2.

4 Topic D: Learning theories and

development

4.1 Content

Classical conditioning

4.1.1 The main features of classical conditioning (Pavlovian), including

unconditioned stimulus (UCS); unconditioned response (UCR); conditioned
stimulus (CS); neutral stimulus (NS); conditioned response (CR); extinction,
spontaneous recovery and stimulus generalisation and distribution.

Learning by association
● A stimulus is something in our environment that affects us; a response is
our reaction to a stimulus.
● We all have certain reactions to certain stimuli, such as laughing when
being tickled.
● These are known as unconditioned responses (UCR) to unconditioned
stimuli (UCS)
● Unconditioned stimulus: Any stimulus producing a natural, unlearned
response.
● Unconditioned response (UCR): A response that is occurred naturally
without any form of learning because it is based on human biology.
● However, when a neutral stimulus that normally doesn’t affect us on its
own is paired over a period of time with a
UCS, the 2 become associated.
● Neutral stimulus (NS): an environmental
stimulus that does not produce a response
on its own.
● This is known as conditioning.
● After conditioning, the NS becomes a
conditioned stimulus (CS) because it
produces the same reaction from us that
the UCS used to produce. Because the
response is not organic and was artificially
developed, it is known as a conditioned
response (CR).
● Conditioned stimulus (CS): a stimulus that has been associated with an
unconditioned stimulus so that it now produces the same response.
● Conditioned response (CR): a behaviour that is shown in response to a
learned stimulus.
Extinction, spontaneous recovery and stimulus generalisation.

● Conditioned responses don't feel artificial to the person doing them.

● Over time, conditioned stimuli gradually lose their association with the
original unconditioned stimulus and revert back to being a neutral
stimulus. This process is called extinction.
● This happens when the conditioned stimuli are continually presented
without the unconditioned stimulus.
● Once an association is formed, it is never truly forgotten even after
extinction. The conditioned response can reappear. This is called
spontaneous recovery.
● Ex:
- a cat is conditioned to salivate (CR) when a sound of a can opening
(UCS) is heard with food inside. At this rate, salivation is a
conditioned response.
- Once the sound of the can open is heard without food inside
multiple times, it leads to less salivation and no salivation at some
point - extinction
- However, if once again, after extinction, the can opening is heard
with food inside, the cat may salivate - spontaneous recovery.

● Once a conditioned response is formed, there is a tendency for it to appear

in response to other things than the original conditioned stimuli.
● Quite often, people who have learned by associations will carry on making
other associations.
● This is called stimulus generalisation.
● Stimulus generalisation: when stimuli that are similar to the conditioned
stimulus produce the conditioned response.
Pavlov (1927) - Salivation reflex in dogs
● This theory was developed by Ivan Pavlov, a Russian scientist.
● Pavlov carried out his original research on dogs but the conclusions were
applied to humans by American behaviourist psychologist, John B. Watson.
● Aim: To find out if reflexive behaviour can be produced in new situations through
learning
● IV: One condition of the IV is to see the dog’s natural reflective behaviours:
salivating when food is in their mouth. Another condition of the IV is the dogs’
behaviour after they have been conditioned to associate food with a different
stimulus.
● DV: how many drops of saliva the gods produced
● Sample: 35 dogs of a variety of breeds
● Procedure:
- Pavlov placed each dog in a sealed room that
didn't allow them to see, smell or hear anything
outside to prevent extraneous variables.
- The dog was strapped into a harness to stop it
from moving about and its mouth was linked to
a tube that drained the saliva away into a
measuring bottle.

- In the control condition, the dog was presented

with food through a hatch, where the dog immediately salivated.
- For the neutral stimulus, Pavlov used a tuning fork, an electric buzzer or a
metronome. He then observed that the dog did not salivate before the
sound was conditioned, proving it was a neutral stimulus.
- To condition the dog, Pavlov paired the sound with the presentation of
food. He usually did this 20 times, but it depended on how attentive the
dog was.
- After it was conditioned, Pavlov presented the dog with the sound but no
meat

● Results: Conditioned dog started to salivate 9 seconds after hearing the

sound and by 45 seconds, had produced 11 drops of saliva.
● Conclusion: The Neutral Stimulus, after being repeatedly paired with an
Unconditioned Stimulus (the meat), turned into a Conditioned Stimulus,
producing the Conditioned Response (salivation) all by itself.
 Strengths of classical conditioning Weaknesses of classical
conditioning

Credibility: Watson & Rayner’s (1920) Lacks application to all cases: David
Baby Albert study H. Barlow (1966)

Shows that classical conditioning series of procedures in the USA to ‘cure’

explains how humans learn too homosexuals of their same-sex
attraction.

Application - aversion therapy Generalisability-

Many experiments such as Pavlov’s
is Used to cure alcohol addiction by were done on dogs so doesn't explain
pairing a drug called Antabuse which human behaviour to be conditioned
causes feelings of nausea when such as feelings of love for
drinking alcohol homosexuality

Recently, aversive imagery rather than

drugs or electric shocks are used to
cure addictions such as nail biting,
cannabis smoking and cigarette
smoker.

Valdiity: Pavlov (1927) was done in a Other theories such as Operant

lab setting with controlled variables. conditioning and social learning
Every step in the conditioning process theory are also available, so it is
is observable so it adds to the difficult to tell whether one or the
credibility of the theory as you can see other is largely responsible when
it happen with your own eyes. something is learned.

Application: Nature/nurture debate:

It is possible that some people ar
Classical Conditioning has always had eborn with predispositions towards
huge applications for therapy, especially behaviours rather than learning them
the treatment of “irrational” or through conditioning.
“instinctive” problems like phobias and
addictions. Gay cures would say that people are
born with their sexual orientation and
they don’t unlearn it or learn it.

Social Learning Theory is quite different

from Classical Conditioning. For one
thing, it includes cognitions as well as
behaviours. Classical Conditioning only
looks at how behaviours get paired and
associated.

SLT is a much better explanation of

things like how children learn to talk or
 why youngsters turn to crime.

Operant conditioning

4.1.2 The main features of operant conditioning include types of

reinforcement (positive and negative) and punishment (positive and
negative) and properties of reinforcement (primary, secondary and
schedules) including researching Skinner's (1948) Superstition in the
pigeon.
https://www.psychologywizard.net/operant-conditioning-ao1-ao2-ao3.html

Research into operant conditioning

● Skinner carried out research on animals, famously in rats. He placed the
animals in a “Skinner box” which contained a lever, a light and a food
dispenser
● Skinner created the ABC model of operant conditioning to explain how
learning works:
- Antecedent: the skinner box
would present a stimulus
(lights/noise) that triggers a
behaviour
- Behaviour: a response made by
the animal that can be observed
as an outcome of the antecedent
- Consequence: the
reward/punishment following the
behaviour (shock/food)

● If the rat pressed the lever, the light came on and a food pellet rolled down the
chute. This is positive reinforcement. At first, the rat would press the lever
accidentally.
● However, the consequence was contiguous (the food was dispensed instantly)
and contingent (the light coming on alerted the rat to what it had done). Rats
quickly learned to press the lever to get food.

● In a variation on this, Skinner electrified the floor of the Skinner Box and
arranged for pressing the lever to turn the electric current off for 30
seconds. This shows negative reinforcement since the rat is learning to remove
something painful. Skinner found that the rats learned to press the lever, but
not as quickly as the rats that were positively reinforced.
Skinner (1948)
● Skinner carried out a famous experiment called ‘Superstition in the Pigeon’.
● Eight pigeons were starved to make them hungry, and then put in a cage.
● At regular intervals every 15 seconds, a food dispenser would swing into the
cage for 5 seconds, then swing out again.
● When the food was about to appear, the pigeons started showing strange
behaviours such as turning anticlockwise or swaying motions.
● Skinner concluded the pigeons were repeating whatever behaviour they
had been doing when the reinforcement was first offered to them.
● Because the food kept reappearing, this senseless behaviour was
strengthened.
● This is like a superstition when humans imagine that by doing something
senseless (ex: crossing their fingers) they can make something pleasant
happen.

● This is a method in which we can alter someone's voluntary behaviour

● Voluntary behaviour can be learned too because we notice the consequences
of our actions and this affects how we behave the next time we are put in the
same situation.

● Operant Conditioning tells us that behaviour is based on A-B-C, so if you want to

change behaviour, you must change the antecedents (what has already
happened) or the consequences; it's much easier to change the consequences.

● There are 2 ways to conduct operant conditioning:

Reinforcement
● This is when the desired behaviour is rewarded. This makes it more likely to be
repeated
- Positive reinforcement: rewards the desired behaviour by adding
something pleasant – food, affection, a compliment, money.
- Negative reinforcement: rewards the desired behaviour by removing
something unpleasant – taking away pain or distress, stopping criticism,
cancelling a fine.

● Reinforcement is also split into 2 ways, where there is primary and secondary
reinforcement:
- Primary reinforcement is when the reward is something we want
naturally – a basic need such as food, warmth or affection.
 - Secondary reinforcement is a reward we have learned to value – like
money.

Punishment
● This is when undesirable behaviour
produces unpleasant consequences. This
is in order to make the individual stop
the behaviour:
- Positive punishment: when
we add something
unpleasant (ex: criticism,
chores)
- Negative punishment:
removing something pleasant
(being grounded, deducting
money)

● Skinner found that punishment was less effective at changing behaviour than
reinforcement.

