanalysis.
The basis of the humanistic approach is that behaviour can only be truly
understood in terms of the subjective experience of the individual.
Equally important to the humanistic point of view is that behaviour is
not constrained by either past experience or current circumstances.
While both of these factors can influence behaviour, the crucial element,
in the view of the humanists, is that individuals are able to respond
based on their own personal assessment of the situation – that is they
can make choices.
In this section, you will learn a little about how the humanistic approach
developed from a dissatisfaction with both behaviourism and
psychoanalysis as complete explanations of human behaviour. You
should start to appreciate how humanism represents a different kind of
explanation of behaviour. You will also hear about how the humanistic
approach is put to use with people. As with all of the approaches we
have learned about in psychology, the humanistic approach has had
criticisms levelled at it. It is your task to weigh up these different
criticisms and come to some conclusion about the humanistic approach
and its contribution to the development of psychology.
By the end of this you should be able to:
•
•
•
•
state the aim of the humanistic approach
describe Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’
give two applications of the humanistic approach
give two limitations of the humanistic approach.
Approximate study time for this section
As a rough guide, this section will take approximately 4 hours to
complete.
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Other resources required for this section
A loose-leaf folder A4 size
Suitable paper for use with the folder
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Assessment information for this section
How you will be assessed for this section
Your learning of the material in this section will be assessed in a closed
book, invigilated end of unit assessment. Your tutor will contact you to
make appropriate arrangements. The assessment will consist of a range
of questions that will require you to produce structured answers (i.e.
not essays). The required answers will vary in length depending on the
mark allocation of each question.
In addition to the internal assessment, if you choose to complete the
entire Higher Psychology course, this section will be assessed in a formal
external exam. The exam will sample your knowledge from all areas
studied in the Higher Psychology course.
When and where you will be assessed for this section
The internal assessment of the material in this section will take place
once you have completed all sections of the Higher Psychology:
Approaches and Methods unit. You should aim to sit this assessment
within about three months of starting the course.
The internal assessment of the Higher Psychology: Approaches and
Methods unit can be completed at one sitting. However, your tutor may
arrange for you to sit it in two parts on separate days.
The external exam takes place in June of each year.
Both the internal assessment and external exam will normally be held at
your centre. They will be formally invigilated and carried out in exam
conditions.
What you have to achieve for this section
You have to achieve satisfactory completion of all Tutor Assignments.
Opportunities for reassessment for this section
If necessary, opportunities can be made available for you to resit the
internal assessment. This policy will be explained to you by your tutor if
the need arises. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as for the
first attempt at assessment.
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At present, there is only one sitting available for the external exam. If
you wish to resit the exam, you will need to wait until the following
June. Credit for internal assessments can be carried over into the new
academic year, so there is no need to resit internal assessments if you
decide to resit the external exam.
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Humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is about the uniqueness of the individual. The
pioneers of humanistic psychology are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
Carl Rogers developed one of the first humanistic theories of personality
– an approach to personality which emphasised the wholeness of the
human being, and the positive growth and striving to develop which
humanists see as a feature of psychological health.
Abraham Maslow was also a humanist, like Rogers. Maslow was unhappy
with the fact that so many psychologists had studied people with, for
example emotional problems. He felt that this concentrated on human
weakness rather than strength. He therefore made a point of studying
psychologically healthy people. While Maslow’s view was a general view
of human personality, it has particular relevance to the study of human
work and in particular to the question of job satisfaction and
dissatisfaction.
Hierarchy of needs
According to both Rogers and Maslow, human beings have basic needs.
The first of these concerns basic survival needs such as those related to
physical needs (food, warmth) and the need for physical safety. The
second set concerns the need for self-actualisation. This is the idea that
human beings have a basic need to make real, or actualise, the different
aspects of themselves. This leads them to seek personal development in
different ways, e.g. exploring new ideas, developing or perfecting skills,
increasing their understanding. Pursuing hobbies and other interests is
a way of satisfying this need. Both Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow see
human beings as in control of their own lives and striving towards the
fullest personal growth of which they are capable.
Maslow arranges the various needs in a hierarchy because he states that
the basic survival needs must be satisfied before you can ascend the
hierarchy and begin to satisfy creative and intellectual drives.
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R eaching the point where a person
has realised his/her potential
Selfactualisation
needs
The need to feel good about oneself
and gain esteem from others
Self-esteem
needs
The desire to belong, to be loved
and to be accepted
Belonging and
love needs
The need to feel secure from
harm at hom e, at work and in
any other activity
N
eeds such
such as
as air,
air,
Needs
food,
food, water,
water, sex,
sleep
sleep,etc.
etc.
Safety and security needs
Physiological needs
A Hierarchy of Human Needs (after Maslow, 1954)
Maslow’s hierarchy can be broadly divided into five layers. The bottom
layer is of physiological needs; the need for water, food, sex and other
basic drives. Once this is satisfied, the individual will need to satisfy
safety needs for security in their day to day life. The third layer is the
need for love and belonging; this is a social need – to affiliate with other
people and to have friends and acquaintances. When these needs are
satisfied, according to Maslow, the individual becomes more concerned
with satisfying esteem needs; to be competent and recognised as such.
Only when all four levels are satisfied will the individual move to the
highest level of self-actualisation, where developing one’s potential as
fully as possible becomes the most important thing.
The higher up the hierarchy you go, the more difficult it is to satisfy the
needs as they become psychological rather than physiological and long
term rather than short term. For instance both Maslow and Rogers
recognise our need for positive regard (social and esteem needs on the
diagram above). This is the idea that people also need approval,
companionship, love or at least respect from other people. These needs
are so important that they can sometimes stifle the need for selfactualisation in that the individual cannot actually dare explore their
own interests on the grounds that this might lead to disapproval/
criticism from others. However, if the need for positive self-regard is
satisfied because the person feels secure in the approval of others, then
the two needs of self-actualisation and positive regard can be balanced
and the individual will be psychologically healthy.
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Motivation
Maslow suggested that human beings possess a range of motives.
Maslow divided these motives into deficiency motivation and growth
motivation. Deficiency motivation is the tendency of individuals to
maintain a physical or psychological balance. The physiological, safety,
social and esteem needs are deficiency motives. Deficiency motives can
be recognised through the consequences of what happens if they are
not satisfied. If the physiological needs are not met, then death results.
Deprivation of safety or social needs may lead to psychological illness, or
to the development of an anti-social personality. If esteem needs are not
met then the individual may become boastful, constantly bragging about
his or her achievements, or critical/judgmental of others. Of course, the
consequences of any of these needs not being met vary according to the
extent of the deprivation.
Growth motivation refers to the tendency to self-actualise, to aim to
strive for personal growth and fulfilment. If people do not achieve this,
they are likely to feel restless and dissatisfied with life; life seems less
good than it might be.
Maslow believed that humanistic psychology should aim to help
individuals lead fulfilled lives. He had an optimistic view of people,
seeing them as essentially good with an inborn tendency towards
growth and self-actualisation. Part of Maslow’s work involved studying
people who were psychologically strong and healthy and who, it seems
safe to assume, did achieve self-actualisation. Some of these people he
knew but Maslow also studied the lives of such people as Beethoven,
Lincoln and Einstein.
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The actualised individual
On the basis of the psychologically healthy people, Maslow concluded
that the actualised individual possesses most, if not all, of fifteen
characteristics. These are summarised as follows:
1.
Have a need for privacy and independence.
2.
Have concern and sympathy for humankind.
3.
Have a good sense of humour.
4.
Are more concerned with social problems than with their own.
5.
Can accept themselves as they are and can accept others.
6.
Have a better perception of reality than most people.
7.
Are deeply appreciative of the basic experiences of life (e.g. a bird
singing, sunset).
8.
Show great spontaneity in thought and behaviour.
9.
Enjoy the means to an end, not just the goal.
10.
Are highly creative.
11.
Experience profound personal relationships.
12.
Develop their own sense of moral values.
13.
Have profound (peak) experiences (e.g. feelings of religious-type
ecstasy).
14.
Are democratic towards other people, regardless of race, status,
sex, etc.
15.
Are independent of environment and culture, but are not
deliberately unconventional.
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Let’s review what you have learned so far about the humanistic
approach.
?1
Supply the missing words in the sentences below. Choose from the list
provided at the end. Some words are used more than once.
1.
Both Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow were
psychologists.
2.
The theories of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow are about
and their uniqueness.
3.
to make real, or
Self-actualisation is the
actualise all the different aspects of yourself.
4.
Humanistic psychology sees people as always striving for
.
5.
The view that basic needs must be satisfied before esteem needs is
view.
a
6.
According to Maslow,
to satisfy than
needs are more difficult
needs.
7.
The social/esteem need is also sometimes called the need for
.
8.
If you are sure that others approve of you, you have
.
9.
According to Malsow, our motives can be divided up into
motivation and growth
.
10.
Physiological needs, safety needs, social needs and esteem needs
,
are all examples of
according to Maslow. This is all about keeping a good balance in
your life.
11.
The need for personal fulfilment is a
. It is about becoming self-actualised.
12.
can accept
People who are
themselves as they are and can also accept others.
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Word list:
physiological
motives
hierarchical
deficiency
psychological
personal growth
growth
humanistic
motivation
positive regard
human beings
need
self-actualised
positive self-regard
Check your answers with those provided at the end of this study
section.
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A1
In our society, work is a central part of our lives. Every now and then
we fantasise about receiving a monetary windfall and quitting our jobs.
Yet studies consistently show that many lottery winners keep on
working. Why?
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A1 Response
In order to understand this, Maslow would suggest we look at a person’s
needs. Work fulfils the most basic of our needs by providing the money
to buy food, shelter, clothing, etc. At the same time, work fulfils other
needs. Most people work in jobs that provide them with human
interaction; often co-workers become friends. In this sense, work can
fulfil social needs. In addition successful job performance provides
feelings of competence, which can foster self-esteem and recognition
from others. Lottery winners, like many people who are retired, often
fear the loss of meaning in their lives if they no longer have a job to
perform. In some cases, a person may even enjoy their job – it may
provide opportunities for creative challenge and self-expression. If this
is the case, a lottery winner may see no reason to stop an activity that
gives them satisfaction. Thus, what seems a very simple situation on the
surface, may in fact be quite complex. In the end, only the individual
can determine what course of action will best fulfil their needs.
This next activity is designed to help you to think about your own needs
and to use Maslow’s hierarchy to help you do so.
R eaching the point where a person
has realised his/her potential
The need to feel good about oneself
and gain esteem from others
The desire to belong, to be loved
and to be accepted
The need to feel secure from
harm at hom e, at work and in
any other activity
N eeds such as air,
food, water, sex,
sleep etc.
Selfactualisation
needs
Self-esteem
needs
Belonging and
love needs
Safety and security needs
Physiological needs
A Hierarchy of Human Needs (after Maslow, 1954)
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A2
1.
Look at Maslow’s hierarchy.
• Count the number of Maslow’s needs which apply to you in all
the different areas of your life.
2.
Think about your own life:
• Why are you studying at college or school?
• Do you have a job?
• Do you have long term plans that motivate you?
3.
Write two descriptions. Number them 1 and 2. Let 1 be a
description of how you see yourself, and 2 be a description of the
sort of person you would like to be.
• How different are descriptions 1 and 2?
• Are any of your personal descriptions similar to Maslow’s
descriptions of the self-actualised person?
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A2 Response
1.
You will probably have found that there are quite a lot of ‘needs’
involved as you live your life on a daily basis. The most basic needs
are those that are linked to basic survival: the physiological need
for food, air, sleep and so on. I expect you realised that these
needs have to be met in order for us just to stay alive. When you
were a baby and a child, someone else had to make sure these
needs were met for you. As an adult, it is usually possible to
provide for yourself in this way. However once these needs are
met, other types of needs are experienced. The next level of need
is safety, to ensure your freedom from physical danger and your
need for psychological safety (stability over time). A safety need
might be felt by someone in a hurricane zone when a hurricane is
threatening. However, someone who is threatened with
redundancy may also experience safety needs.
The next level of need you will experience if safety needs are met
is the need to experience love and belonging. This relates to the
giving and receiving of acceptance and affection. We usually fulfil
these needs in our interactions with our family, friends and
partners. Not all relationships are fulfilling in this way, of course,
and many people do feel that their needs in this area remain
unmet. Assuming the need for love and belonging are fulfilled, the
individual should experience esteem needs. This is a need to have
self-respect and a sense of being competent at what one does, as
well as for positive regard from others. According to Maslow,
esteem needs are only really fulfilled properly when the more basic
need for love and belonging is met. However, many people find
themselves in relationships that offer acceptance (love and
belonging) only at the cost of self-respect. In this event, esteem
needs are not likely to be satisfied.
2.
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There are of course no right or wrong answers here. When you
come to make or have made personal decisions like these, you will
automatically consider your own needs. For example, you may
think about your physiological needs when considering whether to
study for qualifications (‘will I have money to live on if I don’t have
a qualification/job/career?’). Safety needs may be an issue involved
with going away to college/university (‘will I have to move house/
area to go to college?’). The need to belong (‘what about all my
friends/family at my old school/college/job?’) may also be important
here. Finally your need for self-actualisation and its personal value
for you will determine your overall level of motivation to achieve
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what you want to achieve in life in the long term (‘will this help me
get a better job/career that will stop me feeling bored all the time
and allow me to keep making progress?’).
3.
Again, your answer here is highly individual and personal. It is not
really possible to generalise. This part of the activity is designed to
help you focus on your own growth needs. If you found it difficult
to describe the sort of person you are or would like to be, this
simply means that you are still dealing with your more basic needs
such as safety, love or esteem. For you, ‘growth’ is centred upon
you finding a way to satisfy these needs at present.
If you wrote down some clear descriptions of the type of person
you are aspiring to be, and especially if some of these descriptions
seem similar to Maslow’s account of the self-actualised person, you
are probably en route to becoming self-actualised yourself! Selfactualisation, unlike the other needs we have just discussed, is not
triggered by a deficit, but is a growth-oriented need. It is the most
advanced human need and is based on the desire to grow and use
one’s capacities to the fullest.
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You have now learned quite a lot about the humanistic approach and
have considered how it applies to you and your own personal situation.
You will probably agree that the humanistic approach is a very
interesting one. For most people, understanding the nature of our
needs is an important element of self-development. This is because the
various needs affect all aspects of our lives.
One important element of our needs is the way in which they influence
our perceptions. Maslow suggested that when deficiency needs are
dominant, we tend to see the world in terms of objects that can satisfy
the dominant need. Hence, a hungry person will pause before a
restaurant and see only the food; a person concerned with esteem will
focus on the décor and perceived status of the restaurant. In both cases,
perception is distorted by the dominant need at that time. By contrast,
however, a person experiencing the need for self-actualisation is likely
to see the world more accurately, because objects are seen in relation to
themselves, not as a means of fulfilling a deficiency.
Our tendency to view satisfaction of needs in material ways can be seen
in other forms. For example, someone who has just been unsuccessful
in a job interview, or has been rejected by a partner, may well go
shopping, or eat, to try to ease the pain. In the same way we tend to
evaluate the needs of others in material terms also. We may view a
person who is well off financially as ‘having everything’. Unfortunately,
while money can buy food and shelter and many nice things, it cannot
really buy love or respect, and so these needs can continue to go
unsatisfied regardless of how well off you are.
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Let’s review some of the key terms associated with the humanistic
approach.
?2
Write a few lines explaining what these terms means. You can use your
books if you wish.
Motivation
Positive regard
Self-actualisation
Love and belonging needs
Counselling
Esteem needs
Physiological needs
Growth motivation
Hierarchy of needs
Deficiency motivation
Check your responses with those provided at the end of this study
section.
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In your study of the humanistic approach so far, we have looked at
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, at motivation and at self-actualisation. It is
now time to consider more exactly what the aim of the humanistic
approach is.
A3
Review your learning materials for this study section thoroughly and
write down what you consider to be the aim of the humanistic approach.
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A3 Response
It should be fairly clear to you by now that the humanistic approach
focuses very much on the individual and the uniqueness of the
individual. It aims to explain individual behaviour in terms of
motivation and of course the fulfilment of different needs. A person’s
behaviour at any one particular time will depend on what level of needs
are being met.
In answering the question ‘What is the aim of the humanistic approach?’
you should therefore refer to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and explain
that this is an account of how an individual is motivated to act at any one
particular time. As you know, every psychological approach is attempting
to explain behaviour in its own way. According to the humanistic
approach, a person will always behave in a way which allows him/her to
meet the different needs in the hierarchy and ultimately to achieve his/
her potential.
