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approaches Flashcards

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1
Q

who is Wundt and what did he do?

A
  • opened first psychology lab
  • founded introspection
  • made psychology a distinct scientific principle
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2
Q

what is introspection?

A
  • focus on looking inward on a person

- breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts images and sensations

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3
Q

who supported introspection?

A
  • HUNTER ET AL
  • MODERN INTROSPECTION
  • studied happiness in teenagers using introspection
  • surprised by a buzzer noise and asked to record inner thoughts and emotions at that exact time

-found teenagers were generally unhappy but were happier when focused on a task

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4
Q

what is the social learning theory?

A
  • same beliefs as behaviourists - that all behaviour Is learnt
  • believe it is a social process
  • believes learn through observation and imitation of role models

-indirect learning through vicarious reinforcement (seeing someone else being rewarded)

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5
Q

what is the key study of the social learning theory?

A

Bandura Bobo dolls

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6
Q

Bandura bobo dolls study method

A
  • aim is to see if exposure to violence has an effect on young people
  • little boy was the participant
  • a model beat up a doll violently in-front of the boy and then the boy was sent in with the doll to see how he reacted
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7
Q

Bandura Bobo dolls study findings

A
  • the little boy also acted violently towards the doll
  • he was attracted to the gun even though wasn’t used by the model

-children that observed an aggressive adult behaved more violently towards the doll than those who had not

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8
Q

what are the 4 meditational processes?

A
  • attention
  • retention
  • motor reproduction
  • motivation
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9
Q

what is a meditational process?

A

four cognitive factors which Bandura said influence learning and production of behaviour

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10
Q

what are the main assumptions of the biological approach?

A
  • all behaviour is innate

- behaviour is determined by genetics and neurones

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11
Q

what Is a genotype?

A

a persons genetic makeup

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12
Q

what is a phenotype?

A

the way that genes are expressed through physical / psychological and behavioural characteristics

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13
Q

what is biochemistry?

A
  • concerned with how the chemicals in our body work (neurotransmitters and hormones)
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14
Q

what is a neurotransmitter?

A

a chemical that relays impulses from one cell to another across a synapse (gap between neutrons)

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15
Q

what is the link between evolution and behaviour?

A
  • natural selection in evolution

- desirable behaviours that led to survival are more commonly passed on through genes to future generations

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16
Q

what is a biological structure?

A

the arrangement/ organisation of parts to form an organ, system or living thing.

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17
Q

what 3 biological structures are looked at in psychology?

A
  • brain structures
  • nervous system
  • endocrine system
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18
Q

what is a nervous system?

A

-primary internal communication system. collects, processes and responds to the external environment

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19
Q

what is an endocrine system?

A

-a network of glands which work together to regulate the body functions

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20
Q

what are key assumptions of behaviourist approach?

A
  • behaviourists rejected introspection as too vague

- research should be scientific

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21
Q

what are key assumptions of behaviourist approach?

A
  • behaviourists rejected introspection as too vague
  • research should be scientific (focus on observable behaviour that can be measured)
  • all behaviour is learnt(normal and abnormal) through conditioning
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22
Q

what is classical conditioning?

A
  • learning through association
  • 2 stimuli are associated with one another
  • involuntary responses
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23
Q

what is operant conditioning?

A
  • learning through positive/ negative reinforcement
  • behaviour is shaped by its consequences
  • voluntary responses
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24
Q

what study links the classical conditioning?

A

PAVLOV-
aim; looked at salivation and food development to see if dogs could be conditioned to salivate to different stimuli

  • method; when food was presented, pavlov rang a bell
  • the dogs then gradually associated the bell with food
  • dogs would then salivate to sound of the bell
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25
Q

PAVLOV step by step

A

food(UCS) = salivation(UCR)
bell ringing (neutral stimulus NS) = no response
food and bell = UCR salivation - whilst being conditioned
CS(bell) = CR (salivation)

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26
Q

what study links to operant conditioning?

A

SKINNER-
aim; to use experimental methods to study how consequences of behaviours affect learning

method; every time the rat pecked a disc in the ‘skinner box’ , it was rewarded with food - rat repeated behaviour due to positive reinforcement

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27
Q

what is reinforcement?

A
  • a consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of behaviour being repeated
  • can be either positive or negative
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28
Q

what is positive reinforcement?

A

receiving a reward when performing a certain behaviour which increases the likelihood of repeating
eg.praise from a teacher from putting up hand in class

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29
Q

what is negative reinforcement?

A

occurs when someone avoids something unpleasant by performing a certain behaviour
eg. completing homework to avoid being told off

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30
Q

what are some strengths of the behaviourist approach?

A

-CAN BE APPLIED TO REAL WORLD SITUATIONS
-can be used to encourage/ discourage behaviour eg. in schools using sticker charts (positive) and detention (negative)
-behaviourist approach is practical
INCREASED APPLICATION

based on well controlled research
-used observable methods and lab setting
-behaviour was broken down into stimulus-response which helped to see the direct cause and effect
INTERNAL VALIDITY

31
Q

what are some weaknesses of the behaviourist approach?

