Psychology Explained
How did early psychologists try to use the scientific method?
It is obviously very difficult to study human behaviour under controlled conditions. The earliest psychologists (in the 1870s) used trained observers to investigate sensation and perception, asking them to concentrate on their feelings and emotions, in different, closed situations and report back on them. (This is termed introspection). The type of situation included sitting in a dark room listening to different rates of ticking of a metronome. They found that the different timings of the metronome did affect emotions, some causing feelings of pleasantness and others being extremely unpleasant.
You should be able to consider what the problems are with this type of experiment
How did psychology progress from just studying sensation and perception?
A neurologist, Freud criticised such experiments as he proposed our behaviour is determined by unconscious processes; introspection is therefore worthless as we cannot think about these processes if we are unaware of them! He believed early experiences have a profound influence on the development of the unconscious mind, and that the unconscious could be accessed through analysis of dreams (because when dreaming your unconscious has free rein). These beliefs led him to use the method of case studies of a number of individuals who he would analyse in depth. Freud's approach to psychology is often termed psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychology.
You should be able to identify a number of problems with Freud's approach!
How were Freud's ideas challenged?
An American called John B Watson particularly criticised Freud's speculative theorising and case study based research. Watson proposed only experiments conducted under controlled conditions yield objective data (i.e. data based on fact, not opinion). Freud might interpret a dream in an erroneous way but who would ever know? He also criticised introspection as being too biased and subjective. In a laboratory experiment the investigator can manipulate the situation to attempt to find an underlying cause of a behaviour, rather than asking
people about their dreams and experiences, thoughts and feelings. The behaviour itself can then be measured, rather then the person's 'self-report' regarding how they are feeling.
An example of a psychological experiment (conducted
by Pavlov) shows how experiments can uncover the
causes of behaviour. Pavlov was studying the role of
saliva in digestion but his experiments were
adversely affected by the dog's salivating when food
wasn't even present, e.g. when the researcher who fed
them came into the room, or a food dish was
brought out. This suggested that animals learn to
associate one event with another, so they become
intrinsically linked together. He tested this idea
by ringing a bell just before presenting meat powder
to a dog, and did so a number of times. On the
'test trial' he then rang the bell, but didn't present food. Yes, the dog did salivate to the bell, despite this ordinarily being an extremely unnatural behaviour!
This type of learning by associating one event with being followed by another, is called classical conditioning, and has been shown in most species of animal (including fish!). The lab environment allowed Pavlov to really investigate the behaviour - one important factor is the time gap between the two events - obviously the closer the better, in terms of the occurrence of a conditioned response.
Watson showed how humans can be classically conditioned,
and in doing so found a cause of phobias. In his famous
'Little Albert' experiment (conducted with Rosalie Rayner)
he banged iron bars with a hammer whilst showing the
infant Albert a white rat, thereby causing a phobic reaction
to the rat, as well as to any other white cuddly object,
such as cotton wool! This photo shows how initially Albert
was quite happy to play with the rat, therefore the phobia
was learned, and not inbuilt. In psychology the extent to
which behaviour is either learned or inherited is often termed the nature/nurture debate. In fact, the prevalence of phobias for certain dangers does indicate some genetic basis – for example, being afraid of harmless spiders, when getting in a car is much more dangerous.
How important was Watson's work?
Watson is arguably the most important figure in modern day psychology, as he established psychology as the scientific study of behaviour. The principles of conditioning as shown by Watson are still extensively used in advertising, film making (e.g., Jaws!) and in the treatment of mental disorder. The movement he began in psychology was called behaviourism, as Watson proposed only behaviour should be studied by psychologists; the mind, if it existed, being impossible to study scientifically, and therefore of no interest.
One of Watson's students, Skinner, extended his work by looking at operant conditioning, or learning by associating a behaviour with its consequences. For example, if a rat presses a lever and receives an electric
shock (punishment) it will not press the lever again.
If however, the lever press leads to food pellets being
delivered (reinforcement) it will frequently press the lever.
Again, timing is crucial. With children and animals,
punishments given well after an event are much less
effective. This is why animals punished for toileting in the
wrong place are usually taken to the scene to be
remonstrated with – to ensure the association is made!
Taken together, classical and operant conditioning can
explain many behaviours, and their principles are widely used in education, prisons and mental hospitals.
Problems with behaviourism
Later behaviourists encountered problems in their animal experiments as they found the only way to explain certain results is to believe that animals have minds. An experiment with rats (Crespi) found that rats used to running at a certain speed to gain a food reward, would run much more slowly when it was reduced. However, rats that had never actually received the larger reward would run at a fast speed for the smaller amount. This demonstrates the former group of rats were making comparisons and were 'frustrated' at no longer receiving a large amount. This phenomenon is clearly located in the 'mind' and such findings led to psychology legitimately scientifically studying the mind as well as behaviour, opening the way for what is now termed cognitive psychology.
What topics does psychology cover today?
The behaviourist and cognitive approaches are still extremely important, and in fact a new area of cognitive-behavioural psychology employs both techniques. If you watch programmes such as 'Little Angels' or 'House of the Tiny Tearaways' (BBC) you can see these techniques put into action very effectively. Other approaches have also flourished. Freudian theories are controversial, and as Freud did not apply the scientific method, many psychology degrees do not cover his research.
Physiological psychology is very important today, particularly with advances made in understanding genetic processes, and in brain scanning techniques, and psychologists will consider the extent to which biological factors influence behaviour. A very different approach involves looking at how other people and how settings influence us, this are is termed social psychology. However, it still works within an experimental research framework.
The area of individual differences considers factors which cause us to differ from one another, such as intelligence, personality, normality and abnormality. Many people consider the topic of abnormality (mental disorder) to be central to psychology, but hopefully you can see it is just one of the facets of behaviour a psychologist covers. People can confuse the terms psychologist and psychiatrist, but a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specialises in mental disorder. A psychologist has a psychology degree, and is not medically qualified (clinical psychologists will train further in the study and treatment of mental disorder to gain doctorates in clinical psychology).
Another area considered in the specification followed at Greenhead is developmental, which looks at how mind and behaviour alter over time. The studies on the OCR specification all concern child development. Here, we look at Freud’s theory concerning the development of a phobia in a young child. However, Freudian theories are controversial, and as Freud did not apply the scientific method, many psychology degrees do not cover his research. Finally, you will study the social psychological approach. This approach attempts to explain our behaviour through an understanding of social processes. Whenever we are not alone we are influenced by the people around us, what they are doing, how they behave and their characteristics. We imitate others, for example role models in the media, we conform to what others think and do in an attempt to fit in and we sometimes make judgements about people, based on the way they look or act and whether we identify with them because they are in the same social group.
