Psychology Perspectives
This behaviourist perspective is that we can understand any type of behaviour by looking at what the person has learned. Pesonality traits for example shyness, confidence, and optimism. Pavlov (CLASSICAL CONDITIONING) Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist working with dogs to investigate their digestive systems. The dogs tested where attached to harness, and Pavlov attached monitor to their stomachs and mouths so he could measure the rate of salvation. He noticed when the laboratory assistant came in with the food before the dog had actually tasted the food the dog began to salivate.
Pavlov speculated that the dog salivating because it had learned to associate the laboratory assistant with the food. This is when his theory began. Food automatically led to the response of salivation. Since salivation is an automatic response, he called this unconditioned response. This means a response that regularly occurs when an unconditioned stimulus is presented. As the food automatically leads to this response, he called this an unconditioned stimulus; this means a stimulus that regularly and consistently leads to an automatic (not learned) response.
Pavlov then presented food at the same time as the bell; too see if the dog would learn to associate the bell with food. After many goes the dog learned that the bell associated with food and began to salivate when only the bell rung and no food was presented. This is called conditioned response; this means a new, learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that mimics the response to unconditioned stimulus, it had learned the conditioned response of salivation to the conditioned stimulus (the bell).
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Conditioned stimulus means a neutral stimulus that, when paired with the unconditioned stimulus, produces a conditioned (learned) response, just as the unconditioned response used to. Skinner (OPERANT CONDITIONING) Burrhus Frederic Skinner, an American psychologist who worked mostly with rats and pigeons, to discover some of the key principles of learning new behaviours. He used a famous device, called a Skinner box. The box contained a leaver which, when pressed, released a food pellet into the box, this reinforcing lever-pressing behaviour.
At first when he rat is in the box it will be running around sniffing his new surroundings, which at some point it, will press the leaver, releasing a food pellet. After a while when the rat has repeatedly performed this action, it will learn that this behaviour (pressing the leaver) I automatically followed by the release of a food pellet (the consequence). As the pellet is experienced as reinforcing (something that the rat would like to have more of), you called this positive reinforcement, this is happens when the consequence following a particular is experienced as desirable.
Skinner then used a negative reinforcement which is when behaviour results in a consequence that removes something unpleasant. The negative reinforcement he used was a very low electrical current on the floor of the Skinner box. The current could be de-activated if the rat pressed the lever. Social learning theory Role models are very important. We can learn new behaviour from anyone but we imitate behaviour if we are strongly influenced by the way we perceive the person. We can be influenced by others when we observe someone who we admire behaving in a particular way; we are more likely to imitate such behaviour.
Solomon Asch, social psychologist conducted experiments to show how an individual’s behaviour could be influenced and changed because they did not want to stand out from a crowd. This is known as ‘Majority Influence’ we all have a powerful desire to fit in and belong. He gathered a group of 6 people together. These people were play acting according to instruction. They were joined by a naïve participant and asked to take part in a visual perception test. Albert Bandura, theory is we learn from people we are exposed to in our environment. We learn new behaviours from people we observe, either in real life or in the media.
This is called observational learning. The person we learn from is known as a role model (someone who has characteristics that inspire us to copy their behaviour). The process of imitating is called modelling (a process of basing behaviour, attitude, and style, of speech or dress on someone we admire or would like to be. Introduction This is a theory of human development which emphasises the interaction of biological drives with the social environment. Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychologist, who developed the theory of psychodynamic psychology and the treatment known as psychoanalysis.
Freud suggested that what we are aware of is represented in our conscious mind but many of our memories, feelings and past experiences are locked up in a part of our mind which he calls “unconscious”. We cannot access the contents of our unconscious, but they often “leak out” in our dreams or maybe just slip out of our tongue. He said early experiences are also important is in later life behaviours is clearly illustrated by Freud’s development theory of psychosexual several stages; 1. Oral Stage, primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important.
The mouth is crucial for eating, and the infant derives pleasure from oral stimulation through rewarding activities such as tasting and sucking because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers, the infant also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation. 2. Anal Stage, primary focus of the libido was on controlling bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training; the child has to learn to control his or her bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of accomplishment and independence. 3. Phallic Stage, primary focus of the libido is on the genitals.
At this age, children also begin to discover the differences between males and females. Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s affections. 4. Latency Stage, The stage begins around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer relationships, hobbies and other interests. 5. Genital Stage, during the final stage of psychosexual development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.
He tries to explain the power of early experience and how this may influence the adult personality. Freud divided the mind (the psyche) into 3 structures, the id, the ego and the superego. According to Freud these appear at different stages of a child’s development and are empowered by the libido (energy). The ID, part of the psyche we are born with, it operates on the pleasure principle, contains all our basic instincts such as need for food, drink, warmth. The Ego, part of the mind whose function it is to moderate the demands of the id and prevent the superego being too harsh, E. . Repression is a defence mechanism when a person forgets an event , denial is also a defence mechanism because your pushing am event or emotion out of consciousness. It operates on the reality principle. The superego, roughly equivalent to a conscience, the superego consists of an internalisation of all the values of the right and wrong we have been socialised to believe in. It also contains an image of our ideal self. Erik Erikson, a psychologist who agreed mostly with Freud’s theory in so far as he thought we developed through a series of stages.
