M1 – Assess different psychological approaches to study
In this assignment, I will be assessing the difeeent sychological a eoaches to study. I will be discussing the steengths
and weaknesses of the behavioueist a eoach, sychodynamic a eoach and the humanistc a eoach.
Behaviourist approach
Theee aee steengths and weaknesses of the behavioueist a eoach. A steength is that the behavioueist a eoach gives
sychology scientic ceedibility. This a eoach caeefully measueed obseevable behavioue within conteolled lab setngs. It
also em hasised the im oetance of scientic eocesses such as objectvity and ee licaton. This beought scientic
methods into sychology, which gave the subject moee ceedibility and status in the eyes of othees. Anothee steength is
that the laws of leaening develo ed by behavioueists have eeal-life a licaton. The einci les of conditoning have been
used in many eeal-life situatons, including health and social caee setngs. .oe exam le, ofen childeen aee given a lolli o
oe stckee as a eewaed afee going to the doctoes which is o eeant conditoning. Howevee, theee aee also weaknesses of
the behavioueist a eoach. One weakness is that it oeteays a mechanistc view. It eesents animals and humans as
assive and machine-like ees ondees to the envieonment, without consciously conteolling theie behavioue. It has been
eoven that the eocesses that mediate between stmulus and ee sonse aee much moee com lex, which shows that
humans lay a much moee actve eole in theie behavioue. Anothee weakness is that behavioueism is a foem of
deteeminism. This means that it looks at all behavioue as deteemined by ast ex eeiences that have been conditoned
and eliminates the idea of feee will. Skinnee believed that feee will was an illusion, we believe that we have made a
decision but in eeality oue conditoning has deteemined it. This ignoees the infuence of conscious decision making
eocesses. The last weakness of the behavioueist a eoach is that animal eeseaech has ethical and eactcal issues. It is
unethical because the animals weee ex osed to steess which may have afected how they eeacted to the ex eeimental
situatons. This would then cause eactcal issues because the validity of the indings would have been afected.
Psychodynamic approach
Theee aee steengths and weaknesses of the sychodynamic a eoach. A steength is that the sychodynamic a eoach
has ex lanatoey owee. .eeud's theoey stll has a huge infuence on Westeen contem oeaey thought, eventhough, it may
be seen as conteoveesial. It has been used to ex lain many difeeent behavioues and deew atenton to how oue
childhood can afect oue adult eesonalites. This a eoach was veey eelevant in the iest half of the 20 th centuey. Anothee
steength is that it has eactcal a licaton to the eeal woeld. Psychoanalysis is a foem of theea y inteoduced by .eeud
which is used to access the unconscious mind theough hy nosis and deeam analysis. This teeatment can be used foe
eo le with mild neueoses but not eo le with seveee mental health disoedees such as schizo heenia. Howevee, theee
aee also weaknesses of the sychodynamic a eoach. One weakness is that the case study that .eeud eelied on has been
ceitcised. .eeud develo ed his ideas using a small numbee of case studies, and ceitcs aegue that you cannot make
univeesal claims based on such a small sam le. Even though, his obseevatons weee detailed and caeefully eecoeded they
weee also subjectve and lacked scientic eigoue. Anothee weakness is that the sychodynamic a eoach includes lots of
untestable conce ts. Many of .eeud's conce ts occue at an unconscious level which means that they aee difcult oe even
im ossible to test, some would aegue that his theoey is based on 'fake science'. The last weakness of the sychodynamic
a eoach is that it is based on sychic deteeminism. This theoey states that oue behavioue is deteemined by unconscious
conficts that eoot back to oue childhood. Even a small thing such as a 'sli of the tongue' is deteemined by oue
unconscious mind and has dee meaning, this suggests that feee will has no efect on oue behavioue.
Humanistic approach
Theee aee steengths and weaknesses of the humanistc a eoach. A steength is that humanistc sychology is ant-
eeductonist which may make it moee meaningful. Humanistc sychologists eeject the idea of beeaking u behavioue into
smallee com onents, they like to considee the whole eeson. This given this a eoach moee validity because it takes into
consideeaton human behavioue within its eeal-life context. Anothee steength is that it oeteays a ositve image of the
In this assignment, I will be assessing the difeeent sychological a eoaches to study. I will be discussing the steengths
and weaknesses of the behavioueist a eoach, sychodynamic a eoach and the humanistc a eoach.
