How do the approaches in psychology compare on key debates?
Comparison of approaches: the views of the behaviourist, social learning, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic approaches on key debates such as nature-nurture, determinism and reductionism.
Covers AQA 4.5 comparison of approaches: how the behaviourist, social learning, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic approaches compare on nature-nurture, determinism and reductionism.
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What this dot point is asking
AQA wants you to compare the six approaches on key debates such as nature-nurture, determinism, reductionism and their views on free will. The crucial exam skill here is comparison: weaker answers describe each approach in turn, while top answers place the approaches side by side on a single debate and draw out the contrast with connectives such as "whereas" and "in contrast".
Key comparisons
Take the debates one at a time. On nature versus nurture, the biological approach sits at the nature extreme (genes, neurochemistry, evolution), behaviourism and social learning theory sit at the nurture extreme (learning from the environment), while the psychodynamic approach blends innate drives (the id) with the formative effect of early childhood experience, and the cognitive approach treats some processing capacities as innate but schemas as learned. On determinism, behaviourism is environmentally deterministic, the biological approach is biologically deterministic, and the psychodynamic approach is psychically deterministic (behaviour is driven by unconscious conflicts), whereas the humanistic approach uniquely defends free will. On reductionism, the biological (reducing behaviour to genes and chemicals) and behaviourist (reducing it to stimulus-response units) approaches are the most reductionist, the cognitive approach is moderately reductionist (machine reductionism), and humanistic psychology is holistic, insisting on studying the whole person. On scientific rigour, the behaviourist, cognitive and biological approaches use controlled, objective, replicable methods, while the psychodynamic approach relies on unfalsifiable concepts and the humanistic approach rejects the scientific method in favour of subjective, qualitative study.
Views on development and explanation of disorder
The approaches also differ in how much they say about development and abnormality, which is useful comparison material. The psychodynamic approach has the most detailed developmental account (the psychosexual stages, with fixation shaping adult personality); the cognitive approach links development to the increasing sophistication of schemas; the biological approach ties it to genetically programmed maturation; and behaviourism sees learning as a continuous process across the lifespan with no fixed stages. On treating mental disorder, the biological approach favours drug therapy, the behaviourist approach favours systematic desensitisation and token economies, the cognitive approach favours cognitive behaviour therapy, and the humanistic approach inspired client-centred counselling. Being able to cite these applications shows the examiner you understand why the comparison matters in practice, not just in theory.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of AQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AQA 20208 marksCompare the behaviourist and humanistic approaches in terms of their views on free will and determinism.Show worked answer →
An 8-mark item (4 AO1, 4 AO3 comparison) on Paper 2. Markers reward genuine comparison rather than two separate descriptions.
The behaviourist approach is environmentally deterministic: behaviour is caused by prior conditioning (stimulus-response associations and reinforcement history), so free will is rejected as an illusion. The humanistic approach is the clearest champion of free will, arguing people are active agents who make their own choices and strive towards self-actualisation.
To compare, draw the contrast explicitly: behaviourism predicts and controls behaviour using lawful, scientific principles, which gives it credibility but removes personal responsibility; humanism's emphasis on free will fits everyday experience and underpins client-centred therapy but is harder to test scientifically. A top answer uses comparison connectives ("whereas", "in contrast") and reaches a reasoned conclusion about the trade-off between scientific rigour and accounting for subjective agency.
AQA 20226 marksOutline how the biological and behaviourist approaches differ on the nature-nurture debate.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark item, roughly 3 AO1 and 3 AO3 (comparison).
The biological approach is firmly on the nature side: behaviour is explained by inherited genes, brain structures and neurochemistry. The behaviourist approach is firmly on the nurture side: behaviour is learned from the environment through classical and operant conditioning, starting from a blank slate.
The comparison should note that neither is purely one-sided in practice: the biological approach accepts the phenotype is shaped by the environment, and modern accounts favour interactionism (for example diathesis-stress, where a genetic vulnerability is triggered by environmental stress). Markers reward stating each position, contrasting them directly, and showing awareness that an interactionist position resolves the tension. Avoid simply describing each approach in turn with no contrast.
Related dot points
- Origins of psychology: Wundt, introspection and the emergence of psychology as a science.
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- The behaviourist approach, including classical conditioning and Pavlov's research, operant conditioning, types of reinforcement and Skinner's research.
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- Social learning theory, including imitation, identification, modelling, vicarious reinforcement, the role of mediational processes and Bandura's research.
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- The cognitive approach: the study of internal mental processes, the role of schema, the use of theoretical and computer models to explain and make inferences about mental processes. The emergence of cognitive neuroscience.
Covers AQA 4.5 the cognitive approach: internal mental processes, schemas, theoretical and computer models, inference, and the emergence of cognitive neuroscience.
- The biological approach: the influence of genes, biological structures and neurochemistry on behaviour. Genotype and phenotype, genetic basis of behaviour, evolution and behaviour.
Covers AQA 4.5 the biological approach: genes, biological structures and neurochemistry, genotype and phenotype, the genetic basis of behaviour, and evolution.
- The psychodynamic approach: the role of the unconscious, the structure of personality (id, ego and superego), defence mechanisms (repression, denial, displacement), psychosexual stages.
Covers AQA 4.5 the psychodynamic approach: the unconscious, the id, ego and superego, defence mechanisms (repression, denial, displacement) and the psychosexual stages.
Sources & how we know this
- AQA A-level Psychology (7182) specification — AQA (2015)