Understanding Psychological Approaches Assignment Sample

Task 1: Introduction to Understanding Psychological Approaches Assignment Sample

It is necessary to understand psychological approaches to learn about human behaviour and the way people think. Every perspective highlights unique aspects of how someone thinks, feels, or behaves by employing specific theories, assumptions, and research techniques. The essay reviews four main approaches in psychology: psychodynamic, behavioural, biological, and cognitive. It examines the fundamental theories they offer, evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, and focuses on supporting research and the methods used. Reviewing these approaches enables one to enhance their theoretical knowledge and also understand how they can be applied in psychological treatment.

This Understanding Psychological Approaches Assignment Sample explores psychodynamic, behavioural, biological, and cognitive perspectives, examining their key theories, strengths, limitations, and supporting research methods. An Assignment writing helper can support students in understanding human behaviour, evaluating psychological approaches, and applying theories to practical mental health treatments.

Section 1: The Psychodynamic Approach

According to the psychodynamic approach developed by Sigmund Freud, human behaviour is guided mainly by unconscious emotions and competing thoughts within a person’s mind (Azmi, 2023). It points out that things adults experience as children, especially their experiences with parents, influence their personalities and behaviours. The structure of the mind, as Freud believes, comprises three parts: the id, which represents instinct; the ego, which means reason and the superego, which represents morality. If there is tension between these different parts, anxiety appears and may cause a person to use defence mechanisms such as repressing specific thoughts or denying them. Freud also stated that unhandled challenges during each psychosexual stage might cause problems in a person’s emotional and mental well-being later on.

This approach has played a significant role in psychology by developing talk therapy and focusing on early life events and the hidden aspects of the unconscious. It is strong because it examines all areas, such as emotions, development, and the mind, which more machine-like theories tend to overlook (Cieri, 2022). Additionally, it formed the basis for the various types of therapy we use today. However, many people have objected to the approach because it lacks scientific evidence and can’t be tested. Popular ideas by Freud, such as the Oedipus complex and the id, lack empirical evidence or accurate experimental measures to support them (Spencer, 2020). The approach is commonly regarded as irrational and heavily relies on people’s opinions. Psychology tends to emphasise earlier habits which determine choices, sometimes raising doubts about the real power of conscious decisions.

One example that demonstrates the usefulness of psychodynamic theory is "The Case of Anna O." (1880–1882), which Josef Breuer, Freud's collaborator, treated. Among Anna O.’s hysterical episodes were partial paralysis, seeing things that were not there and problems with speech (Blechner, 2022). Breuer developed the therapy now known as the "talking cure," leading her to talk about everything she remembered and did not share previously. Because of this, her symptoms were lessened for a while, pointing to a possible relationship between emotional trauma and illness. Freud’s concept of repression and catharsis in psychoanalytic theory was derived from this case.

The study of Anna O. was conducted as a clinical case study, providing detailed information on her experiences and the treatment she received. The method made it possible to analyse the patient’s thoughts, feelings and actions more closely as time passed (Malkomsen et al., 2024). On the other hand, the case study method has some significant weaknesses. Since the study examines only a single participant, it is challenging to generalise its results to others. In some fields, such as psychoanalysis, the way the therapist understands the patient’s behaviour is affected by their theories (Keij et al., 2020). Additionally, reviewing past events can lead to questionable information, and the absence of control groups prevents researchers from determining the actual cause.

Although the psychodynamic approach provides a deep exploration of the mind, it still has limitations because it is based on subjective experiences and lacks scientific evidence. In this case, Anna O. provided valuable insights into psychodynamic theory and also showed its weaknesses (Blechner, 2022).

Section 2: The Behavioural Approach

The central part of the behavioural approach is to watch actions and highlight how the environment influences a person’s behaviour (Sharpe and Steg, 2025). It supposes that how we behave is shaped by our experiences with the environment, mainly by classical conditioning, operant conditioning and social learning. Learning through association is used in classical conditioning, as demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov, and operant conditioning, as described by B.F. Skinner (Verma, 2024). Skinner is based on reinforcement and punishment to control behaviours. It is argued in the behavioural approach that researchers cannot directly explore what happens in our minds, and therefore should overlook mental processes.

