AO1: Approaches Flashcards
Consciousness (Dictionary Definition)
The state of being aware and responsive to one’s surroundings
How did Wundt begin Psychology?
- Set up the first
psychology laboratory in Leipzig - His use of the empirical method differed from how philosophers thought about the mind
- His research led to structuralism (first psychological approach)
Introspection
The process of analysing one’s own conscious experience
How does Wundt use the empirical method?
- Trained observers
- Observer stimulus
- Stimulus is manipulated (IV)
- Controlled conditions
- Observer reports their conscious experience whilst observing the stimulus (DV)
- Data is collected from the observers
Was Wundt’s Experiment Empirical?
- Yes because he collected data as a form of evidence
- The data collected was from actual experiences
Was Wundt’s Experiment Objective?
- Although Wundt tried to eliminate bias by training his observers his experiment wasn’t objective
- Each individual will have different interpretations of the same conscious experience so they
Was Wundt’s Experiment Replicable?
- No as if everyone is going to view the same conscious experience differently then the results of every experiment will be different
- This means that if the exact method was copied by a different researcher the the results would still be different due to the individuals not the method
- The individuals can’t change how they view things so the experiment will never be replicable
4 Behaviourist Assumptions
- Thought processes are subjective and can’t be studied scientifically
- We are born a blank slate (without knowledge or concept)
- Biology plays a limited role in explaining behaviour
- The laws that govern behaviour apply to humans and animals meaning we can study animals to understand human behaviour
Classical Conditioning
Behaviourist theory that explains how animals and humans learn involuntary behaviours by forming
associations between environmental stimuli
Neutral Stimulus (Neutral Response, NS)
A stimulus that (so far) produces no response
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
- A stimulus which produces an unconditioned response (UR)
- You don’t need to learn a response to this stimulus
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
- A stimulus which produces a conditioned response (CR)
- You have learnt a response to this stimulus
Pre-Conditioning Stage
- The learner is exposed to the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus separately
- No association has occurred
Conditioning Stage
- The learner is exposed to the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus at the same time
- Learner is starting to associate NS with the UCS
- No learning has occurred as the learner doesn’t react to the NS unless it’s paired with the UCS
Post-Conditioning Stage
- Learner now responds to the (previously) NS in the same way they responded to the UCS the first time they saw it
- NS is now the CS
- Learning has occurred as the learner now reacts to NS (now CS) without needing to see the UCS
Pavlov’s Dogs
- Dogs could learn to salivate when they hear a bell if the sound of the bell was paired with food
- Pavlov’s dogs learned to associate the bell sound (NS) with food (UCS) - Eventually they salivate (conditioned response) when they heard the bell (CS)NN
Operant Conditioning
Behaviourist theory that explains how animals and humans learn to modify the strength of their voluntary behaviours by associating the behaviour with environmental consequences
Operant Conditioning Process
- Begins with a stimulus
- Followed by a response where the learner responds with a behaviour
- Reinforcer (environmental consequence) either reinforces or weakens the behaviour
Positive Reinforcement
- The learner is rewarded for their behaviour
- Strengthens that behaviour
Negative Reinforcement
- The learner has something negative taken away from them as result of their behaviour
- Strengthens that behaviour
Punishment
- The learner has something negative given to them or has something positive taken away from them
- Weakens that behaviour
Skinner’s Rats
- Positive reinforcement (rats pressed a lever in the Skinner Box when a light turned on and were rewarded with food)
- Negative Reinforcement (the rats pressed the lever when the light turned on and it turned off an electric grid)
- Punishment (the rats pressed the lever when the light turned on and they were electrocuted)
- The positively reinforced rats pressed the lever the most, then the negatively reinforced ones, then the punished ones
Extinction
- Gradual weakening of a conditioned response so a behaviour decreases or disappears
- The CS isn’t paired with the UCS for a long period of time (Classical Conditioning)
- The environmental consequence doesn’t happen because of the behaviour (Operant Conditioning)
3 Assumptions of Social Learning Theory (SLT)
- Behaviour is learnt from experience
- Learning occurs through direct reinforcement (classical/operant conditioning) and indirect reinforcement (observing others)
- SLT relies on internal mental processes as well as experiences from the environment
Imitation
- Type of social learning where a person observes a modelled behaviour and imitates/avoids it
- Indirect reinforcement
Mediational Processes
Processes that occur and mediate (go between) the environment and our behaviour
4 Mediational Processes
- Attention
- Retention
- Motor Reproduction
- Motivation
Attention
- The person observes the modelled behaviour and pays attention to it
- If the person doesn’t pay attention to the behaviour then it can’t be imitated
Retention
Modelled behaviour has to be retained (remembered)
Motor Reproduction
The person decides whether they are physically able to reproduce the modelled behaviour
Motivation
- The person has to be motivated to reproduce the behaviour
- Only happens if the person believes the perceived rewards outweighs the costs
Identification
- A person is more likely to pay attention to (and therefore imitate) a behaviour if they are able to identify the model
- They view the model as similar to themself/of a higher status than themself
Vicarious Reinforcement
- The consequences