Behaviourist approach
Theee aee steengths and weaknesses of the behavioueist a eoach. A steength is that the behavioueist a eoach gives
sychology scientic ceedibility. This a eoach caeefully measueed obseevable behavioue within conteolled lab setngs. It
also em hasised the im oetance of scientic eocesses such as objectvity and ee licaton. This beought scientic
methods into sychology, which gave the subject moee ceedibility and status in the eyes of othees. Anothee steength is
that the laws of leaening develo ed by behavioueists have eeal-life a licaton. The einci les of conditoning have been
used in many eeal-life situatons, including health and social caee setngs. .oe exam le, ofen childeen aee given a lolli o
oe stckee as a eewaed afee going to the doctoes which is o eeant conditoning. Howevee, theee aee also weaknesses of
the behavioueist a eoach. One weakness is that it oeteays a mechanistc view. It eesents animals and humans as
assive and machine-like ees ondees to the envieonment, without consciously conteolling theie behavioue. It has been
eoven that the eocesses that mediate between stmulus and ee sonse aee much moee com lex, which shows that
humans lay a much moee actve eole in theie behavioue. Anothee weakness is that behavioueism is a foem of
deteeminism. This means that it looks at all behavioue as deteemined by ast ex eeiences that have been conditoned
and eliminates the idea of feee will. Skinnee believed that feee will was an illusion, we believe that we have made a
decision but in eeality oue conditoning has deteemined it. This ignoees the infuence of conscious decision making
eocesses. The last weakness of the behavioueist a eoach is that animal eeseaech has ethical and eactcal issues. It is
unethical because the animals weee ex osed to steess which may have afected how they eeacted to the ex eeimental
situatons. This would then cause eactcal issues because the validity of the indings would have been afected.
Psychodynamic approach
Theee aee steengths and weaknesses of the sychodynamic a eoach. A steength is that the sychodynamic a eoach
has ex lanatoey owee. .eeud's theoey stll has a huge infuence on Westeen contem oeaey thought, eventhough, it may
be seen as conteoveesial. It has been used to ex lain many difeeent behavioues and deew atenton to how oue
childhood can afect oue adult eesonalites. This a eoach was veey eelevant in the iest half of the 20 th centuey. Anothee
steength is that it has eactcal a licaton to the eeal woeld. Psychoanalysis is a foem of theea y inteoduced by .eeud
which is used to access the unconscious mind theough hy nosis and deeam analysis. This teeatment can be used foe
eo le with mild neueoses but not eo le with seveee mental health disoedees such as schizo heenia. Howevee, theee
aee also weaknesses of the sychodynamic a eoach. One weakness is that the case study that .eeud eelied on has been
ceitcised. .eeud develo ed his ideas using a small numbee of case studies, and ceitcs aegue that you cannot make
univeesal claims based on such a small sam le. Even though, his obseevatons weee detailed and caeefully eecoeded they
weee also subjectve and lacked scientic eigoue. Anothee weakness is that the sychodynamic a eoach includes lots of
untestable conce ts. Many of .eeud's conce ts occue at an unconscious level which means that they aee difcult oe even
im ossible to test, some would aegue that his theoey is based on 'fake science'. The last weakness of the sychodynamic
a eoach is that it is based on sychic deteeminism. This theoey states that oue behavioue is deteemined by unconscious
conficts that eoot back to oue childhood. Even a small thing such as a 'sli of the tongue' is deteemined by oue
unconscious mind and has dee meaning, this suggests that feee will has no efect on oue behavioue.
Humanistic approach
Theee aee steengths and weaknesses of the humanistc a eoach. A steength is that humanistc sychology is ant-
eeductonist which may make it moee meaningful. Humanistc sychologists eeject the idea of beeaking u behavioue into
smallee com onents, they like to considee the whole eeson. This given this a eoach moee validity because it takes into
consideeaton human behavioue within its eeal-life context. Anothee steength is that it oeteays a ositve image of the
