There have been numerous research studies in this field. I will outline some of the major ones. One of the earliest examples is by a doctor Broca (1861). In a post mortem he discovered that a specific area of the brain was responsible for the subjects inability to speak. This gave evidence to a localisation of brain functions, which corresponded to the view that behaviour had a physiological influence.
Lashley investigated memory and learning in the 1920’s where he used a technique called ablation on rats. This involved removing part of the cortex in the brain of the rat. As a result memory and learning were impaired. He concluded that the more brain tissue of a rat he destroyed the more its behaviour was affected.
Significant amounts of research have been carried out on emotions in this perspective. Most notably by Olds and Milner in the 1950’s. They used electrical stimulation of the brain. This involved stimulating neurons with mild electrical current through an implanted electrode. They found and stimulated the pleasure centre of a rat’s brain, which led it to return to the area of its cage where it had been stimulated previously.
COGNITIVE
The key notion in the cognitive approach is that the human mind is an information processor, similar to a computer. Information is selected, coded, stored and recalled when needed. They believe that events occurring within a person need to be studied if we are to understand that person’s behaviour. These events are referred to as mediators as they occur between the stimulus and the behaviour. With this being apparent the main areas of research cognitive Ψ focuses on are memory, perception and language.
A cognitivist called Neisser (1964) investigated perception by using pattern recognition in his feature detection theory. He used the letters of the alphabet to demonstrate this. The letters are made up of basic features such as vertical lines, curves and diagonal lines. In 1964 he asked participants to search through lists of letters looking for a pre-specified one. He found that his subjects found the letter A far more swiftly when surrounded by letter such as O, Q, and G rather than N, E and W. This showed that the recognition of letters involves the brain in the detection of these features, and that the fewer common features present the quicker the brain recognises.
Piaget (1896-1980) who studied cognitive development in neo nates through to adolescence produced one of the most famous theories in this area. He saw cognitive development having 4 key stages. Firstly the sensorimotor stage (0-2), the baby has an innate reflex to situations, which gives the basis for future development. These are called schemas and are like plans of appropriate action in certain situations. The baby has no concept of anything which is out of sight e.g. it doesn’t exist; he referred to this as object permanence. Second is the pre-operational stage (2-7). This involves conservation, which is the ability to perceive differences in appearance and size. Thirdly, the concrete operational stage (7-11). The child’s emotions become more developed and become less egocentric. This is referred to as decentration; a more empathic approach is taken. Last is the formal operational stage where the child develops abstract thought and is able to demonstrate deductive reasoning. This theory is widely regarded and used to form the basis for modern child psychology.
HUMANIST
Humanistic psychologists believe that Ψ should focus on the subjective, conscious experience of the individual. They place great emphasis on the uniqueness of humans and the freedom to choose their own destiny. Humans are motivated by the drive to achieve they’re full potential (to self-actualise) and that present experiences are as important as past ones. The approach dismisses scientific methods of research, as they are deemed inappropriate for the study of humans. The two main exponents of humanist Ψ are Maslow and Rogers.
Maslow’s (1908-1970) research involved the motives that drive people towards self-actualisation. He identified two types of motivation. First is deficiency motivation, which is the need to reduce and abate physiological tensions such as hunger and thirst. Secondly is growth motivation, which concentrates on the satisfaction of needs like the need to be esteemed and loved. From this he developed his Hierarchy of needs. He believed the needs in the hierarchy to be innate. The lower needs in the hierarchy such as food, shelter and water must be satisfied if that individual is to progress up the hierarchy. The end goal is to become self-actualised, to realise one’s full potential and be fulfilled.
Rogers’s (1902-1987) work involved what he called the would/should dilemma. This is concerned with the conflict of what an individual ought to do and what they feel is best for themselves. A conflict in this causes anxiety. The individual is unique and has a need for positive regard from others. He believed that we are all born with an actualising tendency, which is the development into mature and healthy human beings. Central to this theory is the concept of the self. This can be split into the perceived and ideal self. The perceived self involves the individual’s perception of the world and of his/her own behaviour. The ideal self is what the individual would like to be. An imbalance between these leads to psychological problems. This was developed into treatment which was very much client centred, which gives help to the clients clarification of their thoughts on problems and gain greater insight into them.
PSYCHOANALYTICAL OR PSYCHODYNAMIC
This school of thought developed from the most famous psychologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Psychoanalysists believe the human personality contains and is greatly influenced by the unconscious mind harbouring repressed memories, which determine conscious thoughts and behaviour. They also believe that human beings have innate instinctual drives, which motivate and regulate behaviour; the source of these drives is the libido, which is sexual in nature.
