Approaches Flashcards
Wilhelm Wundt
- Known as the father of psychology
- Opened the first experimental psychological lab in Leipzig Germany
- Devised ‘Introspection’ as a way of studying internal mental events
Introspection
The first systematic and experimental attempt to study the mind/mental processes by breaking down conscious awareness into basic structures of reflections, thoughts, images and sensations.
What psychological processes did Wundt want to focus on?
Perception and structuralism
Structuralism
- Theory of consciousness
- Involves use of introspection, self-reports of sensations, views, feelings
Process of introspection
- Involved person saying everything that is going through their mind whilst they are doing an activity.
- Must keep talking even if their ideas are not clear
- Research was highly reliable and able to replicate
- He later recognised that mental processes were difficult to study using introspection and should instead by studied using alternative methods such as brain scanning.
How was the emergence of psychology as a science questioned?
- Behaviourist John Watson questioned value of introspection
- Argued that introspection produced subjective data
- Made it difficult to establish general principles
- Said scientific psychology should only study phenomena that can be observed and measured.
- Created the behaviourist approach
Timeline of psychology emerging as its own subject
17th century to 1950s
17th-19th Century- As a branch of experimental philosphy
1879- Wilheim Wundt opens first experimental lab in Germany
1900s- Sigmund Feud introduced the psychodynamic approach and psychoanalysis
1913- Watson writes psychology as the behaviourist views
1950s- Carl Rogers and Maslow develop Humanistic approach
Timeline of psychology emerging as its own subject
1960s- Eve of 21st century
1960s- Cognitive approach was introduced, Bandaranaike proposed the social learning theory
1980s- Biological approach became the dominant scientific perspective
21st century eve- cognitive neuroscience emerges
Strengths of introspection and the emergence of psychology as a science
- It has helped to develop other approaches in psychology (e.g. Behaviourism with Watson and cognitive with Beck)
- It has the advantage of being highly scientific. High control in lab setting.
- It is able to establish what causes behaviour. Helps predict future behaviour.
- It is still used today in areas of therapy that study emotional states.(e.g. cognitive therapy)
- Wundt supports and advocates the idea of reductionism. Believe that consciousness could be broken down to basic elements without sacrificing any of the properties of the whole. Study of mental processes deconstructed into measurable units such as perception, senses and experiences.
Weaknesses of introspection and the emergence of psychology as a science
- Watson criticised Wundt’s idea of introspection and whether psychology was an emerging science. It produces subjective data which varies from individuals and is not objective or reliable.
- Nit very scientific or accurate. Wilson claims that psychologists have little knowledge about some behaviour and attitudes that might exist outside of conscious awareness (racism). Introspection would not help uncover and understand these thought processes.
- It fails to explain HOW the mind works and the processes involved in thinking whilst doing an activity. Cannot see how thoughts are generated and introspection cannot be properly observed (not scientific).
The behaviourist approach assumptions
-Following Darwin behaviourists suggested that animal behaviour can be extrapolated to humans.
Two forms of learning: Classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning- Pavlov’s research
Before conditioning:
Food (UCS) produces the (UCR) dog salivating
bell (NS) is rung and the does not salivate (NCR)
During Conditioning:
Food (UCS) is paired with (NS) bell ringing to produce salivation (UCR).
After conditioning:
Bell (CS) will cause dog to salivate (CR)
Association has been established
Principles of classical conditioning in relation to Pavlov’s research
- Stimulus Generalisation
- Discrimination
- Extinction
- Timing
- Spontaneous recovery
Stimulus generalisation as a principle of classical conditioning
Stimuli similar to the original conditioner stimuli will cause the conditioned response.
E.g. a bell with a different pitch or sound will cause salivation
E.g. little Albert generalised white rat to fear other white objects
Discrimination as a principle of classical conditioning
Stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimuli will not produce the conditioned response. This can be done by withholding the unconditioned stimulus.
E.g. similar sounding bell is rung but food is not presented at the same time so salivation will not occur,
Extinction as a principle of classical conditioning
The conditioned response is not produced because of the bell being rung. This occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus of food.
