Psychology

Isaiah Doub

Q) Human behaviour is so complex that no one perspective can explain it all. Discuss this
statement. In your answer refer to at least one topic in psychology

There are many different approaches to the explanation of human behaviour, such as the
biological, humanistic, behaviourist etc. However, none of them seem to quite explain human
behaviour in full. Some aspect is always missing, and there is some external factor that isn't ever
explained. For example, the biological approach in explaining criminal behaviour, looks at twin
studies, in an attempt to find a genetic factor that would cause criminal behaviour. Lange conducted
one of these studies on DZ and MZ twins. He found that the concordance rate for criminal
behaviour between MZ twins was only 35%, and for DZ twins it was only 13%. Therefore, the
biological approach may have found that there is a small genetic aspect when it comes to criminal
behaviour, however, a 35% concordance rate is not near high enough to claim that this is the only
factor. There must be something else. And therefore, the eclectic approaches do attempt to better
explain certain aspects of psychology, by combining aspects from certain approaches. A good
example of an eclectic approach in treatments, is the cognitive behavioural therapy. This is a type
of therapy approved by the government, which states that the therapy must consist of the cognitive
therapy, and behavioural therapy with also the use of drugs if necessary. This is the combination of
three approaches, the cognitive, behaviourist and biological approaches.
However, one limitation with the eclectic approaches in psychology, is that they often lack
consistency in their thinking. This is a limitation because two psychologists my have, for example,
combined the biological approach with the social learning theory in an attempt to explain criminal
behaviour. However, one psychologist may say that it is partially due to abnormalities in brain
matter, and the other may say that it is due to genetical factors. It is easy for two eclectic
psychologists to combine the same theories, and yet come up with completely different ideas. This
is a limitation because if there is not agreement among the psychologists, then the theory does not
have much support.
On the other hand, a strength of the eclectic approaches is that it is commonly used in many
fields of study. This is a strength because it does not limit a theory to one form of research. For
example, the psychodynamic approach, originally put forward by Sigmund Freud, only researched
using case studies. However, a Freudian theorist who believes in the psychodynamic theory, may
use case studies as Freud did, but also other research methods such as observations, laboratory
experiments etc. This would be an eclectic approach in using many fields of study. This is a
strength because it enables the theory to gather many different forms of data.