Approaches in Psychology
Source: Simply Psychology (Home page http://www.simplypsychology.org/)
Psychology Perspectives
http://www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.html
There are various different approaches in contemporary psychology. An approach is a perspective
(i.e. view) that involves certain assumptions (i.e. beliefs) about human behavior: the way they
function, which aspects of them are worthy of study and what research methods are appropriate for
undertaking this study. There may be several different theories within an approach, but they all
share these common assumptions.
You may wonder why there are so many different psychology perspectives and whether one approach
is correct and others wrong. Most psychologists would agree that no one perspective is correct,
although in the past, in the early days of psychology, the behaviorist would have said their
perspective was the only truly scientific one.
Each perspective has its strengths and weaknesses, and brings something different to our
understanding of human behavior. For this reasons, it is important that psychology does have
different perspectives to the understanding and study of human and animal behavior.
Therefore, in conclusion, there are so many different perspectives to psychology to explain the
different types of behavior and give different angles. No one perspective has explanatory powers
over the rest. Only with all the different types of psychology which sometimes contradict one
another (nature-nurture debate), overlap with each other (e.g. psychoanalysis and child psychology)
or build upon one another (biological and health psychologist) can we understand and create
effective solutions when problems arise so we have a healthy body and healthy mind.
The fact that there are different perspectives represents the complexity and richness of human
(and animal) behavior. A scientific approach, such as behaviorism or cognitive psychology, tends to
ignore the subjective (i.e. personal) experiences that people have. The humanistic perspective does
recognize human experience, but largely at the expense of being non-scientific in its methods and
ability to provide evidence. The psychodynamic perspective concentrates too much on the
unconscious mind and childhood. As such it tends to lose sight of the role of socialization (which is
different in each country) and the possibility of free will. The biological perspective reduces humans
to a set of mechanisms and physical structures that are clearly essential and important (e.g. genes).
However, it fails to account for consciousness and the influence of the environment on behavior.
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Approaches in Psychology
Behaviorism Approach Summary
Key Features
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Methodology
Stimulus - Response
Classical Conditioning & Operant
Conditioning
Reinforcement & Punishment (Skinner)
Objective Measurement
Social Learning Theory (Bandura)
Nomothetic
Reductionism
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Basic Assumptions
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Areas of Application
Psychology should be seen as a science,
to be studied in a scientific manner
(usually in a laboratory)
Behaviorism is primarily concerned with
observable behavior, as opposed to
internal events like thinking and emotion
Behavior is the result of stimulus –
response (i.e. all behavior, no matter how
complex, can be reduced to a simple
stimulus – response association)
Behavior is determined by the
environment (e.g. conditioning)
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Gender Role Development
Behavior Therapies (e.g. Flooding)
Phobias
Addictions (Aversion Therapy)
Scientific Methods
Relationships
Language
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Moral Development
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Strengths
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Lab Experiments
Little Albert
Edward Thorndike (the cat in a puzzle
box)
Skinner box (rats & pigeons)
Pavlov’s Dogs
Bandura Bobo Doll Experiment
Ethical Considerations
Weaknesses
Scientific
Highly applicable (e.g. therapy)
Emphasizes objective measurement
Many experiments to support theories
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Identified comparisons between animals
(Pavlov) and humans (Watson & Rayner
Little Albert)
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Ignores mediational processes
Ignores biology (e.g. testosterone)
Too deterministic (little free-will)
Experiments – low ecological validity
Humanism – can’t compare animals to
humans
Humanism - rejects scientific method
(low ecological validity)
Reductionist
Approaches in Psychology
Humanism Approach Summary
Key Concepts
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Methodology
Qualitative Research
Idiographic Approach
Congruence
The Self (e.g. self-worth, self-image, self
actualization)
Holism (e.g. study to whole person)
Hierarchy of needs Maslow
Free Will
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Basic Assumptions
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Areas of Application
Humans have free will; not all behavior is
determined.
All individuals are unique and have an innate
(inborn) drive to achieve their maximum
potential
A proper understanding of human behavior
can only be achieved by studying humans not animals.
Psychology should study the individual case
(idiographic) rather than the average
performance of groups (nomothetic).
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Strengths
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Qualitative Methods
Case Studies
Informal Interviews
Q-Sort Method (Stephenson, 1953)
Problems with Qualitative Data
Open-ended Questionnaires
Inter-rater/coder reliability
Person Centered Therapy
Qualitative Methods
Abnormal Behavior (incongruent, low selfworth)
Education
Gender Role Development
Weaknesses
Shifted the focus of behavior to the
individual / whole person rather than the
unconscious mind, genes, observable behavior
etc.
Humanistic psychology satisfies most
people's idea of what being human means
because it values personal ideals and selffulfillment.
Qualitative data gives genuine insight (and
more holistic information) into behavior.