When you state that the aim of the humanistic approach is to explain
behaviour in terms of motivation, you should also explain that there are
different types of motivation according to Maslow. The distinction
between deficiency motivation and growth motivation should therefore
be highlighted by you as part of your answer. When explaining growth
motivation, it is likely that you will also mention self-actualisation, since
this is a very important aspect of growth motivation. Your explanation of
the aim of the humanistic approach would not be fully complete unless
you said that a person’s behaviour can only be truly understood in terms
of their attempts to fully utilise their talents, capacities and creativity.
It’s probably a good idea to ask your tutor to take a look at the answer
you have given for the above activity. The main reason you should do
this is to find out whether or not you are on the right lines when
answering questions like ‘What is the aim of the humanistic approach?’
Your tutor can also provide you with some excellent advice about how
to organise and structure an answer like this so that it contains
everything it should and is concisely written.
Try to consult with your tutor about this before going on to the next
part of this study section.
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Applications of humanistic psychology
The humanistic approach presents a model of human needs that is
based upon observations in different cultures. This has provided the
basis of many needs-based models of health care and has proved popular
in other professions involved in caring for, or working with, people.
Humanistic theories are valuable for health professionals because they
emphasise how important it is to realise that a problem like, for
example, anxiety is likely to be experienced by different individuals in
different ways. In addition, these theories provide an optimistic non
disease-based account of human beings. We are not likely to be seen as
merely victims of our genes, early learning experiences or instincts.
Instead, we are all able to develop until we feel that we have reached
our true potential. The need to listen to people and provide them with
opportunities to disclose worries and concerns has become very
popular in health care and related areas. Counselling skills are now
taught on most training courses which involve working with people, i.e.
health care, caring, education, management. Such skills inevitably
involve the humanistic approach.
A particularly personal area where humanistic psychology has often been
applied is when someone is facing up to the approach of death. People
in our society often try to avoid this issue and there is little opportunity
to discuss anxieties and fears about this. The humanistic approach,
however, encourages people to break through their inhibitions and the
cultural conventions that lead us to hide our feelings. It is more
positive to help the dying person to prepare for death than to suppress
talk about it.
Carl Rogers developed a form of client-centred therapy in which clients
have the power and motivation to help themselves, given the correct
circumstances. There must be a warm, accepting atmosphere in which
this can happen. The aim is to help clients clarify their thoughts on
problems to gain greater insight into them. This greater understanding
helps the client to recognise his/her own strengths and limitations and is
very often accompanied by an increase in self-esteem. This can
eventually help the client to decide how to act. The key factor is that
the client becomes more in control of his/her fate and finds satisfactory
solutions to problems.
Humanistic psychology of one form or another has often been applied
in organisational psychology. This is because people in organisations are
far more complex than machines or even systems. While automatons
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will work harder in response to the incentive of earning more pay, the
situations which motivate humans are ever more complex and less
obvious. An example of how humanistic psychology can be applied in
the workplace is in the area of communication. Social skills training is
one example of an approach that became popular in the 1970s and is
still used today. This involved groups of managers and workers coming
together and using sensitivity techniques to improve their abilities to
work together, to communicate with each other and to improve their
sensitivity as to how they are viewed by other people. Another aspect of
this approach was to deal with potential conflict by trying to encourage
communication between staff members, particularly during times of
perceived stress such as during company mergers.
Humanistic theories emphasise the idea that people are active, capable
and able to act independently. This has led to the development of a
number of attempts to tap into these qualities in organisational practice
as well as in personal therapy. Peer group assessment and assertiveness
training are both concepts taken from this approach. Peer group
assessment is a method of professional development in which a group
of, for example, supervisors, would meet with a facilitator and devise a
series of criteria for assessing efficient work. Such criteria would be
used by each individual to assess his or her own performance. Future
sessions might explore ways of improving performance and ways that
the improvement could be monitored. Assertiveness training is about
making your own needs clear, while, at the same time, acknowledging
the needs of other people. Assertiveness training takes place in group
situations and has a particularly practical and interactive focus. People
are encouraged to model and role-play appropriate ways to defend their
personal rights and develop ways of encouraging others to respect
these.
Now try to answer the following questions.
A4
1.
Explain the basis of client-centred therapy.
2.
Give two examples of the use of humanistic psychology in the
workplace.
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A4 Response
1.
Client-centred therapy is a particular type of counselling in which
the person (client) finds the motivation to help themselves instead
of relying on other people to come up with solutions for them. It
is an approach that helps you clarify your own thoughts and so
gain greater insights into your own difficulties. Motivation
increases whenever self-understanding is achieved.
Client-centred therapy provides an environment and atmosphere
of total acceptance and positive regard, against which the client is
able to safely explore his/her own strengths and limitations. It is
hoped that there will be an increase in the individual’s level of selfesteem and that this will enable him/her to make decisions and
suggest solutions based on his/her own understanding of any
problems that exist.
2.
This question is asking you to provide two of the three possible
examples that are given in your learning materials. These
examples are:
• Social skills training, which is a technique aimed at improving
the amount and level of communication in the workplace.
Social skills training is designed to enhance people’s
perceptions of each other as work colleagues, increase
awareness of the importance of other people’s roles in the
workplace and emphasise the need to promote yourself as a
positive and supportive work colleague. Social skills training
can involve specific techniques such as sensitivity techniques
and conflict reduction techniques, both of which are designed
to increase interaction and foster positive communication.
• Peer group assessment, which is a method of evaluating work
performance based on criteria set by a group of work
colleagues, all of who perform the same type of work role and
have similar responsibilities. Individual workers could then
assess their own level of performance with reference to this set
of criteria and make decisions about how to improve their
performance if it was felt that this was necessary. The motivation
to implement changes therefore comes from the individual him/
herself in peer group assessment.
• Assertiveness training, which is a technique where individuals
are encouraged to define their own needs and to make these
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clear within a group situation. In a work-related context, this
could be a staff meeting. The individual within the group is not
only asked to present their own needs in the work environment
but also to acknowledge the needs of those with whom they
work on a daily basis. There is emphasis on maximum
interaction as a way of resolving difficulties such as bullying,
malingering and lack of motivation at work.
By now you should be feeling very familiar with the humanistic approach
in psychology. As you know, the humanistic approach encompasses a
number of theorists (Rogers and Maslow are just two of these), all of
whom are seeking to understand behaviour in human terms – that is, as
it is experienced by the individual. Behaviour itself may only be one
aspect of human experience, however, and humanists believe that you
can only understand human experience when you fully appreciate the
meaning an individual gives to it.
Despite this highly individualised approach to understanding human
behaviour, however, the humanistic approach is not without its critics.
Let’s take a look at what is acknowledged to be the main limitations
associated with this particular approach.
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Limitations of the humanistic approach
Humanistic theory is an alternative to the more deterministic
approaches of, say, behaviourism or psychoanalysis. It provides insight
into what it means to be a human being. The hierarchy of needs is very
useful in revealing how human motives interact.
However, many psychologists disagree with Maslow’s approach in
particular. They claim that an individual can still be concerned with
issues such as a quest for beauty, or development of self-confidence,
even though a more basic need remains unsatisfied, e.g. hunger, shelter.
In reality, there is very little evidence that human needs do operate on a
hierarchical basis. Van Gogh, for example, was well known for ignoring
the need to eat or to earn money to provide shelter in favour of carrying
out his painting. Again, certain activities which people choose to do are
positively life threatening, e.g. pot-holing, mountain climbing, yet
people appear to want to flirt with such risks and dangers.
Taken in the most literal form, the hierarchy of needs seems to
contradict reality, therefore. It cannot, for example, explain why a
parent would sacrifice their own life to save that of their child, since
physiological survival should be a more potent need than that of love
according to the hierarchy. Furthermore, most people will rarely, if
ever, experience a strong need for self-actualisation, because the
circumstances of life prevent the lower needs from ever being satisfied.
Whether one considers poverty in under-developed countries, or
loneliness in major cities, the complexities of our deficiency needs are
hard to satisfy. Even if the basic needs are satisfied the relative weakness
of the need for self-actualisation can make it easy to ignore.
In one sense, Maslow is similar to Freud in that his theory is based
largely on clinical experience, and therefore relies heavily on individual
experiences as data. It is not, therefore, based on evidence gained
scientifically. One obvious concern is that in selecting individuals for his
sample, Maslow was selecting those who exhibited the very traits he
hoped to find. The process used by him was therefore both biased and
circular. His results cannot therefore be said to apply to all people.
Indeed, there is very little direct empirical evidence for the model of
motivation proposed by Maslow at all. The sources of evidence used to
support the theories are almost entirely correlational (case histories and
interviews), which, unlike experiments, do not produce falsifiable
predictions. Nevertheless, Maslow’s theory offers a valuable framework
for discussing the richness and complexity of human motives. As an
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approach, humanistic psychology does not accept the scientific method
as appropriate to its aims and would argue that prediction is ultimately
irrelevant to understanding behaviour. This approach has proved very
popular in industry and business in particular, as a means of looking at
people’s reactions to their work. The view that people can be selfmotivating and can’t simply be manipulated by more pay or the fear of
unemployment is still a widespread and credible one.
This is probably because the humanistic approach has a uniquely human
emphasis – only humans can achieve self-actualisation or engage in high
level activities of the type described by Maslow. For this reason it is, as a
theory of motivation, an advance on the largely animal-based
physiological and reward-based models of motivation.
Try to answer these questions concerning the limitations of the
humanistic approach
A5
1.
Outline the most important way(s) in which the humanistic
approach differs from the other approaches in psychology.
2.
Give two criticisms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
3.
To what extent is Maslow’s theory a scientific one?
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A5 Response
1.
There are three possible points that can be made here. Firstly, the
humanistic approach has served the very important purpose of
forcing psychologists to take account of the subjective experience
of the individual. This is not something that the other approaches
share. Secondly, the humanistic approach is not a deterministic
approach. In fact it is an important counterbalance to the more
deterministic approaches such as psychoanalysis and behaviourism
in that it does not attempt to predict behaviour at all. Thirdly, the
humanistic approach rejects the more formal scientific methods
(experimental, observational) adopted by many of the other
approaches as being unsuitable for studying subjective experience.
This has encouraged psychologists today to consider what
methods are more appropriate for studying subjective experience
generally.
2.
There are a number of possible criticisms that can be made here.
This question is asking you to present two of these. The criticisms
given in your learning materials are as follows:
• The hierarchy does not apply to all people. There are two
important aspects to this mentioned in your learning materials.
Firstly, because of the way in which Maslow selected people as
subjects when investigating the possibility of a hierarchy, he
tended to choose only those people who seemed to fit in with
what he was looking for, and ignored those who did not. This
means that the hierarchy can only be said to apply to these
people and not all people. Secondly, there is evidence given in
your learning materials of people who do not conform to
Maslow’s hierarchy. People like Van Gogh for instance, who
completely ignored his basic needs (hunger, shelter) in favour
of higher needs (creativity, self-expression). Similarly, people
who choose to do activities which are life-threatening or deprive
them of certain needs do not fit into Maslow’s hierarchy.
• The hierarchy contradicts what happens in real life situations.
In reality people do not experience a strong need to selfactualise, simply because the pressures of life take up so much
of our time and available energy. Self-actualisation as a general
goal, then, does not represent the day-to-day life experiences of
the individual person. Since self-actualisation is supposed to be
the ‘pinnacle’ of the hierarchy, the existence of the hierarchy
itself is put in some doubt.
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• The existence of the hierarchy remains unsupported by available
evidence. Since scientific evidence is considered to be
irrelevant in verifying the existence of the hierarchy, what
remains to judge it by is its plausibility (does it make sense,
sound likely?) and its utility (is it useful, practical?). However
both of these criteria involve judgements which are mainly
personal and subjective. What ‘makes sense’ can depend mainly
on your prior experience and what is ‘useful’ can depend on
your particular purpose. It is therefore impossible to prove
whether there is a hierarchy or not.
3.
There is not really any way that the humanistic approach can claim
to be scientific. Indeed, as we have stated previously, humanists
believe that the scientific method as presently used in psychology
is an unsatisfactory vehicle for studying subjective experience.
Furthermore, humanists dispute the value of being able to predict
behaviour in a general way, therefore they have no real need to use
traditional scientific criteria.
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You have now covered everything that you need to know about the
humanistic approach in psychology. The humanistic approach is the
final approach to be dealt with in this study section. You have now
studied all of the psychological approaches required for the unit
‘Approaches and Methods in Psychology’.
Here is a checklist that covers everything you should have learned in
this study section.
I now know:
Tick here:
what is meant by the humanistic approach
in psychology
what the humanistic approach aims to do
what is meant by motivations, self-actualisation
and the hierarchy of needs
two ways in which the humanistic approach
is used
two limitations of the humanistic approach
You should find the above list helpful in detailing exactly what you
should know about the humanistic approach. If you are unsure about
any of the points in the table, review the relevant part of your learning
materials. Your tutor is always able to advise you and direct you, should
you feel that you are experiencing problems with any of the elements
covered so far.
On the following page you will find a concise summary of the humanistic
approach. Please read this carefully before attempting the Tutor
Assignment for this study section. Send or give the Tutor Assignment to
your tutor as soon as you have completed it.
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Summary
The humanistic approach in psychology emphasises the uniqueness of
human beings and their ability to choose and shape their own destiny.
This approach believes that psychology should be concerned with the
subjective, conscious experience of the individual.
The two leading figures associated with the humanistic approach are
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Rogers focused on humanistic
theories of personality while Maslow highlighted the importance of
motivation for personal growth and psychological well-being. Both
Rogers and Maslow believed that self-awareness and the ability to come
to terms with oneself are necessary ingredients in fulfilling one’s
potential.
The humanistic approach attempts to understand behaviour in terms of
the needs that motivate an individual. Maslow realised that not all needs
are alike. This led him to formulate his hierarchy of needs, which
ranged from basic safety needs to the creative desires associated with
self-actualisation. Self-actualisation is based on the desire to grow, not
on satisfying some deficit.
Humanistic psychologists regard the use of scientific methods as
inappropriate for the study of human beings.
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Tutor Assignment
T1
Here is a personal description provided by a client during therapy. Read
it and then answer the questions that follow:
‘Being an adult hasn’t really changed anything about how I feel
most of the time. When I went to college, I really wanted to study
Drama but to please my father I took a business course. He said
that I needed to study something so I could get a proper job. And
now I’m stuck with this boring job which I hate! I need to discover
for myself what I want. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life
trying to please other people.’
1.
What psychological approach would be most helpful to use here?
2.
Distinguish between humanistic and the psychoanalytic methods of
therapy.
3.
What does the humanistic approach aim to do?
4.
Describe two uses of the humanistic approach.
5.
Explain two limitations of the humanistic approach.
Submit this to your tutor for comment.
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Answers to Self Assessed Questions
Answers to SAQ 1
1.
Humanistic
2.
Human beings
3.
Need
4.
Personal growth
5.
Hierarchical
6.
Growth, deficiency
7.
Positive regard
8.
Positive self-regard
9.
Deficiency, motivation
10.
Deficiency motivation
11.
Growth motivation
12.
Self-actualised
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Answers to SAQ 2
Motivation
A general term given to an
inferred underlying state which
energises behaviour, causing it to
take place. Physiological
motivation includes hunger, thirst,
the need for sex, exploration of
new situations, etc. Social aspects
of motivation include the need for
positive regard from others; or
the way that specific forms of
behaviour may occur as a result of
the need to communicate or
interact in meaningful ways with
other people.
Positive regard
Liking, affection or love for
another person. The term was
first used by the therapist Carl
Rogers to describe what he
considered to be one of the basic
needs of the human being: the
need for positive regard from
others.
Self-actualisation
Refers to the making real
(actualising) of human potential.
It involves the individual
developing their abilities to the
full, exploring options and skills,
and experiencing life as fully as
possible
Love and belonging needs
One level of the hierarchial
model of human needs proposed
by Maslow. Love and belonging
needs involve giving and
receiving acceptance and
affection. These needs are
normally met through our
interactions with family and
friends.
Counselling
Counselling as a form of therapy
derived from the ideas of Carl
Rogers in which the client is
supported while they gain insight
into their problems and work on
finding their own solutions.
Esteem needs
One level of the hierarchial
model of human needs proposed
by Maslow. Esteem needs include
the need for achievement and
social recognition, and are
considered to achieve
importance once physiological,
safety and social needs have been
met.
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Physiological needs
Identified by Maslow as being the
lowest level in his hierarchy of
needs; physiological needs are the
requirements for physical
functioning, such as the need for
food, water, etc.
Growth motivation
A term used to describe the
tendency of human beings
towards personal growth and
development, not only through
the acquisition of new skills and
experience, but also through
personal evaluation and an
increased sense of control and
autonomy.