Timing as a principle of classical conditioning
If the NS cannot be used to predict the UCS-
If NS is after UCS or the time interval between the two is too long, the conditioning does not take place.
Spontaneous recovery as a principle of classical conditioning
Following extinction, is the CS and UCS are paired together again, the link between them is made much more quickly,
-If dog forgets it can be taught again quickly
Strengths of classical conditioning
- Research evidence to support the idea of classical conditioning being able to explain the development of learning and phobias. Pavlov’s research on dogs and Watson with Little Albert, thus classical conditioning is successful in explaining how learning can occur in animals and young children.
- Helped apply classical conditioning to treatments of psychological disorders. Classical conditioning has helped form treatments like flooding and systematic desensitisation which are helpful in treating phobias.
Weaknesses of classical conditioning
- Research findings such as Little Albert and Pavlov’s study lack ecological validity due to being conducted in a lab setting.
- May not be strong in explaining how adults learn new behaviours. Limited to animals and young children.
- Menzies criticised behavioural model, found that only 2% of people who had hydrophobia had a negative experience with water. So they had not learnt their phobia. Others found that 50% of people who never had a bad experience with a dog were scared if dogs.
- Can be seen as deterministic and ignores free will. It anticipates that an individual will respond to a conditioned stimulus with no variation , which is not accurate . People are not passive states and do have control of their responses therefore explanations are incomplete and inconsistent.
Operant conditioning with Skinner
- Form of learning where behaviour is shaped by consequences
- Active process whereby humans and animals operate on their environment.
- Two types of consequences: reinforcement and punishment
Reinforcement in operant conditioning
A consequence that makes a behaviour more likely to happen
Positive and negative
Positive reinforcement
- Reward when a certain behaviour is performed
- primary reinforcement= meets natural needs such as food to take away hunger or water to take away thirst
- Secondary reinforcement= meeting all needs such as money or stickers
Negative reinforcement
Occurs when we avoid something unpleasant. Handing in essay to not get told off or rat pressing lever to avoid electric shock.
Positive and negative punishment
Positive punishment- adding something unpleasant as a consequence( child being slapped)
Negative punishment- taking something away
Punishment in operant conditioning
A consequence that makes a behaviour less likely to occur
An undesirable consequence
Skinners experiments
- Research in pigeons and rats in a ‘Skinner box’
- Rat would be placed in box and if the rat accidentally pressed the lever it would receive a food pellet (positive reinforcement)
- Rat would then learn pressing lever leads to food
- Pressing lever might also stop electric shock (negative reinforcement)
Other principles of operant conditioning
Extinction and spontaneous recovery
Extinction as a principle of operant conditioning
When the rat presses the lever but no longer receives a reward, the rat learns that pressing the lever leads to no rewards, the rat will then stopping pressing the lever
Spontaneous recovery as a principle of operant conditioning
Following extinction, if the rat presses the lever and does then suddenly receive a food pellet, the rat will very quickly learn that pressing the lever results in a food pellet. The rat will link this quickly and relearn it.
Schedules of reinforcement
Means that there are different methods of reinforcement that might occur:
- Continuous reinforcement
- Fixed Interval
- Fixed Ratio
Continuous reinforcement
Every time the rat presses the lever they will always receive a food pellet.
Fixed Interval
The rat presses the lever and only revives a food pellet during a fixed time only, e.g. every 30 seconds
Fixed Ratio
The rat must press the lever for a fixed number of times and then it will receive the food pellet .
Strengths of operant conditioning
- Research evidence to support operant conditioning. Token economy used in institutions like prisons and hospitals to reward good behaviour for privileges
- Research conducted by Skinner using Skinner box. It was conducted in highly controlled conditions to identify the cause and effect relationship.
- Research of Skinner is on the nurture side of the nature/nurture debate. Learning is due to environmental factors and external stimuli.
Weaknesses of operant conditioning
- The Skinner box ignores free will, it is deterministic, human/animals have no control over their behaviour. Past experiences with operant conditioning will affect future behaviour.
- Skinner box research has large ethical issues. Rats and pigeons placed in stressful conditions in box may have been harmed physically or psychologically. Findings may be difficult to generalise between animals and humans. Animals and humans are very different.
