COMPARISON OF APPROACHES PLANS
Behaviourist v Cognitive
Similarity
Environmental reductionism
Behaviourist – behaviour is broken down into simple stimulus-response
associations
Cognitive – behaviour is investigated in terms of isolated variables (e.g.
STM + LTM)
Difference
Scientific vs non scientific
Behaviourist – (scientific) approach utilises scientific methods of
investigation (e.g. lab experiments + animal research)
Cognitive – (mostly scientific) Utilises scientific methods of investigation;
however, researchers are unable to directly observe cognitive processes.
Difference
Hard determinism vs soft determinism
Behaviourist – (hard determinism) behaviour is controlled by stimulus-
response conditioning
Cognitive – (soft determinism) behaviour is controlled by mediational
processes, however humans choose what info the attend to
Real world applications
Led to therapy
Behaviourist – treating phobias (counter-conditioning)
Cognitive – CBT treats depression, anxiety, PTSD etc
Behaviourist v Psychodynamic
Real world application
Contributions to therapies
Behaviourist approach - counter-conditioning (flooding / systematic
desensitisation) helped with phobias
Psychodynamic - psychoanalysis - ways of bringing unconscious thought
into conscious mind in order to deal with unresolved fixations (e.g. dream
analysis)
However both therapies are limited - flooding / SD only deals with specific
phobias, psychoanalysis may be harmful for more serious disorders e.g.
schizophrenia
Similarity
Free will vs determinism
Both believe there are other factors controlling behaviour (no free will -
hard determinism)
Behaviourist - environmental determinism - behaviour controlled in
response to stimuli / conditioning
Psychodynamic - psychic determinism - behaviour controlled by
unconscious drives + childhood experiences
Difference
Behaviourist v Cognitive
Similarity
Environmental reductionism
Behaviourist – behaviour is broken down into simple stimulus-response
associations
Cognitive – behaviour is investigated in terms of isolated variables (e.g.
STM + LTM)
Difference
Scientific vs non scientific
Behaviourist – (scientific) approach utilises scientific methods of
investigation (e.g. lab experiments + animal research)
Cognitive – (mostly scientific) Utilises scientific methods of investigation;
however, researchers are unable to directly observe cognitive processes.
Difference
Hard determinism vs soft determinism
Behaviourist – (hard determinism) behaviour is controlled by stimulus-
response conditioning
Cognitive – (soft determinism) behaviour is controlled by mediational
processes, however humans choose what info the attend to
Real world applications
Led to therapy
Behaviourist – treating phobias (counter-conditioning)
Cognitive – CBT treats depression, anxiety, PTSD etc
Behaviourist v Psychodynamic
Real world application
Contributions to therapies
Behaviourist approach - counter-conditioning (flooding / systematic
desensitisation) helped with phobias
Psychodynamic - psychoanalysis - ways of bringing unconscious thought
into conscious mind in order to deal with unresolved fixations (e.g. dream
analysis)
However both therapies are limited - flooding / SD only deals with specific
phobias, psychoanalysis may be harmful for more serious disorders e.g.
schizophrenia
Similarity
Free will vs determinism
Both believe there are other factors controlling behaviour (no free will -
hard determinism)
Behaviourist - environmental determinism - behaviour controlled in
response to stimuli / conditioning
Psychodynamic - psychic determinism - behaviour controlled by
unconscious drives + childhood experiences
Difference
