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Contents 1 Describe how two approaches might try to explain the subject presented in the stimulus material 2 Assess one of these explanations of the subject presented in the stimulus material in terms of its strengths and weaknesses 3 Analyse how one of these approaches might investigate the subject presented in the stimulus material 4 Evaluate the use of this method of investigating the subject material presented in the stimulus material 5 Other Useful Articles 6 Comments

Describe how two approaches might try to explain the subject presented in the stimulus material

One approach would be the behaviourist approach, which claims that all behaviours are accumulated through learning. Under this approach is the conditioning theory which consists of two parts, the first being classical conditioning which claims behaviour is learnt through association. Regular alcohol consumption would therefore be carried out, as people would associate something pleasant with alcohol, therefore they would continue to drink. Such associations could be made with laughter and fun, even though this could not be directly due to alcohol, maybe the atmosphere in which alcohol is consumed. Other associations could be feeling more confident and for young people feeling more grown-up. The other section to the conditioning theory is operant conditioning, which explains behaviour in terms of reinforcement. For example, if a young person has a drink, and therefore is more socially accepted by his/her peer group, then this positively reinforces the young person to drink alcohol again. Another positive reinforcer could be having a good time when consuming alcohol, and so wanting to have a good time again, one would drink alcohol. However, these reinforcers could also be negative, as when a person drinks alcohol, they tend to forget other worries, therefore they are reinforced to drink alcohol to forget problems.

A similar yet different approach is neo-behaviourism, which is associated with the social learning theory. This attempts to explain all behaviours in terms of observation and imitation. Therefore a person learns to behave in a certain according to the actions of the people which surround them. For example, if a young person has parents who drink alcohol regularly, the young person is influenced that drinking alcohol in such volume is fine. This also is similar with peer groups, as people tend to be influenced by people of a similar age and sex. People are also influenced by others of whom they admired and respect, therefore according to this approach, the media would play an important role. For example if a young person’s favourite actor was involved in an advertising campaign for an alcohol company or was seen consuming alcohol this could encourage the young person to do the same. This can be in terms of vicarious reinforcers where you see others being rewarded for certain behaviour, seeing someone else having a good time and drinking, would reinforce you to drink.

Assess one of these explanations of the subject presented in the stimulus material in terms of its strengths and weaknesses

Under the behaviourist approach, its theory lends itself to scientific research as the behaviour can be easily observed. The associations with alcohol consumption can be recorded easily for example. This approach also has useful implications for treatment as they simply aim to reverse the faulty learning. For example with if a young person was not able to control their alcohol consumption, aversion therapy would be recommended, as a nauseating drug would be placed in the alcohol, therefore the feeling of nausea would be associated with alcohol and the person would stop drinking. This approach can also explain cultural differences in alcohol consumption as the associations could vary between cultures. For example in countries with low underage drinking levels, young people could have been taught to associated alcohol with an unpleasant response such as accidents caused by alcohol consumption.

However limitations exist under this approach as it completely ignores individual differences as the associations or reinforcers for alcohol consumption will vary between individuals and this theory tends to generalise these associations across groups. This approach is also reductionist as it also ignores internal thought processes, innate biases and views people in a very mechanistic manner and can be seen to reduce complicated processes to simple stimulus-response behaviours. These aspects which are ignored by this theory are highlighted in other approaches, for example in terms of alcohol consumption, the behaviourist approach ignores the fact that alcohol is a drug, which would obviously have physical effects on the human body. This would be the main principal to the biological approach. Although this approach has useful implications for treatment, these treatments can create ethical issues, as with the example given above, the patient would have to go through a traumatic period of nausea due to the method of aversion therapy.

Analyse how one of these approaches might investigate the subject presented in the stimulus material

A behaviourist would be likely to test his or her explanation through the use of laboratory experiments because behaviourists believe that only observable behaviours count, and because they feel it is possible to reduce behaviour to simple cause and effect relationships. In terms of alcohol consumption, a laboratory experiment could replicate a situation in which alcohol was consumed or devise an experiment in which the causes for drinking alcohol could be determined. However, in this case, under the behaviourist theory, it could be considered better to use a field or natural experiment. This limits the interference made by the experimenter and the experiment is made easier as it would be extremely difficult to replicate the ambience of the relaxed environments where alcohol was consumed. The observation of behaviour is maintained.

Evaluate the use of this method of investigating the subject material presented in the stimulus material

The advantages of the experimental approach are one can demonstrate cause and effect relationships under highly controlled conditions. This is important in order to be able to exclude any extraneous variables from this investigation. On the negative side, laboratory experiments are low in ecological validity, results can not be generalised to other people and situations than those used in the experiment. This limits their relevance. However the ecological validity does increase when using a field or natural experiment although the amount of control decreases at the same time. Although this cause and effect relationship can be demonstrated, it can not be determined. For example, the variables, alcohol and depression could be related, however it would not be known whether the alcohol caused the depression or the depression caused the alcohol consumption. It is also possible that a third variable could be involved. A consideration, which needs to be taken into account with any observation, is the definition of the behaviour and inter-observer reliability. A further drawback of the experimental approach is that it focuses on a rather narrow set of factors and therefore may appear to account for behaviour while in fact it only explains one aspect of this behaviour.

Other Useful Articles

• free will vs determinism

• nature vs nurture

• Is Psychology a Science

• Alcohol consumption amongst young people

• Fast Driving

• reductionist explanations in psychology

• Gender Bias

• Cultural bias in psychological theories

• Social Control

Comments

• Written by chan89
• Suitable for Psychology A-level
• For PYA4 or PYA5