Introduction

Preliminary Undertaking And Rationale For A Level Psychology

A Level Psychology is essential for any student who is eager to gain core knowledge of human behaviors and cognition. This course provides an opportunity to understand the concept of mind which elaborates on how different aspects affect our thinking patterns, moods and behaviors. By adopting A Level Psychology tutor students are furnished with an evaluative approach on various psychological perspectives thereby expounding on the behavior of people in a societal, systematic, and scientific manner.

The part of psychology in which mainstream theories are used to help people comprehend actions of other people.

Psychological theories are essential in analyzing and explaining the nature of behavior in the lives of people. These are two different theories that provide explanation on their own on why people do what they do or feel or think in a particular way. They aid the psychologist in generating hypotheses, planning experiments, and analyzing results, which altogether extend the knowledge of behavior. Such knowledge about personality also contributes to the additional understanding of gender, helping the psychologists to design better therapeutic methods and frameworks for mental and social health promotion.

Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory

Psychoanalytical theory developed by Sigmund Freud is one of the most accepted and at the same time criticized theories in the sphere of psychology. He postulated the basic structure of the mind as being composed of three elements the id, ego and super ego and how they work and control our personalities. hese ideas state that behavior is determined by early childhood experiences and the exist ence of unconscious processes.

Behavioral Theories

Ivan Pavlov's Classical Conditioning

There the beyond famous work of Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, on classical conditioning. This experiment involved using dogs and Pavlov came to realized that dogs could easily relate the neutral stimulus which was the bell to the food and this lead to salivation. Eysenck and paper defined how behaviours could be conditioned through environmental stimuli, and was the starting point for the burgeoning field of behavioural psychology.

Operant conditioning is another theory known commonly with the name of B.F. Skinner.

The behaviorism theory was further developed by B. F. Skinner who came up with the process known as operant conditioning which was based on the same idea with Pavlov’s experiment. Skinner is best known for his claims about behaviorism and especially positive reinforcement, the idea that rewarded behaviors are more likely to be repeated. He used a chamber called “Skinner box” to test how varying Reinforcement schedules could affect a subject. Gradual transformation of behavior has been greatly influenced by Skinner’s works in fields such as education, therapy, animal training, etc.

Cognitive Theories

The Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who provided a theory of child development that provided an account of how children think and change with age. Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Parents should know that each stage reflects a certain amount of thinking capabilities; children acquire skills and forms of thinking as they go through the stages.

Social Learning Theory or also known as the ALBERT BANDURA THEORY

Another theory is by Albert Bandura who postulated the Social Learning Theory in which he stressed on the roles played by observational learning, imitation, and modeling. His experiment was the famous ‘Bobo doll’ experiment that showed that children can learn aggression through observation. It outlines cognitive factors in learning and posits that it is possible to learn new behaviors that have not been rewarded or punished, but observed.

Biological Theories

Neurotransmitter Systems

The biological theories in psychology tend to be concerned with mechanisms of neurotransmitters in moderating behavior and cognition. They are chemicals that facilitate transmission of impulses across neurons and have direct impacts on mood, mood and cognition. For instance, anything that affects the ratios of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine in the human body could lead to mental illnesses including depression and schizophrenia.

Genetic Influences on Behavior

While genetic factors consider how hereditary characteristics and genetic differences can explain the variability of behavior and cognition. The findings from twin and adoption studies indicate that there is a genetic predisposition to many psychological characteristics as well as many disorders, indicating that both nature and nurture influence behavior greatly.

Causes and Risk Factors

Psychodynamic Perspective on Causes

From a psychodynamic approach, psychological disorders include early childhood experiences as well as struggles within the unconscious. Freud proposed that if conflicts arose between the id, the ego, and the superego, then anxiety and the like might ensue. This conflict is kept in check by defense mechanisms like repression, denial among others but if taken to the extreme they lead to negative behavior.

Behavioral Perspective on Causes

Behavioral theories are concerned with learning and environmental elements, which take part in the cultivation of psychological disorders. Based on this view, behavioral disorders result from classical and operant conditioning, and are manifested through the emergence of maladaptive behaviors. For example, a person might get a phobia due to pairing an object with an object that caused him or her a terrible time previously (classical conditioning) or keep on using a destructive behavior because it is quitted after giving him or her good results (operant conditioning).

