Bethany Perrin
Pass 1 and Pass 2
P1 Explain how psychological perspectives are applied to the understanding of human
development
P2 Explain how psychological perspectives contribute to the understanding of specific human
behaviours. Case study reference
Introduction
In this assignment I am going to be discussing p1, p2 and m1. These focus on the
psychological perspectives and the influence of them on human development and specific
human behaviours. The types of perspectives are behaviour, biological, cognitive, humanistic,
psychodynamic and the social learning theory.
Behaviour perspective
The behaviour perspective is applied to human development by the role of classical
conditioning, this theory was made by Ivan Pavlov and he believed that behaviour can be
changed and shaped through operational conditioning, this is best known as positive and
negative reinforcement. Ivan Pavlov is famous for his research in digestion of dogs, when he
was doing this research, he noticed that they began to drool not just at food but at the sight
of the feeding bowl, he then learnt that the dog had learned to associate the bowl with food.
He then made lots of experiments and he found that he could condition the dogs to associate
food with light and sounds. The more often the incentive was paired with the food then the
more the dogs were conditioned, failure to reinforce the response led to extinction. Based on
his research Ivan Pavlov came up with the theory called classical conditioning, this consists of
three stages: Before conditioning which is when we have a neutral stimulus and we are
unconditioned, then we have during conditioning which is when we are being conditioned but
we still an unconditioned response. However, in the third and final step after we have been
conditioned, we have a conditioned stimulus therefore provide a conditioned response. Ivan
Pavlov then used this theory on humans rather than on animals and called it the role of
reinforcement which involves positive and negative reinforcement the role of reinforcement is
when behaviour that leads to an outcome that is satisfied or desired for whatever reason and
it is there to teach individuals what is right and wrong. We can be positively reinforced which
occurs when a particular behaviour is followed by a consequence that is seen as desirable, for
example if we helped another person and we got given a thankyou sticker which is shown as
a reward we are more likely to want to show that behaviour again as we will want the reward
again. Negative reinforcement is when a particular behaviour is punished with something
unpleasant for example, if we get bad grades at school then are parents stop us from seeing
friends, we will see this as a bad thing and not want to get bad grades again to avoid being
grounded. Another example of this is John B. Watson was an American psychologist who is
best known for his controversial “Little Albert” experiment. In this experiment, he used
classical conditioning to teach a nine-month-old boy to be afraid of a white toy rat by
associating the rat with a sudden loud noise. This study demonstrated how emotions could
become conditioned responses.
The behaviour perspective is applied to the understanding of human behaviours through
operation conditioning, this was created by a psychologist called B. F. Skinner who describes a
form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened depending on its
association with positive or negative consequences. The strengthening of a response occurs
through reinforcement this can be positive and negative: for positive, it is the introduction of
a positive consequence such as pleasurable activities and praise from other people. For
negative, which is the removal of a negative consequence such as pain or a loud noise.
Skinner believed that human behaviour was shaped by trial and error through punishment
and reinforcement, without any reference to conflicts. In skinners theory the mental disorders
are represented by maladaptive behaviours which are behaviours that don’t adapt to a
situation or environment, these behaviours were learned and could be learned through
behaviour modification. This behaviour perspective has driven psychological practice as it
allows psychologists to learn and understand how an individual’s behaviour can change
overtime through the influence of others and its association with positive and negative
reinforcement. Both of these behaviour perspectives link to Rupert and Katrina. The behaviour
theory created by Ivan Pavlov links to Rupert as he had poor attachments and a lack of role
, models as he grew up this means that he copied the poor behaviour of those around him and
was conditioned to feel negative emotions. This also links to Katrina as she we know she
physically assaulted her mum and threatened to kill her mum when she was refused money,
this means that she wasn’t negatively reinforced when she was younger as she displays
negative behaviour. The behaviour perspective created by B. F. Skinner links to Katrina’s case
study as she shows violent maladaptive behaviour which she may have learnt through not
having reinforcement there, her maladaptive behaviour can be difficult to manage as they
won’t adapt to situations which therefore leads to her getting aggressive emotions. This
perspective links to Rupert’s case study he didn’t have a stable childhood so he may act in a
negative way as he doesn’t understand that a negative action will have a negative
consequence.
Social learning theory
Albert Bandura is a psychiatrist who developed the social learning theory, this theory explains
behaviour as being the result of learning from people we are exposed to in our current
environment. It also suggests that we learn our behaviour from people we observe either in
real life or in the media. The social learning theory is a theory of a learning process and social
behaviour which proposes that new behaviours are acquired by observing and imitating other.