Hierarchy of needs
The idea that human needs
become important in systematic
progression. Lower, more basic
needs such as food and security
are important first, and ‘higher’
needs such as for beauty and
self-actualisation only become
important once the lower levels
have been satisfied.
Deficiency motivation
A motivation that arises because
of a perceived deficiency of some
kind. The deficiency can range
from physiological (e.g. food) to
higher needs such as that for
recognition.
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Psychology
Approaches and Methods in
Psychology
Section 7: Research Using Experiments
[HIGHER]
RESEARCH USING EXPERIMENTS
SECTION 7
Aims
In this study section you will familiarise yourself with one method of
research in particular – the experiment. The experiment is a unique
method of research and the only way to obtain reliable information
about cause and effect. Experiments are used not only in psychology
but also in other sciences such as chemistry, physics and biology.
As you learn about the experimental method in psychology, you will also
start to discover that there are different types of experiments and that
psychologists can use the experimental method in different ways as they
carry out their research. It is important that you begin to develop some
understanding of how an experiment is designed and the importance of
good design procedures in producing quality research. You will
therefore learn what is meant by null and experimental hypotheses and
the importance of having good sampling procedures.
By the end of this study section, you should be able to:
• explain what an experiment is
• describe how experiments are designed
• state the advantages and disadvantages of using an experiment when
carrying out research
• give research examples that involve the use of experiments
• state what is meant by sampling.
Approximate study time for this section
As a rough guide, this section will take approximately 6 hours to
complete.
Other resources required for this section
A loose-leaf folder A4 size
Suitable paper for use with the folder
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Assessment information for this section
How you will be assessed for this section
Your learning of the material in this section will be assessed in a closed
book, invigilated end of unit assessment. Your tutor will contact you to
make appropriate arrangements. The assessment will consist of a range
of questions that will require you to produce structured answers (i.e.
not essays). The required answers will vary in length depending on the
mark allocation of each question.
In addition to the internal assessment, if you choose to complete the
entire Higher Psychology course, this section will be assessed in a formal
external exam. The exam will sample your knowledge from all areas
studied in the Higher Psychology course.
When and where you will be assessed for this section
The internal assessment of the material in this section will take place
once you have completed all sections of the Higher Psychology:
Approaches and Methods unit. You should aim to sit this assessment
within about three months of starting the course.
The internal assessment of the Higher Psychology: Approaches and
Methods unit can be completed at one sitting. However, your tutor may
arrange for you to sit it in two parts on separate days.
The external exam takes place in June of each year.
Both the internal assessment and external exam will normally be held at
your centre. They will be formally invigilated and carried out in exam
conditions.
What you have to achieve for this section
You have to achieve satisfactory completion of all Tutor Assignments.
Opportunities for reassessment for this section
If necessary, opportunities can be made available for you to resit the
internal assessment. This policy will be explained to you by your tutor if
the need arises. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as for the
first attempt at assessment.
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At present, there is only one sitting available for the external exam. If
you wish to resit the exam, you will need to wait until the following
June. Credit for internal assessments can be carried over into the new
academic year, so there is no need to resit internal assessments if you
decide to resit the external exam.
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Gathering evidence
Now that you have looked at some of the explanations psychologists
offer for human behaviour, you need to know something about how
they gather the information on which they base their claims.
Some of the more obvious ways of gathering information include talking
to people, watching people, and reading what people write down about
themselves and others. These informal methods of obtaining
information are useful for gathering some initial ideas about why people
behave in the ways that they do.
Consider the following question about human behaviour:
A1
Why do some football supporters become violent before, during and/or
after football matches while others do not?
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A1 Response
There is no right or wrong answer here, as each one of us will have our
own particular explanation based on our personal opinions and
experiences. Consequently, one person may believe that some football
supporters are violent because of the way they were treated as children
(having perhaps read about some violent supporters who were treated
badly during childhood). Yet another person might believe that football
supporters only become violent if they are badly provoked (having seen
one set of football fans provoke another set with taunts until they
reacted with physical aggression). Whatever your particular explanation
is, it is almost certainly the result of your past experience and
knowledge of football supporters.
The question is likely to have been thrown up in the first place because
of a simple observation based on what we have seen happening around
us, have read about in the newspapers, or have talked about with other
people. In other words, our use of informal methods. Informal ways
of acquiring information are common and are used frequently by us as
we go about our daily lives. They usually lead us to our own particular
explanations of what we see/read about/hear about. However it is
important to appreciate that such explanations may or may not be
correct.
Formal methods of acquiring information are, on the other hand, much
more scientific: they involve doing things like making detailed and
objective observations, carrying out experiments, preparing case
studies, conducting interviews, etc. Formal methods use procedures
that are much more rigorous and systematic than those used in informal
methods.
All psychological theory depends entirely on formal methods of
research. In order to understand psychology properly, therefore, you
must understand the different formal methods of gathering data that
psychologists use.
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A2
Write down what you understand to be the difference between formal
and informal methods of research.
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A2 Response
Informal methods of research involve talking, listening, watching and
asking questions as we go about our daily activities and routines.
Informal methods of research are part of our normal behaviours and
interactions with other people. Informal methods give us information,
but that information may not always be accurate or reliable.
Formal methods of research involve making a concentrated effort to be
objective, highly detailed and totally consistent when gathering
information about people’s behaviour. Formal methods use a systematic
and organised approach when investigating behaviour and stress the
importance of recording data accurately. Formal methods should
produce information that is both accurate and reliable.
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Designing and carrying out research
The starting point for any scientific study is always a question (or
questions) to which you wish to find an answer, e.g. why something
happens, when it happens, where it happens. In answering such
questions we form our own theories to explain what we see.
A theory, in turn, can lead us to make a hypothesis – an educated guess
or hunch. For example, the theory that football supporters are violent
because of their childhood experiences would lead to the hypothesis
that a child who is badly treated will, on becoming a football supporter,
be violent at football games. In other words, you are making a clear
prediction about what will happen. Depending on the exact nature of
the theory, there could be a number of hypotheses possible. Once we
have a hypothesis, we are able to design the study in such a way that will
test the hypothesis out. This is commonly called the method. As we
have already mentioned, there are a number of different methods open
to psychologists. They are experimental, observational, survey,
interview, case study and correlational methods.
An important issue that needs to be addressed early on in the design of
a study is to whom will the results apply, i.e. to what groups will the
conclusions be relevant? The group or population (no matter how
large or how small) to whom the results will extend needs to be clarified
at an early stage.
When we have completed our study, we need to collect together our
results or findings.
Summary of the process of designing and carrying out research
1.
Start with a general theory
2.
Produce a hypothesis
3.
Identify intended population
4.
Choose appropriate method(s)
5.
Collect data
6.
Produce results
Try Activity 3 on the following page.
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A3
Read through the following extract, which describes a study by Sylvia
Bell and Mary Ainsworth.
Bell and Ainsworth were interested in exploring the relationship
between the parents’ responses to their babies’ crying and changes
in those babies’ crying during the first year. They predicted that
the more quickly a parent responded to a child’s cry, the less the
baby would cry overall.
Bell and Ainsworth observed 26 mothers and babies in their homes
for four-hour periods at three-week intervals during the first year.
They found that the promptness with which the parent responded
was the single most important factor that reduced crying over the
first year. During the first three months of life, a baby was more
likely to cry when he/she was alone than when with the mother
and least likely to cry when being held by her.
Adapted from: Child Development: A First Course by Kathy Sylvia and Ingrid Lunt,
Basil Blackwell, 1982
Highlight in the passage the sentences that describe:
1.
2.
3.
the hypothesis
the method
the results of the study.
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A3 Response
1.
The hypothesis appears on line 3, paragraph 1 with the sentence
beginning. ‘They predicted…’
2.
The method used is described in the first sentence of the second
paragraph. What is being described here is the observational
method of research.
3.
The results of this study are described in the second paragraph and
begin with the second sentence, i.e. ‘They found that…’ The
remainder of the passage also describes the results.
There is an SAQ for you to try on the following page.
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?1
1.
Do you feel this was a scientific study?
2.
Do the results of this study apply to all mothers and babies? Why/
Why not?
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Now let’s take a look at the experimental method in detail.
The experiment
Experiments are the most controlled form of psychological study and
are the only form where you can prove that one thing causes another.
In an experiment you test out a very specific hypothesis in controlled
conditions. This enables you to concentrate on exactly those things you
want to investigate.
An experiment is therefore a study of cause and effect. In an
experiment, you are investigating the relationship between two things
by deliberately producing a change in one of them and looking at,
observing, the change in the other. These ‘things’ in which change
takes place are called variables. Anything which can change is called a
variable. Mood, task performance, time of day, heat, amount of noise,
etc., are all examples of very common variables.
The variable which you, as the experimenter, are directly manipulating is
called the independent variable. The variable in which we are looking
for any consequent changes is called the dependent variable.
Doing experiments, then, is a special form of observation – of controlled
observation. However, observation merely involves observing what is
going on without attempting to produce change. The experiment, on
the other hand, deliberately manipulates one variable and aims at
controlling all other variables so that they do not affect the outcome.
Experimenters, therefore, do interfere quite deliberately when they are
carrying out experiments.
You may have some experience conducting experiments yourself. They
are commonly used in the ‘natural sciences’ such as physics and
chemistry. In psychology, some experiments take place in a controlled
environment like a laboratory. Experiments like this have been used to
study a wide range of things including perception, sleep deprivation,
memory performance, etc. Many experiments in psychology, however,
take place in the real world because this is where social situations are
best viewed and tested.
Experiments are a good way of discovering the ‘unwritten’ rules that
govern behaviour. The following activity illustrates this well. Try it now.
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A4
You are trying to discover how gender affects people’s behaviour. In a
busy shopping centre you ask members of the public for directions to a
particular place. At the same time, in the same place, the next week,
you get a person of similar age to yourself but of the opposite sex to ask
for the same direction in the same way. You can then compare
reactions: were people more or less helpful to the different sexes?
1.
What is the independent variable in the above experiment?
2.
What is the dependent variable?
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A4 Response
1.
2.
The independent variable is gender
The dependent variable is ‘helpfulness’ – however it is being
measured.
If you find this confusing, don’t worry. Most people find it difficult to
grasp at first, but soon get the hang of it. Here goes!
In any experiment, there are at least two variables – the independent
variable and the dependent variable. The independent variable is always
the variable (factor) we suspect will affect the behaviour/performance of
the subject(s). The dependent variable is always the behaviour in
question (or some measure of it).
In the above example, then, there are two main variables that are being
linked together: the gender of the person asking for directions and the
reaction (helpfulness) of the subjects involved (i.e. shoppers). The
independent variable in this experiment is the gender of the person
asking for directions – this is the variable we suspect will be responsible
for the particular reaction given by subjects. The dependent variable is
the actual reaction – this is assumed to be a measure of the degree of
helpfulness shown, e.g. very helpful/fairly helpful/unhelpful.
It was mentioned earlier that the experiment is the only form of study
that can measure cause and effect – the independent variable is the cause
and the dependent variable is the effect. Also in the above example, two
different situations were being compared (people’s reactions to males
were being compared with their reactions to females). These two
different situations that are introduced are the experimental conditions.
A different form of the independent variable (gender) is present in each
experimental condition (male in one condition, female in the other).
Sometimes, however, there is only one experimental condition in an
experiment. In this case, the other condition is called the control
condition. In an experiment where there is only one experimental
condition and one control condition, the independent variable is
present in the experimental condition and absent in the control
condition. Here, instead of comparing the effects of two different forms
of the independent variable, we compare the effect of having the
independent variable present with not having it present at all.
The importance of all this is that if the experiment is successful, we really
can conclude that the difference in subjects’ performance was caused only
by the factor – the independent variable – we were investigating.
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?2
In our example, then, if shoppers were shown to behave in a more
helpful manner towards females who asked for directions than towards
males, what could we conclude?
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Here’s another example for you to try:
A5
Imagine that you want to find out if students learn better when pop
music is played gently in the background during class. You choose a
selection of students and test them for recall of a lesson with music in
the background and without music in the background.
1.
What is the independent variable?
2.
What is the dependent variable?
3.
What is the experimental condition in this experiment and what is
the control condition?
4.
What is the intended population for this experiment?
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A5 Response
1.
The independent variable is the pop music.
2.
The dependent variable is the amount of information remembered
during the recall test (or recall score if marks are given).
3.
The experimental condition is where the students hear pop music
playing in the background. The control condition is where the
students do not hear pop music playing in the background.
4.
The intended population is all students.
Can you think of any difficulties in doing this research? You want to be
reasonably sure that any differences in the performance between the
two conditions are due to the pop music playing in the background.
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A6
There are other factors that may have an effect on how well the students
in the above example perform in the ‘test’ of their recall.
Try to list some of these factors now.
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A6 Response
There are many things that could go on a list such as this. However, the
most common factors include the room in which you carry out the
research, absence/presence of other distractions, the memory ability of
individual students, the type of lesson and the way in which it was
carried out, the time of day, temperature of the room, etc.
The key feature about an experiment is that everything apart from the
independent variable is kept the same. Only then can you say that any
change that you measure is due to the influence of the invariable
dependent (IV). Keeping everything else the same, however, is difficult.
If other factors change – for instance in the example above the time of
day could affect how tired students are and so affect the results – this
will distort the results of your study. Such things are referred to as
confounding variables or sometimes extraneous variables. In order
to conduct a good experiment, confounding variables must be
minimised or eliminated.
There’s an SAQ for you to try on the following page.
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?3
Suppose you were to conduct an experiment on the effect of noise on
sleeping. Try to answer the following questions:
1.
Which factor is the one you suspect may have an effect on your
subjects’ behaviour, i.e. the independent variable?
2.
What is the behaviour of your subjects that you expect this factor
to have an effect on – the dependent variable?
3.
Can you predict what effect the factor may have? (Note: this is your
experimental hypothesis.)
4.
What factors (variables) do you need to control for?
5.
What do you still have to do to firmly establish your experimental
hypothesis?
6.
If your experiment is successful, what would you conclude causes
what?
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Now that you are familiar with the experimental method in psychology,
it is time to look at the different types of experiment that are used by
psychologists. Not all experiments take place in a laboratory by any
means – psychologists have devised some ingenious ways of using this
excellent method of research to study behaviour in real life situations.
Types of experiment
There are several types of experiment but only laboratory and field
experiments are considered to be true experiments in the sense that the
experimenter has direct control over the independent variable.
In a laboratory experiment, the investigation takes place entirely in a
laboratory environment, i.e. not in the real world, but in a carefully
controlled, artificial setting. In a laboratory experiment, the environment
is completely controlled by the experimenter. The relationship between
two things is investigated by deliberately producing a change in one
variable (the independent variable or IV) and carefully recording what
effect this has on the other variable (the dependent variable or DV).
Control and replication are key concepts in laboratory experiments in
particular. If an experimental result is true it should always be possible to
reproduce it. Therefore an experimenter should always provide sufficient
detail for anyone else to attempt to replicate it. Laboratory experiments
are particularly popular in cognitive and biological psychology.
Laboratory methods are useful because the amount of control possible in
some experiments makes it possible for the experimenter to make causal
statements about behaviour, i.e. it is possible to claim that the IV is a cause
of behaviour. Also, the laboratory setting makes it possible to completely
control all other variables except the variables you are testing, i.e. the IV
and the DV. The potential for replication is another strong factor in
favour of laboratory-based experiments in psychology – replication is a
strong scientific factor in establishing causal relationships.
However, laboratory experiments are not entirely suitable for many
psychological investigations because they have to take place in such
artificial situations and, therefore, the results cannot really generalise to
real-life situations. Simply by taking people (especially children) into
laboratories, you are changing their social situation(s) in a very
fundamental way. They therefore may not react to a stimulus in the same
way as they would in a real-life (normal) situation. There are also certain
codes of conduct (ethics) which have to be strictly applied when carrying
out experiments which involve people (and children in particular). These
can make laboratory experiments difficult to carry out in practice.
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Try out this activity. It will help you recognise some of the features of
the laboratory experiment.
A7
Read this example of a particularly famous laboratory experiment and
then answer the questions that follow.
Research question
Will people inflict great harm simply because they are ordered to do
so?
Participants
Forty males, aged between 20 and 50, whose jobs ranged from unskilled
to professional. These participants were all volunteers, recruited
through newspaper advertisements or flyers through the post.
When they arrived for a supposed memory experiment they were paid
$4.50 at the onset and introduced to the ‘experimenter’ who was
dressed in a white laboratory coat. Each participant was then given
the role of a ‘teacher’ to play in the experiment.
