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A Comparision Between Behaviorism and Psychodynamics

The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast two psychological perspectives. It will endeavour to compare psychodynamics and behaviourism, because they differ to each other in terms of approach, theory, and research.

Psychodynamics studies behaviour that is controlled biologically by the unconscious operation of our instincts. It looks at how early childhood experiences have a profound effect on adult life.

Behaviourists study the actions of behaviour and not thought process believing that psychologists should study psychology as a hard science such as chemistry and physics.

The essay will go onto compare them in terms of nature, nurture, free will, determinism, reduction, and the strength of scientific evidence.

To conclude the essay will state how each perspective has developed over time and what each has to offer in todays society.

The founder of psychodynamics is Freud (1900) he followed a psychoanalytic theory. Jung (1964) Alder (1927) and Erickson (1950) also followed a psychodynamic approach but did not agree with all of Freud's psychoanalytic theory.

If a traumatic event causes anxiety, the ego defence causes the unconscious mind to repress it. When we are going through other difficult times, the repression can show itself in symbolic forms, dreams, bodily symptoms, or internal symptoms of the mind.

Freud believed that all children are born with Id; the id follows five psychosexual stages in order to develop. The most important stage is the phallic stage in which the child goes through the Oedipus complex. When the superego develops, the child overcomes the phallic stage. Freud (1949) says ‘The child is psychologically the father of the man and ... the event of its first years are of paramount importance for its whole subsequent life.' (Gross 2001)

As a result of psychodynamic theory a number of therapies derived, dream analysis, free association and sexual repression to name but a few.

The psychoanalytic approach can explain most behaviour under many circumstances. Freud's theory made others think about the conscious and the unconscious parts of the mind, and how the development of a child's early years has a profound effect on their lives. Freud studied his theory on middle class sexually repressed women who where dysfunctional to the point that they had been institutionalised. Although Freud regarded his case studies as empirical support for his theories, many regarded his theories to have little scientific credibility because they were unable to prove them wrong.

The behaviourist approach was made popular by Watson ( 1913) he believed that only by studying psychology as a hard science could it be called a science, so behaviourists only study observable behaviour and believe that the majority of behaviour is learnt from the environment.

Pavlov (1920) discovered that he could train a dog to salivate spontaneously without the presence of food. He found that food caused the dogs' to salivate so he paired a bell with the food and after a time the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell even though there was no prospect of food. This became known as s>r psychology in that a UCS can produce a UCR and when an external stimuli CS is introduce the UCR becomes a CR. This technique can be generalised in that if the pitch of the bell differed the dog would still salivate it could also be discriminated in that if the pitch of the bell greatly differed the dog would not responded. You could also learn the dog to discriminate (learnt discrimination) this is when the dog will only responded to a specific pitched bell.

Skinners (1935) Operant conditioning was based on Thorndike's (1898) law of effect in which a novel or pleasurable response was likely to be repeated. Skinner adapted this to a positive or negative reinforcement would have a consequence that made the response likely or unlikely to be repeated. Operant conditioning is open to generalisation and discrimination as well.

Both theories need to follow certain aspects in order that they do not become extinct Classical Conditioning needs timing and reinforcement of the US. Operant conditioning needs consequences and frequencies because different experiments have different reinforcement times.

Watson and Raynor (1924) wanted to see if they could use Pavlov's classical conditioning on humans. Albert aged 9 months was tested on different stimuli to see if they would provide a fear response. None provided a fear response so Watson hit a metal bar with a hammer at the back of Albert's head this provided a fear response. At 11 months, Albert was tested again but Watson and Raynor paired the metal bar with a white rat after fifty pairings Albert became afraid of the white rat on its own as well as cotton wool and a mink coat and Watson's beard. This experiment showed that classic conditioning could be done on a human. Behaviourism has produced therapies such as systematic desensitization and behavioural shaping.

Behaviourism claims to be scientific and has made a lasting impression on psychology as a whole although it can be argued that the use of animals in experiments cannot distinguish the biological differences between animals and humans. Behaviourism has shown how behaviour can be modified using reinforcements to have a desired effect. Watson (1935) says ‘give me a dozen healthy children and my own specified world and I will train any one of them into any specialist I desire.' (Gross 2001).

Psychodynamics and behaviourism look at symbolic or displayed behaviour in order to find the underlying cause so that the behaviour is able to change. If we look at Freud's study of Hans (1909), it can be said that the psychodynamic view was that Hans was going through the phallic stage, he was in conflict with his father, and this will not end until he takes on the same sex roles and values of his father. It can be said that from a behaviourists view Hans developed a phobia in the past of Horses and the behaviourist can resolve this by classic conditioning only then will Hans be able to overcome his fear of horses. Freud said that that Hans overcame the fear of horses by his father talking to him so this made him relate to his father, but it can be said from a behaviourists view that his father reassured him and helped him to overcome his phobia. This shows how both theories differ in theories and conclusions about the causes of different behaviour.