Contingent and contiguent

Effective conditioning must be contingent and contiguent.

● Contingent means that there is a clear link between the person’s behaviour
and the consequence it produces – they know exactly what they are rewarded
or punished for.
● Contiguent means that the consequence follows soon after the behaviour – if
there’s too long a delay, the conditioning is weakened.

Schedules of reinforcement

● When and how often you reinforce behaviour can also have a very big
impact on the strength and likelihood of a behavioural response.
● A lot of Skinner’s research was on how often a reward needs to happen
before the behaviour is learned. He discovered four “schedules” that work
● Interval is related to time, and ratio is related to numbers.
● Continuous reinforcement: the desired behaviour is reinforced every time
it occurs.
● Partial reinforcement: the desired response is only reinforced some of the
time
● The four schedules of partial reinforcement are:
Fixed interval:
- this is when the reward turns up at the regular time. Desirable behaviour
increases the urge to get the reward. (ex: every 5 mins)
- This happened with Skinner’s pigeons. It might happen with humans at
work if there is a regular tea break or “casual Friday”.
- Learning is medium and extinction of learned behaviour is medium.

Variable interval:
- The reward turns up but you can’t be sure exactly when.
- Ex: audience applauding a performer or cheering an athlete.
- Desirable behaviour increases more slowly but stays at a steady rate.
- Learning is fast, but extinction is slow.

Fixed ratio:
- The reward occurs every time the desired behaviour is carried out so often.
(the number of times you execute the desired behaviour, you get
rewarded)
- Skinners rats got a reward every time they pressed the lever.
- A human might get paid for every 100 products they build.
- If you don’t do the behaviour, you get nothing. If you work fast, you get paid
a lot.
- Learning is fast, and extinction is moderate.

Variable ratio:
- The reward is dispensed randomly, after a changing number of behaviours
such as feeding the rat after one lever press, then after 5, then after 3.
- For humans, this might be like a slot machine because you don't know how
many times you’ll have to pay in before it pays out.
- Learning is fast and extinction is slow.
 Strengths of operant conditioning Weaknesses of operant conditioning

Application: shaping behaviour Generalisability: much research done

on rats and pigeons so lacks effect on
This involves changing the humans.
reinforcement to produce very precise
behaviours. First, you reward any
behaviour in the general direction you
want and slowly reward only the
specific behaviour you are looking for.

Used to train animals who appear in

TV and films

Application: phobias Objections:

there are other learning theories –
If the feared thing is removed when you Classical Conditioning and Social
scream and cry, then fearful behaviour is Learning Theory – and it is usually
negatively reinforced (it removes difficult to tell whether one or the other
something unpleasant). If other people is largely responsible when something is
show concern, share their own fears or learned. For example, a phobia may be
even just pay attention, then fear is formed through association AND
positively reinforced too (it adds because the consequences were
something pleasant). unpleasant

Application: systemic desensitisation The theory focuses entirely on the

nurture side of the nature/nurture
debate. It is possible some people are
This idea of shaping also appears in born with predispositions towards
systematic desensitisation. If someone behaviours, rather than learning them
has a phobia of spiders, you might through conditioning. This might
reward them at first for looking at explain why some people turn to crime
pictures of spiders, then at a spider in or develop musical talent without being
the same room but far away, and reinforced.
eventually for handling a spider. This is
why systematic desensitisation uses
Classical AND Operant Conditioning.

Application: token economy Operant Conditioning might also be too

programmes simplistic since it ignores motives and
personality. There is a cognitive side to
Used in schools, prisons or clinical human behaviour that is recognised by
settings to get over addiction where Social Learning Theory instead.
people are rewarded tokens for any
good behaviour or desired behaviour

Credibility:
Research in support of operant
conditioning including Skinner (1948)
into pigeons.
Because the theory only looks at
behaviours (rather than cognitions),
every step in the conditioning process is
observable. This adds to the credibility
of the theory since you can see it
happen with your own eyes.

Credibility: Token Economy

Programmes became popular in the
1970s and are proven to work. For
example, Hobbs & Holt (1976) showed
that TEPs work to reduce antisocial
behaviour in a juvenile detention centre.

Application: used widely in therapy to

cure problems such as addiction
 Social learning theory

4.1.3 The main features of social learning theory include observation,

imitation, modelling and vicarious reinforcement, attention, retention,
motivation and reproduction.
● This theory was developed by Albert Bandura (1977), an American
psychologist
● Previously, it was believed that all human behaviour came from a mixture
of classical and operant conditioning, however, some behaviour seemed to
appear without conditioning.
● This was found for instances such as language or antisocial behaviour such
as aggression.
● Bandura proposed SLT, also known as ‘observational learning’ which looks
at how we learn by observing other people and imitating them without
conditioning.

Key terms:
● Modelling: a way of learning by imitating the behaviour
● Role model: significant individuals in a person’s life. You are more likely to
imitate such role models
● Vicarious reinforcement: learning through the consequence of another
person’s behaviour

● Social learning takes place in 4 steps:

1. The behaviour must be modelled by a role model like a parent or
friend
2. The observer must identify with the role model - find similarities
3. The behaviour must be observed:
- Attention: you must be attending to the behaviour
- Retention: you must retain it in your memory
- Reproduction: you must be able to carry out the behaviour
- Motivation: you must have a reason to carry out the behaviour

4. The behaviour is imitated

Social learning stages/factors

● Bandura theorised that social learning would only occur if the following
four criteria were met:

Attention
● This tells us that you must be attending to the behaviour of the role model.
 ● This depends on many factors such as the distinctiveness of the behaviour
being modelled
● It also depends on factors within the person observing, such as their level of
arousal.
● Bandura proposed that a child is more likely to attend a role model who is
similar to themselves; eg- the same gender

Retention
● The individual must retain or store the action they have attended to.
● This is to help recall it later when reproducing the behaviour

Reproduction
● This is being capable of carrying out the modelled behaviour
● Bandura made it clear that factors such as the physical capabilities of the
individual, as well as their own self-observation of reproduction, were
factors that affected it.
● Ex: if the behaviour is beyond our capabilities, it cannot be reproduced

Motivation
● You must have a reason to carry out the behaviour
● Ex: being rewarded
● Intrinsic motivation refers to the doing of an activity where there may be an
internal satisfaction such as feeling good because you feel more like your
role model.
● Extrinsic motivation is a motivator that is tangible, ex: copying a famous
footballer in order to achieve a trophy like them.
● Vicarious reinforcement takes place here as the observer believes that the
reward their role model is getting will be something they can gain if they
copied their role model. Notice that they are not getting the reward right
away, hence the term ‘vicarious’.

Characteristics that make someone a role model:

● They are similar to the observer
● They have status
● Their behaviour is rewarded. (Vicarious Reinforcement)
Albert Bandura’s Bobo doll experiments
Aim and year
● Bandura (1961, 1963a, 1965)
● Albert Bandura, Dorothea Ross and Shelia Ross aimed to investigate
whether exposure to aggression would influence behaviour.
● They hypothesised that:
- children exposed to aggressive role models would imitate the
aggression shown.
- Children exposed to non-aggressive role models would not show
such high levels of aggression
- There would be a gender difference with boys expected to show
more imitated aggressive behaviour than girls

Sample
● 72 children from the Stanford university Nursery School: (36 boys and 36
girls), mean age = 52 months
● He had an equal number of girls and boys and matched them on how
aggressive they were.
● Bandura had 6 participants in 8 different experimental groups and 24
control children.
● Half of the experimental group saw aggressive role models
● He split the groups again so half the subjects in the non-aggressive and
aggressive conditions saw a same-sex role model
● The control group simply didn't get exposed to a role model and their
behaviour was observed when the children were allowed to play with toys
● Bandura asked an experimenter and nursery teacher to rate each child
for aggression on a 5-point scale

Procedure

The model room

● Children were taken into the room to play with finger paints and stickers.
● The experimental groups observed an adult role model enter the room and
interact with a tall Bobo Doll.
● The children observed:
- The aggressive model: pushing over the doll, sitting on it and
punching it, hitting the doll on the head and also saying aggressive
phrases
- The non-aggressive model: quietly playing alongside the children
and ignoring the Bobo Doll.

The arousal room

 ● The children were taken to another room with many toys and given a few
minutes to play.
● Then, an experimenter entered the room and told them the toys are for
‘other children’
● This meant that all the children were in the same emotional state of
frustration to act on any aggression they felt

The observation room

● Children were placed in a room for
20 minutes
● There was a mixture of aggressive
and non-aggressive toys
● 2 experimenters observed the
children and made tallies to the
behaviours on a checklist:

1. Imitative verbal aggression

2. Imitative non-aggressive verbal statements
3. Imitative physical aggression
4. Mallet aggression - where participants used the mallet to hit other objects
and not just the Bobo Doll
5. Acts on non-imitative physical or verbal aggression
6. Aggressive gun play
7. Observation of any other non-aggressive behaviour

Results
● The children who observed an aggressive role model showed a lot of verbal
and physical aggression that resembled the scripted routine the model had
acted out.
● There was very little aggressive behaviour in the Non-Aggressive Model
condition and in the Control condition; around 70% had a score of zero for
aggression. Children from the Non-Aggressive Model condition spent the most
time sitting quietly.
● In general, a male role model had a bigger influence than a female role model:
the aggressive male model produced more aggression; the non-aggressive
male model produced more calm.