The experiment
A ‘learner’, previously unseen by the participants, was strapped in a
chair in another room and wired with electrodes. The ‘teacher’ (one
of the participants) was told to administer an electric shock every time
this ‘learner’ made a mistake, increasing the level of shock each time.
There were 30 switches on the shock generator, marked from 15 volts
(slight shock) to 450 volts (danger – severe shock).
(Unknown to the participants, the shocks were not real and the
‘learner’ was a professional actor pretending to be in pain.)
As the shock level increased, the ‘learner’ expressed his discomfort,
using phrases like his heart was bothering him or he felt dizzy. In
response to this, the teacher sought guidance about whether to
continue. He was ordered to continue by the ‘experimenter’ who
used phrases like ‘please continue’ or ‘it is absolutely essential that
you must continue’.
Results
No one stopped administering shocks below the level of what they
thought was intense shock and 65% of the ‘teachers’ continued to the
highest (fatal) level of 450 volts.
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1.
What hypothesis was being tested in this experiment?
2.
What type of experiment was this? Explain your answer.
3.
List the aspects of this situation which made it appear to be
authentic to the participants involved.
4.
The participants in this study were deceived in a number of ways.
Identify two of these ways.
5.
How was the extent of obedience (dependent variable) measured
in this study?
6.
What was the independent variable associated with this?
7.
What were the main findings and why are they surprising?
8.
If you were a participant in this study, what would you have done
when ordered to continue the shocks?
9.
Should this research have been carried out at all? Explain your
answer.
10.
What does this study tell us about how people behave in real-life
situations? Explain your answer.
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A7 Response
1.
The hypothesis being tested is that people will obey if ordered to
do so by an authority figure even if this involves inflicting harm.
2.
This was a laboratory experiment. It took place in a laboratory
setting and not in the real world.
3.
Aspects that made the experiment seem authentic:
• The ‘experimenter’ was dressed in a white laboratory coat.
• The ‘learner’ was seen to be wired up with what appeared to be
sophisticated scientific equipment.
• The use of directive and objective language by the
experimenter.
• Precise and explicit instructions were given to the subjects.
4.
Firstly they were deceived in that they were told they were
participating in a memory experiment. Secondly, they were led to
believe that the ‘learner’ was receiving real electric shocks when in
fact no electric shocks were being administered. Thirdly, they were
lead to believe that the ‘experimenter’ was an expert and
particularly knowledgeable about how safe it was to proceed with
the electric shocks.
5.
The extent of obedience was measured directly by how many volts
were administered by each subject.
6.
The independent variable associated with this is the authority
figure – the ‘experimenter’ in the white coat.
7.
The main findings were that most subjects administered shocks
that they knew to be harmful and that more than half the subjects
administered shocks that they knew to be fatal. This is surprising
because, in general, people do not willingly and knowingly inflict
harm on other people.
8.
Most people insist that if they were a participant in this study they
would not have done what they were being ordered to do.
However, Milgram’s results are so astounding because he used
people just like you and me – people who also would have insisted
that they would not behave in such a way.
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9.
There are clear and serious ethical objections to this research.
Milgram lied to his participants about the nature of the research,
and about the fact that people were receiving electric shocks. In
his defence, it would be difficult to tell people about the true
nature of the research without spoiling the study altogether.
An important rule of experimental research is that participants are
told at the outset that they are free to leave at any time. Here,
they seemed not to realise that they were free to leave and could
just go if they really wanted to.
Participants were clearly distressed by this research and did not
find it easy to administer shocks. Some argue that Milgram should
have stopped the experiment once signs of distress were noticed.
10.
It has been stated that, impressive though this study was, its
findings cannot really be applied to a real-life situation. In
particular, it has been argued, participants knew they were in an
experimental situation and this raised expectations about how they
were expected to behave, i.e. obey the experimenter who is
responsible for the research. However, there are some real-life
parallels that you might wish to consider. Abdication of
responsibility for actions that are harmful but carried out by
individuals under orders is not uncommon. War crimes committed
by soldiers is one example of this.
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The second type of experiment you need to know about is called a field
experiment. In a field experiment, the investigation takes place in more
everyday surroundings. The participants are usually unaware that they
are participating in a psychology experiment at all. However, the
independent variable is still being manipulated by the experimenter,
who is interested in finding out what the effect of this is on the
dependent variable. The environment, on the other hand, cannot be
controlled by the experimenter in a field experiment. This is because
field experiments take place in real-life settings, e.g. shopping centres,
workplace, schools, etc. In real-life settings variables which may affect
the result of your experiment are always present to some extent. They
can never be eliminated. The degree of control that the experimenter
has in a field experiment is therefore much less than in that of a
laboratory experiment.
Field experiments are useful in that they are more ‘true to life’ and may
tap human behaviour more accurately than a laboratory-based
investigation. Also, because, in a field experiment, participants are
usually unaware that the experiment is taking place, there is little risk
that their behaviour will become affected by their knowledge of the
experimenter’s presence or the experimental situation. These are
strong points in favour of field experiments.
Field experiments do have some drawbacks associated with them also
however. The loss of control which is an inevitable part of the field
experiment means it is more difficult to be sure exactly what is causing
what, and a much larger element of doubt must remain about this than
with a laboratory-based experiment. There is much less scope with a
field experiment for replication – this is partly because the exact
conditions are difficult to repeat (since they have not really been
controlled in the first place) and partly because field experiments are
much more time-consuming and expensive for a researcher to conduct
than laboratory-based experiments. The problem of ethics exists for
field experimenter also – there is a clear ethical issue in a situation
where you are observing/experimenting with people without their full
knowledge and prior consent being obtained. For this reason, field
experiments tend to be restricted to those mainly public situations
where people would normally expect to be observed by others as part of
the situation they are in and where those variations introduced into the
environment are also a part and parcel of normal life, i.e. restaurants,
shops, factory floors, car parks, etc.
Now let’s take a look at the following example of a field experiment.
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A8
Read this example:
Research question
Do onlookers respond to someone who is drunk when they can
see they are in trouble?
Participants
Four teams of researchers (two male and two female) acted as both
victims and observers. The real participants of the experiment
(who were unaware of this) were over 4,000 people travelling on
the New York subway.
Method
A person boarded a train and, as it pulled out of the station,
staggered and collapsed. Two conditions were used:
1.
The drunk condition, where the person smelled of alcohol
and carried a bottle of whisky wrapped in a brown paper bag.
2.
The sober condition, where the person appeared sober.
The researchers, who were observing, timed how long help was in
coming. After 70 seconds, one of the researchers actually stepped
in to help.
Results
1.
The person who was sober received immediate help 95% of
the time.
2.
The drunk person was helped spontaneously 50% of the
time.
Now answer the questions below and on the following page.
1.
State the hypothesis for this experiment.
2.
What type of experiment was this? Explain your answer.
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3.
List the aspects of this situation that made it appear to be authentic
to the participants involved.
4.
The participants in this study were deceived. Explain why this was
necessary.
5.
What was the dependent variable in this study, and how was it
measured?
6.
What were the independent variables associated with this?
7.
Should this research have been carried out at all? Explain your
answer.
8.
How much does this study tell you about how people behave in
real-life situations? Explain your answer.
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A8 Response
1.
The hypothesis is that onlookers will come to the assistance of a
sober person in trouble more quickly than they do a drunk person.
2.
This was a field experiment because it takes place in a real-life
setting (train) and there is some manipulation of variables
(pretending to be drunk or sober) by the researchers.
3.
The aspects which made this situation look authentic are:
• It took place in an everyday setting.
• It used fairly common behaviours – the participants would not
think what happened was highly unusual.
4.
It was necessary to ‘deceive’ these participants because to inform
them about the true nature of the study would spoil the study.
5.
The dependent variable is the amount of time taken for help to
arrive. It was measured using a stopwatch.
6.
The independent variable associated with this is drunkenness.
7.
Although in this research, participants were not informed that they
were taking part in a field experiment, there are less objections to
raise here than with, for example, the Milgram study.
Ethically, it is much more acceptable to carry out research in a
situation where people expect to come across this kind of thing
anyway. In this study where there was a ‘mock’ situation –
someone collapsing on a train – there is much less likelihood that
people will become distressed as a result of what the researchers
are doing.
8.
This study is almost certainly more accurate in predicting how
people behave in real-life situations than the Milgram experiment
was. This is simply because the use of the field experiment allowed
the researchers to closely mimic what actually occurs in real life
and then watch as participants responded to what they believed to
be a real-life situation.
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There is another type of experiment called a natural experiment,
although strictly speaking this is not a true experiment since the
independent variable is not actually manipulated by the experimenter.
Natural experiments occur when a researcher is able to exploit, for
research purposes, a ‘natural’ event that is about to occur anyway and
that takes the form of an experimental situation. For instance, a hospital
may decide to relax visiting regulations to allow parents to see their sick
child at any time during the hospital stay. In this situation there is a
naturally occurring group which is not experiencing the change (a
control group in the experimental situation) who can be used for
comparison purposes with the group of children who are experiencing
the change (independent variable). Recovery rates, morale and anxiety
levels (the dependent variables) can be compared for the two groups
with the aim of ascertaining whether or not the more relaxed visiting
regulations produce faster recovery rates and lower anxiety levels in the
group of patients who were given more access to their relatives.
Although this is an experiment in most senses of the word, the IV is not
at all controlled by the experimenter.
Natural experiments, like field experiments, are useful because they are
‘true to life’ and participants are not generally aware that they are part
of an ‘experiment’. Natural experiments have an advantage over field
experiments in that the investigator is not interfering in any way, since
the situation will be occurring whether he/she investigates it or not.
Similarly, ethics are less of a problem in natural experiments since the
issue of consent does not really apply. In fact, the natural experiment is
really the only way to study cause and effect where there are ethical
objections to manipulation of variables. Furthermore, natural
experiments minimise the risk of having ‘experimenter effects’ – the
unwanted effects that the very presence of an experimenter may have
on the behaviour of subjects – since there is often no experimenter
actually present.
However, natural experiments, in common with field experiments, do
have a major disadvantage of loss of control over variables. Similarly,
replication is not really possible since it is unlikely that a natural
experiment would occur more often than once. Equally, as with field
experiments, such experiments are time-consuming and expensive to
run. Indeed, natural experiments are particularly difficult to find in the
first place.
Now take a look at how a natural experiment is carried out in
psychology.
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A9
Read the research example given below
Research question
Does watching TV affect levels of aggression?
Participants
Residents of two Canadian towns, who were studied for a period of
two years in all. One of the towns had no television services at the
beginning of the study but received one channel during the time
that the study was being carried out. Another town had this one
television channel throughout the time of the study. The towns
were similar in terms of population (about 3,000 people), ethnic
mix, socio-economic factors and nearness to urban areas.
Method
The effect of television content was assessed in terms of children’s
aggression levels (as observed in the school playground).
Results
Children’s aggressive behaviour, as observed in the school
playground, increased substantially in the town which had no
television channel initially, but received one channel later on.
Now answer the following questions.
1.
What type of experiment was this?
2.
Suggest a hypothesis for this experiment.
3.
What was the dependent variable in this study, and how was it
measured?
4.
What is the independent variable associated with this?
5.
Why were two towns used in this study?
6.
How useful is this study in terms of explaining real-life situations?
Fully explain your answer.
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A9 Response
1.
This was a natural experiment.
2.
A hypothesis is that the amount of aggression shown will increase if
the amount of television watched increases.
3.
The dependent variable was level of aggression as measured during
play behaviour.
4.
The independent variable is television.
5.
Two towns were necessary here. One
control condition for this experiment,
present. The other town represented
for this experiment, i.e. television was
6.
Again, this study should be useful for explaining real-life situations
because the researchers have used a situation that is very typical
and they are not interfering in any way at all. In a sense, then, the
researchers are simply recording what is going on without even
being present. This is ideal because it eliminates experimenter
effects entirely but still allows the researchers to study cause and
effect.
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town represented the
i.e. no television was
the experimental condition
now present.
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Clearly, when deciding upon the most appropriate experimental
approach for a study, the different advantages and disadvantages of each
of these types of experiment should be carefully considered. A lot will
depend on what is being studied. Furthermore, these options may be
limited by what is ethically acceptable.
A10
The table below, when completed, will display the three different types
of experiments we have just discussed, together with their main
features. Insert the name of the type of experiment required in
positions 1, 2 and 3 of the table.
Summary of types of experiment
The IV is manipulated
by the experimenter
The IV varies naturally
The environment in
which the experiment
takes place is controlled
by the experimenter
The environment in
which the
experiment takes
place is not
controlled by the
experimenter
1.
2.
3.
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A10 Response
1.
Laboratory experiment
2.
Field experiment
3.
Natural experiment
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Let’s see how much you remember about laboratory, field and natural
experiments.
?4
State whether the following examples are of laboratory, field or natural
experiments.
1.
Psychologists visit a school in order to compare the abilities of a
group of 5-year-olds with that of a group of 7-year-olds.
2.
In a study to investigate memory, one group is given a list of words
organised into categories to remember. Another group is given
the same list not organised into categories. The number of words
recalled by each group is compared.
3.
In a study of the effect of gender on cooperation, a female and a
male police officer are observed and the number of conversations
with members of the public they have is recorded and compared.
4.
In a study similar to the one above, two psychologists, one male
and one female, pose as police officers requesting information.
5.
A company is about to introduce new technology into one of its
departments. Levels of job satisfaction are measured before and
after the introduction of the new technology to see if it has
changed.
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Now that you have learned what experiments are and you know all
about the types of experiments used by psychologists, it’s time to think
about how experiments are actually put together. The name that is
given to this procedure is experimental research design.
Experimental research design in psychology
Experiments in psychology test hypotheses (ideas, hunches) about the
effect of certain variables on others. The hypothesis makes a prediction
about what the outcome of the experiment will be. Therefore the
preliminary idea we have about what will happen in the experiment is
called the experimental hypothesis.
Consider the following examples:
1.
2.
3.
A particular drug changes the size of the pupil in your eye.
What you eat (diet) affects your intelligence.
Study habits influence exam results.
In the above examples, we have named particular things (pupil in your
eye, intelligence, exam results) and said that each is influenced in some
way by something else – the something else is a drug, or what you eat,
or how you study. All these ‘something elses’ are of course variables.
The term ‘variable’ when used in an experimental context, means
anything which is free to vary. In order that variables can be expressed
in a quantitative way, they have to be expressed in appropriate units. In
the examples above, the units to be used are quite obvious, i.e.
centimetres, IQ scores, exam results expressed as a mark out of 100.
Expressing variables in quantitative units is not always straightforward,
however. For instance, how do we express things like attitudes and
motivation in such a way? Often it is necessary to devise a scale of some
sort in order to express a particular variable in a way that is quantitative
and appropriate, e.g. very keen/keen/not keen as a measure of
motivation. However, such scales are often regarded as being less
reliable than the more well-established units which we commonly use to
measure things.
The pairs of variables that occur in each experiment have separate
names, as you know. The variable we manipulate is called the
independent variable, and the variable which we hypothesise will alter as
a result of our experiment is called the dependent variable. In an
experiment, the independent variable is free to vary – the
experimenters control this. The dependent variable alters as a
consequence of the value of the independent variable – its value is
dependent on this.
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The hypotheses listed earlier were all rather vague. In particular, the
words ‘influence’, ‘affects’ and ‘changes’ are not at all precise. It is
preferable to make more precise predictions about the effect of the IV
on the DV. Therefore it would be better if our prediction stated that a
particular type of diet improved intelligence, good study habits might
improve exam results, a specific drug will increase pupil size. When a
hypothesis states a predicted direction of outcome as seen by the use of
such words as ‘reduce’, ‘increase’, ‘lower’ or ‘raise’ then it is called a
directional hypothesis or a one-tailed hypothesis. The types of
hypotheses given earlier are known as non-directional hypotheses or
two-tailed hypotheses.
Whether the hypothesis is one or two-tailed, it should be stated in clear,
unambiguous terms. This inevitably involves stating the predicted
outcome (dependent variable) in very specific terms, including its
direction and naming the quantitative units involved in both the
independent and dependent variables.
Consider the following example of a particularly badly defined
hypothesis:
A bull’s anger will vary according to whether it is shown a red flag or
green flag.
This hypothesis is not satisfactory for several reasons. Firstly, we do not
know how anger (the dependent variable) is to be measured. Since it
cannot be measured directly, the degree of anger needs to be expressed
in some form of quantitative units so that it is much clearer what is being
meant by ‘more angry’ or ‘less angry’. Secondly, we do not have a
precise statement about which of the two flags will make the bull more
angry. Although this is implied in the hypothesis (because everyone
knows that the colour red makes bulls angry) it is not stated explicitly or
precisely enough in the way the hypothesis is currently expressed.
