assess different psychological approaches to study

A behaviourist perspective suggests that all behaviour is observable, objective and learnt from experience. It is believed that behaviour can be learnt and reinforced through operant conditioning and unconscious physical response can be learnt through classical conditioning.

Behaviourists focus on the influence of the environment, they chose not to be concerned with the internal mechanisms that occur inside the organism, they believe that your behaviour depends on what factors are present in the environment at any given time. Another big contributor to this approach is Ivan Pavlov who was made famous for conditioning in which he used dogs in an experiment.

One of the methods used by the psychodynamic approach is case studies. Case studies are used to practice their therapy on to see if it actually works. The therapy created by Sigmund Freud, is called psychoanalysis. An example of one of the case studies would be the case study of Little Hans. Hans was at the age where he noticed he had a penis and therefore played with it a lot. His mother noticed this and told him to stop it otherwise she would call the doctor and get him to cut it off. Hans later on developed a phobia of horses, so his father got in touch with Freud and told him about Hans’ strange behaviour and he suggested that

The behaviourist theory focuses on the study of observed behaviours and learning theories the three theories are; classical conditioning, operant conditioning and the social learning theory. Within the behaviourist approach there are three different theorists these are; Skinner, Bandura and Pavlov.

One of Freuds most famous experiments was 'Little Hans'. This was about a five year old boy who was afraid of horses, and was jealous of the birth of his sister. It was thought that Hans' anxiety culminated from his inner desire to be his mothers mate. Freud used Hans in order to help develop another of his theories - the 'Oedipus Complex' which is a small boys inner jealousy of his father and fear of punishment by castration by him. It must be stressed that the

Use Freud’s states of consciousness and stages of psychosexual development to help explain Hank’s behavior by answering the following questions.

Behaviorism believes that when we are born, our mind is a sort of blank slate, and over time our experiences and environment influence a persons behavior over time, this is where things such a classical conditioning comes in to play. For example if we receive positive reinforcement for an action, we are statically more likely to repeat that action as we have now associated the behavior with a positive reinforcement, the same would apply to a action that we received a negative reinforce or punishment for, we would then be less likely to repeat that behavior or action because we have now associated it a negative reinforce or punishment.

Sigmund Freud is highly renowned psychologists known for his most controversial theories in the history of psychology. He is also believed to be the father of modern psychiatry and psychology. His works are read widely and are criticized as well. He has left behind numerous theories regarding human mind and behavior out of which some are commonly accepted and some are widely debated. The question after that arises now is “Why did Freud’s theories get many criticisms?”

Most evidence for theories is taken from Freud’s case studies, e.g. Little Hans. This case study was only based on one person in detail. Little Hans case study was carried out via mail contact with his father, only meeting Hans after the case was published which many would argue is not reliable. Freud got his results from talking sessions known as “free association” with patients which he wrote as case studies. Some patients in question are often small numbers of middle-aged Jewish women from Vienna that suffered comparable issues, which are biased samples, this makes the generalization to the wider population challenging. (Gross, 2015). Re-examinations of Freud’s theories propose that he occasionally distorted his patient’s cases to fit with his theory, e.g. being Dora and Ratman, both separate case studies both claimed he misrepresented facts and was unsuccessful in curing them. The theories are also greatly criticized by the humanist approach for being sexist against women. (Sulloway, 1991).

Psychologists look for explanations for human behavior; they reach conclusions through research processes which attempt to explain or even predict said behavior. Researchers strive to obtain facts and discover ‘what’ and ‘why’ with regards to understanding cause and effect and this research may help to understand human cognition and memory. There are many advantages and disadvantages in using particular methods of psychological research but this essay will examine and assess only the advantages of three different methods of research, giving examples.

Freud’s study, Analysis of a phobia in a five-year old boy, is the account of the treatment of little Hans; a five year old boy who had been suffering form anxiety that led to a number of phobias. Freud uses this case study as strong support for his psychoanalytic ideas concerning; the unconscious determinism, psychosexual development, the Oedipus complex, the cause of phobias and psychoanalytic therapy itself. Little Hans was analyzed and treated though his father (a strong believer of Freud’s ideas) .who based his reports of little Hans’s behavior and statements. His treatment was achieved by inferring the unconscious causes of

He for the most part considered himself, his patients and just a single child (e.g. Little Hans). The primary issue here is that the contextual analyses depend on concentrate one individual in detail, and with reference to Freud the people being referred to are frequently moderately aged ladies from Vienna (i.e. his patients). This makes speculations to the more extensive population, e.g. the entire world, problematic. Be that as it may, Freud thought this insignificant, having confidence in just a subjective distinction between

a result of what has been learnt, which is to say that it is the

I have chosen the Ratman as the case history I will use to illustrate Freud’s theories. The Rat Man exposes many of Freud’s theoretical formulations as they evolved and the sessions demonstrate various examples of Freud’s techniques of the day The case study shows the features and the

Freud’s theory was initially based on his own person and experiences and memories, hence, lacking experimental and scientific