Some of the more significant figures have been highlighted:

● Compare the boys’ physical aggression after a male aggressive role model
(average 25.8 acts) to the girls’ after a female aggressive role model (5.5)
● Compare the girls’ verbal aggression after a female aggressive role model (13.7)
to the boys after a male aggressive role model (12.7)
 ● Mallet Aggression is high even for the Control group (about 13 acts on average,
regardless of gender), but a non-aggressive role model reduces it to 0.5 for
girls, 6.7 for boys
● Even in the Control group, non-imitative aggression is higher for boys (24.6)
than girls (6.1)

Conclusions
● Bandura concludes that behaviour can be learned by imitation even if it
hasn’t been reinforced (as Skinner suggested).

Evaluations

Strengths of Bandura’s experiment Weaknesses of Bandura’s

experiment

Generalisability Generalisability

Samples were large enough that Sample was taken from the same
anomalies might be cancelled out. nursery so they are unrepresentative
of normal children as they were from
Both males and females the nursery of top university

Can’t generalise reactions of children

to adults

Reliability Validity
His experiment was replicated in 1963 Lacks external validity as they were
and 1965 due to standardised put in a strange situation in a
procedure controlled setting

Used 2 observers behind the one-way Lacks internal validity as the bobo
mirror so creates inter-rater reliability was an object designed to be
as a behaviour had to be noted by punched. Children would suppose
both observers to be validly the experimenters wanted them to
play with the doll this way, so it may
Filmed the 1963 study so increases be demand characteristics
the reliability of his results
Other studies such as Raine et al
suggest that aggressin is linked to
biological factors such as brain
deficits

Application Ethics:
Can be applied to parenting and Harm and wellbeing of participants
teaching styles by behaving well in were not considered as children may
order for your child to behave well. have been distressed by the
aggressive behaviour. This is an
Bandura, Ross & Ross (1963a) suggest example of what the BPS Code of
that TV censorship should be Ethics calls "normalising unhelpful
 considered seriously as it suggests behaviours".
that children can learn aggressive
behaviour even from cartoon No informed consent by the children
violence on their own and no debriefing took
place

Bandura would argue that the benefits Loftus and weaber (1998) argue that
to society outweighed the risks to any the study was unethical and morally
of the children that took part. His wrong, suggesting that the
research has shown us the influence participants were manipulated to
that role models have on aggressive respond in an aggressive way
behaviour, especially role models on TV
and film.

Evaluation of social learning theory

strengths weaknesses

Credibility: Generalising studies from children

and animals to adults is not accurate
Research support from studies led by
Bandura

Contemporary study by becker et al

(2002)

Cook & Mineka (1990) had monkeys

watch a video of another monkey
reacting with fear to a snake. When
the monkeys had to get their food and
had to get through snakes or
snake-like toys, they would refuse

Lot of this research is strictly scientific, By including cognitions, Bandura is

being carried out in lab conditions and moving SLT away from behaviourism
using one-way mirrors and multiple and into a less scientific, more
observers for inter-rater reliability. subjective territory.

The greatest strength of SLT is that it SLT also ignores the nature side of the
explains things that Behaviourism nature/nurture debate. It may be that
cannot. SLT proposes that huge some people are born with
“chunks” of behaviour can be learned “in predispositions to certain behaviours
one go” through observation and (like aggression) and don’t need role
imitation, instead of repeated models.
procedures of conditioning

Support from operant conditioning is

used where vicarious learning is
suggested in that conditioning as well,
as they state that behaviour is much
more likely to be imitated if it is being
reinforced.

SLT is often used alongside other

therapies such as Systematic
Desensitisation or Token Economies.

For example, someone with a phobia of

spiders might not want to approach a
picture of a spider in an early stage of
the therapy. If they see someone they
trust approach the picture and pick it
up without harm, they will see there are
no bad consequences. If they see this
person being praised by the therapist,
this is vicarious reinforcement.
 Freud’s psychosexual stages of development

4.1.4 Freud’s psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital)
and the role of the unconscious in the development of personality.
Therapies/treatments
Topographical model of the mind

● On the surface is consciousness, which consists of thoughts that are the

focus of our current attention
● The preconscious consists of all which can be retrieved from memory
● The 3rd region is the unconscious where the real causes of most of our
behaviour lies.
- Ex: freud (1915) believed that some events and desires were too
frightening for his patients to acknowledge so it was locked away in
the unconscious mind. This can happen through a process called
repression.
- Freud emphasised the importance of the unconscious mind as he
states it governs behaviour to a greater degree than people believe.

● The goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious.

 ● Freud (1923) explained the conscious and unconscious desires through the
id, ego and superego.

- Id: An instinctive aspect of our biology where the impulsive part of

us has desires and will do anything to fulfil them.
- Ego: A mediator between the id and the world. The ego uses reason
to adjust desires in order to fit into society.
- Superego: The moral high ground, incorporating learned behaviours
from caretakers and societal norms. The superego objects to the
ego’s thoughts by telling the ego whether its thoughts are morally
acceptable or not.

● Sigmund Freud is known as the father of psychoanalysis.

● The psychoanalytic theory believes that all humans have unconscious
desires, feelings and memories.
● Freud believed that unwanted behaviours and repressed feelings stem
from childhood trauma and experiences, resulting in the development of a
person as they enter adulthood.

● Freud developed the psychosexual theory of development which includes 5

stages of development from his studies.
● He takes a biological approach of development where he believes that as
our body develops, our mind and psyche also develops.
● Freud’s controversial view is that at all stages, we are motivated by sexual
pleasure; even children Freud argues take sexual pleasure from their own
bodies and contact with parents; especially their opposite-sex parents.

The psychosexual stages

● Freud argues that we develop 5 important stages. At each stage. There are
particular challenges. If a child struggles at a stage, they may become
fixated on it and behaviours that are typical of that stage will stay with
 them into adulthood.
● The basis of Freud’s theory suggests that a person’s body has several
erogenous zones, believing a person’s libido would grow over time and look
for satisfaction through different types of behaviours using these zones.
● The 3 terms Freud used within this theory are:
- Libido: Sexual energy that can manifest through different types of
behaviours
- Fixation: The idea that part of a person's libido is stuck in a particular
stage of development through overindulgence or disruption
- Erogenous Zone: A part of the body that is sensitive to stimulation

Remember it as: Old Aged People Like Grapes

The oral stage

● occurs from birth until 2 years old
● The corresponding erogenous zone is the mouth.
● newborns take sexual pleasure from the mouth. (suckling at the teeth,
thumb sucking and chewing on pacifiers.)
● If you become orally fixated, then even much later in life, you might have
compulsions to suck your thumb, bite your nails, etc.

The anal stage

● 1-2-year-olds have to control their bodies and potty training becomes
important.
● corresponding erogenous zones: bowel and bladder control.
● They take sexual pleasure from the anus / being in control
● Fixation can occur from caretakers being too pushy or demanding during
toilet training and can result in what is known as ‘anal compulsive’
behaviour.
● Anally fixated people may be obsessively tidy and uptight, being overly
concerned with order, organisation, micromanaging and other forms of
control since they couldn't get a level of autonomy or safety during their
toilet training years. (anal compulsive)
● If the caretaker is not attentive enough in these formative years, the child
could become anal expulsive.
● Anally fixated people can also be compulsively messy and disorganised
but generous (anal expulsive).

The phallic stage

● 3-5-year-olds
● The corresponding erogenous zones: the genitals. Sexual pleasure from
touching them.
● At this stage, the Oedipus complex describes feelings of wanting to attract
the mother and the desire to resent the father by boys.
 ● Boys start copying behaviours of the same sex parent to attract the
opposite sex parent
● Children who don't resolve their Oedipus Complex successfully will grow up
with lifelong problems. Ex: exaggerated gender roles and turn into
hyper-masculine or hyper-feminine types.
● Some will struggle with their sexuality or find it hard to control their sexual
urges
● This is a psychosexual crisis that leads to the creation of the super-ego

● However, the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for
these feelings, a fear Freud termed ‘castration anxiety’
● Eventually, the child begins to identify with the same-sex parent as a
means of vicariously possessing the other parent.
● For girls, however, Freud believed that penis envy was never fully resolved
and that all women remain somewhat fixated on this stage.
● Psychologist Karen Horney disputed this theory, calling it both inaccurate
and demanding to women. She proposed that men experience feelings of
inferiority because they cannot give birth to children (womb envy).
● Phallic fixation can make you grow up to be vain, insecure and envious.

The latency stage

● 6-12-year-olds
● The corresponding erogenous zones are inactive
● the superego continues to develop while the id’s energies are suppressed.
● This is the period where children explore the world with repressed sexual
energy.
● The libido still exists but is used in other areas such as intellectual pursuits
and social interactions.
● This stage is important in the development of social and communication
skills.
● fixation at this stage can result in immaturity and an inability to form
fulfilling relationships as an adult.

