Psychology is extremely diverse; it can investigate some of the most random things. For instance, there's research out there investigating whether couples start to match facial features over time, odd right? Not only is the disciple diverse in the topics of interest, but it is also different in how these concepts are understood. There are five main approaches in psychology; behavioural, psychodynamic, biological, cognitive and humanistic.
- We will start by answering the question, "what are approaches in psychology?".
- Then we will explore the five main approaches in psychology, including the cognitive approaches in psychology, biological approach: psychology and learning approaches: psychology, to name a few.
- After, we will explore the link between the approaches and research methods in psychology.
- Finally, we will summarise what we've learned with a psychology approaches comparison table.
What are Approaches in Psychology?
Approaches in psychology are called schools of thought. In psychology, there are five main approaches biological, cognitive, psychodynamic, behavioural and humanistic. Each of these major approaches in psychology explains human behaviour differently and prefers differing research methods to investigate these.
Approaches in Psychology: The Psychodynamic Approach
In the late 1900s, Sigmund Freud established the psychodynamic approach, a personality theory that emphasised unconsciousness.
Psychodynamic means' mind in conflict'; therefore, the approach is based on the idea that certain parts of our personality conflict with others.
Freud argued that human behaviour emerged as a consequence of the interaction of the components of the psyche (mind). These were: the id, the ego and the superego.
The id is responsible for urges and impulses, the ego seeks to avoid breaking social rules and norms, and the superego considers our moral values. The three aspects of the psyche are thought to be in constant conflict, and the balance between the two is what makes up our personality.
Further, Freud argued that the psyche develops during the psychosexual stages of development; during these stages, children receive pleasure from different body regions. Children becoming fixated on a stage can lead to psychological illnesses.
The approach highlights the importance of early childhood experiences.
Freud explained that individuals use defence mechanisms to deal with the conflict between the id, the ego and the superego. Some examples of defence mechanisms are repression and denial.
- Repression is when someone hides a memory deep into their unconscious, so it isn't easy to access it consciously.
- Denial is when someone does not accept something as reality, e.g. may think it was a dream.
Learning Approaches: Psychology
Psychology underwent a dramatic change in the early 1900s. Moving away from Freud's ideas of the conscious mind, psychology was dominated by the scientific view and focused on observable and measurable behaviour. This is how behaviourism was born.
Behaviourism is the learning theory that suggests that all behaviour is acquired through the conditioning that takes place in the environment.
Behaviourists stress that we are all born as blank slates and can learn to be anything through our experiences.
Learning Approaches: Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov developed the theory of classical conditioning. Pavlov conducted an experiment with dogs and argued that learning occurs when an involuntary reflex is associated with a new stimulus.
Classical conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus (such as a bell) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (food) that occurs naturally. Eventually, the neutral stimulus evokes the same response (salivation) as the naturally occurring stimulus. Pavlov explained that this process would take place in three steps:
The main idea of this theory is that learning occurs through association.
Learning Approaches: Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is a theory developed by Skinner (1948), who demonstrated that learning occurs after associating behaviour with a consequence; such a consequence could either be a punishment or a reinforcement.
Skinner used the "Skinner box" with rats and pigeons; the animal was placed in a box where they could move freely. In the box, there was a level; when pressed, it would reward the animal with food. The animal eventually learned the association between the behaviour (pressing the lever) and the reinforcement (food).
Skinner suggested that punishments decrease the likelihood of the behaviour happening, while reinforcements increase the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again.
He distinguished between positive and negative consequences. Positive consequences essentially add something and negative consequences essentially remove something.
| Positive Example | Negative Example |
| Punishment | A child told off for hitting a sibling. | A child not being allowed TV time for getting bad grades. |
| Reinforcement | A child praised by his/her parents for eating all the vegetables. | Stop petting your dog when it jumps over you. |
The approach is criticised as reductionistic as it ignores free will. In addition, the research is often conducted in a lab, so it has low ecological validity. Furthermore, much of the early research was conducted on animals, raising extrapolation (generalising findings from human to animal) issues.
Approaches in Psychology: The Humanistic Approach
The humanistic approach supports the individual to fulfil their potential and maximise their well-being. It states that people need to be viewed as a whole. According to this approach, we have the innate capacity for self-actualisation, which is the desire to be the best version of ourselves. Another assumption of the approach is that humans have free will.
Free will is the capacity that humans possess to make decisions.
Abraham Maslow was a humanistic psychologist who developed the hierarchy of needs theory. This theory suggests that four previous stages must be achieved before self-actualisation. The five components of the self-actualisation theory are:
- Psychological needs refer to the basic needs of a human to function, such as water, food, sleep and a home.