A

-criticised for use of animals
-not only is its seen as unethical as animals were kept underweight to ensure they were hungry
-animal studies cannot be generalised to humans as they are much more complex .
LOW GENERALISABILITY

-behaviourists may have oversimplified behaviour by breaking it down into stimulus response
-may need to look at inner processes was well to gain fuller picture such as biological factors(genes/hormones)
LOW VALIDITY

32
Q

what are the key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

A
  • believes that early childhood experiences shapes behaviour
  • looks at different dynamics that influence behaviour behaviour and personality
33
Q

what are the 3 structures of personality?

A
  • ID
  • EGO
  • SUPEREGO
34
Q

what is the ID personality structure?

A
  • pleasure principle
  • selfish and follows desires
  • unconscious drives
  • seen from birth
35
Q

what is the EGO personality structure?

A
  • reality principle
  • balance between ID and SUPEREGO
  • conscious drives
  • can be seen from around age 2
36
Q

what is the SUPEREGO personality structure?

A
  • moral principle
  • strong moral judgement and wants to do the right thing
  • conscious drives
  • from about age 5 can be seen
37
Q

what are defence mechanisms?

A

-unconscious strategies used by the EGO to manage conflict between the ID and SUPEREGO

  • help to reduce anxiety
  • often distort reality
  • if used long term is seen as psychologically unhealthy
38
Q

what is repression as a defence mechanism?

A
  • unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts

eg. blocking past experience of abuse

39
Q

what is denial as a defence mechanism?

A
  • refusing to accept reality of a situation ( avoids dealing with painful emotions)
    eg. acting as if trauma never happened
40
Q

what is displacement as a defence mechanism?

A
  • when a person cannot direct their thoughts/ feelings towards the person they hold responsible
  • take it out on someone/something else
41
Q

what are the psychosexual stages of development?

A

(OAPLG)

  • oral
  • anal
  • phallic
  • latency
  • genital
42
Q

what actually are psychosexual development stages?

A

5 developmental stages that each child undergoes.

At each stage there is a different conflicted the outcome determines future development

43
Q

what is the ORAL psychosexual stage of development?

A

0-1 years old
-focus is on pleasure in the mouth( sucking/biting things)

result of unresolved conflict is smoking, nail biting and sweet sucking

44
Q

what is the ANAL psychosexual stage of development?

A

1-3 years old

  • focus is on pleasure of anus
  • pleasure is expressed through withholding/ expelling faeces

anal retentive- perfectionist/ obsessive
anal expulsive- thoughtless/messy

45
Q

what is the PHALLIC psychosexual stage of development?

A

-occurs at ages 3-5 years old

OEDIPUS COMPLEX AND CASTRATION ANXIETY -son unconsciously wants to sleep with mother
-father is the sons key rival

ELETRA COMPLEX AND PENIS ENVY-daughter unconsciously wants to sleep with father and as a result hates mum

46
Q

what is the LATENCY psychosexual stage of development?

A

occurs at ages 6-12 years old

47
Q

what is the GENITAL psychosexual stage of development?

A

occurs at 12 years old
-sexual desires become conscious

result of unresolved conflict may lead to difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

48
Q

what actually are psychosexual development stages?

A

5 developmental stages that each child undergoes.

At each stage there is a different conflicted the outcome determines future development.

49
Q

what are the main assumptions of the cognitive approach?

A
  • best understand of behaviour is by looking at internal mental processes
50
Q

what is a schema?

A
  • a package of knowledge/framework of beliefs and expectations that helps us to make sense of information and organise it in the brain.
51
Q

why are schemas useful?

A
  • can help us to make shortcuts when interpreting large amounts of information
  • can help us fill in the gaps when not all details are knowing. in new situations
52
Q

what is cognitive neuroscience?

A

the scientific study of brain structures an d their influence on cognitive thought processes.

53
Q

what are the key assumptions of the humanist approach?

A
  • everyone is in control and has free will
  • consciously choose our own behaviour

-humanists reject scientific studies and focus more on subjective personal experience

54
Q

what is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

A
  • psychological needs that help a person reach self actualisation
  • most basic needs at bottom eg. sleep, food
  • most complex needs at top eg. confidence
55
Q

what did carl Rodgers suggest?

A

suggested the importance of self-concept in psychological health.

self concept is the way that a person sees themselves

56
Q

what is congruence?

A

when an individuals concept of themselves is equivalent to their ideal self.

57
Q

what is incongruence?

A

a large gap between a persons self concept and ideal self

leads to negative feelings of self worth

58
Q

what is client centred therapy?

A

used to help address a clients problems

-aims to help give clients a more positive regard

59
Q

how did psychology emerge as a science?