The genital stage

● This is when puberty arrives.
● The corresponding erogenous zone: maturing sexual interests
● Adolescents enter the final psychosexual stage & lasts for their adult life.
● libido becomes active once again as well as sexual pleasure,
● They become aware of their bodies and start making mature sexual
interests
● Unlike earlier stages, interest in the welfare of others grows during this
stage.
● If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual
should now be well-balanced, warm, and caring.
● Freud believes that the ego and superego were fully formed and
functioning at this point.
● Teens in the genital stage of development are able to balance their most
basic urges against the need to conform to the demands of reality
Evaluation

Strengths Weaknesses

Credibility Objections
newborn babies' brains do work Freud’s ideas are criticised for not
differently until they develop language; being scientific enough. He
the right hemisphere that is so active psychoanalysed his patients and
in the first months of life does tie in himself and his conclusions are
with Freud's view of the id and the interpretations.
unconscious mind.
Erik Erikson - suggested that
Crucial memories from early childhood humans go through far more stages
may be stored in the right hemisphere
than the 5 freud identified. He stated
but cannot be "put into words" by the
that stages go all the way into olds
left hemisphere. This ties in very closely
age and each is defined by a
with Freud's idea of the unconscious
particular crisis to overcome.
mind influencing the conscious mind.

The idea that traumatic experiences in Jeffrey Masson (1984) - he states

childhood having far-reaching effects that he studied Freud’s files and
for the rest of your life is diaries and claims that Freud’s
well-understood. Ex; child abuse. patients were suffering from child
sexual abuse and that freud knew
John Bowlby (a british psychologist) this but suppressed the truth.
agrees with Freud’s observation (he suggests that Freud’s Oedipus
between the attachment that forms Complex about having sexual
between a mother and a child. He fantasies about their parents lasts
believes that when the child is into adulthood with no actual sexual
separated from the mother for any abuse would lose credibility as
period of time, it leaves psychological Freud’s patients suffered sexual
scars into adulthood. abuse)

Freud was under the influence of

drugs and alcohol when developing
these theories so its very
controversial

Similarities Differences
Some biological psychologists also Biological psychologists agree that
support nature and nurture. They young children form very strong
would say that genes only give us attachments to their parents as a
predispositions but that experiences survival trait. However, nothing more
later in life decide whether we act on than this. Freud’s ideas of this
those predispositions or whether they meaning of attachment and what it
stay hidden inside us. feels like and how it becomes a part
of our personalities aren’t really
Freud’s ideas that the child develops
the id first ad then the ego is scientific ideas at all - Sir Karl Popper
supported by biology as babies use argued that this idea cannot be
their right brains extensively but then proved or disproved so it lacks
the left brain develops language and evidence.
logical faculties at about the age of 5.

Animal studies does not support the

psychodynamic approach as Freud
claims to study what makes us
distinctively human, not what we
share with animals.

Applications: Applications

Therapy called psychoanalysis can be Another criticism of the psychosexual

applied using Freud’s theory. This stages is that the theory focuses
therapy helps explore the primarily on heterosexual
unconscious causes of development development, and largely ignores
and their own dreams and childhood homosexual development.
memories and work out what they
mean. The client can learn about the
fixations that they are acting upon
and take control over unresolved
conflicts. Before psychoanalysis,
fixations may express themselves as
urges you aren't even aware of; after
psychoanalysis, you can recognise the
urge for what it is and perhaps choose
to ignore it.
4.1.5 Systematic desensitisation.

● In the 1950s, south African psychologist Joseph Wolpe came up with a

technique called systematic desensitisation for curing phobias.
● Systemic desensitisation is a therapy used to treat phobias.
● The therapy treats phobias as conditioned responses (CR) to a conditioned
stimulus (CS) and tries to turn the terrifying creature, object or situation
back into a neutral stimulus that produces no response.
● A phobia is an irrational fear that might be learned when a Neutral
Stimulus (ex: spider) is paired with a UCS that is naturally frightening, such
as a thunderstorm or a scream. The spider becomes a CS and produces the
same CR as the thunderstorm - fear.
● Stimulus generalisation means that the CR is extended to all spiders or any
sort of ‘creepy crawlies.
● Systemic desensitisation involves introducing the phobia-sufferer to the
thing they fear, but at a safe distance - first a drawing, then a drawing that
is held in the hand, then a photo, then a film clip, then the real thing.
● These stages allow the sufferer to learn to associate the spider with a
harmless, relaxed experience.
● It's important that the patient can stop at any point and that the procedure
is voluntary.
● Biofeedback about a patient’s pulse or measuring breathing is used as a
way of telling how anxious they are.
● Systematic desensitisation is based on classical conditioning and has 2
components:
1. Counter-conditioning: this involves learning to associate the thing you
fear with something relaxing or pleasant.
2. Graduated exposure: this involves introducing you to the thing you
fear in stages, starting with brief and remote encounters and building
up to longer, closer and more immediate encounters

● Sometimes, there is a 3rd component:

3. Participant modelling: a role model demonstrates being relaxed and
calm in the presence of the feared object.

Counter-conditioning
● This is when the feared object is paired with something else that produces
an incompatible response, like pleasure, relaxation or humour.
● Wolpe taught his patients relaxation techniques like controlled breathing.
● Larry Ventis uses humour therapy as a type of counter-conditioning in his
study (Ventis et al, 2001)
 ● The idea is that instead of their old Conditioned Response (CR) of fear, the
patient learns a new CR, like relaxing or laughing.

Graduated Exposure
● The therapist and the patient work out a
STIMULATION HIERARCHY - a list of encounters
with the feared thing, going from the least intense
to the most intense.
● It's very important that the stimulation hierarchy is
created by the patient not the therapist. This is for
two reasons:
- Patient can have control over how the
therapy proceeds, this makes the process
relaxing.
- Ethical reasons to gain consent from the patient before putting them in
the distressing situation is within the ethical guidelines.

Participant modelling
● Systematic desensitisation is based on classical conditioning but also social
learning theory.
● Douglas Bernstein (1979) calls this participant modelling.
● The first step on the simulation hierarchy would be to watch someone else
model the relaxation techniques and encounter the feared object before
trying it yourself.
● With really severe phobias, the patient can't even bear to watch someone
else encounter the feared object. For this case, Richard Sharf (2000)
recommends covert modelling.
● Covert modelling: where the first step on the simulation hierarchy is to
imagine someone else encountering the feared object.
Evaluation

Strengths Weaknesses

May be ethically beneficial as patient Objections:

gives consent Can be unethical to expose a patient to
something they find distressing. It
could backfire in the fear-increasing

Used in many sessions of therapy

Credibility: It may lack generalisability as, in real

Systemic desensitisation is based on life, sufferers do not get to choose
classical conditioning which is a when and how they encounter the
well-established psychological theory object of their fear. They might have no
supported by many studies such as control over the situation.
Pavlov’s dogs, baby Albert, etc

Research suggests that phobias are

learned in the first place through
association and can be un-learned by
forming different associations.

Since research is being conducted in

controlled lab settings, it is reliable as
the effectiveness of systemic
desensitisation can be measured
physically.

Gilroy et al (2003) - conducted

systemic desensitisation on patients
with a fear of spiders. After 3 months
and again after 33 months, the
treatment group was less fearful than
the control group.

Application: May not help with curing phobias that

are intangible such as fear of losing
these days, virtual reality is helping to someone or for phobias of situations or
apply systematic desensitisation to concepts, like the fear of crowds,
situations that used to be difficult to set foreigners, the number 13, flying or
up in a therapy session. germs.

Rothbaum et al. (1995): virtual-reality

helmet worn by the patient which
displays a phobic situation which is
controlled by the therapist. When pulse
rates increased, the therapist froze the
screen and used counter-conditioning
to replace fear with relaxation.

4.1.6 Psychoanalysis, including free association and dream analysis,

transference and countertransference, and the object relations school of
thought.

● Freud’s theories can be applied in real life towards a therapy called

psychoanalysis.
● Psychoanalysis can help treat emotional problems by exploring the
unconscious causes.
● The psychoanalyst helps the client explore their own dreams and childhood
memories and work out what they mean.
● The primary assumption of psychoanalysis is the belief that all people
possess unconscious thoughts, feelings, desires and memories.
● Psychoanalysis is a lengthy process with often 2-5 sessions per week for
several years.
● The psychoanalyst uses various techniques as encouragement for the client
to develop insights into their behaviour and the meanings of symptoms,
including inkblots, parapraxes, free association, interpretation (including
dream analysis), resistance analysis and transference analysis:

Free association
● This is a type of therapy where the client has a conversation with the
psychoanalyst. This encourages the client to talk freely about any thoughts,
allowing unconscious ones to emerge
● The therapist can tell the patient why the maladaptive thought is causing
problems.
● They then offer a solution to implement new ways to avoid the unconscious
thought happening again.
● This often involves a therapist giving a word or idea, and the patient
immediately responding with the first word that comes to mind.

Strengths Weaknesses

It solves the cause of the abnormality, Non-scientific as it relies on therapists

not just the symptoms subjective interpretation

It doesn't cause any physical harm, Relies on accurate memory recall

unlike drugs

Success rate depends on skill of

therapists

Not a solution to treating phobia. Its

only going to help identify the cause.
Hence, other methods such as
systematic desensitisation is better

May take time to identify and interpret

the unconscious thoughts. (over many
years)

Dream analysis
● Dream analysis - the process of assigning meaning to dreams.
● Freud claims that the analysis of dreams is “the royal road to the
unconscious”. He argued that the conscious mind is like a censor but it is
less vigilant when we are asleep.
● He believed that repressed ideas come to the surface through what we
remember may well have been altered during the dream process.
● Dream analysis is a process of gaining themes and symbols from dreams
and interpreting the inner conflicts through the analysis of dreams.
● Freud proposed that dreams consist of manifest content and latent
content.
● Manifest content: what we actually see
● Latent content: hidden meaning or messages behind what we see in a
dream.
● The dream analysis therapist's role is to take the manifest content
described by the client and help guide them to understand the latent
content of the dreams, in order for the patient to understand the root
cause of their behaviour and find a way to combat and resolve the
issue.