The following is a much better attempt at a hypothesis for this particular
study:
Bulls will charge an experimenter more often during a five-minute
period if the experimenter is waving a red flag than if he/she is waving
a green flag.
When we have stated the hypothesis in as precise and as unambiguous
terms as this, it is a much simpler matter to go ahead and set up the
experiment. In this particular case, however, whether this hypothesis
turns out to be true or not is a matter for others to research!.
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Regardless of whether a hypothesis is one-tailed or two-tailed, it is
known as an experimental hypothesis. Experimental hypotheses can go
by yet another name – the alternative hypothesis.
In testing any experimental hypothesis, there are only two possible
explanations. Either any changes in the subject’s behaviour are caused
by the experimenter manipulating the independent variable, or they are
not. In our example about the bull, either the bull charged more often
as a result of the red flag, or the amount of times the bull charged was
not related in any way to the presence of the red flag. Psychologists state
these two possibilities thus:
1.
Bulls will charge an experimenter more often during a five-minute
period if he is waving a red flag. This is called the experimental
hypothesis or the alternative hypothesis.
2.
Bulls will not charge an experimenter more often during a fiveminute period if he is waving a red flag and any instances where
the bull does charge more often are not due to the red flag but
simply the result of random factors. This is called the null
hypothesis.
The null hypothesis is actually saying then that the independent variable
does not affect the dependent variable in the way that has been
anticipated. The null hypothesis is also claiming that any such
differences observed are entirely random, i.e. due to chance factors and
not an effect of the independent variable. Both null and alternative/
experimental hypotheses are important in experimental design.
To recap what we have been saying, then:
1.
All experiments have at least one experimental (alternative)
hypothesis and one null hypothesis.
2.
The experimental (alternative) hypothesis is based on the
assumption that the independent variable affects the dependent
variable. It is always the prediction that there will be a difference
in the dependent variable.
3.
The experimental (alternative) hypothesis can either predict a
difference between conditions in one direction (uni-directional) or
in either direction (bi-directional). It can therefore be one-tailed
or two-tailed.
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4.
The null hypothesis is based on the assumption that the
independent variable does not affect the dependent variable. It is
the same in all experiments. It predicts the absence of a difference
between the conditions in the experiment.
In SAQ 5 there are some questions to test your understanding of what
we have covered so far about experiments and experimental design.
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?5
1.
2.
3.
Identify the IV and the DV in each of the following statements:
(a)
Memory loss can be the result of stress at work
(b)
Spare the rod and spoil the child
(c)
People will be more likely to comply with a request from a
person they like
(d)
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
(e)
Physically punished children are more aggressive
(f)
Two heads are better than one
(a)
Which of the above statements are likely to be framed as
hypotheses?
(b)
Indicate, for each hypothesis, whether it is one-tailed or twotailed.
Decide whether each of the following research hypotheses is onetailed or two-tailed:
(a)
Sunlight makes grass grow faster
(b)
Aggression rises with overcrowding
(c)
Anxiety affects performance
(d)
Age influences learning capacity
(e)
Theft reduces with surveillance cameras
(f)
Alcohol affects reaction time.
Check your answers with those given at the back of this section.
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Now try this activity:
A11
The table below gives some examples of alternative and null hypotheses.
Fill in the blanks as indicated. The first one is done for you.
Alternative hypothesis
Null hypothesis
1.
Picking up a baby as soon as
it starts crying reduces the
crying.
Picking up a crying baby will not
make it cry less. Any apparent
reduction in crying is due to
random factors.
2.
Talking to offenders about
their crimes will reduce the
number of crimes.
3.
Encouraging young people to
make decisions will not help them
to become more responsible. Any
increase in responsibility is due to
random factors.
4.
Watching the lottery on
television makes people
gamble more.
5.
Praising people for their work
will increase the amount of
work produced.
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A11 Response
Alternative hypothesis
Null hypothesis
1.
Picking up a baby as soon as it
starts crying reduces the
crying.
Picking up a crying baby will not
make it cry less. Any reduction
in crying is due to random factors.
2.
Talking to offenders about
their crimes will reduce the
number of crimes.
Talking to offenders about their
crimes will not reduce the number
of crimes. Any reduction in crimes
is due to random factors.
3.
Encouraging young people to
make decisions will help them
to become more responsible.
Encouraging young people to
make decisions will not help them
to become more responsible.
Any increase in responsibility is
due to random factors.
4.
Watching the lottery on
television makes people
gamble more.
Watching the lottery on television
does not make people gamble
more. Any increase in gambling is
due to random factors.
5.
Praising people for their work
will increase the amount of
work produced.
Praising people for their work
will not increase the amount of
work produced. Any increase in
work production is due to
random factors.
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Now complete this task:
?6
Write a few lines explaining what the following terms mean.
Variable
Quantitative
Experimental hypothesis/
alternative hypothesis
Directional hypothesis/
one-tailed hypothesis
Null hypothesis
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Although all experiments have the same basic structure, i.e. IV/DV,
control group(s)/experimental group(s), a variety of experimental
designs exist in psychology. Some of these designs are more complex
than others.
Experimental design concerns the decisions which are taken when an
experiment is set up. These decisions focus on the ways in which
subjects are selected and then allocated to the conditions within an
experiment. There are a number of designs which an experimenter may
choose from. Two of the most commonly used designs are the repeated
measures design and the independent groups design.
The repeated measures design is sometimes also called the related
measures design or the within subjects design. Regardless of which of
these names it is given, this design always involves using the same
subjects (participants) in all conditions of the experiment. An
illustration of a repeated measures design would be an experiment
which is studying the effect of listening to car radios upon driving
speed. This experiment, if set up as a repeated measure design, would
distribute all subjects across both conditions of the experiment: the
‘radio-on’ condition and the ‘radio-off ’ condition. In other words, every
subject in this experiment would experience the ‘radio-on’ condition
and the ‘radio-off ’ condition.
Condition 1 ‘Radio-On’
Condition 2 ‘Radio-Off ’
S1
S2
S1
S2
S3
S4
S3
S4
S5
S5
You may have realised that there is a difficulty with this design in that
the subjects’ performance in the second condition may well be affected
by the fact that they have already experienced the first condition. Such
an effect is called an order effect. Order effects include the effects of
fatigue, boredom or prior practice, all of which can occur because
participants are performing in more than one condition. Obviously,
subjects will get bored or tired if they are performing the same task over
and over again. Their responses are unlikely to be as speedy or as
accurate as they were the first time. Order effects represent a significant
source of bias in an experiment. This is therefore one of the major
disadvantages of the repeated measures design. In order to get over
this bias, the experimenter may counterbalance the order of the
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experimental conditions. Instead of always doing Condition 1 first,
followed by Condition 2, some subjects may do Condition 2 first,
followed by Condition 1. The idea is that counterbalancing should
cancel out order effects overall.
Subject Number
S1
Condition 1 ‘Radio-on’
2nd
Condition 2 ‘Radio-off ’
1st
S2
S3
1st
1st
2nd
2nd
S4
S5
2nd
2nd
1st
1st
Counterbalancing
(Using this technique ensures that each condition in the experiment
follows and is preceded by every other condition an equal number of
times.)
Repeated measures design experiments offer the experimenter some
distinct advantages however. These include the convenience of only
having one set of subjects to find (this is because you are using the same
sample more than once), and the fact that you are avoiding the type of
bias which inevitably arises from the individual differences between
people. Because the same individuals are being used over again, there
is less risk of bias from these normal variations which exist among
people.
The independent groups design involves using different participants for
each condition. This is sometimes also called the independent subjects
design, independent samples design, or the between groups design.
Regardless of which of these names it is given, this design always selects
two completely separate groups of people. An entirely different group
of people take each condition of the experiment. Subjects are allocated
to each condition randomly.
Condition 1
Condition 2
S3
S5
S10
S9
S4
S8
S7
S2
S1
S6
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The main difficulty with the independent groups design is that any
differences in the DV between two conditions can be attributed to
differences between the two subject groups. This is known as the
problem of subject variables. Humans (or animals) are infinitely variable
and there may well be differences between the participants chosen by
you that could systematically affect one condition and spoil your results.
For example, if one group is mostly young and the other group is mostly
old, or one group mostly female and the other group mostly male, these
differences will introduce a bias into the research findings. To avoid or
at least minimise this, the researcher must use something called random
allocation. In random allocation, each person has an equal chance of
being assigned to either condition. This can be assigned by pulling
names out of a hat or tossing a coin to decide who is in which group. In
this way you can get a balanced mixture of all sorts of people in each
group, and the bias should be eliminated.
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Now try out the following activity
A12
Complete the following summary of the steps involved in research
design by filling in the blanks:
Research design
1
Research Aims
!
2
!
3
Define Variables
!
4
!
5
Assign Control
and/or
Experimental
Groups
Types:
1.
Problems:
2. Independent
subjects
Subject
variables
Solutions: Counterbalancing
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A12 Response
Research design
1
Research Aims
2
Produce a
Hypothesis
3
Define Variables
4
Select a Sample
5
Assign Control
and/or
Experimental
Groups
!
!
!
!
Types:
1. Repeated
measures
2. Independent
subjects
Problems:
Order effects
Subject
variables
Solutions:
Counterbalancing
Random
allocation
There is a further problem to do with the people you use in
experiments that may arise as you are designing your experiment. This
problem is known as demand characteristics. Demand characteristics
is a term that is used to describe the process that occurs when people
know or think they know what the experiment is about or what the
experimenter is looking for. When this happens to people in
experiments, it can affect the way they behave. Some people might try
to be very nice and attempt to help you get the results they think you
want. Other people might deliberately try to prevent you from getting
the result they think you want – perhaps because they want to show that
they ‘know’ what you are up to and are not going to be taken in by it!
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Of course, when people do behave in this way during an experiment, it
can seriously distort the results of the study. One way to combat this is
to run the experiment as a single blind. In a single blind design the
participants are not told what the experimenter is looking for until after
the experiment is finished. Sometimes the experimenter may actually
lie to them about the true nature of the research in order to prevent
them from finding out the real purpose of the experiment. This of
course raises some ethical issues. Ethical issues in research will be
discussed at a later stage in the psychology course materials.
The reason for the use of the single blind technique is so that, if subjects
do not know what is being looked for, they cannot deliberately give you
the results you want or prevent you from getting them. However, just
the simple knowledge that they are in an experimental situation may
result in some subjects behaving or performing differently than they
otherwise would.
Yet another potential source of difficulty exists in experimental design.
This time, however, the difficulty arises from the experimenter rather
than the subjects.
There are in fact two main problems to be aware of here: experimenter
effects and experimenter bias. Experimenter effects arise from the
way in which an experimenter interacts with his/her subjects.
Experimenters can influence how people respond to them in a number
of ways. The influence that researchers can have on participants in an
experiment simply by virtue of their age, sex or personality, and how an
experimenter treats his/her participants, are known as experimenter
effects.
Of course, experimenters should always try to ensure that they treat all
their participants in the same way. To do this, experimenters are
supposed to use standardised instructions. Standardised instructions
are instructions that are written down by the experimenter prior to the
experiment taking place. They are given or read out to each subject of
the experiment in an identical fashion. This helps ensure that any
differences found between groups cannot be due to the way subjects
were treated by the experimenter.
Experimenter bias occurs when the expectations of the experimenter
unconsciously influence the way in which he or she behaves or
interprets what is happening in the experiment. Experimenter bias can
significantly influence the results of an experiment. One way to
counteract experimenter bias is to use a double blind technique. Here,
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not only are the participants not told of the true nature of the study, but
neither are the people who collect the results. In other words, the
experimenter sets up the experiment and then lets other people run
the research. Afterwards he or she simply collects the data for analysis.
By doing this, it is hoped that the data is collected in an unbiased way.
The use of a double blind technique is quite common in medical
research in general and in drug trials in particular. Here, some people
are given the drug and others are given a placebo (i.e. a substance
known to have no effect). Neither the subjects nor the researchers
know which (drug or placebo) an individual subject has been given.
This information is only disclosed after the results have all been
collected in.
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Answer the following questions:
?7
1.
An experiment is set up as a repeated measures design. What does
this mean?
2.
Why would an experimenter counterbalance the order of the
experimental conditions during an experiment?
3.
Give one advantage of the repeated measures design.
4.
How does the independent groups design differ from the repeated
measures design?
5.
State one drawback of the independent groups design.
6.
What is meant by random allocation in experimental design?
7.
Explain why demand characteristics can create a problem during
an experiment.
8.
What is the difference between experimenter effects and
experimenter bias?
9.
What are standardised instructions?
10.
Distinguish between a single blind and a double blind experiment.
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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Subjects, samples and populations
The people or animals who take part in an experiment are referred to as
subjects. The subjects (sometimes abbreviated to Ss) which are to be
studied are called a sample. However when we gather results from
subjects, we do not just want our results to be applicable only to the
subjects we have used. Ideally, we should be able to generalise our
results more widely than this. If we are careful to obtain an unbiased
sample then it is possible for the results to be generalised from the
sample to a wider target population (a target population is simply the
total group of people that the study is concerned with, e.g all teenagers,
all single parents, all lawyers).
A sample is unbiased if each member of the population has been given
an equal chance of appearing in the sample. Another way of saying a
sample is unbiased is to say that it is representative. What this really
means is that the sample obtained has, apart from size, exactly the same
characteristics in exactly the same proportions as the population from
which the sample was drawn.
However it is often the case that subjects for an experiment come from a
captive audience (e.g. university/college students are often asked to be
subjects in experiments simply because they are available and close at
hand). If this is the case it cannot be said that the subjects are a
legitimate sample from any obvious population. There is always bias
introduced into a study when the sample used are all volunteers – this is
simply because people who volunteer tend to have certain
characteristics which may not be typical of the target population for that
study.
The following activity will help you to become familiar with the
procedures involved in sampling. Try it now.
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A13
1.
2.
Suggest a population from which the following samples might have
been taken:
(a)
Twenty-five black cats
(b)
The fifth person who said hello to you on your way to class
today
(c)
Your mother
(d)
Twelve 25-year-old males with black hair and beards.
Consider the population in your local school/college on a Monday
at 9.15 am and on a Friday at 4.30 pm.
(a)
How might the population vary at these different times?
(b)
When would be the best time to obtain an opportunity
sample of students from your local school/college?
(c)
How would you minimise the risk of bias in this sample?
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A13 Response
1.
2.
368
(a)
All black cats
(b)
All people who said hello to you
(c)
All mothers
(d)
All 25-year old males with black hair and beards.
(a)
The population would vary at these times in that certain types
of people would be missing. For example, those who had
still to arrive on the Monday morning, i.e. after 9.15 am, or
had left on the Friday before 4.30pm would be missing from
the population – these might be people who live further
away, or they might be people with family responsibilities.
(b)
The best time to obtain an opportunity sample would be
whenever you were sure that most pupils/students were
present, e.g. just after lunch.
(c)
You would minimise the risk of bias by ensuring that you
were selecting your sample from the complete population in
the first place, e.g. by referring to a complete list of names of
those people in the school/college when choosing your
sample.
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The decision about what kind of subjects to obtain for a study and where
to obtain them is therefore a very important consideration for an
experimenter. Generally speaking there is a procedure that an
experimenter should go through in order to obtain a proper sample.
1.
Identify the target population – the group the study is concerned
with.
2.
Decide how many subjects (Ss) to study. This depends on four
main factors:
3.
(a)
How large the population is. If the target population is large,
e.g. all schoolchildren in Scotland, then the sample will be
large. If the target population is small, e.g. all 90-year-olds in
Britain, then the sample will also be small but could still be
representative.
(b)
How many subjects there are available to be studied. This is a
practical issue – there isn’t any point in trying to study 90year-olds if there are only two that you know of and you have
no way in finding any others.
(c)
What is the minimum number of subjects necessary to ensure
that the sample is a representative one. It is much more
difficult to obtain a representative sample when you are
dealing with very small numbers and this will inevitably make
any result an unreliable one.
(d)
What is the minimum numbers of subjects possible. This is
also a practical point. The more subjects you have, the
longer the study takes to complete and the more expensive it
becomes to run.
Choose a method of drawing the sample from the general
population. There are many different ways of drawing a sample.
(a)
Random sampling – this is a sample drawn in such a way that
every member of the population has an equal change of being
selected as in, for instance, drawing names out of a hat.
(b)
Systematic sampling – here every, say, tenth or fifteenth, (or
any number) is taken from a list of the target population. For
example, if there are 50 people in your target population and
you wanted a 20% sample of these, then you could use every
fifth person.
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(c)
Quota sample – here the population is analysed by picking
out those characteristics which are considered important.
Individuals are then systematically chosen so that the sample
has these same characteristics.