Freud believed that the human personality consisted of three parts, the Id, the Ego and the superego. These interacted with each other to form our personality, morality and normality. The Id is innate and is the pleasure aspect e.g. the devil on our shoulder. The Superego is learned and is our morality or conscience e.g. the angel. The ego is our morality principle and mediates between the other two. If there is a tendency towards the id or superego Freud believed that this was the source of neurosis and psychological problems.
Freud’s theory of personality development consisted of 5 stages. If the child became fixated in any of these stages it would lead to different psychological problems in later life.
Oral. Age 0-1. The child’s activities centre on crying, feeding and teething. Fixation at this stage leads to nail- biting, smoking or overeating.
Anal. Age 1-3. The main focus in the child’s life is toilet training. A fixation in this stage leads to being anally retentive or anally expulsive (e.g. tidy/messy).
Phallic. Age 3-5. A physical awareness of gender and gender differentiation. Fixation in this stage leads to a difficulty with relationships and one’s own sexuality.
Latency. Age 5-Puberty. This is a period of consolidation for the first three stages.
Genital. Age Puberty-Maturity. Here interest turns to the formation of heterosexual relationships.
As a summary Freud’s key theory is that the individual is shaped by early experiences.
EVALUATION OF THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH
This approach has strong strengths and weaknesses. Behaviourists adopted a scientific method to their studies, so results and conclusions can be measured and therefore can be seen as more reliable. This challenged traditional methods of research. So by using scientific methods in the study of psychology they broke into new ground and a new ways of thinking were developed. With regard to practical applications of their research, many of the theories produced still hold true today. For example, classical and operant conditioning is used in the training of animals and pets using punishment and rewards. As for treatment of humans, such methods like systematic desensitisation and flooding are used for the treatment of maladaptive behaviour. These include addiction to alcohol, drugs and smoking or the treatment of phobias.
On the down side there is the issue of ethics in the research methods used. The study of little Albert by Watson and Rayner (1920) is one such example. An eleven month old child was subjected to harmful conditioning, which if repeated today would evoke national outrage. Animal welfare is also an issue. Pavlov used surgical techniques to remove dog’s saliva glands in his studies on classical conditioning. Modern psychological ethics would not allow these studies to take place, but at the time in which they were carried out a different moral code and social acceptance existed. Therefore the research is accepted today as valuable and can be applied usefully.
Another weakness in the Behaviourist theory is that there is no room for individual thought or mental processes. They believe that all behaviour is a result of stimulus-response. No regard is given to the areas of intelligence or emotions for example. This makes the approach quite narrow minded in what it can explain, although still relevant.
EVALUATION OF THE PSYCHOANALYTICAL APPROACH
Psychoanalysis is viewed as the forefather of modern psychology. The other approaches were conceived later in opposition to it. It formed the basis of what we call psychology today. In that sense it is viewed as dated and many aspects have been ridiculed because of this. But it cannot be discounted as many of the ideas that Freud developed are still widely held today. Freud will always hold a place in psychologist’s hearts as the founding father of modern psychology.
Freud was the first to develop an understanding of personality using psychological methods. The fact that early events in our lives shape who we are is something that we believe to be true. We are not always aware of our thoughts. Freud’s theory of the sub-conscious mind is fact. It has been scientifically proven that we only employ a small percentage of our brain capacity. This also backs up the idea of defence mechanisms. Unwanted or painful events or thoughts are pushed into our sub-conscious and forcibly ‘forgotten’ to protect us from psychological damage. Freud’s treatment methods are still used today. The psychiatrist’s couch is the public’s view of psychology. This method is widely used today as a treatment for psychological disorders.
On the down side the research into the approach is historical rather than practical or scientific. The theories cannot be measured or quantified in any way. Freud’s subjects were also very limited. He formed his theories from the study of nominal and questionable sources such as neurotics, and his whole theory of psychosexual development was derived from one subject. So if the basis for the research is in doubt the results must also be brought into question. In modern research a large sample is demanded to give room for error and individual differences. The main theme is that we are controlled by our past, this is true to an extent but it implies that we have no control over our lives. All our actions are pre-determined by past experiences. This has also brought reservations about the merit of Freud’s theories. Flawed though it is, without it the world of psychology would be a different place.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Printed publications:
Perspectives in psychology Wadeley and Birch 1997 Macmillan
Psychology in perspective Hayes 2002 Palgram
Mind watching H and M Eysenck 1994 MMB
Internet Sites:
www.psychology.org