Both psychodynamics and behaviourism follow a nurturist view, although Psychodynamics does acknowledge that we are born with a basic instinct the id, so it could be said that it takes a more relaxed nurture view when it comes to the nature nurture debate. According to Karmiloff - Smith (1996) ‘There is a trade - off in nature between pre - specification, on the one hand, and plasticity on the other, leading ultimately to the kind of flexibility one finds in the human mind.' (Gross 2001) Behaviourism follows an extreme nurture view in that everything we learn is as a result of our past learning experiences from environmental factors and that there is no such thing as inheritance. According to Watson (1928), ‘The behaviourists believe that there is nothing from within to develop.' (Gross 2001)

Psychodynamics and behaviourism both agree that freewill is just an illusion and that past learning experiences affect the way we learn. Psychodynamics follows psychic determinism in that there are no accidents because unconscious causes always account for them. Behaviourism also follows a deterministic view but unlike psychoanalysts, they believe that there is no unconscious mind and that environmental causes affect behaviour. Skinner believed that the causes of freewill are just an illusion because much of the causes of behaviour are hid in the environment.

Reductionism is the scientific vocabulary to explain the basic laws of an organism. Rose et. al. (1984), defined reductionism as ‘The name given to set of general methods and modes of explanation both of the world of physical objects and of human societies.' (Gross 2001) Therefore, it could be said psychodynamics and behaviourism who are both materialistic and materialism cannot be broken down into the basic laws of organisms are not deterministic. However from 1945 Watson began to adopt a less extreme view of mental phenomena but defined them to the same laws as overt behaviourism this makes behaviourism a type of reductionism this is peripheralism and according to Watson's peripheralism, thoughts consist of tiny movements of the vocal cords. Although psychodynamics is also materialistic, Freud did not regard it to be reductionism because his opinion of the human mind is to complex to be broken down into scientific vocabulary.

Both perspectives regard themselves to be empirical but the credibility of each as a science is very different. The definition of a science can be identified by Slife and Williams (1995) as
1      Scientific observation is made under objective conditions.

2      Scientific observation takes place under controlled conditions.

3      Science involves making predictions about what is expected to happen under      specified conditions. We can then validate or falsify whatever theory or      hypothesis led to the observation being made. (Cardwell, Wadeley, Murphy      2001)

It can be said that behaviourism is very scientific because it explores psychology as a hard science and much of the experiments take place under controlled conditions. Because physical behaviour is studied the results can be validated or falsified it can be said however that pre 1978 the study of behaviourism was not very ethical as in the case of Raynor and Watson's experiment on "little Albert". Freud regarded himself as a scientist but others said that his theory carried little scientific credibility because his experiments where not carried out under strict conditions. The interpretations of the symbolic symptoms of his patient cannot be proved right or wrong which makes it difficult to class his theory as scientific because the unconscious mind cannot be physically observed.

Behaviourism and psychodynamics although similar in some ways are very different in their perspectives. Behaviourism looks at the behaviour that has been learnt in the past and psychodynamics looks at the behaviour that is showing symbolic signs of repressed anxiety. Both perspectives have good arguments in their theories and both have relevance in the practicing of psychology. They both can be a little bit far fetched in their approaches as in the instance of behaviourism, behaviourists are under the impression that mental process have no place in the study of psychology but if this was the case how can they account for the processes that occur in order for behaviour to be learnt. In the case of psychodynamics, Freud believed that the psychosexual stages were the learning experiences that have profound irreversible effects on personalities if this was the case how can it explain the people that have had traumatic things happen in their childhood and still grow up into well-balanced adults.

Some of Freud's followers did not agree with the psychosexual stages as in the instance of Jung and Alder they felt that he placed to much emphasise on these stages, they developed analytical and individual psychology. Jung did not regard childhood experience as important and he thought that the unconscious comes from the history of human beings. Alder thought the will to power or striving for superiority was more important than the development of sexuality. Because of the behaviourists' theory the cognitive behavioural theory developed this recognises the mind in the process of learning behaviour.

In today's society, psychodynamics is not practiced as much as it was in the 1950s even so it is still an important theory according to Comer (1995) the US statistics are that:

11% of clinicians practice psychodynamic therapy
22% practice contemporary psychodynamic therapy
38% are eclectic
(Cardwell, Wadeley, Murphy 2001)

Behaviourism is still used frequently as a method to change behaviour, Skinners ABC of behaviour is used in many social work settings and other treatments range from hospitals to schools. Marks (1981) claimed that behavioural approaches could be brought to bear on about 25% of all non-psychotic conditions including phobias, obsessive compulsions, social skill problems, and marital and sexual difficulties. (Cardwell, Wadeley, Murphy 2001)

It seems that the use of both perspectives together could prove effective psychodynamics to find the unconscious cause of the behaviour and to identify the cause of the problem and behaviourism to change the displayed behaviour.



REFERENCE LIST


Gross R. (2001) The science of mind and behaviour. Hodder & Stoughton

Hardy M. & Heyes S. (1994) Beginning psychology. Oxford University Press

Cardwell M. Wadeley A. Murphy M. (2000) A level study guide psychology. Pearson Education

REFERENCE LIST


Gross R. (2001) The science of mind and behaviour. Hodder & Stoughton

Hardy M. & Heyes S. (1994) Beginning psychology. Oxford University Press

Cardwell M. Wadeley A. Murphy M. (2000) A level study guide psychology. Pearson Education

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