P1, M1, D1: Explain/Discuss/Evaluate the principal psychological perspectives applied to the understanding
of the development of individuals
In this assignment, I will explain the following psychological perspectives; behaviourism, social learning
theory, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive and developmental. I will then discuss the strengths and
weaknesses of the approaches. Lastly, I will evaluate the perspectives. The psychological perspectives have
different beliefs about individual development. Firstly, behaviourists believe that individual development is a
result of what we have learned. This also determines personality traits such as shyness, confidence,
optimism or pessimism. All of our behaviour is a result of past experiences. Furthermore, social learning
theory states that we develop through observing and imitating others. This happens in stages; attention,
retention, production and motivation. The psychodynamic approach takes the stance that most of our
behaviours and motivations come from our unconscious mind. This means that we are usually not aware of
what is motivating our behaviours. Additionally, the humanistic approach focuses on individual development
from the person’s perspective. Humanistic psychologists believe that we have free will and are capable of
making our own choices, which is a contrast to the psychodynamic approach. The cognitive approach
believes that we develop through our own experiences with the environment, other people are not really a
part of this. We are all born with ‘schemas’ which go through assimilation and accommodation as we get
older. Lastly, the developmental approach argues that we are constantly developing throughout our lives,
since we are a foetus until old age. Developmental psychologists look at how our thoughts, feelings and
behaviours change. They believe that our individual development is dependent on what life stage we are in
rather than ourselves, other people or our environment.
The psychological perspectives make contributions in the following areas:
1. Behaviour: The social learning theory helps us understand how people behave in society through the
observation and imitation of people who they consider to be their models. Also, the psychodynamic
approach helps us understand how personality affects behaviour through the social stages of
development.
2. Language: The social learning theory helps us understand that children learn language through
reinforcement. This happens in three stages; echoic, mand and tact response.
3. Cognitive Development: The cognitive approach helps us understand cognition through Piaget’s idea
of schemas and how they go through assimilation and accommodation.
4. Understanding self: The humanistic perspective helps us understand ourselves through Rogers’ idea
of the actualisation tendency and self-actualisation. Social learning theory also contributes to this
through Bandura’s...
5. Understanding how we relate to others: The developmental perspective helps us understand how
we relate to others through Schaffer and Emerson’s stage theory of attachments.
The psychological perspectives also hold different beliefs on debates. The first debate is nature versus
nurture. Nature refers to the innate part of us that we are born with, whereas, nurture refers to our
environment and how we are raised and socialised. The behaviourist approach takes a nurture view because
it believes that we develop based on what we have learned from our environments. However, the
developmental approach has a nature view because it focuses on our physical development of the brain and
body. The second debate is continuity versus discontinuity. Continuity refers to a smooth process of growth
which is quantitative, whereas, discontinuity refers to a process which goes through different stages and is
qualitative. The psychodynamic approach also has a continuity view because it argues that our unconscious
minds are constantly affecting our behaviour. However, the social learning theory has more of a
discontinuity view because it believes that we observe and imitate others through stages. The last debate is
nomothetic versus idiographic. Nomothetic refers to the study of features which can be applied to a group of
Unit 29 1
of the development of individuals
In this assignment, I will explain the following psychological perspectives; behaviourism, social learning
theory, psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive and developmental. I will then discuss the strengths and
weaknesses of the approaches. Lastly, I will evaluate the perspectives. The psychological perspectives have
different beliefs about individual development. Firstly, behaviourists believe that individual development is a
result of what we have learned. This also determines personality traits such as shyness, confidence,
optimism or pessimism. All of our behaviour is a result of past experiences. Furthermore, social learning
theory states that we develop through observing and imitating others. This happens in stages; attention,
retention, production and motivation. The psychodynamic approach takes the stance that most of our
behaviours and motivations come from our unconscious mind. This means that we are usually not aware of
what is motivating our behaviours. Additionally, the humanistic approach focuses on individual development
from the person’s perspective. Humanistic psychologists believe that we have free will and are capable of
making our own choices, which is a contrast to the psychodynamic approach. The cognitive approach
believes that we develop through our own experiences with the environment, other people are not really a
part of this. We are all born with ‘schemas’ which go through assimilation and accommodation as we get
older. Lastly, the developmental approach argues that we are constantly developing throughout our lives,
since we are a foetus until old age. Developmental psychologists look at how our thoughts, feelings and
behaviours change. They believe that our individual development is dependent on what life stage we are in
rather than ourselves, other people or our environment.
The psychological perspectives make contributions in the following areas:
1. Behaviour: The social learning theory helps us understand how people behave in society through the
observation and imitation of people who they consider to be their models. Also, the psychodynamic
approach helps us understand how personality affects behaviour through the social stages of
development.
2. Language: The social learning theory helps us understand that children learn language through
reinforcement. This happens in three stages; echoic, mand and tact response.
3. Cognitive Development: The cognitive approach helps us understand cognition through Piaget’s idea
of schemas and how they go through assimilation and accommodation.
4. Understanding self: The humanistic perspective helps us understand ourselves through Rogers’ idea
of the actualisation tendency and self-actualisation. Social learning theory also contributes to this
through Bandura’s...
5. Understanding how we relate to others: The developmental perspective helps us understand how
we relate to others through Schaffer and Emerson’s stage theory of attachments.
The psychological perspectives also hold different beliefs on debates. The first debate is nature versus
nurture. Nature refers to the innate part of us that we are born with, whereas, nurture refers to our
environment and how we are raised and socialised. The behaviourist approach takes a nurture view because
it believes that we develop based on what we have learned from our environments. However, the
developmental approach has a nature view because it focuses on our physical development of the brain and
body. The second debate is continuity versus discontinuity. Continuity refers to a smooth process of growth
which is quantitative, whereas, discontinuity refers to a process which goes through different stages and is
qualitative. The psychodynamic approach also has a continuity view because it argues that our unconscious
minds are constantly affecting our behaviour. However, the social learning theory has more of a
discontinuity view because it believes that we observe and imitate others through stages. The last debate is
nomothetic versus idiographic. Nomothetic refers to the study of features which can be applied to a group of
Unit 29 1