Behavioural theory gains its strength by being based on science (Kwon and Silva, 2019). Since it uses data that can be measured and seen, its theories can be put to the test in controlled situations. Because of behaviourist ideas, effective therapies such as systematic desensitisation and behaviour modification have been developed and are widely used by schools and clinics. Additionally, its belief in learning receives support from numerous empirical studies. On the other hand, critics have argued that the approach is not detailed enough and lacks realism (Raekstad, 2019). It often overlooks the inner workings of people’s minds and how their bodies and emotions impact them. Concentrating on reactions to stimuli results in reducing complex actions to simple chains of cause and effect, without considering how people make choices independently.

Bruce K. Alexander’s work, known as the Rat Park experiment, sheds light on the limitations of the behaviourist view of addiction (Vandaele and Daeppen, 2022). The goal of the study was to see if drug addiction mostly happened because of the drugs’ properties or mainly because of external factors. Some of the rats were kept isolated in typical cages, whereas others were placed in Rat Park, a larger enclosure that offered companionship and enjoyable activities. Volunteers were allowed to choose between drinking water mixed with morphine and plain water (Burger et al., 2020). In isolated conditions, the rats ate large portions of morphine substance, while rats in a community environment hardly tried it, proving that having a social life and variety in the climate reduced their tendency to become addicted.

An experimental design was applied here, which meant controlling certain aspects of the environment and checking for responses from the animals (Burger et al., 2020). As a result, researchers can examine differences between groups and gain a deeper understanding of how the environment influences substance use. It was able to indicate how exposure to different living conditions affects rat behavior, which is what is most important about this research. However, there are several issues with text analysis. There is a concern that since human social and psychological factors are complex, results from animal models may not apply to humans (Mukherjee et al., 2022). Further investigations based on the Rat Park study have led to mixed outcomes which cause doubt about the accuracy of the results. Animal care involves moral issues that need attention.

Section 3: The Biological Approach

According to the biological approach in psychology, most of our behavior is determined by factors such as genetics, the structure of the brain, brain chemicals and how we have evolved. According to this model, issues like mental disorders and odd behaviours come from irregularities in the brain, as well as from things passed down in one’s genes (Richter and Dixon, 2022). This approach relies on the belief that the mind arises from the physical activity of the brain, and any unpleasant changes in brain function may result in changes in a person’s behaviour or emotions. Therapies based on this approach commonly include medications, MRI scans, and, in severe cases, surgeries (Jami et al., 2021).

The biological approach is practical because it has a scientific framework. It utilises images obtained from MRI, PET, and EEG technologies to enable researchers to monitor brain function and structure (Clifton, 2023). Because the approach starts with experiments, it is considered reliable and has played a key role in creating proper treatments for depression, schizophrenia and epilepsy. In addition, using this approach, experts have gained a better understanding of how mental illnesses are passed down through families from twin and adoption studies. Still, critics argue that the biological approach reduces everything to physiology. It mainly relies on biological explanations, which sometimes means it doesn’t consider the impact of environment, society and thinking on someone’s actions (Jami et al., 2021). The problem arises when biology is used to determine someone’s likelihood of committing crimes, as it can lead to stereotypes.

An important research paper that employs the biological approach is Raine et al. (1997), which examined the relationship between brain damage and violent behaviour. During the study, the researchers used PET imaging to observe how the brains of 41 murderers who pleaded NGRI worked when compared with the brains of 41 non-violent participants (Raine, Buchsbaum and Lacasse, 1997). Scientists discovered that some parts of the brain accountable for aggression, making decisions and controlling emotions had significantly different levels of activity in violent criminals compared to others. Such anomalies were considered as possible contributors to why the offenders committed violent crimes.

