Approaches

There are numerous psychological approaches (theories) that are used to explain and predict a wide variety of behaviors. One of the first things that a new psychology student might notice is that there are sure a lot of psychology approaches to learn.

The reason we start with approaches is that these are what underpins everything we know about human behaviour and why we do the things that we do.

This year we are going to look a 4 approaches to explain abnormal behaviour and addiction. These 4 approaches are:

Behavioural Psychology
Biological Psychology
Psychodynamic Psychology
Humanistic Psychology

Why Psychological Approaches Exist

These approaches serve a number of important purposes. Here are three key reasons why psychological approaches exist.

Provide a Basis for Understanding the Mind and Behavior

Theories (approaches) provide a framework for understanding human behavior, thought, and development. By having a broad base of understanding about the how's and why's of human behavior, we can better understand ourselves and others.

Each theory provides a context for understanding a certain aspect of human behavior. Behavioral theories, for example, provide a basis for understanding how people learn new things. Through the lens of these theories, we can take a closer look at some of the different ways that learning occurs as well the factors that influence this type of learning.

Inspire Future Research

Theories create a basis for future research. Researchers use theories to form hypotheses that can then be tested. As new discoveries are made and incorporated into the original theory, new questions and ideas can then be explored. You will be creating your own research as part of this course.

Theories Can Evolve

Theories are dynamic and always changing. As new discoveries are made, theories are modified and adapted to account for new information. While theories are sometimes presented as static and fixed, they tend to evolve over time as new research is explored. For example our understanding of human drivers and 'triggers' has changed over time, as has access to and the creation of new addictions.

Key Aspects of a Psychological Theory

In psychology, theories are used to provide a model for understanding human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. A psychological theory has two key components: It must describe a behavior. It must make predictions about future behaviors.

Theories tend to fall into one of a few different types.

Grand theories attempt to describe many aspects of the human experience.
Mini-theories, on the other hand, focus on describing just a narrow range of behaviors.
Emergent theories are those that are newer and often involve combining different aspects of various mini-theories.

Much of what we know about human thought and behavior has emerged thanks to various psychology theories. For example, behavioral theories demonstrated how conditioning can be used to learn new information and behaviors.

Some theories have fallen out of favor, while others remain widely accepted, but all have contributed tremendously to our understanding of human thought and behavior. By learning more about these theories, you can gain a deeper and richer understanding of psychology's past, present, and future.

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