Strengths Weaknesses

Application: Validity:
Dream analysis is very subjective so
Components of dream analysis have goes against the objective aims of
been applied to other psychological psychology as it relies on the
treatments such as CBT (changing subjective interpretation of the
content of nightmares to positive) therapist

Credibility: Generalisability:
Matt and Navarro (1997) reviewed 63 Cannot be used to treat all types of
meta-analyses of psychotherapy and disorders such as autism, attention
found that 75% of clients who received deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
dream analysis showed some form of or memory deficits
improvement

Ethics: Ecological validity:

Dream analysis attempts to get to the Much of research on this was
root of an individuals problems conducted in labs where patients were
without causing external dysfunctions wired up with various electrodes
while drug therapy tries to get rid of taking measurements. Hence, dreams
the problem solely during the expeirment may not
represent patterns of everyday
dreaming

Transference
● Transference is when a situation occurs where the feelings, desires and
expectations of one person are redirected and applied to another person.
● Transference refers to a therapeutic setting where a person in therapy may
apply certain feelings or emotions toward the therapist.
● This concept was first described by Sigmund Freud who noted the deep,
intense and unconscious feelings that sometimes developed within the
therapeutic relationships he established with those he was treating.

Types of transference:
● Paternal transference - individual looks at another person as a father ⇒
expects protection / wise personality
● Maternal transference - individual treats another person as a mother ⇒
vied as loving / comfort is expected
● Sibling transference - occur when parental relationships are lacking
● Non-familial transference - when individuals treat others according to an
idealized version of what they are expected to be rather than who they
actually are. (doctors expected to cure and be rational at all times)
● Sexualized transference - may occur when a person in therapy develops a
sexual attraction to their therapist

● Positive transference can lead the person in therapy to view the therapist
as kind, concerned, or otherwise helpful.
● Negative transference might cause a person in therapy to direct angry or
painful feelings toward the therapist, but the therapist may still be able to
use these emotions to help the person achieve greater understanding.
Transference in therapy
● When transference occurs in a therapeutic setting, a therapist may be able
to better understand an individual and help the person in therapy achieve
results and recovery
● Transference may occur between a therapist and person in therapy (ex:
therapist may be viewed as all-knowing guru, ideal lover, fierce opponent)
● Transference is a therapeutic tool crucial in understanding an individual’s
unconscious or repressed feelings.
● Healing is likely to occur once these underlying issues are effectively
exposed and addressed.
● TFP - transference-focused therapy harnesses the transference that occurs
in therapy to help individuals gain insight into their own behaviour and
thought patterns and is used to treat BPD

Countertransference
● Occurs when therapists transfer their emotions to a person in therapy.
● This is often a reaction to transference
● Sigmund Freud developed the concept of countertransference where he
suggests that its a largely unconscious phenomenon in which the
psychologist's emotions are influenced by a person in therapy.
● It is necessary for therapists to master the tendency to countertransference
emotions or feelings
● There is positive and negative countertransference:
- Positive countertransference may be used to help open up a patient
by sharing the therapists experiences and feelings based on a
particular subject matter
- Negative countertransference is not being able to control attraction
to the patient when hearing their trauma

Strength Weakness

Carl Jung - classical psychoanalyst

Faced this problem and characterize it
as potentially problematic to the
treatment
Object relations theory
● Object relations is a variation of psychoanalysis that diverges from
Sigmund Freud’s belief that humans are motivated by sexual and
aggressive desires.
● This was developed by Klein (1921) where it focused on the relationship
between the mother-infant rather than the father-infant one.
● States that humans are primarily motivated by the need for contact
with others (need to form relationships)
● Aim of therapy is to uncover early mental images that contribute to present
difficulties in one’s relationships with others and adjust them.

● ‘Objects’ - refers to significant others with whom an individual relates to (ex:

mom, dad)
● Sometimes refers to a part of a person such as a mother’s breast.
● This theory stresses the importance of family interactions (mother-infant
relationship) in personality development
● Infants form mental representations of themselves in relation to others
and these internal images significantly influence interpersonal
relationships later in life.

● An object relation involves mental representations of:

1. The object as perceived by the self
2. The self in relation to the object
3. The relationship between self and object

Ex: an infant might think:

● "My mother is good because she feeds me when I am hungry"
(representation of the object).
● "The fact that she takes care of me must mean that I am good"
(representation of the self in relation to the object).
● "I love my mother" (representation of the relationship).

● The action of splitting takes place over time where the infant’s mental
separation of objects to ‘good’ and ‘bad’ takes place.
● Ex: the caregiver is ‘good’ when all the infant’s needs are satisfied and ‘bad’
when they are not.
● Initially, these 2 aspects of the object (caregiver) are separated in the mind
of the infant. A similar process occurs when the infant comes to perceive
good and bad parts of themselves.
 ● Mother is satisfactory to infants needs ⇒ infant thinks mom is good ⇒
infant thinks he is good ⇒ infant thinks they’re relationship is good.
● Vice versa for when needs are not satisfied.
● This can cause difficulty in future relationships.

Strengths Weaknesses

Gives more objectivity to the data: It Not effective for certain disorders such
relies more on the patient opening up as depression where clients may not
unlike the psychoanalysis method. be motivated to engage with the
Hence, there is less interpretive work therapist ⇒ drug treatments may be
and more real conclusions better

Unscientific as it relies on therapists

interpretations

May take time to identify issues

4.2 Methods

Observations

4.2.1 The use of the observational research method in psychology,

including the gathering of both qualitative and quantitative data
(including tallying, event and time sampling).
● Observation is a type of research method that involves obtaining data and
not manipulating the independent variable.
● All data is gathered by simply observing.
● The researcher has to then divide if they are collecting quantitative data or
qualitative data

Tallying
● Data collection in observational research might include tallying where
oververs write down when and how many times certain behaviours
occurred.
● They can use notes or audio/video recordings to determine behavioural
patterns during the research
● The categories for observation need to be clear and unambiguous
● Training and standardisation of observers is needed where more than one
observer is making an assessment.
● Due to the potential volume of data to be recorded, researchers often use
sampling to gather information.

Time sampling
● This involves making observations at different time intervals, (ex: every 30
seconds) and recording what is observed.

strengths Weaknesses

It can give an indication of the Even with computerised systems, it

order in which events happen and is difficult to record as many
the relative time spent on each beahviours in time sampling as it
behaviour can be recorded in event sampling

Instantaneous scan sampling can Records are difficult to obtain as

be highly reliable timing have to be precise and if
they are indicted by a timer that
makes a noise, this can lead to
demand characteristics

Certain behaviours can be missed if

they are only recorded at certain
times
Event sampling
● Involves recording a certain behaviour every time it happens
● Ex: ticking a box every time someone displays a particular behaviour

strengths Weaknesses

Can record every occurrence of each Gives no indication of the relative time
behaviour to give a complete record spent on each behavioural category

Records are easy to obtain and analyse Gives no indication of the order in
as they are just totals which events from each behavioural
category occur

If too many instances of the behaviour

happen at once, the researcher may
not be able to record all instances
4.2.2 Types of observation: participant, non-participant, structured,
naturalistic, overt and covert.
● Observations fall into 2 broad categories. - structured and naturalistic

Naturalistic observation
● This technique involves observing participants in their natural
environment.
● Its often used where it would be unethical to manipulate variables
● The situation has not been created by the researcher and so allows them to
gain a real insight into a person’s behaviour.

Strengths Weaknesses

High ecological validity as researcher Cannot be replicated to check

records naturally occurring behaviour test-retest reliability as researcher is
in a natural environment not in control of the variables

Less chance of demand characteristics Difficult to ensure reliability of data

collection, however this can be
overcome by recording behaviours via
video tape

Useful for obtaining observations in If observers are identified, validity is

situation where intervention would be compromised
unethical ex: investigating behaviours
in domestic abuse

Stuructured observations
● Structured observations are staged observations and are normally carried
out within an environment in which the researcher has some control such
as a laboratory.
● Structured observations are used to gather information which can be
difficult to gather from naturalistic observations
● Structured observations are more reliable than naturalistic observations as
the coding systems used allow for replicability.
Strengths Weaknesses

High reliability as it can be replicated Low ecological validity as researcher

with controlled variables records behaviours in an artificial
environment

Good structured observations will have Less validity as its open to observer
a naturalistic feel and so natural bias as the researcher may interpret
behaviour can be observed behaviours in a way that fits into the
planned behavioural categories
 ● The above 2 observations can be non-participant or participant
observations

Non-participant observations
● This is when the researcher observes behaviour of others but does not form
part of the group they study
Strengths Weaknesses

Easier to remain objective as the Due to lack of proximity, the

participant is away from distractions researcher might overlook or miss
and can remain focused - increasing behaviours of interest
validity

Researcher has less influence on Ethical issues of participants not

behaviour since he is away from giving informed consent of
participants observation

Participant observations
● A form of observation where the researcher takes an active role in the
situation being observed
Strengths Weaknesses

Beneficial for instances where Demand characteristics may rise

behaviours within a group needs to be
observed

Greater accuracy and detail as the Information may be missed as it may

participant is involved in the be hard to record notes of the
behaviour. Allows researcher to make observations while being involved
more valid conclusions about
behaviour as they have a greater
insight and proximity

Overt observations
● A form of observation where those being observed are aware of the
presence of an observer
Strengths Weaknesses

Reduces ethical issues as the Researcher effects may influence

participants have given informed demand characteristics and may
consent change their behaviour in order to fit
in with what they think the researcher
wants to see

If being observed for long periods, Social desirability may increase as they
people tend to forget about observers are being aware of the observation.
and behave more naturally Reducing validity
Covert observation
● A form of observation where the participants do not know they are being
observed

Strengths Weaknesses

Increases validity as participants Less ethical as participants did not

are not aware of the observations give informed consent

Less demand characteristics If the participant becomes aware of

the researchers presence, they may
change their behaviour
 Content analysis

4.2.3 Use of content analysis as a research method.

The difference between thematic and content analysis

● Thematic and content analysis differ because the thematic analysis is used
purely for qualitative research and gives a detailed account of key themes
and categories.
● However, content analysis uses coding units to quantify the themes within
a qualitative data set.