PET scanning in a quasi-experiment enabled the researchers to accurately record how the brain functioned. Brain scans revealed different patterns of metabolism in the two groups, which showed that brain conditions may lead to violent actions (Kapoor and Kasi, 2022). A significant benefit of this system is identifying which areas of the brain influence specific behaviours, playing a crucial role in determining where functions are localised in the brain. Nevertheless, the research had some shortcomings as well. The survey involved only a small number of cases and did not represent the entire population, primarily because it focused on individuals with strong, negative behaviours (Raine, Buchsbaum and Lacasse, 1997). Since subjects in quasi-experimental designs are not assigned randomly, the impact of the independent variable cannot be proven definitively. PET scanning requires costly equipment and involves injecting patients with radioactive tracers, making people question its ethics (Raine, Buchsbaum and Lacasse, 1997).

Section 4: The Cognitive Approach

Within cognitive psychology, the primary consideration is inner mental processes, such as perception, attention, memory, problem-solving, and language (Oberauer, 2019). It holds that the mind processes data like a computer, utilising input, storage, and output to work with information. This framework suggests that the way people understand and act makes sense when considering how they process and utilise information (Makarius et al., 2020). Unlike the behavioural approach, which does not consider thoughts, the cognitive approach examines how people’s ideas influence their behaviour.

A key benefit of the cognitive approach is that it is grounded in science and research. It depends on experiments conducted in a controlled setting to assess mental functions objectively. Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is one of the practical applications that came from psychology, and it is widely applied to help people facing challenges like depression and anxiety (Makarius et al., 2020). Additionally, it serves to understand how exactly memory, learning, and decision-making function in people without cognitive deficits, as well as those with memory deficits. Nevertheless, such theories still have certain limitations (Sharma et al., 2022). It's usually put to question because the activities that it captures are not representative of what people do in actual life situations. Furthermore, cognition is influenced by emotions and social aspects, and the field often overlooks these. It can also treat the mind by breaking down the main processes into smaller, separate steps.

The study by Loftus and Palmer (1974) on memory and eyewitness testimony is a key piece of research for the cognitive approach (Loftus, 1974). This study was designed to find out whether leading questions could influence participants’ memories of a car accident. People in the study viewed video clips of traffic accidents and then answered questions about how fast the cars were travelling using verbs like "smashed," "hit," or "contacted." It was found that how the verb was stated significantly affected the estimated speed. People who listened to "smashed" expected the events to happen much quicker than those who heard "contacted." Those who listened to "smashed" in the follow-up experiment often saw broken glass, even though it did not appear in the video (Sharma et al., 2022). It was found that events could be misremembered once someone learned further information.

An experimental study was conducted in a laboratory, allowing the researchers to manipulate and closely observe aspects such as the videos and question wording (Quaquebeke et al., 2022). Thanks to this method, the results could be trusted, and the researchers could prove that how questions were worded influenced how well memory was recalled. Expressing findings as probabilities enables them to be tested again, making them more reliable. The study's conclusions have led to changes in questioning witnesses and legal rules regarding their testimonies (Rodd, 2024). Nevertheless, there are several disadvantages to using this method. Showing a car crash through a video is not as realistic as seeing the real event. Emotions in real-life cases tend to be stronger and can strongly influence the accuracy of people’s memories (Sharma et al., 2022). Moreover, participants may have responded to fit the researcher’s purpose since they might have understood what the study was aiming at.

Conclusion

Different perspectives on behavior have been studied here such as psychodynamic, behavioural, biological and cognitive. Analysis of main theories and further research makes it clear that every approach brings something new and helpful to psychology. While the psychodynamic and behavioural schools focus on behaviours learned or buried in the mind, the biological and cognitive models explain them using the brain’s activities and mental processing. Nonetheless, a single technique cannot address all challenges. Understanding behavior well means bringing together ideas from several psychological points of view.

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