Highlights the value of more individualistic
and idiographic methods of study
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Unscientific – subjective concepts
E.g. cannot objectively measure selfactualization
Humanism ignores the unconscious mind
Behaviorism – human and animal behavior can
be compared
Qualitative data is difficult to compare
Ethnocentric (biased towards Western
culture)
Their belief in free will is in opposition to
the deterministic laws of science.
Approaches in Psychology
Cognitive Psychology Summary
Key Concepts
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Methodology
Mediational Processes (process between
stimulus and response)
Information Processing Approach
Computer Analogy
Introspection (Wundt)
Nomothetic (studies the group)
Schema
Machine Reductionism
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Basic Assumptions
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Areas of Application
Cognitive psychology is a pure science,
based mainly on laboratory experiments.
Behavior can be largely explained in terms
of how the mind operates, i.e. the
information processing approach.
The mind works in a way similar to a
computer: inputting, storing and retrieving
data.
Mediational processes occur between
stimulus and response.
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Strengths
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Gender Role Development
Eyewitness Testimony / Cognitive
Interview
Memory, Attention, Perception etc.
Child Development (Piaget)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Learning Styles (Kolb)
Moral Development (Piaget)
Weaknesses
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Lab Experiments
Introspection (Wundt)
Memory (Jacobs Digit Span)
Interviews (Kohlberg, Piaget)
Case Studies (KF, HM )
Observations (Piaget)
Computer Modeling
Scientific
Highly applicable (e.g. therapy, EWT)
Combines easily with approaches:
Behaviorism + Cog = Social Learning Biology
+ Cog = Evolutionary Psychology
Many empirical studies to support theories
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Ignores biology (e.g. testosterone)
Experiments - low ecological validity
Humanism - rejects scientific
method
Behaviorism - can’t objectively study
unobservable behavior
Introspection is subjective
Machine reductionism
Approaches in Psychology
Biological Approach Summary
Key Concepts
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Methodology
Natural Selection / Evolution
Adaptation
Heredity / Genetics
Nomothetic (studies the group)
Reductionist
Instincts / Sociobiology
Comparative Psychology
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Lab Experiments
Correlation studies
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Twin research
Naturalistic observations (Kettlewell)
Ethical Considerations
Reliability and validity of research
Basic Assumptions
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Areas of Application
Psychology should be seen as a science, to be
studied in a scientific manner (usually in a
laboratory).
Behavior can be largely explained in terms of
biology (e.g. genes/hormones)
Human genes have evolved over millions of
years to adapt behavior to the environment.
Therefore, most behavior will have an adaptive
/ evolutionary purpose.
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Gender Role Development
Abnormal Behavior
IQ
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Relationships
Therapy
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Stress (SRRS)
Strengths
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Weaknesses
Very Scientific
Highly application to other areas: Biology + Cog
= Evolutionary Psychology
Helped develop comparative psychology
Strong counter argument to the nurture side
of the debate
Many empirical studies to support theories
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Experiments – Low Ecological Validity
Humanism: too deterministic – little
room for free-will
Doesn’t recognize cognitive processes
Reductionist
Biopsychological theories often oversimplify the huge complexity of physical
systems and their interaction with the
environment.
Approaches in Psychology
Psychodynamic Approach Summary
Key Features
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Methodology
Collective Unconscious (Jung)
Psychosexual Development (Freud)
Unconscious Mind (Freud)
Tripartite Personality
Defense Mechanisms (Freud)
Psychosocial Development (Erikson)
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Basic Assumptions
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Areas of Application
The major causes of behavior have their origin
in the unconscious
Psychic determinism: all behavior has a
cause/reason
Behavior is motivated by instinctual drives
(eros & thanatos)
Different parts of the unconscious mind are in
constant struggle
Our behavior and feelings as adults (including
psychological problems) are rooted in our
childhood experiences.
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Strengths
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Gender Role Development
Therapy (Psychoanalysis)
Attachment (Bowlby)
Moral Development (super-ego)
Aggression (Displacement / Thanatos)
Personality (Erikson, Freud)
Weaknesses
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Case Studies (Little Hans)
Dream Analysis
Free Association
Projective Tests (TAT, Rorschach)
Slips of the Tongue (parapraxes)
Hypnosis
Made the Case Study method popular in
psychology
Defense Mechanisms
Free association
Projective Tests (TAT, Rorschach)
Highlighted the importance of Childhood
Highlighted the importance of the unconscious
mind
Dream analysis
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Case Studies - Subjective / Cannot
generalize results
Unscientific (lacks empirical support)
Too Deterministic (little free-will)
Biased Sample (e.g. middle aged women
from Vienna)
Ignores Mediational Processes (e.g.
thinking, memory)
Rejects Free will (e.g. Humanism believe
free will exists)
Unfalsifiable (difficult to prove wrong)