Contrast and Compare Two Perspectives Within Psychology
Contrast and Compare Two Perspectives Within Psychology
By Victoria Whatmough
Oldham Life Long Learning
The two perspectives that are going to be focused on in this assignment are the cognitive perspective and the biological perspective. Within the above perspectives, the key points are going to be the contrast of these perspectives and how they compare with reference to emotions.
There are several main areas of psychology, each area (or perspective) gives different kinds of information, which we can use in an attempt to understand people and their behaviour. Before we begin to analyse our chosen perspectives here is an insight of a few other areas within ? and it's history.
The emergence of psychology is dated at 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany. Wundt attempted to investigate the mind through 'introspection' (the process of observing the operations of one's mind). In 1913 psychologists, especially John.B.Watson, an American psychologist, questioned introspection. He stated that no accurate results could be proved as everybody's thought processes were different. Only the individual can observe there own mental processes. Watson believed that behaviour should be studied, as it was measurable and can be observed by more than one person. This was known as behaviourism and dominated psychology for the next forty years. It was at this time that Psychology broke away from Philosophy.
In Austria and Germany 20 years later, Gestalt psychologist also reacted to the idea of structuralism and behaviourism, they studied on the basis that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts'. Gestalt ?'s were mainly interested in people's perceptions and they believed perceptions could not be broken down in the way Wundt stated.
Earlier that century in around 1900, Freud, a neurologist published his psychodynamic theory of personality, he believed that the unconscious mind played a large role in understanding behaviour. Freud's theories also represented an alternative to behaviourism. According to Freud, "the unconscious is the source of our motivations, whether they be simple desires for food or sex, neurotic compulsions, or the motives of an artist or scientists. (http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/freud.html2002).
One of the main areas within psychology is known as the cognitive perspective. This is to do with gathering and use of information, taking information in and making sense of it (perception). How we retain, attain and regain information. These mental processes are known as cognition, which is how cognitive ? got its name. Some accounts of the cognitive perspective date back to the early 1900's originating from two early schools of thought, Structuralism and Gestalt's (the focus being mental processes). The actual cognitive perspective didn't occur until the late 1950's as a major challenge to behaviourism. It was around this time that scientists started to compare the human brain to a computer. The computer provided the ideal analogy and a good basis for understanding human cognition. Therefore, cognitive ?'s seek to explain cognition in terms of an information processing system, the brain being the processor and the data being both the input and output from it.
The year 1956 was a very important year within the cognitive perspective. At a meeting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Chomsky introduced his theory of language, Miller presented a paper on 'the magical number seven' in short term memory, and Newell and Simon presented a paper on the logical theory machine, with a further paper from Newell and Simon et al (1958).
As we are unable to observe our thought processes directly, we can still gain an insight in to them by ways of experiments and making inferences on a person's behaviour. These inferences have ...
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The year 1956 was a very important year within the cognitive perspective. At a meeting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Chomsky introduced his theory of language, Miller presented a paper on 'the magical number seven' in short term memory, and Newell and Simon presented a paper on the logical theory machine, with a further paper from Newell and Simon et al (1958).
As we are unable to observe our thought processes directly, we can still gain an insight in to them by ways of experiments and making inferences on a person's behaviour. These inferences have to be supported by objective and empirical data. Therefore, cognitive ?'s often use the experimental method of research with the emphasis being on control. Sometimes a method known as protocol analysis is used to give scientists an insight into how people solve problems. This involves asking people to talk aloud about what they are thinking as they do a test, at the same time analysing what they say. One criticism of research carried out within a laboratory setting is that the results can be 'unrealistic' as the setting of the experiment is unrealistic. (www.pitt.edu/suthers)
The biological perspective looks at the role of the brain when trying to explain behaviour. This includes the function of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and the influence of hormones. It also looks at genetics and the heritability of behavioural traits. Biological psychologists are specifically interested in the biology of behaviour. Psychologists who study the biological perspectives are known as bio-psychologists.