He believed we learnt our behaviour through observation of rewards and punishments, a
process called vicarious reinforcement. This includes positive and negative reinforcement:
positive reinforcement is when the individual repeats a behaviour because of personal
satisfaction or a reward, negative reinforcement is when the behaviour is not repeated in
order to avoid an adverse experience such as the lack of satisfaction or to avoid being told
off. Albert bandura was most famous for his studies of aggressive behaviour in teenagers, he
conducted the Bodo doll experiment which demonstrated that children are able to learn social
behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation learning, which is when we
watch the behaviour of another person. He also believed that we are influenced by other
behaviour such as individuals, groups, society and culture. We can be influenced from groups
as in young people there is a lot of growing peer pressure which can influence our behaviour
to good and bad consequences for example, if our friends smoke, we can be peer pressures
inro smoking which results in negative consequences, however if our friends liked to study,
we may be peer pressured into studying which results into positive consequences. Our
behaviour can also be influenced by our culture, for example we may have different views to
other people regarding healthcare due to our and their cultural preferences being different.
The biggest influence on young people’s behaviour is society, the current rules on society
influence the way teenager’s behaviour is and shapes our behaviour. The self-fulfilling
prophecy is an important concept in psychology as it has a big impact on the way individuals
may behave towards others and their expectation towards what behaviour they should
receive. For example, if we believe ourselves to be kind and likeable then we will behave in a
calm and polite manner to other individuals in order to create a good impression, we then
expect those people to perceive us favourably and behave in a way that is positive towards us
with the result that our self-beliefs are confirmed. But on the other hand, if we are angry with
the world and full of resentment, we may appear to be more aggressive or argumentative
which will influence the way we deal with situations and therefore confirm our views of
ourselves and the world. Bandura was a very important psychologist in the study of
behaviourism, and he created the role model theory. He believed that when we admire an
individual, we are likely to be influenced by and try to imitate their behaviour. The role model
theory suggests that due to our culture, groups and society we are going to be influenced by
others behaviour, these influences then lead us to adopt certain roles and we will try to live
up the expectations of these certain roles. We can see this through a mother taking her
children to the park will take upon the role of a mother whereas when she is at work she will
take upon the role of a colleague, or a supervisor and she will develop the responsibilities
associated with her job role.
Albert Bandura helps us to understand the human development and behaviours through his
social learning theory, which states that behaviour is learned through the individual’s
environment and the process of observational learning (Bandura, 1977). This means that a
child can learn aggression through observation, this means that they can also learn prejudice.
We are in a society which is diverse, so it is therefore very important that a child is not
Pass 1 and Pass 2
P1 Explain how psychological perspectives are applied to the understanding of human
development
P2 Explain how psychological perspectives contribute to the understanding of specific human
behaviours. Case study reference
Introduction
In this assignment I am going to be discussing p1, p2 and m1. These focus on the
psychological perspectives and the influence of them on human development and specific
human behaviours. The types of perspectives are behaviour, biological, cognitive, humanistic,
psychodynamic and the social learning theory.
Behaviour perspective
The behaviour perspective is applied to human development by the role of classical
conditioning, this theory was made by Ivan Pavlov and he believed that behaviour can be
changed and shaped through operational conditioning, this is best known as positive and
negative reinforcement. Ivan Pavlov is famous for his research in digestion of dogs, when he
was doing this research, he noticed that they began to drool not just at food but at the sight
of the feeding bowl, he then learnt that the dog had learned to associate the bowl with food.
He then made lots of experiments and he found that he could condition the dogs to associate
food with light and sounds. The more often the incentive was paired with the food then the
more the dogs were conditioned, failure to reinforce the response led to extinction. Based on
his research Ivan Pavlov came up with the theory called classical conditioning, this consists of
three stages: Before conditioning which is when we have a neutral stimulus and we are
unconditioned, then we have during conditioning which is when we are being conditioned but
we still an unconditioned response. However, in the third and final step after we have been
conditioned, we have a conditioned stimulus therefore provide a conditioned response. Ivan
Pavlov then used this theory on humans rather than on animals and called it the role of
reinforcement which involves positive and negative reinforcement the role of reinforcement is
when behaviour that leads to an outcome that is satisfied or desired for whatever reason and
it is there to teach individuals what is right and wrong. We can be positively reinforced which
occurs when a particular behaviour is followed by a consequence that is seen as desirable, for
example if we helped another person and we got given a thankyou sticker which is shown as
a reward we are more likely to want to show that behaviour again as we will want the reward
again. Negative reinforcement is when a particular behaviour is punished with something
unpleasant for example, if we get bad grades at school then are parents stop us from seeing
friends, we will see this as a bad thing and not want to get bad grades again to avoid being
grounded. Another example of this is John B. Watson was an American psychologist who is
best known for his controversial “Little Albert” experiment. In this experiment, he used
classical conditioning to teach a nine-month-old boy to be afraid of a white toy rat by
associating the rat with a sudden loud noise. This study demonstrated how emotions could
become conditioned responses.