- Operant conditioning follows the behaviourist approach and ignores biological approach. Operant conditioning cannot explain all behaviours for example do people learn how to aggressive or is it genes and hormones.
Overall evaluation
Strengths of the behaviourist approach
- Scientific Credibility= It was able to bring methods of natural science into psychology by focusing on measurable observable behaviour in highly controlled lab settings. By focusing on scientific processes like objectivity and replication, it was influential in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline.
- Real life application = principles of conditioning have been applied to many real life scenarios. E.g. classical conditioning helping flooding and systematic desensitisation to treat phobias and anxiety. Operant conditioning in token economies. Extremely helpful in treatments.
Overall evaluation
Weaknesses of the behaviourist approach
- Mechanistic view of behaviour= Animals and humans are seen as passive and machine like responders to the environment with little conscious insight into behaviour. Minimises free will, and cognitive psychology has highlighted mental events during learning. May apply less to humans than animals.
- Environmental determinism= Skinners idea if everything we do being the sum total of our reinforcement history ignores the idea of free will.
- Ethical and practical issues in animal experiments= Animals were exposed to stressful and aversive conditions which may have affected them mentally or physically.
- Criticised by the biological approach = it ignores the role of genes, hormones and evolution and neural mechanisms responsible for behaviour. Key evidence suggest behaviour is determined by genes (schizophrenia). It is very unlikely that someone could learn to be schizophrenic. So other models of psychology should be considered to see how behaviours develop
What is social learning theory?
- New patterns of behaviour can be acquired/learnt by observing the behaviour of others
- during learning people perform behaviours observe different consequences such as punishment or reinforcement.
Who devised the social learning theory?
- Bandura
- 1977
Key points about the social learning theory
- Modelling
- Imitation
- Identification
- Vicarious Reinforcement
Modelling in the social learning theory
- Social learning theory requires a person to model or carry out behaviour, so that the observer can learn the behaviour.
- The model can be live e.g.parent
- Could be symbolic e.g. tv character
- Models provide examples of behaviour which can be learned by imitation
Imitation in the social learning theory
- Children learn behaviours via imitation that are modelled by significant others and this process tends to be more rapid than using classical or operant conditioning.
-Key characteristics of successful imitation includes the factors of
A) The characteristics of the model (age, gender etc)
B) The observers perceived ability to perform the behaviour shown
C) The observed consequence of behaviour (positive or negative)
Identification in the social learning theory
- This is the extent to which the observer relates to the model and feels that he/she is similar to them so that they can experience the same outcomes as the model.
- The person would aim to be like the model as much as they could.
- Children are likely to identify with a model of the same sex as themselves in order for social learning to be effective.
Vicarious reinforcement in the social learning theory
- Children who observed a model who got rewarded for showing aggressive behaviour were more likely to imitate aggressive behaviour as compared to children who observe the model being punished for showing aggressive behaviour.
- This is vicarious reinforcement and shows that individuals do not need experience or punishments directly in order to learn new behaviours.
- They can observe the consequences of behaviour is but observing a model, and if awards are given to the model, then children are more likely to imitate the behaviour shown.
What is mediational processes (cognition)?
- Social learning place importance on internal cognitive meet mediational processes.
- The observer must form a mental representation of the behaviour displayed by the model and the likely consequences of the behaviour in terms of expectancies.
- The observer might display the learned behaviour, provided there is an expectation that positive consequences are more likely to occur than negative consequences.
What points do mediational processes involve?
- Attention
- Retention
- Motor reproduction
- Motivation
Attention in Mediational processes
The observer must pay attention and notice the behaviour of the model
Retention in mediational processes
The observer must remember the behaviour of the model
Motor Reproduction in mediational processes
The observer must be able to perform the behaviour
Motivation in mediational processes
The observer must be willing to provide behaviour in light of rewards
Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment Procedure
- Children (36 male and 36 female aged 3 to 5 months) observed aggressive or non-aggressive adult models and were then tested for imitate of learning in the absence of the model.
- Half the children watch an adult role model I have aggressively towards the Bobo doll and half watch an adult role model not behave aggressively towards the Bobo doll.