The role of genetics in behaviour is also linked to the nature-nurture debate, are we born the way we are or do the environment and our peers influence our behaviour?
The CNS and the brain consists of billions of neurons which are used to carry electrical impulses (or chemical messages) to and from the brain, each neuron is linked together by a synapse, these tiny buttons release neurotransmitters into vesicles of the next neuron.
There are around 100 different kinds of neurotransmitters found in the brain each plays some role in behaviour. Often we find a key behaviour with each neurotransmitter.
The Bio perspective is very scientific based and can be studied in many ways, for example, Lashley (1920's) carried out a series of experiments in which he demonstrated that memory and learning are impaired if part of the brain cortex is removed. This technique is known as ablation, it involves the removal of parts of the brain by surgery or by the use of electrodes.
The brain can now be studied using several non-intrusive techniques, for example, the angiogram, an x-ray picture of dyes injected into the blood and from the early 1970's, cat scans (computerised axial tomogram) where used as they were more sophisticated than the angiogram.
Emerging from the 1980's came PET (positron emission tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). PET is similar to angiohram research, the difference being, radioactive glucose is injected into the brain instead of dyes, creating moving pictures of the active brain. Therefore, the brain can be seen working while somebody is talking, speaking or listening. All the above methods of studying brain activity are based in the hospital, which can prove expensive and time consuming.
A well-established way of measuring brain activity is the EEG (electro-encephalogram), first used by Berger 1929. This method can be used on conscious people without discomfort by attaching electrodes to the skin. Electrical impulses in the cortex can be monitored and seen in a graph form on a meter.
Much well established research has highlighted the close interaction between mental processes and biological changes within the body. Hans Seyle (1956,1974) carried out research, which led him to propose the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which describes hormonal, biochemical and physiological factors in individuals. (Perspectives in Psychology, Wadeley, Birch and Malin (1992).
Much research has been devoted to identifying the brain structures involved in behaviour, especially emotional behaviour.
In 1884, William James publishes an article in a philosophy journal. The article was named 'What is an emotion?'
James stated that emotion was a sequence of events that starts with stimulus and concludes with a feeling, a conscious emotional experience. The main question James focused on was 'Do we run from a bear because we are afraid or are we afraid because we run?
He proposed that the obvious answer, that we run because we are afraid, was incorrect and instead argued that we are afraid because we run:
"Our natural way of thinking about.... emotions is that the mental perception of some fact excites the mental affection called emotion, and that the latter state of mind gives rise to bodily expression. My thesis on the contrary is that the bodily changes follow directly the PERCEPTION of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur IS the emotion".
James. W (1884) What is an emotion? Mind 9, 188-205
William James Chain of Emotion
Stimulus ? Response ? Feeling
(Bear) (Run) (Fear)
The essence of James proposal was simple. Emotions are often accompanied by bodily responses (increase in heartbeat, perspiring, erratic breathing). Since different emotions have different responses, the feedback to the brain is different and would, according to James, account for how we feel in such situations.
In 1885, Carl Lange independently proposed a theory, very similar to that of James. From then on, the theory became known as the James-Lange theory.
Cannon (1927) and Bard (1928) criticised the James -Lange theory on the basis that each emotion would need it's own distinct pattern of activity to the brain, otherwise the part of the brain dealing with emotions, the cortex, would not be able to determine which emotion should be 'felt'.
The Cannon-Bard theory claims that information sent to the cortex produces emotions at the same time as physiological and behavioural responses are produced. However, these are independent of one another. (Psychology: A New Introduction, pg357, Gross et al.)
External stimuli activate the thalamus, found in the fore brain, which acts as a kind of reception area for external stimuli. Which in turn sends sensory messages to the cortex for interpretation, simultaneously sending impulses to the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) and visceral and skeletal muscles.
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion
?
?
As research has shown, Cannon was incorrect to assume that the thalamus alone played a role in emotions. Other brain structures, for example, the hypothalamus and the limbic system also play large roles regarding emotions.
