Psychodynamic Theory
Freud
• We are driven by instincts and urges (typically sexual)
• Psychic determinism
Our behaviours, etc are predetermined from our childhood experiences
• Our thoughts, feelings, & behaviours are all influenced by unconscious motives and rooted in childhood experiences
• Iceberg analogy
Oedipus Complex
At a certain age, around 3 or 4, a son will start to resent his father as he as jealous of the attention to the mother.
Behavioural Theory
- Objective, scientific approach
- Not focused on inner workings
- “Black box” analogy
- Empiricism: controlled observation/measurement of behaviour Learning
- Stimulus (environment) → response association
- Most studies use animals
- Pavlov’s dog (classical)
- Skinners rats (operant)
Cognitive Theory
• Internal mental processes DO matter – But what are they?
• Internal information processing (e.g. thoughts, perception, memory) can be scientifically studied
• Computer analogy
(e.g. input, store, retrieve data)
• Psychology = stimulus → mental event → response
Humanistic Theory
• Focus on subjective experience of individual
• Other approaches too deterministic / dehumanizing
• People have free will, are good, & have innate need to make themselves & world better – personal growth/fulfilment motives
➢Personal growth > Self-actualisation
• Reject scientific approach – qualitative methods
Biological Theory
• Our thoughts, feelings, & behaviours have underlying biological cause • Psychology = genetics + physiology (e.g. brain, nervous system) • Psychiatry • Evolutionary psychology ► Our thoughts, feelings and behaviours are evolutionarily adaptive ► Natural selection
The Scientific Method
- Develop a research question
- Formulate a testable hypothesis
- Design a study
- Conduct the study
- Analyse & evaluate the data
- Report the findings
Independent V
What you are changing
- the cause
Dependent V
What you are measuring
- the effect
Quasi Experiment
• Natural test of the effect of one variable (categorical / grouping) on another continuous variable
► Groups occur naturally on variable X
(no manipulation or random allocation)
(males v females , smokers v non-smokers)
► Measure variable Y
- Used when manipulation is difficult / unethical
- Susceptible to confounding variables
- Difficult to draw causal conclusions
Experiment
Used to find out whether one variable (categorical / grouping) affects or causes changes in another continuous variable
- Manipulation on the IV
- Groups are randomly allocated
- Effect on the DV is measured
Extraneous Variables
Something not considered or measured that may have an effect on the DV
- Can be controlled through random allocations etc
- Also called confounding
Correlation Studies
Used to find out whether there is a relationship between two continuous variables
Used when variables are hard to manipulate or when naturally occurring continuum rather than groups
- Measure whether two or more things are statistically correlated
- Susceptible to confounding variables
- Cannot make causal conclusions
Correlation Coefficients
- Positive correlation
- Negative correlation
- Zero / No correlation
NOT equal to causation
Positive correlation
The higher (lower) the scores on one variable the higher (lower) they are likely to be on the other variable (up to +1)
Negative correlation
The higher (lower) the scores on one variable the lower (higher) they are on the other variable (down to -1)
Zero / No correlation
Variables not related / no associations between variable scores
