Psychological Approaches: Unit One Revision Snippet

Transcript

Host2:Hello and welcome to this extended psychology revision podcast for Unit One Psychological Approaches. In this podcast, we're going to go through the entire topic in detail, step by step, exactly as you would need to understand it for exam revision. This podcast is designed to help you revise actively while listening. You can pause after sections, make notes, repeat key terms out loud, or simply listen repeatedly to strengthen your understanding.

Host1:We will cover all four major psychological approaches: The Learning Approach, The Social Approach, The Cognitive Approach, and The Biological Approach. For every approach, we'll discuss the key assumptions, important psychologists and studies, key concepts and terminology, research evidence, strengths and weaknesses, and applications to aggression, consumer behaviour, and gender.

Host2:As you listen, focus carefully on the key psychological terminology because examiners reward accurate use of psychological language. A useful revision technique while listening is to stop the podcast after each section and try to explain the concept yourself without looking at notes. Remember that psychology exams are usually split into three assessment objectives: AO1 refers to knowledge and understanding, AO2 refers to application, and AO3 refers to evaluation.

Host1:So throughout this podcast, whenever we discuss strengths and weaknesses, we are covering AO3 evaluation. Whenever we apply theories to aggression, consumer behaviour, or gender, we are covering AO2. And whenever we define and explain theories and concepts, we are covering AO1. Now let's begin with the learning approach.

Host2:The learning approach argues that behaviour is learned from the environment. Psychologists within this approach believe that humans are born as a blank slate, also known as a tabula rasa. This means behaviour is not inherited at birth but instead develops through experience and interaction with the environment. The learning approach focuses only on observable behaviour because behaviourists believe psychology should be scientific and measurable. The approach emphasises nurture over nature.

Host1:There are three main explanations within the learning approach: Classical conditioning, Operant conditioning, and Social learning theory. Let's start with classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is learning through association. The psychologist Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning while researching digestion in dogs. Pavlov noticed that dogs naturally salivated when food was presented. Food is called the unconditioned stimulus because it naturally produces a response. The salivation is called the unconditioned response.

Host2:Pavlov then rang a bell every time food was presented. Eventually, the dogs learned to associate the bell with food. The bell became a conditioned stimulus, and salivation to the bell became the conditioned response. This demonstrated that behaviour could be learned through association. For a human example, John Watson and Rosalie Rayner tested classical conditioning on a young child called Little Albert. Albert originally showed no fear of a white rat.

Host1:The researchers repeatedly paired the rat with a loud, frightening noise. Eventually, Albert became frightened of the rat itself. This demonstrated that emotional responses such as fear can be classically conditioned. Albert also generalised his fear to similar furry objects, such as white rabbits and fur coats.