(d)
Self-selected samples – here the subjects choose
themselves, as in the volunteers mentioned earlier. Or they
might answer an advert in the newspaper, or reply to a postal
questionnaire. These people are generally ‘untypical’ and so
the sample would inevitably be biased.
(e)
Opportunity sampling – this is where the researcher takes
advantage of having some Ss available and so includes them
in the research because it is convenient to do so, e.g.
students at college/university who are used as subjects by
tutors in their personal/academic research.
(f)
Imposed sampling – this is where the subjects are not given
any real choice as to whether to participate or not but are
simply included, e.g. children, animals, field experiments.
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Here’s another activity for you to try:
A14
Suppose you selected twelve males aged 18 as a sample. You then
selected an equivalent sample of twelve females aged 18. They all came
from city schools or colleges. They were given a choice of what to read
– poetry or fiction. Most of the males preferred to read fiction, while
most of the girls preferred the poetry.
(a)
Explain why the sample used here is not likely to be representative
of the target population ‘18-year-old students’. What evidence is
there in the passage to support this?
(b)
If you went ahead and generalised the findings of your study to the
student population, what conclusions would you be making?
(c)
Is it possible for this sample to have been self-selected? Explain
why/why not.
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A14 Response
(a)
The passage says that city schools and colleges were used. This
excludes all 18-year-olds who were not at school or college. It also
excludes any 18-year-olds who were in schools or colleges other
than city schools. The sample is not likely to be representative
then because it was not drawn from the general population of 18year-olds using one of the accepted methods, i.e. random
sampling, systematic sampling, quota sampling.
(b)
If the findings were then generalised you would be concluding that
all male 18-year-olds preferred to read fiction and all female 18year-olds preferred to read poetry. This is clearly not accurate.
(c)
It is possible that the people used were self-selected in that they
were chosen from a group of volunteers/available subjects rather
than as a result of a systematic sampling method.
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Here is the final activity for this study section.
A15
Write a few lines explaining what these terms mean.
Population
Sample
Representative sample
Biased sample
Random sampling
Systematic sampling
Subjects
Self-selected sampling
Opportunity sampling
Imposed sampling
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A15 Response
Population
All cases within a given
definition/class of subject.
Sample
A part of a population that is
studied so that the researcher can
make generalisations about the
whole of the original population.
Representative sample
A sample of subjects in a study
which has all the important
characteristics of its parent
population.
Biased sample
An error in the way that a
particular sample has been
selected which results in that
sample not being representative
of the population as a whole.
Random sampling
A process of selecting a sample in
such a way that any member of
the population has an equally
likely chance of being selected.
Systematic sampling
Where you select people but in
a systematic way, according to
how many you need for a given
sample. For example if you
needed a sample that was 10% of
the amount of the original
population, then you would select
every tenth person from your list
of the entire population.
Subjects
Those who participate in an
experiment or other form of
research study.
Self-selected sampling
A method of sampling where the
subjects put themselves forward
rather than being selected by
sampling techniques. The result
sample will be biased.
Opportunity sampling
A method of sampling where the
subjects are included in the
study because it is more
convenient/quicker to choose
them rather than trying to find
other similar subjects. The
result sample will be biased.
Imposed sampling
A method of sampling where the
subjects who are included have
not been given a choice about
their participation in the study,
for example children, animals,
field experiments.
Now try SAQ 8 on the following page.
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?8
1.
State two reasons why sampling is used.
2.
What is the difference between a sample and a population?
3.
What is meant by the term ‘random sampling’, and how might a
random sample be generated?
4.
Why aren’t self-selected samples ever representative?
5.
Explain what is meant by the term ‘biased sampling’.
Check your answers with those given at the end of this section.
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You are almost at the end of this study section and have now completed
most of the work involved.
The following checklist will help to remind you of the most important
points you have covered so far:
I now know:
Tick here
what an experiment is
how experiments are designed
the different advantages and disadvantages
of experiments
examples of research that use different types
of experiments
what sampling is and how sampling should
be carried out
You are now ready to complete the Tutor Assignment. This follows the
summary on the next page. As soon as you have done so, give this to
your tutor for comments and advice. Remember that the feedback that
your tutor gives you is very important. Make sure that you discuss this
assignment fully with him/her. Of course, your tutor is available for you
to contact whenever you are experiencing any difficulties with any part
of your study materials.
All that now remains (before attempting the Tutor Assignment) is for
you to read the summary on the next page carefully. You have reached
the end of study section 7 and are now nearing the end of the unit,
‘Approaches and Methods in Psychology’.
Well done!
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Summary
Experiments are a formal method of research used by psychologists,
often under controlled conditions. They are the only form of research
that attempts to prove that one thing causes another. An experiment
specifically tests the effect of the independent variable on the
dependent variable.
There are different types of experiments. Laboratory experiments take
place within a laboratory setting and have a high level of control over
variables. Field experiments take place in the real world where less
control is possible. Both laboratory and field experiments involve some
manipulation of variables. Natural experiments, however, do not involve
any manipulation of variables. They occur when a researcher is able to
exploit, for research purposes, a natural event that happens to take the
form of an experimental situation.
Experiments in psychology always test a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a
precise prediction about what the outcome of the experiment will be. It
states exactly what the effect of one variable on another will be. Both an
experimental (alternative) hypothesis and a null hypothesis apply in any
given experiment. The null hypothesis states that any effects found
during the experiment are due to random factors and are not due to the
effect of the experiment.
There are different ways of carrying out an experiment. A repeated
measures design involves all subjects in experiencing all conditions of
the experiment, while an independent subjects design allocates different
subjects to different conditions. Both of these types of design have
different advantages and disadvantages. The choice of which design to
use in a given experiment depends on the nature of the experiment
itself.
An important aspect of experimental design is sampling. Sampling
involves selecting subjects for the experiment in a way that ensures that
they represent the population being studied accurately. There are
different ways of sampling – random, systematic and quota. In random
sampling everyone has an equal chance of being chosen. In systematic
sampling, every (say) fourth or fifth person is selected. In quota
sampling, people are chosen on the basis of certain characteristics such
as age, racial background, education and so on. In all of these methods
of sampling it is very important to make sure that the population from
which the sample is drawn is highly inclusive.
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Tutor assignment
T1
Read this description and then answer the questions that follow:
A psychology lecturer wanted to find out if psychology students
learn better when they study alone or when they study in groups.
He obtained a sample by selecting students at random from the
departmental list of all psychology students.
He then gave these students some material to study – the students
studied the material together in groups or when they were by
themselves. All students were given a short assessment afterwards.
The assessment tested how much they had learned from the
materials they were given.
Here are the results of the study:
Test Scores
Studied alone
Subject no.
Studied in group
1
2
30%
50%
40%
20%
3
4
20%
20%
70%
80%
5
6
60%
10%
70%
30%
7
8
40%
20%
50%
60%
9
10
60%
70%
10%
50%
Now answer the questions on the next page.
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1.
This psychologist selected his sample using random sampling.
Give two reasons why sampling is necessary in a study such as this.
2.
Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable for
this experiment.
3.
Write a suitable hypothesis for this study.
4.
What advantages would a repeated measures design offer this
experimenter?
5.
(a)
(b)
What are the main drawbacks in choosing repeated measures
here?
Can these drawbacks be overcome?
6.
What advantage would an independent subjects design have?
7.
(a)
(b)
8.
What are the main drawbacks to using independent subjects
here?
Can these drawbacks be overcome?
Which of the two designs would you select if you were the
researcher? Explain your answer fully.
Submit this to your tutor for marking.
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Answers to Self Assessed Questions
Answers to SAQ 1
1.
The information that is provided about this study suggests that it
was carried out in a scientific manner. There was a method of
collecting evidence that was objective, consistent and detailed.
There was also a hypothesis involved and the study was carried out
in such a way that this hypothesis could be fairly tested.
2.
It is unlikely that the results of this study can be generalised to that
of all mothers and all babies. This is simply because the study has
been carried out on such a small number of mothers and babies.
Before the results of this study could be said to apply to all
mothers and all babies, many more such studies would need to be
carried out and the same results obtained each time.
Answer to SAQ 2
Given a consistent set of results indicating that females are given more
help than males, we could conclude that how much help people will
give you if you ask them directly depends largely upon whether you are
male or female.
Answers to SAQ 3
1.
The independent variable for such an experiment is ‘noise’. This
can be varying amounts of noise or the presence/absence of noise,
depending on how you wish to design the experiment.
2.
The dependent variable for such an experiment is an indicator/
measurement of wakefulness.
3.
The experimental hypothesis would predict that the introduction
of noise (or a certain level of noise) will result in a sleeping subject
becoming awake.
4.
It is necessary to control for any other factors that might in their
own way affect the dependent variable, i.e. produce wakefulness.
Such factors might include temperature, the time of night, the
phase of sleep being experienced (some sleep phases are ‘lighter’
than others), and any other possible disturbances.
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5.
In order to firmly establish the experimental hypothesis it is
necessary to set up a control condition and one or more
experimental conditions.
6.
If the experiment is successful, the results should indicate
consistently that introducing noise produces a state of wakefulness
in sleeping subjects. Given that you have controlled all other
possible variables, you could then conclude that noise causes
wakefulness.
Answers to SAQ 4
1.
Natural experiment
2.
Laboratory experiment
3.
Natural experiment
4.
Field experiment
5.
Natural experiment
Answers to SAQ 5
1.
(a)
The IV is stress, the DV is memory performance.
(b)
The IV is the rod, the DV is ‘not being spoilt’, however this is
measured or shown.
(c)
The IV is the person who is liked, the DV is compliance, i.e.
agreeing to the request.
(d)
The IV is the absence of someone who is known, the DV is
fondness for this person, however this is measured or shown.
(e)
The IV is physical punishment, the DV is aggression, however
it is measured or shown.
(f)
The IV is having two people work on a problem, the DV is
their performance, however this is measured or shown.
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2.
3.
382
(a)
Statements (a), (c) and (e) are likely to be framed as
hypotheses because, in each case, a prediction about the
outcome is made.
(b)
The hypothesis for statement (a) is one-tailed because it
indicates a loss of memory. The hypothesis for statement (c)
is one-tailed because it is stated that compliance is more
likely to occur. The hypothesis for statement (e) is one-tailed
because it is stated that children will become more
aggressive.
(a)
One-tailed
(b)
One-tailed
(c)
Two-tailed
(d)
Two-tailed
(e)
One-tailed
(f)
Two-tailed
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Answers to SAQ 6
Variable
Anything which varies;
something which can have
different values.
Any measure of performance or
behaviour taken in a study is
referred to as a variable (the
dependent variable) because it
can have different values
depending on circumstances.
Similarly, variation of the
experimental conditions is a
variable – the independent
variable.
Quantitative
Pertaining to amount of
something.
Experimental hypothesis/
alternative hypothesis
An explicit prediction that, in an
experimental situation, the
independent variable will affect
the dependent variable.
Directional hypothesis/
one-tailed hypothesis
An explicit prediction that, in an
experimental situation, the
independent variable will affect
the dependent variable in a
particular direction, e.g. reduce/
increase/lower/raise the
independent variable.
Null hypothesis
A prediction in a research study
that the outcome of the study is
not a consequence of the
independent variable.
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Answers SAQ 7
1.
The repeated measures design is a type of experiment that always
involves using the same subjects in all conditions of the
experiment.
2.
Counterbalancing is carried out in order to minimise order effects
and the resultant bias that they can introduce into the experiment.
Order effects occur because participants are performing in all
conditions of the experiment. These effects can show as fatigue,
boredom or prior practice.
3.
Your answer should include one of the following:
• It is easier to have to find only one group of subjects.
• By using only one group of subjects, you are cutting down on
the total amount of variables, coming from the subjects
themselves, that might influence the results of the experiment.
4.
The independent groups design uses completely different people
in each condition of the experiment, while the repeated measures
design uses the same people in all conditions of the experiment.
5.
A main drawback of the independent groups design is that subject
variables – the individual differences between each group of
subjects – may be responsible for any differences found between
the different conditions of the experiment. This means that the
independent variable may not be affecting the dependent variable
at all – it is in fact the subject variables that are having this effect.
6.
Random allocation is a way of eliminating bias in an experiment.
Random allocation of subjects to the different experimental
conditions ensures that you end up with a balanced mixture of the
different subjects in each condition rather than one condition
having nearly all of one type of subject (e.g. males under 25 years)
and the other condition having none.
7.
Demand characteristics occur when participants attempt to guess
the purpose of the experiment and change their behaviour
because of this. This creates a problem because the experiment is
about testing the effect of the independent variable on behaviour.
If another factor (demand characteristics) is also causing a change
in behaviour, this can seriously distort the results.
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8.
Experimenter effects are when the experimenter interacts with the
participants in such a way that he/she influences how they behave.
The interaction that takes place could be because the participant’s
age, sex or personality is affecting how the experimenter treats
him/her.
Experimenter bias is when the experimenter is expecting a
particular result and unconsciously interprets the results of the
experiment to reflect this result. The way in which the
experimenter behaves during an experiment whose result he/she
is predicting, can also introduce bias into the situation.
9.
Standardised instructions are written instructions about what will
happen during the experiment. They are prepared before the
experiment takes place and are read out in exactly the same way to
each participant in the experiment. Standardised instructions are
designed to ensure that every subject is treated in the same way
during the course of the experimental procedure.
10.
In a single blind experiment, the participants are not told what the
experiment is about or what the experimenter is looking for until
the experiment is over. In a double blind experiment, both the
participants and the experimenter(s) are kept in the dark about
what the experiment is about and what is being tested.
Answers to SAQ 8
1.
Your answer should include the following two points:
• In order to produce a collection of subjects who truly represent
the population from whom the sample is drawn.
• In order that we can say that any results obtained using these
subjects can be generalised to the whole population concerned.
2.
A sample is a part of a population, while a population includes all
subjects/cases involved in the study.
3.
Random sampling is where you select a sample of subjects in such a
way that any member of the population is equally as likely to be
selected as any other. A random sample is generated by obtaining
a complete list of all members of the population in question and
drawing names at random out of a hat, for example. Where a
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population is particularly large, computers can be used to select
subjects in a completely random manner.
4.
Self-selected samples can never be representative because they
have not been drawn from the whole population – only from a
small part of the population. This small part may not include all of
the characteristics present in the whole population.
5.
Biased sampling is a term that refers to an error in the way that a
particular sample has been selected, i.e. the sample has not been
drawn using random, systematic or quota sampling techniques.
The result of the error in question is that the sample is not
representative of the whole population.
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Psychology
Approaches and Methods in
Psychology
Section 8: Research Using
Non-experimental Methods
[HIGHER]
RESEARCH USING NON-EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
SECTION 8
Aims
This study section introduces you to the range of methods, other than
experimental methods, that are available to psychologists. These are
survey, interview, case study, observational and correlational
methods.
Each one of these methods offers the researcher a way of carrying out
research that is both rigorous and objective. As you learn about each of
these methods in turn you will realise that there are advantages and
disadvantages associated with each one. It is up to the researcher to
decide which method or methods to select. This decision will depend
entirely on factors such as what is being studied and the availability of
resources such as time, money and participants.
By the end of this study section you should be able to:
• explain the research methods of survey, interview, case study,
observation and correlation
• state the different advantages and disadvantages involved in using
each of these methods
• know what research methods are used by the different psychological
approaches.
Approximate study time for this section
As a rough guide, this section will take approximately 4 hours to
complete.
Other resources required for this section
A loose-leaf folder A4 size
Suitable paper for use with the folder
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Assessment information for this section
How you will be assessed for this section
Your learning of the material in this section will be assessed in a closed
book, invigilated end of unit assessment. Your tutor will contact you to
make appropriate arrangements. The assessment will consist of a range
of questions that will require you to produce structured answers (i.e.
not essays). The required answers will vary in length depending on the
mark allocation of each question.
In addition to the internal assessment, if you choose to complete the
entire Higher Psychology course, this section will be assessed in a formal
external exam. The exam will sample your knowledge from all areas
studied in the Higher Psychology course.
When and where you will be assessed for this section
The internal assessment of the material in this section will take place
once you have completed all sections of the Higher Psychology:
Approaches and Methods unit. You should aim to sit this assessment
within about three months of starting the course.
The internal assessment of the Higher Psychology: Approaches and
Methods unit can be completed at one sitting. However, your tutor may
arrange for you to sit it in two parts on separate days.
The external exam takes place in June of each year.
Both the internal assessment and external exam will normally be held at
your centre. They will be formally invigilated and carried out in exam
conditions.
What you have to achieve for this section
You have to achieve satisfactory completion of all Tutor Assignments.
