approaches evaluation

Question 1

evaluate social learning theory

Answer 1

1. has useful applications - e.g criminal behaviour (CM) - Akers (1998) suggests that the probability of someone engaging in CM increases when exposed to models etc.
2. research support for identification - fox and bailenson (2009) virtual humans exercising or loitering. participants (Ps) who watched their virtual selfs exercising engaged in more exercise within 24 hours of the experiment.
3. a problem of complexity - development of gender role behaviour. a child is exposed to many different influences. all of them interacting in complex ways. difficult to show on particular thing being the main influence.
4. a problem of establishing causality - young people who possess social deviant attitudes (e.g low self- control) would seek out peers as they’re more fun to be around with than their less reckless counterparts

Question 2

evaluate the behaviourist approach p1

Answer 2

1. classical condition been applied to therapy - systematic desensitation is a therapy based on CC. Been effective for a range of phobias e.g arachnophobia and aerophobia.
2. Classical conditioning only appropriate for some learning - Seligman (1970), animals prepared to learn associations that are significant in terms of their survival needs, yet unprepared to learn associations with that aren’t significant in this respect. CC may be more useful for specific types of association
3. Operant conditioning based on experimental work - strength - his reliance on the experimental method by manipulating the IV he was able to accurately measure the effects on the DV, enabled him to establish a cause and effect relationship between the consequences of a behaviour and the future frequency of its occurrence.

Question 3

evaluate the humanistic approach.

Answer 3

1. research support for conditions of worth - harter el al. (1996) discovered that teenagers who feel that they have to fulfill certain conditions in order to gain their parents’ approval frequently end up not liking themselves.
2. cultural differences in the hierarchy of needs - some people needs may appear in a different order or may be absent all together

Question 4

Evaluate the behaviourist approach.

Answer 4

1. over reliance non-human animal research - humans have “free will” but skinner argue that free will is merely an illusion and what we believe are behaviours chosen through free will are actually the product of external influences that “guide” our behaviour on a daily basis.
2. classical conditioning has been applied to therapy - phobia treatment - systematic desensitisation - found to be effective for a range of phobias e.g arachnophobia and aerophobia.

Question 5

Outline what each approach believes behaviour to be determined by.

Answer 5

1. Behaviourist - environmental determinism
2. SLT - soft determinism
3. Psychodynamic - psychic determinism
4. humanistic - free will (Holist) believes that individual reacts as an organised whole, rather than a set of stimulus response links

Question 6

outline what each approach believes the origin of behaviour to be.

Answer 6

1. behaviourist - nurture
2. SLT - primarily nurture, generally assumed that capacity to learn from an observation has some adaptive value therefore likely to be innate
3. psychodynamic - both nature and nurture
4. humanistic - both nature and nurture