What is content analysis

● Content analysis is typically used as a research tool for analysing the
content for the incidence of certain words, images or concepts within a
material.
● It studies human behaviour indirectly by observing the things we produce
(TV programs, magazines, websites, etc)
● It is a technique that allows a researcher to take qualitative data and
transform it to quantitative data
● We use content analysis as there are 2 types of content:
- Manifest content: what the text seems to be about (on the surface
information)
- Latent content: what the text is really about when you dig beneath
the surface
 ● Content analysis is a quantitative process and serves 2 purposes:
- To make the analysis of qualitative data more objective
- To identify trends

Categories and themes

● Categorising data within a content is when you separate the data based on
similar or different characteristics
● Themes are broader than categories and more linked to latent meaning.
● Themes separate the content in terms of its interpretive meaning. (Ex:
men’s magazines might feature themes like whether the adverts celebrate
aggression, power)
● Top-down approach: when you have decided the categories and themes
you are looking for prior to reading the content
● Bottom-up method: when you find the themes as you go through the
content

Process of content analysis

Sample
● Artefacts are analysed in this process, so it needs to be representative.
● Ex: if your researching gender stereotypes in car adverts, look at both male
and female magazines

Coding system
● The researcher has to create a coding system which breaks down the
content into coding units
● This is when the researcher has identified themes such as ‘driving a car’
‘washing the car’, and then make tallys as to how many times in these
magazines, male and female roles are doing such acts

Results
● Depending on the number of tally’s the researcher can now quantify their
data and make conclusions
● For instance, they can conclude on whether or not there is a gender bias in
the way cars are being advertised.
Evaluation of content analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

Generalisability Genearalisability
Content analysis allows comparison Content analysis depends on if the
of artefacts drom different times to artefacts being studied consists of a
see if behaviours change over time. wide group or not.
Ex: if the research is on a recording of
conversations in a small community,
cannot be generalised

Reliability Application
Content analysis can easily be Causality cannot be established as
replicated by others. ⇒ inter-rater you cant identity why the behaviour
reliability occurs using content analysis. This
can only be done through
Reliable way to analyse qualitative experiments
information as coding units are not
open to interpretation and can be
used with different researchers

Application Validity
Easy technique to use and not too Observer bias - different observers
time consuming might interpret meanings of
categories in coding systems
Statistical data can be shown for differently
reports using tally frequencies,
chi-squared test for nominal level Culture bias as the interpretation will
data, and histograms for frequency be affected by the language and
data culture of the observer

Validity Ethics
High ecological validity as they are If social responsibility is not
based on observations of what considered, it may go against code of
people actually do conduct as using images of religious
fundamentalist videos or violent
No chance of demand characteristics material may be difficult for the
as the person creating the artefact minority or the researcher as well.
did not know that it would be
analysed
 Ethics
No risk for content analysis as these
are public information that is already
released

Case studies

4.2.4 Freud’s use of the case study as a research method.

● A case study is an in depth study of an individual or small group in a

specific environment
● Useful for exploring reasons behind behaviours
● Things included in a case study:
- Case history
- Description and diagnosis
- Record of treatment/intervention
- Record of outcomes
- Biographical information
- Observations
- psychological test results
- Pre-existing records (ex: school, employment, medical)
- Reports from others

Strenghts of case studies Weaknesses of case studies

Rich, qualitative data that provides an Heavy reliance on retrospective and
in-depth understanding self-report data
(non-reductive)

Can track and describe change over Non-standardised methods may be

time difficult to replicate as there are
different interpretations

Lack of generalisability

Results are highly subjective

Freud’s use of the case study

● Studied his patients who had various behavioural abnormalities
● Attempted to find the root cause of their behavioural abnormalities
● He found that causes of behavioural abnormality are unconscious and
usually linked to repressed impulses, traumatic experiences, etc
● He also found that such abnormalities are usually related to early childhood
experiences
● He used case studies to try out range of techniques to unlock the
unconscious mind such as dream analysis, hypnosis and free association

Little Hans - Case study

● Freud was attempting to demonstrate that boys (Little Hans) fear of horses
was related to his Oediups Complex.
● Freud argued that the fear of the horse was a reflection of his fear of the
father and the fear that the horse would bite him represented his
castraction anxiety
● Freud thought that during the phallic stage, a body develops intense
sexual love for his mothers
● Hence, sees his father as a rival and wants to get rid of him
● The father however is far bigger and more powerful than the young boy so
the child develops the fear that seeing his dad as a rival will leave the father
to castrate him.
● The young boy develps a mechanism for coping with it, using a defense
mechanism known as identification with the aggressor
● He stresses all the ways similar to his father in order to attract the mother
● Freud saw that the Oedipus Complex resolved when Hans fantasized
himself with a big penis like his father’s and married to his mother with his
father present in the role of grandfather.
● Hans recovered from his phobia after his father assured him that he had no
intention of cutting off his penis
4.3 Studies

Classic study

4.3.1 Watson and Rayner (1920) Little Albert: Conditioned emotional

reactions.
https://www.psychologywizard.net/watson--rayner-ao1-ao3.html

Aims(s)
● To investigate whether emotional responses could be conditioned in a
controlled laboratory setting.
● Specifically to investigate whether fear could be conditioned in a young
baby aged from nine to eleven months old. They wanted to see if:
- Fear of a white rat could be conditioned in a young child using the
loud sound of a hammer hitting a steel bar.
- Whether the fear response, if one was conditioned, would transfer to
similar objects. (stimulus generalisation)
- The effects of time on a conditioned fear response.
 - If the fear response did not disappear after an amount of time could
it be deconditioned. (extinction)

Procedure
● The study was carried out on a healthy, emotionally stable child called Albert,
who was nine months old at the start of the study.
● At about nine months of age, Albert was presented with a lot of objects that
might bring fear, but he was not scared.

(you don't need to remember when they gave what object, just remember that it
was a step-by-step process)

● At eight months and 26 days old Albert was exposed to a hammer hitting a
suspended steel bar, causing Albert to startle. The third time this was carried
out Albert cried.

● 11 months 3 days: Albert was presented with a white rat and just as his hand
touched the rat the metal bar was hit by the hammer. This was done a second
time and Albert jumped violently and began to whimper.

● 11 months 10 days: The rat was presented to Albert with no sound. He was also
presented with blocks after the rat was taken away. He played with the blocks.
Then the rat was presented and the sound was made, Albert was startled and
fell over. This was done another two times before the rat was presented on its
own again. There were a further two joint presentations before the rat was
presented on its own for the third time.

● 11 months 15 days: Albert was shown the rat on its own two times, he played
with the blocks between each presentation. Albert was then shown the rabbit
on its own, followed by the dog, a seal fur coat, cotton wool and Watson’s head
to see if Albert would play with his hair. He was also presented with a Santa
Claus mask. Blocks were given to Albert between each item for him to play
with and calm him down.

● 11 months 20 days: Albert was presented with the rat alone, and then the rat
was placed on his hand and the steel bar hit. After this he was presented with
the rat alone two more times, followed by the rabbit. After being given the
blocks to play with the rabbit was again presented, and as Albert reached for it
the steel bar was hit by the hammer, and then the rabbit was presented on its
own. The same procedure was carried out for the dog.

● On the same day Albert was taken to a well-lit lecture room where he was
presented with the rat alone, the rabbit alone, the dog alone, then the rat a
second time followed by the rat and the loud noise. Albert was then shown the
rat on its own twice followed by the rabbit and the dog
● 1 year 21 days: Albert was presented with the Santa Claus mask followed by
the fur coat, the rat, the rabbit and the dog, with blocks being given to Albert
between the presentations of each object.

Results
● 11 months 10 days: Albert did not reach for the rat at first. When the rat’s nose
touched his hand he withdrew his hand. When the rat was presented on its
own for the second time Albert whimpered and moved his body ways from the
rat. On the third presentation of the rat on its own Albert began to cry, turned
away from the rat sharply and began to crawl
away from rat.
● 11 months 15 days:
- Albert whimpered when he saw the
rat for the first time
- 2nd time, he crawled away from it.
He showed slight fear for rabbits and
dogs too.
- Albert wouldn't play with Watson's
hair and showed a negative reaction
to the Santa Claus mask.