He also believed Freud’s put too much emphasis on our desire for individual gratification and not enough of our need to be accepted in society and lead meaningful life. The different psychosocial stages: Stage 1 (0-1 Year): This stage focuses on how the infant is parented, the positive outcome of this is it dependable, responsive, and caring parenting leads to a sense of trust. The negative outcome is parenting lacks warmth and affection or is inconsistent leads to mistrust. Stage 2 (1- 3): This stage is being enabled to do things by yourself; the positive outcome is being supported in growing independence leads to a sense of autonomy.
The negative outcome is being criticised and over-controlled leads to a feeling of doubt about your own competence. Stage 3 (3-6): This stage is interaction with the world; the positive is being encouraged to try out new skills and explore the world leads to a sense of initiative. The negative is being hampered in the desire to find things out. Stage 4 (6-12): This stage is to understand how things are made and how they work; the positive outcome is the ability to succeed at realistic tasks leads to a sense of industry. The negative outcome is being published take on tasks they are not ready for leafs to a sense of inferiority.
Stage 5 (12-18): This stage is developing a consistent sense of identify by experimentation, the positive outcome is the experimentation leads to a secure sense of identity. The negative outcome is the inabilities to experiment and develop a sense of identify leads to role confusion and a negative identify. Introduction Humanistic psychology looks at human experience from the viewpoint of the individual. It focuses on the idea of free will and the belief that we are all capable of making choices. Two psychologists associated with this approach are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) an American psychologist who believed that we are all seeking to become the best that we can be, spiritually, physically, emotionally and intellectually. He called this self-actualisation, with this he constructed a theory known as the hierarchy of needs, in which he explained that every human being requires certain basic needs to be met before they will be able to approach the next level. Maslow believed that until our basic physiological needs are met, we will focus on all kind of energies on getting them met and not be able to progress further.
When we are all well-houses, well-fed and comfortable physically, we begin to focus on our emotional needs, such and the need to belong and be loved and to feel self-esteem. When our lives are such that these needs are met, we strive to self-actualise. Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was particularly interested in the concept of self. There are many aspects of the self but there are three important ones, self-esteem, self-concept and internalise. Self-Esteem, this is how valuable we feel as individuals. Someone with high self-esteem will believe they are loved and loveable and that they are important and valued.
On the other hand people with low self-esteem may feel themselves to be worthless, of no value to anyone else, unloved and unlovable. Self-concept, this is how we see ourselves. In early life this comes from what we are told about ourselves E. g. You’re so Amazing, You’re such a good singer. As we grow older, our ability to think about ourselves develops and we begin to incorporate our own judgements e. g. I was really good at Science, I was the best driver, I wasn’t invited to that party- I was unpopular. Internalise, this is to do the way we take in information from the outside world and build it into our sense of self.
It then becomes part of our feelings, thoughts and beliefs about who we are and what we expect from the world around us. Introduction This psychological perspective gas gained enormous ground since the 1960’sm when the influence of behaviourism began to wane. A great deal of research has been devoted to understanding cognitive processes such as attention , memory , perception, information processing , problem solving , though language and other aspects of cognition. Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss psychologist who initially worked on measuring intelligence.
He came to a conclusion that cognition develops through a series of stages m each new stage building on the previous one after he noticed children the same age made the same mistakes in logic. Stage 1: Sensory-motor (0-2), the world is experienced through motor activity and the senses. Stage 2: Pre-operational (2-7), Language develops along with memory. The child is egocentric and unable to conserve. Stage 3: Concrete operational (7-11), the child can now understand conversation but cannot yet solve problems mentally.
Stage 4: Formal operational (11+), the child can now use abstract thoughts and represent problems mentally. Introduction The biological perspective is one of the major approaches to doing psychological research, which is focused on the idea that behaviours have biological causes. Common types of biological studies on behaviour include things like the effects of physical child abuse on future adult actions, how injuries such as head trauma affect behaviour, or whether or not criminal behaviour can be explained by genetics.
Maturation theory: The theory holds that the effects of the environment are miminal. The child is born with a set of genetic instructions passed down from its parents, and it’s cognitive, physical and other developmental processes merely unfold over time, rather than being dependent upon the environment to mature. This is the effect, a theory which states that development is due to nature not nature. Arnold Gesell, a psychologist and educator in the 1940s, was interested in child development. He did frequent observations of children, which Gesell formulated a theory known as maturation.
This theory stated that developmental changes in a child's body or behaviour are a result of the aging process rather than from learning, injury, illness, or some other life experience. Gesell's idea of maturation was fixed in the biological, physiological, and evolutionary sciences. As a result, Gesell centered most of his theory on the power of biological forces, which he felt provided momentum for development to occur. Gesell and his contemporaries proposed that development follows an arranged sequence and that the biological and evolutionary history of the species decides the order of this cycle.