Opportunities for reassessment for this section
If necessary, opportunities can be made available for you to resit the
internal assessment. This policy will be explained to you by your tutor if
the need arises. Reassessment will follow the same procedure as for the
first attempt at assessment.
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At present, there is only one sitting available for the external exam. If
you wish to resit the exam, you will need to wait until the following
June. Credit for internal assessments can be carried over into the new
academic year, so there is no need to resit internal assessments if you
decide to resit the external exam.
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Non-experimental methods
As you know, an experiment is a procedure whereby a researcher
systematically varies one or more factors in order to see what effect the
changes have on behaviour. Non-experimental methods do not involve
direct control of any factor. In contrast to experiments, they simply
describe what is happening. For example, noting an individual’s coordination before and after they visit a bar would not tell us anything
about how alcohol affects coordination, but would give us data
concerning the changes in coordination and other characteristics. Nonexperimental methods include surveys, interviews, case studies,
observation and correlation.
Asking questions – interviews and surveys
You will have almost certainly come across surveys in a whole range of
areas. A survey is a general term that refers to the use of self-report
methods (questions and answers) in order to obtain information. The
more common use of surveys include market research and opinion poll
surveys.
However, psychological research makes good use of the survey method
of research when there is a real need to ask people questions directly.
In order to do this, a questionnaire is invariably used. A questionnaire
is simply a list of questions. These questions can be administered
remotely to any number of subjects at the same time using techniques
such as postal surveys. The questions contained in questionnaires can
take different forms. For example, in closed question questionnaires
the questions and choice of answers can be read by the respondent (the
person answering them) and one of the answers ticked off. Open
questions however require that the respondent actually writes down an
answer using their own words.
Alternatively questionnaires can be read out to respondents by the
researcher who then ticks off the appropriate answer for them. This can
of course only happen if the researcher and the respondent are in a
face-to-face situation. Academic research, i.e. that which takes place in
universities, often uses this form of questioning. It is in fact a form of
questioning which is also known as a structured interview. This is
because the questions have already been prepared (structured) and are
asked and answered in a one-to-one situation (interview). Structured
interviews are really just verbal questionnaires which have the main
advantage of allowing interviewers to check answers carefully and rectify
replies which appear contradictory. They are also more user-friendly
than pen and paper questionnaires.
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Look at the following example of a questionnaire:
1.
2.
Please tick the appropriate box to indicate your age:
16–20
21–25
26–30
31–35
36–40
41 or over
Are you:
Male?
Please tick the appropriate
box.
Female?
3.
What do you consider to be a fair minimum wage?
4.
What things about your life would you change, if you could?
5.
Do you smoke?
Yes
Please tick the appropriate
response.
No
Now try the following activity:
A1
Identify those questions that are closed.
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A1 Response
Questions 1, 2 and 5 are closed questions because a choice of answers is
provided.
As we have mentioned, surveys often distribute questionnaires widely to
larger groups of people at the same time. In a large scale survey, the
questions are mainly closed, and are always organised carefully
beforehand. The main advantage of using a highly structured
questionnaire like this is that the number of possible answers are limited
to make it easier to analyse the results. When carrying out a survey in
such a structured way, the questionnaire can be given to/sent to the
respondent who fills it in. The researcher collects it later or it is sent
back to the researcher. This type of survey requires a questionnaire that
is highly prepared, tightly organised and effectively written so that it can
be filled out easily and quickly by the respondents without the
researcher being present. This type of questionnaire design is a science
in itself. Large companies like Gallup employ many people to learn how
to do this well.
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Here is another questionnaire for you to look at.
1.
Please tick one box for each country below to show whether you
think the rate of car ownership (i.e. the number of cars per 1000
population) is higher, about the same, or lower than Britain’s.
Tick only one box on each line.
Car Ownership
Higher than
Britain’s
About the same
as Britain’s
Lower than
Britain’s
USA
Netherlands
India
Romania
Germany
2.
Please think about rates of teenage pregnancy. Please tick one box
for each country below to show whether you think the country
generally has more, about the same amount or fewer teenage
pregnancies than Britain has nowadays.
Tick one box on each line.
Teenage Pregnancy
Higher than
Britain’s
About the same
as Britain’s
Lower than
Britain’s
USA
Netherlands
India
Romania
Germany
A2
How easy/difficult do you think it would be to design a questionnaire
like this?
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A2 Response
It would be relatively difficult for a novice like you or me to design this
questionnaire successfully.
The importance of planning in devising a highly structured
questionnaire like this cannot be overemphasised. Well-designed and
highly structured questionnaires are relatively quick and easy to answer.
Therefore, respondents are more likely to complete the questionnaire
even without the researchers being present. Their answers are generally
quantifiable and can be analysed easily. As such, they allow comparisons
to be made between respondents. However, since the answers to
structured questionnaires are fixed choice, they do not really allow
respondents to express opinions that are different from those offered in
the fixed choice answers. Fixed choice questionnaires can also have the
overall effect of reducing spontaneity of expression in respondents.
There is a low response rate for postal questionnaires of the fixed choice
in particular.
There are some questions on the next page for you to try.
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?1
1.
Distinguish between a survey and a questionnaire.
2.
What is a closed question?
3.
Why do researchers use closed questions?
4.
What happens during a structured interview?
5.
Give two advantages and two disadvantages of questionnaire-based
surveys.
Check your answers with the solutions at the end of this section.
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A popular use of structured questionnaires in psychological research is
an attitude scale. Questionnaires like this which are intended for large
groups of people are often tried out on a small sample first in order to
highlight snags or ambiguities. This allows adjustments/corrections to
be made before the actual survey begins. This is known as piloting.
Here’s what an attitude scale looks like. Try it out yourself.
Strongly
agree
1.
Most violence
happens out in the
street at night.
2.
Most violence
involves males.
3.
People who are
violent should
always be arrested
by the police.
4.
Violence is
sometimes justified.
5.
There is an awful
lot of violence
around.
Agree
Disagree
Strongly
disagree
Interviews are also used a great deal in psychology. The aim of any
interview is to collect accurate information from the respondent. The
style of the interview can vary somewhat, however, from the structured
type of interview previously discussed (which can take a questionnaire
approach) to a completely unstructured interview (sometimes called
an in-depth interview) which has no predetermined list of questions.
In unstructured interviews, the researcher has a focus of interest and
will use unstructured and open questions to guide the interviewee who
is encouraged to talk freely, in their own terms and in as much detail as
they want. Open questions are questions that have no predetermined
choice of answer. Unstructured interviews are particularly useful when
interviewing people who have psychological problems or have had
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unusual experiences. This is because unstructured interviews are highly
personalised and have individualised designs. They have the advantage
of being able to produce some very rich and often highly meaningful
material. However, again, such responses are impossible to quantify and
cannot be analysed objectively or statistically in any way. A particular
problem with unstructured interviews is that, since the answers always
have to be verbally expressed to another person, it increases the
tendency to give socially desirable answers rather than true ones. Since
unstructured interviews tend to be so individualised, they are expensive
and time-consuming to conduct and only a small number of these can
ever be carried out as part of a research study.
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Now try the following activity:
A3
Look at the following table headed ‘Which should I use?’. Complete the
details about questionnaires, structured interviews and unstructured
interviews.
Which should I use?
Questionnaire
Structured Interview
Unstructured
Interview
400
Advantages
Disadvantages
1. Large number of
1. Possibility of low
respondents possible
response rate
(may not get
many back)
2.
2.
3.
3.
1.
1.
2. Interviewer can
explain questions to
respondent and ask
for more detail if
necessary
2. Manner and
appearance of
interviewer can
affect answers
1. Can be friendly,
personal and nonthreatening
1. Information
difficult to
generalise from
2.
2.
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A3 Response
Which should I use?
Questionnaire
Advantages
Disadvantages
1. Large number of
1. Possibility of low
respondents possible
response rate
(may not get
many back)
2. Relatively quick to do 2. People may not
tell the truth
when answering
questions
Structured Interview
Unstructured
Interview
3. Relatively cheap and
easy to do
3. People may
misunderstand
the questions
1. Questions can be
individualised to the
respondent to some
degree
1. Respondent may
give socially
desirable answers
rather than
accurate answers
2. Interviewer can
explain questions to
respondent and ask
for more detail if
necessary
2. Manner and
appearance of
interviewer can
affect answers
1. Can be friendly,
personal and nonthreatening
1. Information
difficult to
generalise from
2. Can provide rich and 2. Difficult to
meaningful answers
quantify
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Observation
Another method of research that is popular with psychologists is that of
observation. Observation involves looking and listening very carefully.
We all watch people sometimes, but we don’t usually watch them in
order to discover particular information about their behaviour. This is
what observation in psychology is about.
In a sense, all research involves observation. Observation is both a
method in its own right and a technique. It can be the overall design of a
study or it can be a technique for collecting data for experimental
studies. When behaviour is studied for the first time, observation
establishes possible relationships. Observation is particularly good when
working with young children, animals and unwilling participants. One
form of observation, namely naturalistic observation, involves
observing the behaviour of people or animals in their natural
environment. This is a particularly non-intrusive form of observation
which makes no attempt to control variables but simply watches and
records whatever unfolds in the natural situation. Naturalistic
observation is a particularly good method to use with children who are
sensitive to change and intrusion.
A4
In what ways might information gained through observation be different
from information gained from structured questionnaires in the following
example?
• Finding out about students’ attitudes towards their school.
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A4 Response
People generally show a lot about their attitude in their behaviour. By
observing the students in the school setting, it would be possible, over a
period of time, to see from their general behaviour and the things that
they said to each other whether they had a positive or a negative
attitude towards their school. If the same type of information was
looked for using a questionnaire, a researcher would be receiving, for
each respondent, a selection of answers from a given list provided in
each question.
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Generally, observation should produce a fairly realistic picture of
spontaneous, natural behaviour. Observation enables the researcher to
study groups of people together, that is it allows for the study of
interaction between members of a group. Ideally the behaviour that is
being studied has not been affected by the presence of a researcher.
Observational data usually consists of detailed information about
particular groups or situations. This kind of data can ‘fill out’ and
provide more detailed accounts of behaviour than survey work which
relies entirely on self reports
Effective observation always involves recording what happens in a highly
structured way. It is impossible to record everything that happens, so a
decision has to be taken regarding exactly what is being observed. Then
a technique has to be developed which will enable you to record on the
spot in an organised way so that after the event analysis is quick and
easy.
Look at the following example of an observational schedule suitable
for using to observe children in a playgroup situation:
Checklist
Play behaviour
15 minutes observation
Name of observer:
Date:
Mark column ‘Yes’ if behaviour was observed
Mark column ‘No’ if behaviour was not observed
Yes
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Child
Child
Child
Child
Child
Child
Child
Child
No
looked at books
played with sand
played with water
handled plastic cups
put together jigsaws
used construction set
used Plasticine
did nothing for more than 2 minutes
A5
Why do you think it is necessary to organise an observation in this way?
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A5 Response
This is an example of the sort of standardised checklist that is used in
observation. Checklists such as this are used in order to ensure both
objectivity and accuracy of observation, especially when there is more
than one observer involved in a research situation. This type of
checklist is particularly useful for carrying out a thorough and systematic
analysis of the behaviour of subjects.
If people know that they are being observed, they tend to behave in a
way that is not typical and which becomes stage-managed. One way of
reducing this effect is for the researcher to become a familiar and
accepted part of the environment so that participants forget that they
are actually being observed at all. Another increasingly popular
alternative is the use of video cameras which, if discreetly placed, can be
used to record behaviour. This has the added advantage of allowing
detailed analysis at a later stage. However, observing people without
their knowledge and consent raises serious ethical issues like invasion of
privacy. Participants in a research study should always give their
informed consent to be studied in the first place.
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A6
1.
Make your own list of groups or situations it would be possible to
observe without it affecting people’s behaviour.
2.
For each group or situation on your list, give an example of how
the observation could go wrong so that you end up influencing
other people’s behaviour.
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A6 Response
1.
There are of course many situations where you could do so. They
include things like standing at the bus stop, sitting on a park
bench, waiting in the supermarket queue, watching from the
balcony of the swimming pool, etc. Check your responses with
your tutor just to make sure you are on the right lines.
2.
For the above examples things could go wrong if you were put in a
position where you had to become involved with the group you
were observing, e.g. someone asked you a question, for help, or
wanted to engage you in a lengthy conversation!
In the research situations described so far, the researcher observes
without joining in the situation he/she is observing in any way. This is
called non-participant observation and is similar to the way in which a
bird watcher observes birds. Ideally, people’s behaviour should remain
unaffected by the researcher’s presence. Natural observation, discussed
previously, is a form of non-participant observation.
It is sometimes argued in research circles, however, that a more
authentic observation of people can be made if you are directly involved
in their normal network of interactions and group relationships. The
reason given for the observation being more authentic in this situation is
that, when the researcher is an active part of the group, the meaning of
the group’s behaviour(s) is more easily understood. When an observer
participates in the group being studied, it is called participant
observation. The participant observer deliberately joins in with the
group while at the same time observing them. Participant observation is
particularly time-consuming and complex. The main difficulty with it is
that it can lead to increasingly subjective perceptions on the part of the
researcher as he/she becomes more involved in the situation. From an
ethical point of view, also, there is likely to be greater invasion of privacy
during participant observation than when being observed from the
‘outside’ as it were. Very personal feelings, events and confidential
information may be disclosed to the researcher as a group member by
participants who may otherwise have remained silent had they known
the researcher’s true identity.
There is an SAQ for you to try on the following page.
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?2
1.
What is the difference between observational methods and survey
methods of research?
2.
What is naturalistic observation?
3.
Distinguish between participant and non-participant observation.
4.
What is an observation schedule and why is it important?
Check your answers with the solutions at the end of this section.
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Generally, observational methods of research give a more accurate
picture of group behaviour than other methods. Their single strength is
that they record what actually happens as it is happening and so rely
much less on what people say was/is happening. The presence of the
observer should affect the situation only minimally or not at all and so
observational methods can capture behaviour in its true social context.
However, observational methods lack the strength and rigor of the
experiment simply because they cannot infer cause and effect
relationships. It is impossible to replicate the results of an observational
study – every social situation is unique – and there is little or no control
over variables during an observational study.
Observational studies also suffer from particular problems of observer
bias and observer unreliability. Observer bias is when the observer does
not remain objective and effectively ‘sees’ what he/she wants to see
instead of what is really happening. Observer unreliability arises when
there are differences between different observers or with the same
observer on different occasions. Both of these can affect the validity of
the research results.
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A7
Now complete this table to show the advantages and disadvantages of
participant and non-participant observation.
Participant observation
Advantages
1.
Disadvantages
1.
2.
2.
3.
3.
4.
Non-participant
observation
1.
1.
2.
2.
3.
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Activity response
Participant observation
Advantages
1. Can understand the
meanings of
interactions more
when you are a real
part of the group.
Disadvantages
1. Time-consuming,
complex.
2. Can monitor and
analyse behaviour
as it is happening.
2. Subjectivity may
develop, leading
to bias.
3. May influence
group dynamics
unintentionally.
4. Ethical issues
regarding
deception and
confidentiality.
Non-participant
observation
1. Can provide an
objective account
of behaviour as it
occurs in a natural
setting.
1. Observer
unreliability.
2. Valuable for
detailing specific
types of behaviour
in a particular
situation.
2. Ethical issues
regarding
intrusion and
deception.
3. Subjectivity
leading to
observer bias.
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Case studies
Often in psychology, a study is made of only one person. This person is
studied intensively and in considerable depth. Such a type of study is
called a case study. Usually the study would involve taking a very full past
history of the person, covering things such as family details, education,
relationships, employment, etc. The reason for taking a past history is
because the person may be significantly affected by things that have
happened to them in the past. The research conclusions taken from a
case study are based on one individual and cannot be said to apply to
any other case. However, this approach is particularly appropriate for
single researchers because it gives an opportunity for one aspect of a
problem to be studied in much depth.
A person who is undergoing a case study would be regularly
interviewed, mostly in an unstructured manner. A case study may not be
restricted to interviews only, however. Other methods of obtaining
accurate and relevant information may also be used in conjunction with
the case study. The methods that are most commonly used in
conjunction with a case study are survey methods and observational
methods. However it is not unheard of to combine case studies with
experimental methods in psychology.
A case study can also involve gathering information about a small group
of people, rather than just one individual. The process of obtaining
information is just the same however, i.e. reconstructing the biography
or life history of the group on the basis of remembered events and
written records as well as dealing with present events, circumstances
and behaviour.
Case studies, both individual and group, are generally longitudinal, i.e.
they follow the individual or group over an extended period of time.