● 11 months 20 days:
- All his reactions were a little less
from 11 months and 15 days

● 1 year and 21 days:

- Albert whimpered when he saw Santa Claus and was forced to touch
it
- He moved away from the rat, and rabbit and cried when the dog was
presented to him.

Conclusions
● It was concluded that emotional transfer does take place. (generalisation does
take place)
● It was also concluded that conditioned emotional responses last for at least a
week, and that conditioned fears can generalise to other similar objects.
(Meaning he developed fears of anything that was fluffy or white)
● Watson and Rayner also concluded that emotional disturbances in adults can
be traced back to conditioning.
Evaluation of the experiment

Strengths Weaknesses

Validity: The study has careful controls. limitations included no control subject
For example, Watson hid behind a and no objective measurement of the
curtain when striking the iron bar so fear response in Little Albert (e.g. the
that Albert would associate the noise dependent variable was not
with the rat, not with him or the bar or operationalized).
the hammer.

Validity: He also tested Albert’s reactions lacks external validity

before the conditioning, to make sure Cant be generalised to other people as
Albert didn’t have any pre-existing fear it was done on only a single individual.
of white, furry things. Also, Albert was an unusual kid who he
had been admitted to the hospital for
not being able to show fear or rage.

Cosh (2012) points out that if

Albert/Douglas Meritte died from
hydrocephalus at 6, he was possibly sick
even at one year old.

However, Watson & Rayner chose Albert Lacks ethics:

because he wasn’t easily frightened. An
important definition of harm is that it i) the experiment was conducted
should not be greater than what the without the knowledge or consent of
participant would experience in their Albert's parents,
"normal lifestyle". Watson & Rayner (ii) creating a fear response is an
argued that Albert would go on to have example of psychological harm,
had distressing experiences when he (iii) Watson and Raynor did not
started nursery and there was nothing
desensitize Albert to his fear of rats.
excessive or unusual about what they
had put the child through.
deliberately caused distress to an infant
and continued even though he was
upset.

His mother didn't have control of

consent since she worked in the same
clinic as them so she assumed if she said
no she would lose her job

Moreover, Albert's mother gave consent The setting for the experiment lacks
and was present the whole time, so this ecological validity because Albert was
was clearly valid presumptive consent. away from his playroom and familiar
She was able to withdraw Albert and did nurses.
in fact do so (though not for an ethical
reason: she merely moved to another
job).
Reported all stages of their study so Watson's conclusions are in line with
it's reliable as it can be replicated what would be predicted by Classical
Conditioning. When a study fits with a
well-established theory, it has construct
validity.

The validity of Watson and Rayner’s

(1920) results is questioned as there is
some debate about whether Little
Albert was a normal baby as they stated.
 Quantitative data and qualitative data

4.2.6 Analysis of qualitative data using thematic analysis

Thematic analysis
● Thematic analysis: recording themes, patterns or trends within data
● Thematic analysis is the method used to analyse and produce qualitative
data. The process involves reading a qualitative dataset form, such as a
transcript. The researcher then identifies critical themes that are evident
in the data. These are reported using extracts of the data as evidence.
● Thematic analysis can be done in 2 ways:
- Inductive: The data is analysed based on what it initially presents,
rather than relying on pre-existing themes searched for by the
researcher. Usually, psychology research uses inductive thematic
analysis techniques.
- Deductive: data is coded if determined to be relevant to the
research question.

● This process involves carefully reading and considering the qualitative data
gathered and identifying the themes present in the data that occur
frequently.
● Then the researcher will develop the themes into ‘codes’ - which are like
categories
● Codes will then be analysed and searched in the data for instances where it
appears
● Thematic analysis is used in psychology research when the researcher
wants to explain a phenomenon investigated in-depth.
 Thematic analysis

Advantages Disadvantages

Better validity ⇒ encourages the Lack of validity if researcher might

researcher to derive themes from the have themes in mind prior to coding -
data rather than to impose bias
pre-selected themes: helps
understand data better

Way of reducing a large amount of Time consuming

data into a summary without losing
validity of the data

Reports give a deep analysis of the Criticised as unscientific as the themes

content are highly dependent on the
subjective opinions of the researcher
so it can lead to researcher bias.

Often lack credibility as to how they

arrived at the themes for codes
4.2.8 Animal research and ethics:
• the use of animals in laboratory experiments where results can be related to
humans
● Animal studies are important in psychology as many key studies such as
pavolv’s dogs and skinner’s rats have used animals
● Ethology: a research method where animals are observed in their natural
environment
● Animal experiments involve
manipulating some IV (ex:
animals environment) or the
animal itself by genetically
altering it
● This research is based on the
evolutionary theory by Charles
Darwin where he states that
humans are descended from
animal ancestors

● Main advantage of animal research: things can be done to animals that

would be impractical or unethical to do to humans
● Main disadvantage of animal research: lacks generalisability. Drawing
conclusions about human behaviour from observing animals may be
invalid, reductionist and misleading

Example of an unethical animal experiment

● Harry Harlow conducted animal studies in the 1950s and 1960s where he
experimented on rhesus monkeys and observed the nature of love and
attachment between a child and its mother
● Harlow raised monkeys without a mother, instead had a ‘wire mother’ to
dispense food and ‘cloth mother’ to comfort the monkey for a soft touch
● Harlow scared the monkeys and observed which mother they chose. They
chose the cloth mother even though it did not provide them with food to
keep them alive.
● Harlow’s early studies were beneficial in raising human children with care,
however, his later studies went a lot further.

● Harlow placed infant monkeys in "the Pit of Despair" - an isolation chamber

where they were fed but cut off from all contact and stimulation for up to a
year. The monkeys developed intense depression
● These traumatised monkeys lost their sex-drive, so Harlow created the "rape
rack" where female monkeys were restrained so that they could be
inseminated.
 ● Harlow’s disturbing experiments did some good as it led to many
guidelines for animal research to be produced in order to care for the
wellbeing of animals.
• ethical issues regarding the use of animals in laboratory experiments,
including the Scientific Procedures Act (1986) and Home Office Regulations.
● The law governing the use of animals in scientific research is the ‘Animals
(scientific procedures) Act, (1986).
● Research conducted needs a licence from the Home Office; the premises
and people involved must all be licenced.
● Laboratory animals must be procured from “high quality suppliers” who
comply with Home Office standards.

● Based on the 1986 Act, the British Psychological Society (BPS) has published
Guidelines for Psychologists Working with Animals (2012).
- Legal requirements: Research must not break the law regarding
endangered and protected species. (particulary the great apes -
chimpanzees, gorillas, etc)
- Replacement: live animals should only be used as the last option. They
should be replaced with alternatives such as computer simulations as
much as possible.
- Choice of species: species raised in captivity are more ethical than wild
animals. Research should be minimised if it involves highly sensitive
animals.
- Reduction: The number of animals used should be minimised as much
as possible
- Animal care: when not being experimented on, they should be given
food, water and free space for companionship with their species.
- Disposal: when research is over, animals should be disposed of by being
kept alive for breeding or as pets
- Procedures: Animals must be treated humanely during research. The
BPS gives special consideration to these three areas: caging,
deprivation, and pain.

1. Caging: distress should be minimised during caging. Social species need

companionship and animals unused to other animals may be distressed if
caged with them.
2. Deprivation: Some food deprivation is allowable (and may be normal and
healthy for animals) but distress should be minimised
3. Pain: Anaesthetics should be used to minimise pain; animals should be given
medical treatment after research

These Guidelines are based on a Cost-Benefit Model, which means that

research which breaks some Guidelines sometimes might be allowable if the
benefits seem to outweigh the "costs" in terms of animal suffering.
The 3 R’S
● The ethics of animal research are sometimes summed up by the three
principles known as the 3 Rs:
● Replace: use animals as the last option. Replace with alternatives
● Reduce: reduce the number of animals used
● Refine: the way experiments are carried out to make sure animals suffer
less. (ex: better housing and minimising pain)

The Bateson Decision-making cube

● Prof. Patrick Bateson (2012) has suggested a convenient way of weighing
up ethical decisions about animals in research: the decision cube.
● There are 3 sides to the cube:
1. The degree of animal suffering: ethical research minimises this
2. The benefits of the findings: ethical research will have clear
benefits
3. The quality of research: ethical research will be highly valid and
reliable

● The cube should be as hollow as possible where ethical research will be

highly beneficial, high-quality research with minimal suffering.

PRACTICAL Issues to consider in animal research

● Cost: animals don't have to be paid, unlike human participants. But
purchasing lab animals from a Home Office-approved supplier is high.
Then there are the costs of feeding and keeping them alive.
● Danger: animals can bite and scratch which can be harmful to
experimenters. Research areas need to be clean to reduce aggression
 ● Space: animals need space suitable to the needs of their species so that
they can maintain territory and feel secure. This may take time to set up.
● Supervision: animals will have to be looked over even when they are not
being experimented on. This will increase cost and maintenance.

Read Exam questions carefully. The ethical and practical issues about using animals
in research are separate; don’t answer on one when you’ve been asked about the
other.

Evaluation of the ethics of animal research

Strengths Weaknesses

Theory of Evolution is highly The “animal rights” argument claims

supported in science. This gives that animals have an absolute right not
credibility that animal research can to be harmed or interfered with by us.
be generalised to humans This viewpoint rejects calculations
about the benefit to the majority. It
simply shouldn’t happen at all.