The behaviour perspective is applied to the understanding of human behaviours through
operation conditioning, this was created by a psychologist called B. F. Skinner who describes a
form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened depending on its
association with positive or negative consequences. The strengthening of a response occurs
through reinforcement this can be positive and negative: for positive, it is the introduction of
a positive consequence such as pleasurable activities and praise from other people. For
negative, which is the removal of a negative consequence such as pain or a loud noise.
Skinner believed that human behaviour was shaped by trial and error through punishment
and reinforcement, without any reference to conflicts. In skinners theory the mental disorders
are represented by maladaptive behaviours which are behaviours that don’t adapt to a
situation or environment, these behaviours were learned and could be learned through
behaviour modification. This behaviour perspective has driven psychological practice as it
allows psychologists to learn and understand how an individual’s behaviour can change
overtime through the influence of others and its association with positive and negative
reinforcement. Both of these behaviour perspectives link to Rupert and Katrina. The behaviour
theory created by Ivan Pavlov links to Rupert as he had poor attachments and a lack of role
, models as he grew up this means that he copied the poor behaviour of those around him and
was conditioned to feel negative emotions. This also links to Katrina as she we know she
physically assaulted her mum and threatened to kill her mum when she was refused money,
this means that she wasn’t negatively reinforced when she was younger as she displays
negative behaviour. The behaviour perspective created by B. F. Skinner links to Katrina’s case
study as she shows violent maladaptive behaviour which she may have learnt through not
having reinforcement there, her maladaptive behaviour can be difficult to manage as they
won’t adapt to situations which therefore leads to her getting aggressive emotions. This
perspective links to Rupert’s case study he didn’t have a stable childhood so he may act in a
negative way as he doesn’t understand that a negative action will have a negative
consequence.
Social learning theory
Albert Bandura is a psychiatrist who developed the social learning theory, this theory explains
behaviour as being the result of learning from people we are exposed to in our current
environment. It also suggests that we learn our behaviour from people we observe either in
real life or in the media. The social learning theory is a theory of a learning process and social
behaviour which proposes that new behaviours are acquired by observing and imitating other.
He believed we learnt our behaviour through observation of rewards and punishments, a
process called vicarious reinforcement. This includes positive and negative reinforcement:
positive reinforcement is when the individual repeats a behaviour because of personal
satisfaction or a reward, negative reinforcement is when the behaviour is not repeated in
order to avoid an adverse experience such as the lack of satisfaction or to avoid being told
off. Albert bandura was most famous for his studies of aggressive behaviour in teenagers, he
conducted the Bodo doll experiment which demonstrated that children are able to learn social
behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation learning, which is when we
watch the behaviour of another person. He also believed that we are influenced by other
behaviour such as individuals, groups, society and culture. We can be influenced from groups
as in young people there is a lot of growing peer pressure which can influence our behaviour
to good and bad consequences for example, if our friends smoke, we can be peer pressures
inro smoking which results in negative consequences, however if our friends liked to study,
we may be peer pressured into studying which results into positive consequences. Our
behaviour can also be influenced by our culture, for example we may have different views to
other people regarding healthcare due to our and their cultural preferences being different.
The biggest influence on young people’s behaviour is society, the current rules on society
influence the way teenager’s behaviour is and shapes our behaviour. The self-fulfilling
prophecy is an important concept in psychology as it has a big impact on the way individuals
may behave towards others and their expectation towards what behaviour they should
receive. For example, if we believe ourselves to be kind and likeable then we will behave in a
calm and polite manner to other individuals in order to create a good impression, we then
expect those people to perceive us favourably and behave in a way that is positive towards us
with the result that our self-beliefs are confirmed. But on the other hand, if we are angry with
the world and full of resentment, we may appear to be more aggressive or argumentative
which will influence the way we deal with situations and therefore confirm our views of
ourselves and the world. Bandura was a very important psychologist in the study of
behaviourism, and he created the role model theory. He believed that when we admire an
individual, we are likely to be influenced by and try to imitate their behaviour. The role model
theory suggests that due to our culture, groups and society we are going to be influenced by
others behaviour, these influences then lead us to adopt certain roles and we will try to live
up the expectations of these certain roles. We can see this through a mother taking her
children to the park will take upon the role of a mother whereas when she is at work she will
take upon the role of a colleague, or a supervisor and she will develop the responsibilities
associated with her job role.
Albert Bandura helps us to understand the human development and behaviours through his
social learning theory, which states that behaviour is learned through the individual’s
environment and the process of observational learning (Bandura, 1977). This means that a
child can learn aggression through observation, this means that they can also learn prejudice.
We are in a society which is diverse, so it is therefore very important that a child is not