Observation may be used to study behaviour at set intervals in order to
establish whether positive change of any sort is taking place. Since case
studies are mainly interactive and very concerned with factors and
events in the here and now as well as in the past, they are highly
relevant to real-life situations and particularly its crises.
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Here are two small case studies for you to compare:
1. Kulochova studied twin boys who were raised in a children’s
home for their first 18 months of life where they were found to
be normal and well adjusted. Interviews revealed that between
18 months and seven years of age they suffered severe
deprivation and beatings while living with their father and
stepmother. It was observed that with intensive care, specialist
education and a loving foster home they were able to develop
well intellectually, socially and emotionally from then onwards.
Formal tests of IQ and personality confirmed this. In the end,
they turned out to be fairly well-adjusted adults.
2. Shallice and Warrington (1970) describe Karen who had a very
limited short-term memory. This problem had persisted since
childhood. They reported a number of experiments carried
out. In one of these experiments, three-letter words were read
out at the rate of one per second and Karen was then asked to
count upwards in ones, starting from one, as quickly as she
could. After about ten seconds, Karen was asked to recall the
words that had been read out. This and other tests led to the
conclusion that Karen’s short-term memory capacity was greatly
reduced.
A8
Suggest how these two case studies are similar in their approach to
gathering information and where they differ from each other.
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A8 Response
These case studies have some clear common areas. They both provide
detailed and in-depth information about their subject(s) and include
elements of past experiences as part of the information gathering
process. In addition, they are both highly individualised in their
approach to the subject and the particular problems being experienced.
Finally, they are both longitudinal in nature.
There are however some areas where these case studies differ. One of
the studies is a single subject design (Karen) while the other deals with
two subjects as a case study (Kulochova twins). While one case study
uses mainly experimental and observational data (Karen), the other uses
information gained from observational and interview techniques
(Kulochova twins).
The great strength of a case study is that it allows the researcher to focus
finely on a specific instance or situation and to identify, or attempt to
identify, what processes are at work. As such it is a source of very rich
and meaningful data. This is particularly useful when the case study is
investigating behaviour that is relatively rare and therefore little
understood. Case studies are also invaluable because they provide
insights from the perspective of the individual or small group itself – this
may reveal a particularly unusual yet interesting and highly relevant
perspective. Just one case study which is shown to be contrary to an
assumed theory of cause and effect relationships is enough to seriously
challenge accepted ‘truths’ about behaviour, experience and
relationships.
However, since case studies inevitably involve recall of history, they are
particularly open to the risk of producing unreliable and inaccurate
information, since this information often depends largely on the
subjects’ recollections and individual perceptions. Furthermore, the
case study necessitates a close relationship between researcher and
subject(s) over an extended period of time. There is a real risk that this
situation will seriously interfere with the researcher’s ability to remain
objective and impartial.
Since they are mainly unstructured, highly individualised and
unreplicable, case studies are not generally considered to be a very
scientific method of studying behaviour. The limited samples used, in
particular, prevents the researcher generalising the results of one study
to that of others. In addition, case studies are time-consuming and
expensive to carry out.
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A9
Complete this table to show the advantages and disadvantages of a case
study:
Case Study
Advantages
Disadvantages
1.
1.
2.
2. Retrospective
approach may
involve incomplete
or inaccurate
information
3. Longitudinal/
retrospective
element makes it
useful identifying
psychological
problems
3.
4. Time-consuming
and expensive to
carry out.
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A9 Response
Case Study
Advantages
Disadvantages
1. Provide highly
detailed and rich
information
1. Not possible to
generalise results
to other people
2. A good way of
investigating
unusual situations
that are specific to
one person or a
small group
2. Retrospective
approach may
involve incomplete
or inaccurate
information
3. Longitudinal/
retrospective
element makes it
useful identifying
psychological
problems
3. Difficult to
maintain objectivity
and impartiality
4. Time-consuming
and expensive to
carry out
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Correlation
Correlation is not, strictly speaking, a method of research but a
technique that is used in order to find the relationship between two sets
of variables. It involves data analysis in that a numerical value is
calculated to represent the degree to which two sets of data are
consistently related. However, the reason for the relationship between
the two variables in question can only be supposed. It is not a causal
relationship, therefore the terms independent variable and dependent
variable do not apply. Instead the variables in a correlational study are
termed co-variables.
A correlational study might be attempting to find out if a relationship
exists between, say, the amount of television people watch and their
general knowledge. To do this, it would be necessary to record the
amount of TV watched by each subject in the study and also to test how
much general knowledge they each had. For each individual in the
study, therefore, a set of paired variables would be obtained – one of
the pair would be the measurement of amount of TV watched and the
other of the pair would be the measurement of general knowledge.
Once such a pair of variables were obtained for each person in this
study, the results would be shown in the form of a scattergram.
In a scattergram, each point shown (see below) represents one person’s
score on the two variables in question (amount of general knowledge
and amount of TV watched). The diagrams below show three possible
scattergrams for such paired variables.
1.
Positive
Correlation
2.
Negative
Correlation
3.
Zero
Correlation
12
12
10
12
10
10
8
8
8
6
6
6
4
4
2
2
0
0
0
2
4
6
8
General knowledge
10
12
4
2
0
0
2
4
6
8
General knowledge
10
12
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
General knowledge
Scattergrams showing possible results of a correlational study of the relationship between
general knowledge and TV watching
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Example 1 shows a strong relationship between the two variables in
question. There is evidence that those subjects with the most general
knowledge watch TV the most. This type of relationship, where people
who score highly on one variable tend also to score highly on the other,
is known as a positive correlation.
Example 2 also shows a strong relationship between the two variables,
but this time people with more general knowledge tend to watch the
least amount of TV. This type of relationship, where people who score
highly on one variable tend to have a low score on the other, is known
as a negative correlation.
Example 3 shows that there is no real relationship between the two
variables in question, since the scores show no consistent pattern at all.
The relationship shown in the scattergram in Example 3 is nearly zero.
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A10
1.
Complete this table by ticking the appropriate box to describe the
correlation.
Type of correlation
Negative
correlation
No
correlation
Positive
correlation
(a) Temperature on a
July day and
number of ice
creams sold that
July day
(b) Shoe size and
level of
musical ability
on a scale 1–10
(c) Number of
cuddles given to a
baby and number
of times a baby
cries
2.
Provide six likely scores of your own which show the direction of
the scattergrams for the following:
(a)
Temperature in July and number of ice creams sold in a day
(b)
Shoe size and amount of musical ability
(c)
Number of cuddles given to a baby and number of times a
baby cries.
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A10 Response
1.
Type of correlation
Negative
correlation
No
correlation
(a) Temperature on a
July day and
number of ice
creams sold that
July day
(b) Shoe size and
level of
musical ability
on a scale 1–10
(c) Number of
cuddles given to a
baby and number
of times a baby
cries
2.
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Positive
correlation
"
"
"
(a)
The numbers you use for your scores can vary. A good
example would be: 70°F/50 ice creams; 75°F/65 ice creams;
80°F/80 ice creams. The most important thing your data
should show is that the number of ice creams sold and the
temperature increase together. Show your scores to your
tutor if you are not sure whether you are on the right lines.
(b)
Again, a good variety of numbers can be used here. However,
there should be no relationship to be seen between the size
of shoe, e.g. size 7, and the level of musical ability, e.g. 2. A
good example of a set of scores here is: shoe size 9/musical
ability 10; shoe size 5/musical ability 2; shoe size 11/musical
ability 1. The most important thing your data should show is
that the size of shoe and the musical ability are not related in
any way.
(c)
In this situation there is also a variety of numbers that you
can choose to use. Some good examples could be: 20
cuddles/2 instances of crying; 10 cuddles/4 instances of
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crying; 5 cuddles/8 instances of crying. Your data should
show clearly that when cuddling increases, the amount of
crying decreases.
The strength of the relationship between the two variables is given by
calculating the degree of correlation obtained, i.e. the degree to which
one variable tends to be high if the other variable is high (or low, for
negative correlation). This calculation is a descriptive measure – it is the
measure of the degree of ‘togetherness’ of the two variables. This
strength of relationship is expressed on a scale ranging from –1 (perfect
negative correlation) through to zero (no relationship) and to +1
(perfect positive correlation). The exact figure arrived at to express the
relationship is known as a correlation coefficient.
An alternative way of looking at correlation is to say that a high degree
of correlation enables us to make accurate predictions about the scores
on one variable when the scores on the other variable are known. This
applies equally both for positive and for negative correlation. If there is
a strong negative correlation, it simply means that we predict low scores
on one variable from a knowledge of high scores on the other variable.
Correlation is particularly useful to use in situations where experimental
manipulation would be unethical or impractical. It can also provide a
good starting point for later experimental studies where cause might
then be investigated. However, correlation lacks the power and rigor of
the experimental method in that it establishes a relationship only. As a
method, it can never actually specify a cause and effect relationship
between variables in the way that the experimental method can.
Consequently, in a correlational study, the relationship established may
well be due to variables other than those being linked in the study.
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Try the following questions:
?3
1.
Give two reasons why psychologists carry out correlational
research.
2.
Between what two values does a correlation coefficient vary?
3.
Distinguish between a positive correlation and a negative
correlation.
4.
Give one advantage and one disadvantage of the correlational
method of research.
Check your answers with the solutions at the end of this section.
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Approaches and methods
The development of the different methods in psychology is closely
linked to the development of the various approaches in psychology.
Each approach in psychology gives us a different model of the human
being. The method of research used by each approach is determined by
the development of the approach itself.
Behaviourism was founded by John Watson. Watson believed that
psychology should restrict its focus of study to only those things that
were directly observable. The behaviourists wished to establish
psychology much more firmly as a scientific discipline, therefore, so
used the experimental method to measure and record human
behaviour. Observation as a method was also commonly used by the
behaviourists due to it being a highly objective and analytical way of
studying behaviour in particular.
The psychoanalytic approach explains behaviour in terms of the
unconscious processes operating in the mind. There is particular
emphasis put on the notion of individual motivation and of past
experience. Similarly, the humanistic approach stresses the importance
of an individual’s unique potential to change in a positive direction.
Both psychoanalysts and humanists tend to use case studies and indepth (unstructured) interviews as their methods of investigation. This
is because these methods are particularly suitable to a highly
individualised and flexible type of approach.
The biological approach explains behaviour in terms of our physical
states. The biological approach has its roots in both physiology and
biology and it is also influenced by genetics. Because of its emphasis on
bodily processes in interactions, the biological approach relies mainly on
the experimental method during its investigations of human and animal
behaviour. The experimental method is particularly suited to biological
psychology because of its scientific basis and reliance on measurement.
The cognitive approach is mainly concerned with the internal mental
processes of perception, attention, memory, language and thinking. The
cognitive approach studies the brain as a processor that selects,
organises, stores and uses information. Like the biological approach,
the cognitive approach relies mainly on experimental methods as its
method of scientific enquiry. The experimental method in cognitive
psychology, however, is used to make inferences about human
information processing systems rather than to measure and record
behaviour directly.
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A11
Match each psychological approach with its associated research method
by drawing a line from one to the other. Some methods can be used
more than once.
Psychoanalytic
Experiment
Cognitive
Observation
Biological
Case Study
Behaviourist
Humanistic
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A11 Response
!
!!
Psychoanalytic
!
Cognitive
Observation
!!
Biological
Experiment
Case Study
Behaviourist
Humanistic
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Congratulations!
You have completed the final part of this study section and have learned
most of what you need to know about non-experimental methods of
research. This also completes the unit ‘Approaches and Methods in
Psychology’.
Here are the most important points that we have covered in this study
section.
I now know:
Tick here:
what is meant by non-experimental methods
of research
what survey, interview, case study, observation
and correlational methods are
the different advantages and disadvantages of
these methods
what research methods are used by different
psychological approaches
You are now at the stage where you are ready to complete the final
Tutor Assignment. As you know by now, your assignment should be
given to your tutor for advice and feedback as soon as possible after you
have completed it.
Before attempting the Tutor Assignment, read the summary for this final
study section on the next page.
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Summary
There are various types of non-experimental methods used by
psychologists when they carry out their research. These are survey,
interview, observation, case study and correlational methods.
Surveys involve the use of self-report methods and invariably a
questionnaire and/or an interview is involved because of the need to ask
people questions directly. Both structured questionnaires and
structured interviews involve the researcher in planning the questions
and their possible range of responses beforehand. However,
unstructured interviews may also be used as part of an overall survey
design. Here there is no predetermined list of questions or answers.
Observation is a method of research that involves watching, listening
and taking very careful note of group interactions as they are
happening. Observation can involve the researcher in becoming an
active participant in the group – participant observation – or the
researcher can observe the group without joining in with the situation
in any way.
Case studies focus on one particular individual or a small group, single
organisation, etc. It entails gathering information about past events as
well as present situations. Case studies usually provide highly detailed
and in-depth information.
Correlational methods of research involve finding a possible relationship
between two sets of variables. It pairs variables together with a view to
finding out, using a scattergram, whether the variables always change
together (positive or negative correlation) or whether there is no
relationship (zero correlation) between them.
There are different advantages and disadvantages associated with these
non-experimental methods of research. The decision about which
method(s) to select rests with the researcher who must consider what is
being studied and the available time, resources, etc.
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Tutor Assignment
T1
1.
Explain what is meant by the survey method of research.
2.
Give two advantages and two disadvantages of the survey method
of research.
3.
What is a case study and why is a case study used?
4.
What possible advantages and disadvantages does a case study
have?
5.
What is the observational method of research?
6.
Give two advantages and two disadvantages of the observational
method.
7.
Explain what is meant by the interview method of research.
8.
What advantages and disadvantages do interview methods have for
researchers?
9.
Explain what correlation is.
10.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of correlation based
research?
Submit this to your tutor for marking.
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Answers to Self Assessed Questions
Answers to SAQ 1
1.
A survey is a method of finding out information which relies on
self-report methods of investigation. A questionnaire is one
approach that is used as part of the survey method and involves the
technique of questioning people directly.
2.
A closed question is one in which there is a predetermined set of
answers/responses from which the respondent chooses in order to
provide the information asked for.
3.
Researchers choose closed questions because they are quick and
easy to administer and to answer, the respondent can answer the
questions without the researcher being present and they are easy
to quantify and analyse.
4.
During a structured interview a set of prepared questions are read
out and asked and answered in a one-to-one situation.
5.
Advantages of questionnaire-based surveys – your answer should
include two of the following:
• Can be used with a large number of respondents
• Are generally quick and easy to administer
• Provide information that is difficult to obtain by more direct
means
• Answers can be readily analysed.
Disadvantages of questionnaire-based surveys – your answer should
include two of the following:
•
•
•
•
Response rate is low
People may misunderstand the questions
People may give inaccurate answers
Answers provided may not cover what people want to say.
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Answers to SAQ 2
1.
Survey methods of research focus mainly on self-report techniques
such as questionnaires or interviews. Observational methods of
research can investigate something as it happens in the real world,
e.g. a group interaction or a conversation between friends.
2.
Naturalistic observation is a way of watching and recording the
behaviour of people or of animals while they are in their own
(natural) environment.
3.
In non-participant observation, the researcher observes without
joining in the situation he/she is observing at all. In participant
observation, the researcher deliberately joins in with and becomes
a part of the group he/she is also observing.
4.
An observation schedule is a method of recording what is
happening during an observation. It is a highly structured and well
organised checklist that is filled out by the observer(s) during the
observation. Observation schedules are important because they
help to ensure that the observer is remaining objective in the way
he/she is recording what is happening. Where there is more than
one observer, the observation schedule makes sure that all
observers are detailing their observations using the same system.
This helps establish reliability of findings.
Answers to SAQ 3
1.
Psychologists use correlational research in order to find out if two
variables are related in any way. Correlation is also used as a
preliminary to an experiment – if a correlation is found to exist
then the researcher will go ahead and test for a cause and effect
relationship.
2.
A correlation coefficient varies between the values of –1 and +1,
with 0 signifying no correlation whatsoever.
3.
A positive correlation is where two variables increase together, i.e.
when one increases, the other also increases. A negative
correlation is where one variable increases as the other decreases.
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4.
Advantages of correlation – your answer should include one of the
following:
• Allows prediction of data
• Provides a clear indication of what variables are related – this
information could be useful when designing other methods of
investigation, e.g. experiment, observation
• Provides a good alternative in situations where experiments are
not possible for (say) ethical reasons.
Disadvantages of correlation – your answer should include one of
the following:
• Lacks the power and vigour of the experimental method
• Cannot specify cause and effect relationships
• Can only be used in instances where there is a relatively
straightforward relationship between variables, e.g. reaction
time and clarity of vision, but is unsuitable if the relationship is
more complex, e.g. correlation between time of day and
attention span.
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