Peter Singer (1975), states that it is

wrong to do things to animals that we
wouldn’t do to humans. “Species-ism”-
a type of discrimination, just like racism
or sexism.

Practical advantages: animals can be argued that animals have different

controlled more and observed more needs and perceptions from humans,
continuously than humans. so we cannot know to what extent they
are suffering. Makes the Bateson
Lack of self-awareness reduces decision making cube impossible to
demand characteristics carry out.

The 1986 Act and the BPS Guidelines There have been poor research such
ensure that animals are protected and as ones by Harlow which has caused
only the most beneficial, high quality distress on many animals.
and humane research goes on.
Other tools such as the Bateson Cube
Decision-making process are
considered to provide ethical research.

From a certain ethical position,

anything that maximises the benefit
for the maximum number of creatures
is ethically desirable.

Jeffrey Gray (1991) argues “we owe a

special duty to members of our own
species” - claims that if humans can
benefit through such experiments, its
our moral duty.
Many research has helped humans
understand behaviours such as
Pavolv’s research into dogs that
showed classical conditioning and
SKinners research into rats that
explored operant conditioning.

Peter Singer launched the Great Ape

Project to campaign for changes in
the law so that apes could be treated
under the oral category of persons
rather than property. This is because
animal research on the language and
problem-solving abilities of apes
found that they can use sign
language. Therefore, cognitive
psychology is advancing in animal
rights.
 Contemporary

4.3.2 Capafóns et al. (1998) Systematic desensitisation in the treatment of

the fear of flying.
Aims
● To investigate whether systematic desensitisation is an effective treatment
of maladjusted fears. Specifically for a fear of flying.

Sample
● 41 people who had a fear of flying
● 20 in treatment group. 21 control group with no treatment
● participants were volunteers who had responded to a media campaign

Procedure
● The patients gave an interview on their life history and aspects of their fear
of flying using the IDG-FV
● Anxiety in relation to different flight situations was measured using the
EMV
● EPAV=A and EPAV-B were used to measure the frequency of catastrophic
thoughts and physiological symptoms that may present in different flight
situations.
● Heart rate, muscle tension and skin temperature were also measured.
● The EMV scales looked at fear during flying, fear of flight preliminaries and
fear of flying without any direct involvement.
● The EPAV scales measured catastrophic thoughts and physiological
anxiety.

● Video tape of a plane trip from packing to landing was shown

● Patients were asked a series of questions pre- and post- treatment.
- They were asked to rate how afraid of flying they were, if they
travelled by plane
- what symptoms they had whilst flying.

● Patients were interviewed on their own. In the first interview, they

completed the IDG-V, and the other scales were completed on further
interviews.
● Question examples: how fearful are you out of 1-10 of flying?
● They then came back to watch the video and have a psychophysiological
assessment
 ● Before they saw the video, patients had 3 mins without the presence of
phobic objects.
● Then, they watched the video by being asked to feel as involved as possible.
● After watching the video, another appointment was made to either have
the treatment or for the next assessment (control group).

● Patients had about 2 one hour sessions per week as part of a standardised
desensitisation programme, they all had at least twelve sessions with the
maximum number of sessions being fifteen.
● The treatment involved the use in vivo and imagination techniques with an
emphasis on the hierarchy. They used the techniques of stop thinking and
brief relaxation.

Results
● They compared the heart rate, temperature and muscle measurement, as
well as other controls with their rates before the therapy and with the
control group.
● There was no difference in any of the measurement between the control
groups and the treatment groups before treatment.
● It was found that there was a significant difference between the control
group and those who had treatment on all measures apart from the fear
when there was no personal involvement and palm temperature.
● Only 10% of patients who had the treatment did not have a significant
reduction in their fear level concerning flying.

Conclusion
● It was concluded that systematic desensitisation is effective in reducing the
fear of flying.
● It was also concluded that the simple passage of time did not help reduce
phobias as there was no improvement in the control groups.

Evaluation

Strengths Weaknesses

Reliability: Generalisability:
Used a number of strict controls such 20 out of 41 is a realively small sample.
as the temperature of the room being Only shows systemic desensitisation is
at 22.5c, armchair being positioned at effective for fear of flying
1.8 meters from television, and the
same psychometrics for each Volunteer sample so only certain type
participant ⇒ test-retest reliability of people were used in the experiment

Applications:
Shows systemic desensitisation is
effective
Validity: Validity:
Carried out in a controlled setting so Lacks internal validity as it requires
has high internal validity by clients to imagine the fearful situation
eliminating extraneous variables which cannot be effective as some
people cant create vivid images
Psych measures had previously been (individual differences)
shown to be valid and reliable. Eg: fear
of flying scales had better than +0.85 Long process to be effective
test-restest scores
Although anxiety was measured
thoroughly before & after treatment,
not sure how long the benefits lasted

Ethics:
Valid consent was gained

Generalisability:
Participants were matched on age and
sex so can be generalised
 One contemporary study from the following two
choices:

4.3.4 Bastian et al. (2011) Cyber-dehumanization: Violent video game play

diminishes our humanity.

Aims
● To investigate whether playing violent video games has dehumanising
consequences in relation to others and the self. (self perception and
perception of others)
● Study 1: Aimed to investigate effects in a violent video game context
● Study 2: aimed to investigate whether playing violently against computer
avatars rather than actual humans had any effect on self-perived humanity

Procedure - study 1
● Game - Mortal Kombat (players play against each other)
● Sample: 106 participants who were undergrads (age: 17 - 34 years)
● Allocation: random allocation of participants to 2 groups

● Participants viewed the same screen but were separated by a wall so that
thye couldn’t see each other
● 52 played Mortal Kombat (violent game). Other 54 played Spin Tennis
(non-violent game)
● With a scale of 1-7, Participants were asked on:
- how much they enjoyed the game
- How frustrating they found the game

● Participants had to then rate themselves and their opponents on

perceptions of humanness.
- Ex; ‘I felt like I lacked self-restraint, like an animal’
- ‘I left that I was emotional, like I was responsive and warm’

Procedure - study 2
● Game: call of duty 2 (played with another player who was a computer
generated avatar)
● Sample: 38 participants, all undergrads
● Allocation: random allocation to 2 conditions: playing either Call of Duty or
Spin tennis
● The screen was split into two so the participants could see their own view
point and their co-players viewpoint.

● Same ratings as study 1 where:

● With a scale of 1-7, Participants were asked on:
- how much they enjoyed the game
 - How frustrating they found the game

● Participants had to then rate themselves and their opponents on

perceptions of humanness.
- Ex; ‘I felt like I lacked self-restraint, like an animal’
- ‘I left that I was emotional, like I was responsive and warm’

● They had to think about their experience of playing the game as they
answered the items on humanness.
● The self-esteem and mood of the participants were measured to ensure
they did not affect the results (using 20 item PANAS, self-esteem: State
Self-Esteem Scale)

Results
● Study 1 - summary of means for self humany and perceived humanity of
opponent’s:

● Results showed that non-violent players rated both themselves and

opponent with more humanity than players who played violent games

● Study 2 - summarising mean scores for self-humanity and other humanity

for study 2:

● Those who played the violent game saw themselves as less human than
those who played the non-violent game
● no difference between the perception of the co-players’ humanity for
violent and non-violent games

Conclusions
● Study 1: concluded that applying of violent video games does decrease
perceived humanity of both the player and other people they are playing
against
 ● Study 2:
- concluded that playing violent vidoe games reduces perception of
our own humanity.
- concluded that playing violent video games does not make us feel
bad or see ourselves in a more negative life, it only affects how
human we feel
- Playing a violent video game with another person rather than
against them does not affect how human we see our co-player

Evaluation

Strengths Weaknesses

Validity: Validity:
Has high internal validity as random (internal) - Results may not be valid as
allocation ensured that gamers and the authors do not tell us about the
non-gamers are randomly allocated to participants’ previous gaming
reduce participant variables. experience and whether this affected
the self /other perceptions of humanity
post gaming. (ex: experienced gamers
with high self esteem)

Study doesnt show clearly what exactly

is having the dehumanising effect. You
dont know if the game’s aims of
violence is what is encouraging
violence or the players choice to
choose violence.

Generaliability: Generalisability:
Used large sample of 106 with both There were 2x as many women than
males and females. males in the sample. This may lead to
gender bias. Also, all participants were
undergrads with the mean age of 19.
Any younger or older players may not
relate to the results found in this study.

Reliability: Application:
Results can be tested for reliability as Many psychologists argue that
it followed a standardised and Bastian’s findings lack application as
controlled procedure with many self-reporting feeling less human 15
variables controlled such as playing mins after playing a game does not
the same game for the same amount mean that your long-term intentions
of time. Or being blocked to not see towards others or real world
opponent. behaviours will change (make u more
Questionnaire were used to increase violent)
objectivity and reduce interpretation.
⇒ test-retest reliability increases
Application: Ethics:
Positive outcomes of the study could Deceived of real aim which was shown
be used to encourage co-operative during the lack of any suspicion
games to enhance feelings of expressed in debriefing.
humanity in rela world. This could
reduce problems of aggression

Credibility:
Videogames increase aggression:
Anderson & Bushman 2001
Bluemke et al 2010

Videogames reduce empathy:

Funk et al 2003