A
  • Watson and skinner
  • believed that for something to be scientific it needed to be visible so criticised Wundt’s introspection
  • used observable methods that were measurable in a lab
60
Q

what is vicarious reinforcement?

A

indirectly experiencing reinforcement through observing the consequences of others actions

61
Q

what is identification in SLT?

A

when you associate yourself with the role model

62
Q

what is imitation in SLT?

A

copying the actions/behaviour of others

63
Q

what are some strengths of SLT ?

A
  • the SLT recognises the importance of cognitive factors
64
Q

what are some weaknesses of SLT?

A

-evidence that supports SLT was gathered in a lab
-lab is an artificial setting and could lead to ps responding to demand characteristics
-may have only behaved violently as felt that was what they were meant to do.
LOW INTERNAL VALIDITY

Doesn’t consider biological factors
-nurture side of NN debate is ignored
-states that all behaviour is learnt and doesn’t look at any influencing genes/ hormones (not scientific)
LOW VALIDITY

65
Q

what are some strengths of the biological approach?

A
  • can be used for treatment
    -understanding of genes/ hormones and their relation to behaviour can be used to help with treatment of mental illness eg. anti depressants
    -can help relive symptoms (+ve impact on society)
    REAL LIFE APPLICATION

use of scientific methods
-objective, reliable data, high level of explanation which reduces bias
eg.scanning techniques
INCREASED VALIDITY

66
Q

what are some weaknesses of the biological approach?

A

the biological approach is deterministic
-means that genes/ hormones are a direct cause of behaviour not individual choice or free will
-this contradicts the legal system which is based upon the idea of free will
-doesn’t reflect human complexity
LOW APPLICATION

nature vs nurture of twins is hard to seperate
-twin studies are used as main evidence for genetic influence
-there will always be environmental influences on an individual which cannot be removed ( a cofounding variable that effects results)
LOW VALIDITY

67
Q

what are some strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

A

-Freud’s research has led to psychoanalysis
-this has been used widely to access a persons unconscious and has claimed to be successful for patients with anxiety
-can be applied to modern day life
REAL LIFE APPLICATION

68
Q

what are some strengths of the psychodynamic approach?

A

-Freud’s research has led to psychoanalysis
-this has been used widely to access a persons unconscious and has claimed to be successful for patients with anxiety
-can be applied to modern day life
REAL LIFE APPLICATION

-psychodynamic approach has helped to explain human behaviour in real life.
-has had a huge influence on psychology and contemporary thought
-has been used to explain personality and moral development
-psychodynamic approach has had a positive impact on psychology
INCREASED APPLICATION

69
Q

what are some weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach?

A

-the psychodynamic approach lacks testability/falsifiability
-the concepts are not open to empirical testing so cannot be deemed reliable or be disproved.
-many concepts are said to occur when unconscious meaning it is very difficult to test
LACKS VALIDITY

  • the psychodynamic approach is based upon case studies
  • cannot use the findings to explain behaviour of everybody and make general laws due to being idiographic.
  • LOW GENERALISABILITY
70
Q

what are some strengths of the cognitive approach?

A

-the use of scientific methods adds credibility
-based upon objective research (factual) from lab studies
-emerge of cognitive neuroscience has helped enhance the scientific basis of psychology
INCREASED INTERNAL VALIDITY

  • has been applied to a wide range of modern contexts both practical and theoretical
  • eg. its contribution to AI and robot development
  • has also helped with mental illness by being applied to treatment eg.depression
  • REAL WORLD APPLICATION
71
Q

what are some weaknesses of the cognitive approach?

A
  • the cognitive approach uses computer models to explain thought processes
  • reduces the complexity of human mind to standard computer operations (machine reductionism)
  • disregards the influence of emotion on processing
  • using computer models gives limited explanation
  • LACKS VALIDITY
  • can be criticised for being too abstract/ theoretical
  • relies on mental processes rather than observable behaviour
  • harder to see the cause and effect on certain behaviours
  • also, mental processes research usually includes artificial tasks/stimuli
  • REDUCES EXTERNAL VALIDITY
72
Q

what are some strengths of the humanist approach?

A

-the humanist approach is holistic not reductionist
-looks at human behaviour as a whole instead of breaking it down into smaller components
-believes a person can only be understood by looking at the individual as a whole
-better understanding of behaviour
INCREASED VALIDITY

-the humanist approach is optimistic
-the approach adds the focus back onto people themselves and promotes a positive image of humanity
-humanist approach is based upon the foundation that humans are self determining and have free will
INCREASED ETHICS

73
Q

what are some weaknesses of the humanist approach?

A
  • humanistic approach has cultural bias
    -emphasis on free will and personal growth which only applies to more individualist societies such as UK and US
    -collectivist societies have more focus on groups
    -cannot be generalised to all cultures
    LOW GENERALISABILITY
  • humanist approach rejects science
  • methods are much more subjective not scientific
  • can be criticised for not being factual/ accurate
  • LOW VALIDITY

psychology paper 2 (2 decks)

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