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AQA Psychology Approaches in Psychology revision summary - By A* Student

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A complete revision summary of the AQA A level psychology topic Approaches Covering all the bullet points made on the AQA specification for AO1. Also includes AO3 for each of these points. Made by a student who achieved A* in their A level.

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Wundt ‘father of psychology’ - 1st lab in 1879, first experimental psychology which aimed to quantify the Rene Descartes – Cartesian
components of the human conscience. dualism - mind & body are
Introspection – systematic analysis of our own conscious thoughts/ experience independent.
- Analysed by structuralism – which is breaking down behaviours into elements e.g. sight, feelings, John Locke – Empiricism – all
sensations. experience can be obtained through
- People were trained to this analysis so data could be objective not subjective. senses and humans do not inherit.
- Pts asked to focus on an object & look inwards to notice sensations, feelings, images of their thoughts Charles Darwin – Evolution
- Use of metronome theory – individuals with stronger
Work paved the way for later controlled research and the study of internal mental processes on behaviour. genes survive & reproduce. Survival
Introduction of scientific method Subjective – cannot
lab-controlled environment – Reliable compare/ generalise Strength Weakness
stimulus Few participants psychoanalysis therapy Case study – Little Hans
Used today – therapy – believes disorders are a - Subjective interpretation = ↓reliability
Start of reductionism. result of traumatic - ↓generalisation so limited application
Psychodynamic approach – Freud memories ‘locked’ in the - Idiographic but claimed nomothetic
Assumptions – unconscious. Freeing them Unfalsifiable (id, ego, superego) -
- The unconscious mind is the driving force of all behaviour in therapy enables cannot be tested/ observed = ↓scientific
- We are born with instincts and drives that motivate our behaviour individual to deal with credibility
- Childhood experiences shape out adult personality them in a therapeutic Gender Bias – suggested girls do not
Unconscious mind – drives all behaviour, supresses traumatic events environment. undergo castration anxiety & are less
Conscious – easy to access, everything we are aware of. - Basis that behaviour is developed. His theory used to explain
Pre-conscious – memories & stored knowledge that surface formed from cognition crime, suggest women develop a weak
Unconscious – deepest level, drives behaviour, repressed thoughts. & childhood. superego = ↑crime
Tripartite theory – 3 parts to personality
Id Birth -18mo unconsciou Pleasur Innate desire Defence mechanisms – unconscious strategies used by
s e the ego to reduce conflict and anxiety
Ego 18mo – conscious reality Defence - Repression – forcing a memory into unconscious
3yrs mechanisms - Denial – refusing to acknowledge reality
Superego 3-6yrs unconsciou morality Punish id with guilt - Displacement – transfers feelings onto a neutral
s object
Psychodynamic stages – the sequence of 5 stages builds the personality
- The most important driving force is the need to express sexual energy (libido)
- The build up of libido causes the individual to experience tension, the tension is expressed in different ways at each stage & we experience
pleasure.
Fixation – sexual tension is not expressed, this child is ‘fixed’ at the stage & carries behaviours into adult life = cause of psychological disorders.
Electra – penis envy, desires father & hates mother, feels in
Stage Pleasure Development/ Fixation
competition, cannot fulfil desire so substitutes it with baby,
Oral, 0-1 Mouth – sucking, Smoking, nail biting
identifies with mother
swallowing
Oedipus – unconscious feelings for mother & rival of father,
Anal Anus – Anal retentive = perfectionist experience castration anxiety (as a punishment from father),
1-3 expelling/withholding Anal expulsive = disorganised to resolve the conflict child identifies with father.
faeces Ego develops - Little Hans – 5yrs, phobia of horses was a
Phallic Genitals – Oedipus & Super ego develops displacement for unconscious fear of castration from
3-6 Electra complex Phallic personality = narcistic, father. Shown by obsessions with penis & mother.
Latency None – sexual desire Social skills & interactions
6-puberty repressed.

, The behaviourist approach Social Learning Theory
Assumptions Assumptions
- Only study behaviour that can be observed/ objectively - direct & indirect learning through observation of others
measured - our cognition is crucial for all behaviour
- All behaviour is learnt & can be unlearnt - assumption are the same of the behaviourist approach
- All behaviour must be studied within a lab environment Vicarious learning – indirect learning through observation of others.
- Animals & humans learn in the exact same way Vicarious reinforcement – when rewarded behaviour is imitated
Classical Conditioning – leaning through association - Bandura study (1963) – children observed an adult behave aggressively
Pavlov – conditioned dogs to salivate to a bell. Repeatedly with bobo doll. Then given their own:
delivered food after the representation of a bell. 1. Adult praised = children most aggressive
- NS = no response 2. Adult punished = children least aggressive
- UCS = UCR 3. No consequence = children aggressive.
- NS + UCS = UCR (repeated association) Mediational processes occur between observation & response.
- CS = CR Determine if response will be learned.
Operant Conditioning – active learning through consequences 1. Attention – notice the behaviour
Reinforcement = Punishment = 2. Retention – remember how they did the behaviour
↑behaviour ↓behaviour 3. Motor reproduction – question their ability to perform the behaviour
+ve Receive pleasant Receive unpleasant 4. Motivation – have a will to perform the behaviour
-ve Remove unpleasant Remove pleasant Modelling – learning behaviour through observation & imitation of others
Skinner’s Experiment – rats in skinner box - Role models – possess similar characteristics to us, attractive, high
- +ve rf - leaver repeatedly gave a food pellet. Rats learnt to status. People we choose to identify with.
move straight to leaver - We are more likely to imitate a behaviour if we identify with the
- -ve rf – leaver stopped electric shocks. Rats learnt to move person.
straight to leaver. Skinner turned on a light, then started - Live Role model – someone in our environment (teacher, sibling,
shocks. Rats knocked lever immediately when light turned on parent)
Strength Weakness - Symbolic Role model – someone in the media (celebritiy)
Explain Phobias – Reductionist – Learning theory explains Strengths Weaknesses
Watson & Rayner attachment in terms of association of Cultural explanation - How Reliant on lab studies - Demand
Token economy – mother & food. Ignores complex cognitive cultural norms are transmitted characteristics, ↓mundane realism
based on the behaviours involved e.g. reciprocity/ through modelling. but ↑control EV unlike
principles of OC contact comfort Reciprocal Deterministic - psychodynamic
Teaching uses OC Environmental Determinist - Ignores Recognises cognitive process & Reductionist – boys were more
free will conditioning can be indirect. aggressive to Bobo doll,
Reliant on animal studies = Comprehensive Explanation – testosterone?
↓generalisability learning does not need to be Cognitions – cannot be observed
De Gallo – an association does not always directed & mediational processes which means the extent of their
equal a behaviour, only 20% of people in a - Led to model based therapies influence is unknown.
car crash developed a phobia. Farrington – longitudinal found the Only outward behaviour – not
biggest risk factor to predict inward notions e.g. fairness,
criminality was criminality within politeness which cannot be
the family. observed

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