compare psychodynamic behaviourist and cognitive approaches to psychology
Analyse and evaluate the Psychodynamic, Behaviourist and Cognitive approaches to psychology, include in your answer the difference between classical and operant conditioning and compare the theories of conditioning to other approaches.
Freud (1856-1939) pioneered the Psychodynamic approach creating theories such as The Three States of Mind; where any decision we make is influenced by unconscious mental processes; that the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious areas of our mind decide the outcome of our choices. He also suggested that our personality has 3 major components; the Id, the Ego and the Super-ego which determine the way we behave. The Id and the Super-ego are in constant conflict creating anxiety which leads the ego to develop a number of defence mechanisms for example; denial and repression, in order to protect itself.
Freud also developed the psychosexual stages of development, this stemmed from the idea that as we develop, our libido (sexual energy) is focused on different areas of the body – the oral stage,, for example focuses on the mouth and pleasure is gained from biting and sucking. Depending on how we pass through these stages determines our personality as adults. The main strength of the psychodynamic perspective is the way it can explain a wide variety of atypical psychological conditions and also identified the fact that childhood is an important period in our development, influencing some adult behaviour. Furthermore this approach demonstrated the importance of using detailed case studies of individuals in psychological research. It must also be recognised that many of the therapies in use today would not be available if not for Freud.
One of the many criticisms of the psychodynamic perspective is that is highly subjective and its ideas, such as that much of our mental life exists at an unconscious level are hard to test scientifically. Most of Freud’s theories are based on case studies of individuals and as such shouldn’t be
Freud (1856-1939) pioneered the Psychodynamic approach creating theories such as The Three States of Mind; where any decision we make is influenced by unconscious mental processes; that the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious areas of our mind decide the outcome of our choices. He also suggested that our personality has 3 major components; the Id, the Ego and the Super-ego which determine the way we behave. The Id and the Super-ego are in constant conflict creating anxiety which leads the ego to develop a number of defence mechanisms for example; denial and repression, in order to protect itself.
Freud also developed the psychosexual stages of development, this stemmed from the idea that as we develop, our libido (sexual energy) is focused on different areas of the body – the oral stage,, for example focuses on the mouth and pleasure is gained from biting and sucking. Depending on how we pass through these stages determines our personality as adults. The main strength of the psychodynamic perspective is the way it can explain a wide variety of atypical psychological conditions and also identified the fact that childhood is an important period in our development, influencing some adult behaviour. Furthermore this approach demonstrated the importance of using detailed case studies of individuals in psychological research. It must also be recognised that many of the therapies in use today would not be available if not for Freud.
One of the many criticisms of the psychodynamic perspective is that is highly subjective and its ideas, such as that much of our mental life exists at an unconscious level are hard to test scientifically. Most of Freud’s theories are based on case studies of individuals and as such shouldn’t be