Approaches Flashcards
What does tabula rasa mean?
That we are born with a blank slate so no knowledge, suggesting that we are a product of the things we learn
What is the only thing that the learning approach focuses on?
Observable external factors that influence behaviour
Who did work on the learning approach?
Watson, Pavlov, and Skinner
According to the learning approach, what are the 3 ways we learn behaviour?
Learning through consequences
Learning through imitation
Learning through association
What is learning through association also referred to as?
Classical conditioning
Who studied classical conditioning?
Ivan Pavlov
What is classical conditioning also known as?
Reflexive learning
Briefly outline Pavlov’s study on classical conditioning
Stage 1: Before UCS = Dog food UCR = Dog salivation Stage 2: during (the contingency pairing) NS = Bell ringing + UCS = UCR Stage 3: After CS (Bell ringing) = CR(Dog salivating)
Write a summary to explain how classical conditioning is applied to explain the process of attachment
Classical conditioning is defined as learning through association and often involves the pairing of two stimuli. According to the learning theory of attachment, attachment is formed when the infant associates the caregiver (who is the person providing the food), with the pleasure gained from food.
What is learning through consequences also known as?
Operant conditioning
Who did a study on operant conditioning?
Skinner
Define positive reinforcement
Increasing the frequency of the behaviour by giving pleasant consequences
Explain how positive reinforcement was shown in Skinner’s study
Skinner took a rat and in its cage, a lever it can press. The lever is rigged up to a mechanism that dispenses food, so when the rat presses the lever it gets a bit of food. Sooner or later, the rat will press the lever by accident and some food will appear. The rat may or may not connect the appearance of the food with the pressing of the lever, but after a few similar occurrences it will. It will then start pressing the lever in order to obtain food. So, the presentation of food acted as a positive reinforcement for the behaviour of lever pressing.
Define negative reinforcement
The effect of increasing the frequency of a behaviour by using consequences that are pleasant when they stop
Explain how negative reinforcement was demonstrated in Skinner’s study
Skinner sets up the cage so that the floor can be electrified and alters the mechanism so that the lever now switches off the current. Once Skinner electrifies the floor of the cage the rat will start bouncing about and will probably accidentally hit the lever. This will turn off the electric current. Eventually, the rat will learn to press the lever immediately when the current is turned on. However, this was not a positive reinforcement, as Skinner was not rewarding the rat with something it liked. Rather, reinforcing it by taking away something it didn’t like
Define punishment
The effect of decreasing the frequency of a behaviour by using consequences that are unpleasant when they happen.
Explain how Skinner’s study demonstrated punishment
Skinner changes the mechanism so that when it presses the lever, instead of receiving a food pellet it is given an electric shock to its paw. Very quickly, the rat will stop pressing the lever. The electric shock has acted as a punishment which had the effect of weakening then extinguishing the lever pressing behaviour.
Define primary reinforcers
Occurs naturally without having to make an effort, they don’t require learning and are often biologically important
Give an example of a primary reinforcer
Food, sleep, water, air, sex
Define secondary reinforcers
Are paired with primary reinforces, but usually mean little alone
What is learning through ‘imitation’ also known as?
Social learning theory
Who did research into the social learning theory?
Albert Bandura
What are the 4 key terms used in the social learning theory?
- Imitation
- Identification
- Modelling
- Vicarious reinforcement
Define imitation
When an individual observes a behaviour from a role model and copies it
Define identification
When an individual is influenced by another because they are similar in some way or wish to be like them
Define modelling
An influential person is known as a model. When an individual imitates that model it is called modelling
Define vicarious reinforcement/punishment
What consequences the person sees the model receiving punishment or reward will influence whether or not they will imitate the behaviour
What are the 4 key cognitive elements that are also considered within the social learning theory?
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
What is the relevance of attention to the social learning theory?
Factors that influence whether a learner pays attention to a role model. These may include the learner’s interpretation of the role model’s power, attractiveness and similarity
What is the relevance of retention to learning through imitation?
Factors that influence whether a learner identifies with a role model and remembers the behaviours their role model produces. These include the appropriateness of the behaviour to the role model
What is the relevance of reproduction to learning via imitation?
Factors that influence whether a learner believes they should imitate the behaviour they have acquired. These include physical ability, but also the learner’s self esteem and self efficacy.
What is the relevance of motivation to learning via imitation?
Factors that influence how a learner responds to reinforcement. These can include responses to past experiences and expectations about future benefits.
Summarise the method of Bandura’s bobo doll experiment
A lab experiement was used, in which the independent variable(the type of model) was manipulated in 3 conditions:
- Aggressive model is shown to 24 children
- Non aggressive model is shown to 24 children
- No model shown (control condition) to 24 children
Children then had 20 minutes in the room with the bobo doll and toys, their behaviour was recorded at 5 second intervals
Give some results of Bandura’s research
- Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive response than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups
- Boys were more likely to imitate same sex models than girls
- Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls
What can we conclude from Bandura’s research?
Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the behaviour of another person.
Give 3 advantages of the learning approaches
- There is lots of credible evidence to support the learning approach
- The learning approach has made significant contributions to help society including accessible ways to treat mental health problems
- The learning approach is praised for being extremely scientific
Give a weakness of the learning approaches
The learning approach is accused of environmental determinism
According to Freud, what are the 3 parts of the mind?
Conscious, preconscious, and unconscious
According to the psychodynamic approach, what are the 3 structures that make up personality?
Id, ego, and superego
What are the 5 stages of psychosexual development?
Oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital
What are the 5 stages of psychosexual development?
Oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital
What is the role of the unconscious mind?
To direct and motivate behaviour without conscious awareness. It also protects us from these distressing, painful or embarrassing material that would damage the psyche if recalled into conscious awareness.
What is the first part of the structure of personality?
The id, which contains pleasure seeking drives(unconscious urges) - it’s focus is instant gratification (pleasure).
What is the second part of the structure of personality?
EGO, and it develops at the age of 2 years. It develops as a result of you learning about the environment and people around you. Its main aim is to control the desires of the id by meeting them in an acceptable way(reality principle).
What is the final part of the structure of personality?
The superego, which develops last (5 years old) and is made up of society’s values and standards (ethics). The child develops a conscience, which inhibits the id and represses its urges. You can imagine the superego as being like the voice of a stern guardian aunt whose voice you can hear even when she’s not present
What is the dual role of defence mechanisms?
Protect the ego by distorting reality
What are the 4 key defence mechanisms?
- Displacement
- Repression
- Denial
- Rationalisation
What is displacement?
Displacement involves taking out our frustrations, feelings, and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening
What is repression?
Repression is where your mind makes the decision to bury the memory in the subconscious, thereby preventing painful, disturbing or dangerous thoughts from entering awareness
What is denial?
Denial is when a person seems unable to face reality or admit an obvious truth. Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognise that something has occurred or is currently occurring
What is rationalisation?
When you try to explain your bad behaviour away
At what age are individuals in the oral stage?
0-1 years old
At what age is the anal stage?
1-3 years old
At what age is the phallic stage?
3-6 years old
At what age is latency?
6-puberty
What is the correct term for girls gender development according to Freud?
Electra complex
What is the correct term for boys gender development according to Freud
The Oedipus Complex
What are the 4 main parts of the humanistic approach?
- The assumptions of the approach
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and self actualisation
- The self, congruence, and conditions of worth
- Counselling psychology
In what order is Maslow’s hierachy of needs and self actualisation
Top = Self actualisation Esteem Love/Belonging Safety Bottom = Physiological
What is self actualisation?
State of ultimate well being and satisfaction
What are the three selves that Roger proposed?
Self concept
Ideal self
Real self
What is self concept?
The self you feel you are, can be distorted, similar to self esteem
What is ideal self?
The self you wish to be
What is real self?
The person you actually are; not who you think you are or wish you were
Give two strengths of the humanistic approach
- It has had major influence on psychological counselling
- A holistic view of human nature and it’s the only approach that attempts to consider all aspects of human nature while promoting free will and human choice
What happens during the oral stage?
Pleasure is gained through the mouth - sucking, biting, chewing
What happens if an individual is not given enough pleasure in the oral stage?
It tends to lead to pessimism, depression, aggressive, sarcasm, thumb sucking, greed
What happens if there is too much pleasure in the oral stage?
Selfishness, over generous, compulsive talking, constantly excited
What happens during the anal stage?
The ego starts to develop and pleasure is gained through the anus - toilet training
What happens if there is not enough pleasure in the anal stage?
Anal retentive - obstinate,
Obsessed by orderliness, hoarding
What happens if there is too much please in the anal stage?
These people tend to go on to give to charity, be untidy
What is involved in the Oedipus complex?
Develop sexual desires for mother and sees father as a rival for her affection. However, he begins to fear that his father is suspicious of his feelings and will punish him by castrating him (castration anxiety). This is resolved by the boy eventually renouncing his sexual feelings for his not her and identifying with his father
What is involved in the Electra complex?
Focus changes from mother to father as the girl realises she doesn’t have a penis. Penis envy leads the girl to become attracted to her father because he does have a penis and resent to her mother for having brought her into the world without one
Give two strengths of the psychodynamic approach
- Recognises the importance of both nature and nurture in respect to human behaviour/development
- Supporting evidence - little Hans
Give 2 weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach
- Deterministic
2. Research evidence lacks scientific rigour due to a lack of objectivity
Person centred therapy operates according to what three core conditions?
- The therapist is congruent with the client (genuineness)
- The therapist provides the client with unconditional positive regard
- The therapist shows empathetic understanding to the client
In terms of the humanistic approach, what did Elliot do?
Carried out a meta analysis of 86 studies of humanistic therapies and found they prompted a significant improvement in clients when compared with those not receiving treatment