Humanistic Perspective on Causes

A number of humanistic theories exist, but one of the most recognized is that psychological disorders are due to the unmet needs and a variance between the self-image and roles that a person plays in life. Maslow pointed out that in order to grow to their full potential, people’s needs for food, water, safety, social contact, and respect are necessary. Carl Rogers, therefore, stated that the conditions of worth placed by various people in society may lead to a person having a real-self that is inconsistent with the ideal self thus causing anxiety.

Biological Perspective on Causes

The biopsychological approach emphasizes genetic, neurochemical and physiological dispositions of people with psychological disorders. Auditory verbal hallucinations have been observed to be associated with depression and schizophrenia and it has been established that theories of neurotransmission that explain these conditions civil pertain to serotonin and dopamine. Also, there is the contributing factor that most mental illnesses are hereditary, meaning that one can be born with tendencies towards certain illnesses and there are also issues with brain structure and functionality.

Evolutionary Perspective on Causes

As to the somatic gene link hypothesis, it should be mentioned that there are many diseases and mental health disorders that can be explained by the evolutionary theory, according to which they are Adaptive Bio-Cultural Traits. For instance, anxiety could have been a useful trait to have in conditions that needed constant precautions and wariness on the part of early humans. However these mechanisms have their costs in modern nervous system, where adaptive responses become disorders.

Diagnosis and Tests

Psychodynamic conception has inspired some diagnostic instruments

The psychodynamic approach has been used in the development of some of the assessment techniques which are commonly in use today. For instance, the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Analysis Test (TAT) are based on the theory that the subject can reveal her inner self by interpreting ambiguous figures. These tests are based on the assumption that the subjects interpret the ambiguous stimuli to unmask their psychological states.

Behavioral Assessment Methods

Conduct-based assessment strategies are concerned with identifying and quantifying certain behaviors and with the occasions that precede or follow them. Examples of this process include the social skills checklist, self-questioning, and self-evaluation, direct observation, and behavioral checklists used in identifying maladaptive behaviors, as well as in designing interventions to counter them. FBAs are useful within the context of the identification of the function of the behavior, offering support to the formulation of a competent treatment plan.

Humanistic Approaches to Diagnosis

FCR as a humanistic model of diagnosis focuses on the clientele’s perceived experience and progress. Collecting data through client-centered interviews and self-report questionnaires allows in identifying the degree to which personal self-concept corresponds to the experience. Humanistic psychologists do not avoid developing an accepting environment inside the therapeutic procedure where the individual can learn who they are and how to become better people.

Biological Tests and Measures

Believe it or not, biological tests in psychological point to such factors as the physiological and neurochemical that may be thought to be causing psychological disorders. Diagnostic procedures involving head scan, fMRI, PET, and genetic diagnostic tests and blood tests to assess neurotransmitter levels are used to point to any pathology of mental health disorders. They also offer a wealth of information about the neurobiological measures of psychological disorders to facilitate the approach to treatment.

Evolutionary Psychology in Diagnosis

Diagnosis is another area that can benefit from the employment of the evolutionary psychology point of view because this science analyzes specific storylines and ideas of how some of the certain existing characteristics and behaviors may be adaptations to solve specific adaptive problems. For instance, the evolutionary psychologists might prosecute their research to determine the possibility of symptoms of anxiety and depression having served some adaptive purposes in the extended environment. This approach may help people get a more context to the psychological disorders by showing what aspects of the human evolution may be related to the current environments.

Treatment Options

Psychodynamic Therapy

Cognitive behaviour therapy focuses on changing the patient’s style of thinking and behaviour while psychodynamic therapy is an extension of psychoanalysis and seeks to bring out and resolve repressed conflicts. More specifically, free association, dream analysis and anal compensatory techniques are used to work the unconscious material in order to bring up repressed feelings and memories. This is because by having a quota of the relationships and processes explained to the clients, they can be in a position to gain total personal mastery over their health and wellness.

Conclusion

In summary, understanding the top theories in A Level Psychology is crucial for gaining a comprehensive understanding of human behavior. Each theory offers unique perspectives and insights into the complexities of the mind, from psychodynamic and behavioral theories to cognitive, humanistic, biological, evolutionary, and sociocultural approaches. By integrating these theories, psychologists can develop more effective interventions and support systems.