- Safety refers to the protection from violence and the presence of well-being and emotional stability.
- Love and belonging refer to social interactions with friends and family.
- Self-confidence refers to believing that one is valuable and has potential for personal worth.
- Self-actualisation refers to the fulfilment of a person and their potential.
Fig. 1 - Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests individuals must follow through each stage sequentially to achieve self-actualisation
The humanistic approach is the basis of counselling psychology which promotes growth and well-being.
However, critics argue that it's difficult to prove the theories empirically (as they are not observable) and often criticised as an unrealistic approach (why can so few people reach self-actualisation and still be happy).
Cognitive Approaches in Psychology
The cognitive approach believes that to understand human thinking, one must explain the internal processes in the brain.
Therefore, the cognitive approach studies cognition, which refers to remembering, reasoning, imagining and problem-solving processes, among others.
The cognitive approach in psychology often compares the mind to a computer, called the information-processing model. The brain receives an input (stimuli), and the internal mental processes give an order of what to do with it, which leads to an output.
Sounds similar to how computers work, right?
Neuroscience is a relatively new cognitive approach in psychology that involves investigating brain functionality using brain imaging techniques.
Brain functionality is the study of identifying brain regions (or their networks) and their role in human functioning, e.g. Broca's area is linked to speech.
Critics argue that cognitive concepts are not directly observable and so challenging to research scientifically and verify their findings. It's debated as reductionistic (doesn't consider biological, environmental, etc. factors and often lacks ecological validity as primarily conducted in lab settings.
The Biological Approach: Psychology
The biological approach assumes that all human behaviour has a biological origin and highlights the importance of understanding internal biological structures, hormones, genes, the nervous system and neurochemistry.
The biological approach emphasises the role of biology in determining human behaviour. This approach focuses on biological systems at various levels:
- Damage to brain regions can cause atypical behaviour.
- Evolutionary influences.
- Irregular neurotransmitters, e.g. too high or too low, can cause atypical behaviour.
- Genetics, the genes we inherit from our parents, i.e. mutations of genes are associated with specific mental illnesses, can lead to the onset of mental illnesses. Family studies and twin research have supported this.
Similar to the other approaches in psychology, it is criticised as reductionist and for not accounting for free will.
Approaches and Research Methods in Psychology
As we discussed earlier, the approaches in psychology explain human behaviour differently but also use different research methods to back the theories they proposed.
The psychology approaches can either take an idiographic or nomothetic approach.
An idiographic approach is when qualitative methods, such as case studies, interviews, open-ended questions or observations, are used to explain how individuals' experiences influence behaviour.
A nomothetic approach uses quantitative methods, e.g. experiments, questionnaires and fixed/close-ended questions, to allow generalisable inferences.
Psychology Approaches Comparison Table
The table below summarises and compares the different approaches in psychology.
| Approach in Psychology | The explanation for Human Behaviour | Research Method Approach |
| Psychodynamic | Childhood experiences and the development of the psyche influence and dictate future behaviours. | Idiographic |
| Behavioural | Behaviour is learned from our experiences; it can be learned through association or reinforcement. | Nomothetic |
| Humanistic | Humans have an innate desire to reach self-actualisation, and this, in conjunction with personal experiences, drives and motivates human behaviour. | Idiographic |
| Cognitive | Behaviour results from internal cognitive processes and includes theories such as the information-processing model. Neuroscience stems from cognitive psychology. | Nomothetic |
| Biological | Inherited genes, evolutionary processes, irregular neurotransmitter activity and disruption/ damage to brain regions/networks | Nomothetic |
Approaches in Psychology - Key takeaways
The five main approaches in psychology are psychodynamic, behavioural, humanistic, cognitive and biological.
The preferred approaches and research methods in psychology differ across the subject.
For example, cognitive approaches in psychology explain human behaviour using the information-processing model or findings from neuroscientific research.
In contrast biological approach, psychology explains human behaviour dysfunction or mental illnesses as a result of inherited genes, irregular neurotransmitter activity and disruption/ damage to brain regions/networks.
The learning approaches psychology uses classical and operant conditioning principles to explain human behaviour.
References
- Fig 1. Simplified pyramid chart of hierarchy of needs (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maslow%27s_Hierarchy_of_Needs2.svg#/media/File:Maslow's_Hierarchy_of_Needs2.svg) by Androidmarsexpress (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Androidmarsexpress&action=edit&redlink=1) is licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en)
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