- The aggressive role model displayed distinctive physically aggressive acts towards the door e.g.striking with mallet.
- Following exposure to the children of 70s aggressive acts they were made to feel frustrated. They were showed attractive toys but were told they’re not allowed to play with them.
- The children were then taken to a room which had some toys including a Bobo Bobo ( and other toys) doll the children were observed for 20 minutes.
Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment Findings
- Children who observed aggressive model reproduce the same aggressive behaviour towards the Bobo doll, whereas the children who observe the non-aggressive model, showed no aggression to the Bobo doll.
- 33% of children who observed and heard verbal aggression repeated what they had seen and heard “POW! “.
- However 0% of children in the non-aggressive group displayed verbal aggression.
- In a follow-up study children observe the model being rewarded for that aggressive behaviour and this increase the likelihood that children would also be aggressive towards the Bobo doll (Vicarious reinforcement)
- Boys seem to be more aggressive than girls, an imitation of aggression was greatest when the model was the same gender as observer.
- Conclusion is that aggression can be learned through social learning such as meditational processes, observation, modelling, identification and vicarious reinforcement.
Strength of social learning theory
- It has provided great understanding of how criminal behaviour is learnt. Akers find that criminal seem to engage in more criminal behaviour when they are exposed to a model that they highly identify with. If the model receives a positive outcome for committing crime then this increases the likelihood that the observe also commit crime.
- It is more effective when the model is very similar to the observer rather than dissimilar. If you observe a similar to the model it makes it easier for the observer visualise themselves in the place of the model and feel like they’re having the same experience. Fox found evidence to suggest that we an observer played a computer game that had a model that looked very similar to themselves, they are more likely to engage in the same behaviours as the model. (Exercise)
- Approach is less deterministic than the behaviourist approach – Bandura emphasise reciprocal determinism in the sense that we are not merrily influenced by external environment, but we also exert influence upon it, through the behaviours we choose to perform. This element of choice suggests that there is some free will in the way we behave – this is thus a better explanation of behaviour than the behavioural approach because it takes into account the fact that we choose our role models to copy.
- Social learning theory is good because it gives a more comprehensive view of human learning when compared to operant and classical conditioning. Social learning theory recognises the importance of both behavioural and cognitive factors (mediational processes) when examining how people learn new behaviours.
Weaknesses of social learning theory
- It does not take into account cause-and-effect. Research has found the increased associations with peers can increase the likelihood of deliberate behaviour in young people through learning poor behaviour. However we cannot assume the delinquency is caused by social social learning theory alone. Other factors could cause delinquency such as deviant and poor attitude that the person has held before they started interacting with delinquent peer group. (Siegel and McCormick)
- Theory ignores other potential influences on behaviour. It ignores the role of biology or genetics which could cause people to behave in certain ways. For example Bandura found in his experiment the boys are more aggressive than girls, regardless of the experimental situation they were in. Boys might be more aggressive because of testosterone, and therefore social learning theory would ignore this.
- Many open doors ideas were developed through observation of young children’s behaviour in lab settings.This means there is a high likelihood of demand characteristics and low ecological validity.
Cognitive approach
- Argues that internal mental processes can be studied scientifically.It contrasts the behaviourist approach.
- They use inferences about cognitive internal processes. This means that cognitive model might make assumptions about mental processes that cannot be directly observed.
- Direct observation of internal cognitive processes is not possible results must be inferred from behaviour/data which might be mistaken or incorrect also behaviour is influenced by thoughts that are both conscious and unconscious.
Ways to study internal processes
Theoretical and computer models
Theoretical models to study internal processes
- The theoretical model information-processing approach suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval, as in the multi store model.
- Models are often pictorial in nature, represented by boxes and arrows that indicate cause-and-effect or the stages of a particular mental process.
Computer models to study internal processes
- The mind is compared to a computer by suggesting that there is there are similarities in the way information is processed.
- These models use the concept of a central processing unit (the brain), the concept of coding (to turn information into useable formats) and the use of stores to hold information.
- Such computer models of the mind have proved useful in the development of thinking machines or artificial intelligence
