1. Key Approaches
in Psychology

2. Cognitive Approach
This looks at the way we interpret information we receive through the senses
It’s all about the way we think
If our thinking is faulty, then our behaviour will be too e.g...
“Alice doesn’t seem to like me anymore, so I’m not going to call her or go out with her”
The approach explains why two people can be in the same situation, but not react in the same way (because they think differently)
Cognitive psychologists believe that the brain works like a computer in the way it processes information

3. Behaviourist Approach
Behaviourists believe that all behaviour is learned in the environment
Behaviour is shaped by its consequences, so if you learn that something good happens when you behave in a certain way, you are likely to repeat that behaviour
They do not believe in any biological basis of behaviour
They believe that the child comes into the world as a blank slate (tabula rasa)
It is known as behaviourism because they believe that only observable behaviour should be studied, not people’s thoughts which are too subjective
According to this approach, behaviour can be learned through operant or classical conditioning (as in Pavlov’s experiment with dogs)

4. Biological Approach
This approach believes that all our behaviour has a biological cause
We may inherit it from our parents, or it may be caused by our hormones or neurotransmitters (chemicals in the brain)
Some behaviours may result from brain abnormalities or infection
E.g., Clive wearing lost the ability to make new memories because an infection destroyed part of his brain
This means that they believe that psychological disorders have a physical cause, and can therefore be treated with drug therapies

5. Psychodynamic Approach
This approach suggests that personality is shaped in the first five years of life
This seeks pleasure
This mediates between the two
Psychological abnormalities are the result of repressed unconscious conflicts (thoughts and feelings we are not aware we have)
Children go through psychosexual stages of development
For example, a hostility expressed towards a particular person, may be a result of a repressed attraction to that person - this is know as a defence mechanism
Personality is made up of:
For example, a child who is too strictly potty trained in the anal stage…
May turn out to be a miserly adult
Conflicts arise in each of these stages
This is the moral side of personality
Failure to resolve these conflicts can lead to adult personality problems

6. Humanist Approach
This approach rejects the idea that there are general principles that can be used to explain human behaviour
They believe that each person should be viewed as a unique individual, and their subjective experience should be studied
Humanists believe that every person has an innate need to fulfil their potential and become the best that they can be
Unlike other approaches, they believe that individuals have free will over their behaviour, rather than their behaviour being determined by biological or environmental forces
A person who is prevented from working towards self actualisation is likely to suffer from mental problems
This is known as ‘self-actualisation’
You are the master of your own destiny!
Personal growth is an essential part of being human