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Approaches
Topics:
● Origins of Psychology
● Learning Approaches
● The Cognitive Approach
● The Biological Approach
● The Psychodynamic Approach
● Humanistic Psychology
● Comparison of Approaches
Origins of Psychology
Wundt
- Wundt viewed psychology as a scientific study of conscious experience and
studied this view using introspection.
Introspection
In tr ospection → the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by
breaking up (our own) conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images,
sensations and emotional reactions.
- Wundt’s use of introspection relied on specific experimental conditions. The
participants would be presented with the same stimuli (such as a ticking
metronome) and would be asked to divide their observations into categories of
thoughts, images and feelings. Trained observers would take note of any
emotional reaction to the stimulus. This systematic attempt to study the mind
under controlled conditions became known as introspection.
Structuralism
Str uctur alism → the attempt to understand the structure and characteristics of the
mind by isolating the focus of consciousness.
- Wundt established the first laboratory in Leipzig Germany in 1879 to
investigate structuralism. He would always present the stimuli in the same
order and used the same instructions when issued to all participants
(standardised procedures)
, - He later recognised that higher mental processes were difficult to study using
his procedures and this encouraged others to look for more appropriate
methods and techniques, paving the way for approaches such as scanning
- However, many of Wundt’s methods are still used in Psychology today.
Ao3:
+ One strength of Wundt’s work is that some of his methods were systematic,
well-controlled and scientific. Introspections were recorded in the controlled
environment of a lab which helped to control extraneous variables. His
procedures were standardised as well so that all participants were tested in the
same way. Therefore, this suggests that Wundt’s research is a forerunner to
later scientific approaches in psychology.
- One limitation is that other aspects of Wundt’s research could be considered
unscientific nowadays. Wundt relied on participant’s self reports which are
subjective and participants may have hidden their thoughts. It is hard to
establish laws of behaviour from this data as general laws are useful to predict
future behaviour, one of the aims of science. Therefore, this suggests that
Wundt’s efforts were flawed and can’t meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
+ Focus on mental processes through introspection can be seen as a forerunner
of the cognitive approach
- Wundt’s methods are subjective in contrast to the objectivity of the scientific
process and the difficulty modern psychologists have trying to objectively
study observable matter
- Introspective methods were not reliably reproduced and are hard to replicate
due to its subjectivity
Approaches AO3
, The Psychodynamic Approach
Key assumptions…
● All behaviour has an underlying cause.
● The causes of a person's behaviour originate in their unconscious.
● Different aspects of our personality (ID and superego) are in conflict and
conflicts must be resolved to avoid ‘fixation’ at any stage of development
● An adult's behaviour and feelings, including mental health issues, are rooted
in childhood experiences.
- Freud argued that the conscious mind was ‘the tip of the iceberg’ - most of the
mind is made up of unconscious biological drives that have a significant
influence on our behaviour. The unconscious mind protects the conscious
mind from anxiety, fear, trauma etc.
Tripartite of personality
- Freud believed there were three parts to our personality. Each of these
components is driven by a principle that affects our behaviour.
Ego → reality
principle (the
adult)
Uses defence
mechanisms to
Approaches
Topics:
● Origins of Psychology
● Learning Approaches
● The Cognitive Approach
● The Biological Approach
● The Psychodynamic Approach
● Humanistic Psychology
● Comparison of Approaches
Origins of Psychology
Wundt
- Wundt viewed psychology as a scientific study of conscious experience and
studied this view using introspection.
Introspection
In tr ospection → the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by
breaking up (our own) conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images,
sensations and emotional reactions.
- Wundt’s use of introspection relied on specific experimental conditions. The
participants would be presented with the same stimuli (such as a ticking
metronome) and would be asked to divide their observations into categories of
thoughts, images and feelings. Trained observers would take note of any
emotional reaction to the stimulus. This systematic attempt to study the mind
under controlled conditions became known as introspection.
Structuralism
Str uctur alism → the attempt to understand the structure and characteristics of the
mind by isolating the focus of consciousness.
- Wundt established the first laboratory in Leipzig Germany in 1879 to
investigate structuralism. He would always present the stimuli in the same
order and used the same instructions when issued to all participants
(standardised procedures)
, - He later recognised that higher mental processes were difficult to study using
his procedures and this encouraged others to look for more appropriate
methods and techniques, paving the way for approaches such as scanning
- However, many of Wundt’s methods are still used in Psychology today.
Ao3:
+ One strength of Wundt’s work is that some of his methods were systematic,
well-controlled and scientific. Introspections were recorded in the controlled
environment of a lab which helped to control extraneous variables. His
procedures were standardised as well so that all participants were tested in the
same way. Therefore, this suggests that Wundt’s research is a forerunner to
later scientific approaches in psychology.
- One limitation is that other aspects of Wundt’s research could be considered
unscientific nowadays. Wundt relied on participant’s self reports which are
subjective and participants may have hidden their thoughts. It is hard to
establish laws of behaviour from this data as general laws are useful to predict
future behaviour, one of the aims of science. Therefore, this suggests that
Wundt’s efforts were flawed and can’t meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
+ Focus on mental processes through introspection can be seen as a forerunner
of the cognitive approach
- Wundt’s methods are subjective in contrast to the objectivity of the scientific
process and the difficulty modern psychologists have trying to objectively
study observable matter
- Introspective methods were not reliably reproduced and are hard to replicate
due to its subjectivity
Approaches AO3
, The Psychodynamic Approach
Key assumptions…
● All behaviour has an underlying cause.
● The causes of a person's behaviour originate in their unconscious.
● Different aspects of our personality (ID and superego) are in conflict and
conflicts must be resolved to avoid ‘fixation’ at any stage of development
● An adult's behaviour and feelings, including mental health issues, are rooted
in childhood experiences.
- Freud argued that the conscious mind was ‘the tip of the iceberg’ - most of the
mind is made up of unconscious biological drives that have a significant
influence on our behaviour. The unconscious mind protects the conscious
mind from anxiety, fear, trauma etc.
Tripartite of personality
- Freud believed there were three parts to our personality. Each of these
components is driven by a principle that affects our behaviour.
Ego → reality
principle (the
adult)
Uses defence
mechanisms to