For James, emotional experience was determined by feedback to the brain from the bodily responses. But for Cannon emotions are defined by, mind processes contained within the brain especially within the thalamus.
In the early 1960's, Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer proposed a new solution to the James-Lange / Cannon -Bard debate. Schachter and Singer agreed that bodily feedback was very important in the emotion topic. They also believed Cannon was correct in stating bodily feedback lacked specificity. (The Emotional Brain, Joseph Le Doux, 1998).
With the new arrival of the cognitive perspective, Schachter and Singe argued that cognitions filled the gap of the specificity of bodily responses and the specificity of the emotion felt. Because the theory proposes arousal and cognition, it is sometimes referred to as the two-factor theory.
The Schachter-Singer cognitive Arousal Theory
Stimulus ? Arousal ? Cognition ? Feeling
Schachter and Singer conducted an experiment to investigate this idea.
They wanted to observe what happened when people experienced physical arousal, and how they would feel in different situations.
Male college students were informed that they were participating in a experiment looking at the effects of a vitamin compound 'Suproxin' on vision, and that they would have to receive an injection. The subjects were in fact given epinephrine (a hormone that increases heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure and muscles spasms).
All participants were split into four groups.
The first group (epinephrine-informed group) were told the real effects of the 'vitamin'. Group two (epinephrine-misinformed group) were given the 'vitamin' and were misinformed about the effects. They were told that the 'vitamin' may make them feel itchy, numb or could cause headache. Group three (epinephrine ignorant group) were not given any information about the 'vitamin' they were being injected with. Group four, named the controlled condition, were given a saline injection so there would be no change in physiological arousal. Without physiological arousal would we be able to experience emotion?
After the participants had received his injection, they were separately taken to a waiting room and asked to wait for the vision test. Once there he participant was introduced to another participant (a stooge). With some participants the stooge pretended to fill in a questionnaire, as he completed the questions he acted angrily to the nature of he questions and loudly complained. After a while, he ripped up the questionnaire and stormed out of the 'waiting room'. With other participants, the stooge acted 'euphorically', fooling around making paper aeroplanes. After the stooge had left the room, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire, which included questions about there emotional state.
The emotional responses of the participants were observed through a one-way mirror.
The results provided some support for Schachters theory, with participants showing emotional changes as predicted.
The participant's in-group one, the informed group, showed physiological arousal like anybody would who had been injected with epinephrine. The second factor, cognitive appraisal, was not present. These participants had an explanation for their arousal, the epinephrine.
Both the misinformed group and the ignorant group, showed the two factors in this experiment. Both cognitive appraisal and physiological arousal were present.
The controlled group showed neither of the factors. If the physiological factor were not present, participants wouldn't be able to change their emotional state, as arousal has to be present for the emotion to occur.
Findings that participants emotional states seemed to change irrespective of whether they were in he 'angry' or 'euphoric' condition is also important, because it supports the view that the type of physiological arousal can be associated with different emotions.
As with any experiment Schachter and Singers experiment didn't go without criticism.
This experiment lacked control and therefore was not a very good experiment, but it did give an insight how physical sensations and our own knowledge of the situation can work simultaneously.
Other criticisms were that epinephrine does not affect everyone in exactly the same way. Schachter and Singer also omitted to assess the participant's mood prior to the experiment. Also, some people are afraid of injections (needles); this could have an affect on a person's emotional state.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cardwell, M Psychology (1994) Longman Group Ltd
Gleitman, H Psychology (1995) W.W Norton & Co
Gross et al Understanding Psychology (2001) HodderStoughton
Hayes, N Psychology (1994) Hodder & Stoughton
Ledoux Joseph The Emotional Brain (1998) Weidenfeld Nicholson
Wadeley et al Perspectives in Psychology (1992) MacMillan
Websites
www.s-cool.co.uk
www.pitt.edu
www.library.thinkquest.org
www.epub.org.br
Britannica Cd Rom
Victoria Whatmough Page 1 5/1/2007