Maturation supports the idea that each child's unique genetic and biological makeup determines the rate of development despite of other potential environmental influences. Genetic influences on behaviour, genes can affect behaviour in many ways. Some disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia, are caused when both parents pass on the gene for the disorder. Disorders that occur regardless of environmental influences, such as those listed above, are genetically determined disorders. This means that the individual who inherits the gene or genes is certain to develop the disorder, regardless of environmental factors.
The influence of the nervous and endocrine systems on behaviour, the autonomic system produces its effects through activation of nerve fibres throughout the nervous system, brain and body or by stimulating the release of hormones from endocrine glands such as adrenal and pineal glands. The hormones are biochemical substances and they are released into the blood stream and have a profound effect on target organs and on behaviour. They are present in very small groups and individual molecules have a very short life, so their effects quickly disappear if they are not secreted 24/7.
There are all sorts of different hormones in our body including. Melatonin, which is released by the pineal gland and its job, is to act on the brainstem sleep mechanism to help synchronise the phrases of sleep and activity. The second hormone is testosterone; this is released in the testicles in which may influence aggressive behaviour. The last one is oxytocin; this is release by the pituitary gland and stimulates the milk production and female orgasms. Only some hormones are released as a response to external stimuli. For example, the pineal glands respond to reduced daylight by increasing production of melatonin.
M1 After doing my P1 criteria, I’ve look backed and only certain perspectives explain well and here are my opinions on them. These are Skinner (Behaviourist Perspective), Carl Rodgers (Humanistic Perspective), Sigmund Freud (Psychodynamic Approach) and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs helps explain also. On the other hand, I do not agree that our behaviour is simply down to our genes. In my opinion I believe that the environment and what we surround our self with has a huge impact on our behaviour. Due to this explanation I don’t think Gesell explains it very clear.
I think Albert Bandura explains it very well as it is true we do tend to try to be like and want to be like people we consider as our role model. However, we only copy behaviours that interest us. In my opinion I don’t think the biological perspective explains behaviour well as I don’t believe that just our genes determine our behaviour, to me there is more to it. Such as our upbringing and environment and personal beliefs. People may say we don’t always copy a behaviour that we have seen by observing others as it may be reinforcing negative behaviour and therefore we recognize it as wrong and for those reasons we do not want to copy it.
The behaviour could also be something that you don’t agree with as it may go against your beliefs or the way you have been brought up E. g. Moral and Values. We are more likely to copy behaviour from someone we know E. g. Peers like Family and Friends or aspire to be like. We are likely not to copy if we don’t have the same opinion or if it is simply against our beliefs or what we have been told. If the person has had a bad experience from doing certain behaviours, then we see it as a lesson and as a result we do not do the same, as we see it as negative behaviour.
Another reason is if the outcome of that specific behaviour wasn’t something we anticipate. Also if the person who behaved in a certain way. In addition to this we are less likely to copy someone who is being punished for a certain action. We only imitate behaviours that interest us. Therefore, in my opinion I feel like the approach that is best at explaining behaviour is Skinner and his skinner box. I think this is the best approach when explaining behaviour as it is truthful and the outcome have shown this.
I also believe it is the most successful as I believe it is true when we are satisfied with something and like the way it works. We will continue to use that service as long as it keeps us happy and meets our needs. This is very similar to what the rat was doing inside the Skinner box. Whenever the rat felt hungry it would press the lever which would then release a food pellet. The rat then continues to press the lever. This is similar to an individual being satisfies with a service as it is giving the individual what it requires therefore they keep going back.
As they see it as a positive experience. Then it became an unpleasant experience when the rat was becoming electric shocked once pressing the lever. The rat then learned that it would continue to receive the shock if it continued to press the lever. So the rat learned to stop as it wasn’t having a pleasant experience. This is the same with us, if we started to have a horrible experience somewhere the likeliness is that we would stop using that service, and in the same way the rat stopped using the lever. Also when we do something where we see positive results, we will carry on.
However, when the conflicting event occurs we will learn to stop carrying out that behaviour as it isn’t working in the way we wish. Therefore I believe this is the best approach to behaviour as I feel it is the truest in real life. My second person who I think explains behaviour well is Sigmund Freud. This is because he explained behaviour in a way where people can relate too. As the past we don’t often perhaps think of but sometimes it may hit us and make us realise that we were still carrying those memories and past experiences with us but we just didn’t realise.
He also said they often leak out in dreams and slips of the tongue. Although we don’t always think of it as such, it is still there with us and that is what makes us dream about it. We then realise that it is still on our mind and it is something that is still creating an effect on us, even if the event occurred many years ago. My last person I agree with is Carl Rodgers. I judge what a child has been told throughout their life, will affect who and how they develop when they are older.
For example, someone who has been called horrible names, will feel of no value will develop a low self esteem and confidence and they won’t feel good enough to do certain events. They will not feel very constructive about themselves. Therefore they may give up on life and may miss many good opportunities. However someone who has always be pushed in life and have been told that they are smart and will do well, may actually go on in life and do well as they feel they have people that believe them. Therefore they believe in themselves and so this person will have developed a high self esteem and may be quite.
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Psychology Perspectives. (2016, Sep 28). Retrieved from https://phdessay.com/psychology-perspectives/
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