Approaches Flashcards

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1
Q

What did Descartes do?

A

Came up with the concept of dualism - the mind and body are separate

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2
Q

What did Wilhelm Wundt publish?

A

The first ever book on psychology called ‘Principles of Physiological Psychology’

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3
Q

What did Wilhelm Wundt open and what was the aim?

A

The first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany in 1879
To describe the nature of human consciousness in a carefully controlled and scientific environment

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4
Q

What did Wundt train over 100 students to do

A

Study psychology as a science

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5
Q

Wilhelm Wundt pioneered introspection. What is introspection?

A

The process in which a person examines their inner world, by consciously observing their thoughts and emotions. It is the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind

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6
Q

What was one of Wundt’s main objectives?
How did he do this?
The same ‘what’ were given to all participants and ‘what’ were presented in the same order?

A

• To try to develop theories about mental processes, such as language and perception
• He asked participants to describe their experiences when presented with a set of stimuli. e.g. participants were given a ticking metronome and they would report their thoughts, images and sensations, which were then recorded
• Standardised instructions and stimuli

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7
Q

what are standardised instructions

A

using exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in a research study to avoid investigator effects caused by different procedures/instructions

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8
Q

Describe the impact of introspection (2)

A

• Led to identifying the structure of consciousness by breaking it up into the basic structures: thoughts, images and sensations
• This marked the beginning of scientific psychology, separating it from its broader philosophical roots

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9
Q

Emergence of psychology as a science (1900s early behaviourists rejected introspection) - Watson (early behaviourist 1913) argued that introspection was what?

A

Subjective, in that it is influenced by a personal perspective

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10
Q

Emergence of Psychology as a science - Watson and Skinner proposed that a truly scientific psychology should only study what?

A

Phenomena that can be observed objectively and measured

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11
Q

Emergence of Psychology as a science - Behaviourists focused on behaviour that they could what?
What sort of experiments did they use?
The approach would dominate scientific psychology for the next how many years?

A

See
Carefully controlled
50 years

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12
Q

Emergence of Psychology as a science - following the computer revolution of the 1950s, the study of mental processes was seen as what?

A

Legitimate within psychology

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13
Q

Emergence of Psychology as a science - what did cognitive psychologists do?
Likened

A

Likened the mind to a computer and tested their predictions about memory and attention using experiments

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14
Q

Emergence of psychology as a science 1980s - How have biological psychologists used advances in technology to investigate physiological processes as they happen? (2)

A

• Use sophisticated scanning techniques such as fMRI and EEG to study live activity in the brain
• New methods e.g. genetic testing have also allowed us to better understand the relationship between genes and nature

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15
Q

The behaviourist approach - the behaviourist approach is only interested in studying behaviour that can be what? (2)
What is it not concerned with?

A

Observed and measured
Investigating mental processes of the mind because these were seen as irrelevant

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16
Q

The behaviourist approach - What did the behaviourists try to maintain?

A

Control and objectivity within their research and relied on lab studies to achieve this

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17
Q

The behaviourist approach - behaviourists believe that all behaviour is what?
They think we are born a what?

A

Learned
A ‘blank slate’ and this is written on from experience

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18
Q

The behaviourist approach - Why did behaviourists use animals in their research?

A

They believe that the processes that govern learning are the same in all species, so animals can replace humans as environmental subjects

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19
Q

The behaviourist approach - What were the two forms of learning behaviourists identified?

A

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning

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20
Q

The behaviourist approach - What is classical conditioning?

A

Learning by association. Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together

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21
Q

The behaviourist approach - What is generalisation?

A

The tendency to respond in the same way to different but similar stimuli

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22
Q

The behaviourist approach - What is operant conditioning?

A

A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Possible consequences of behaviour include positive or negative reinforcement and punishment

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23
Q

The behaviourist approach - What is reinforcement?

A

A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated. Can be positive or negative

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24
Q

The behaviourist approach - What is positive reinforcement?

A

Receiving a reward when behaviour is performed

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25
Q

The behaviourist approach - What is negative reinforcement?

A

Avoiding something unpleasant when a behaviour is performed

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26
Q

The behaviourist approach - What is punishment, and positive and negative punishment

A

• Punishment - An unpleasant consequence of behaviour

• Positive punishment - add something to decrease behaviour

• Negative punishment - remove something to decrease behaviour

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27
Q

Social learning theory - What does the social learning theory believe? (2)

A

• Behaviour can be learned through observation and imitation
• By observing the consequences of behaviour we learn whether to carry out this behaviour in the future or not

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28
Q

Social learning theory - if we observe another person being reinforced for their behaviour, we are more likely to what?

A

Imitate it - vicarious reinforcement

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29
Q

Social learning theory - What is vicarious reinforcement?
Reinforcement

A

Reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour

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30
Q

Social learning theory - What is imitation?

A

Copying the behaviour of others

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31
Q

Social learning theory - What are the four mediational processes in learning proposed by Bandura?

A

Attention - noticing the behaviour and consequences

Retention - remembering the behaviour and consequences

Motor reproduction - being able to carry out the behaviour (identification here)

Motivation - wanting to imitate the behaviour (determined by if the behaviour is reinforced or not + vicarious reinforcement here)

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32
Q

Social learning theory - people are more likely to imitate the behaviour of who?
The person they identify with is called a what?
The process of imitating a role model is called what?

A

People they identify with - identification (when an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model)
Role model
Modelling

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33
Q

Social learning theory - What is modelling?

A

When the observer imitates the behaviour of a role model, or the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour that may be imitated by an observer

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34
Q

The cognitive approach - in direct contrast to the behaviourist approach, the cognitive approach argues that internal mental processes can and should be what?

A

Studied scientifically

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35
Q

The cognitive approach - mental processes are ‘private’ and cannot be observed, so how do cognitive psychologists study them?

A

Indirectly by making inferences about what is going on inside people’s minds on the basis of their behaviour

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36
Q

The cognitive approach -cognitive processing can often be affected by what?

A

Schema

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37
Q

The cognitive approach - What are schema? (2)

A

Packages of information developed through experience
They act as a ‘mental framework’ for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system

38
Q

The cognitive approach - Give an example of a schema
What happens to our schemas as we get older?

A

Babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as sucking and grasping
They become more detailed and sophisticated

39
Q

The cognitive approach - What two things are used to explain mental processes?

A

Theoretical models and computer models

40
Q

The cognitive approach - describe one theoretical model

A

Information processing approach - Information flows through a sequence of stages that include input, storage, and retrieval

41
Q

The cognitive approach - What are computer models? (2)

A

• Programmes that can be run on a computer to imitate the human mind

• Psychologists can use these programmes to test their ideas about information processing

42
Q

The cognitive approach - What is cognitive neuroscience?
The scientific

A

The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes

43
Q

The cognitive approach - Why are scientists able to describe the neurological basis of mental processing

A

Due to the advances in brain scanning technology in the last 20 years

44
Q

The cognitive approach - scanning techniques have proved useful in establishing the neurological basis of what?

A

Some disorders e.g the parahippocampal gyrus and OCD

45
Q

The biological approach - what does the biological approach suggest?

A

If we want to fully understand human behaviour we must look to biological structures and processes within the body, such as genes and neurochemistry

46
Q

The biological approach - why does the biological approach believe that all thoughts, feelings and behaviour have a physical basis? (contrast to the cognitive approach)

A

the mind lives in the brain

47
Q

The biological approach - What is neurochemistry?

A

the action of chemicals in the brain

48
Q

The biological approach - what are neurotransmitters?
An imbalance of neurotransmitters may be a cause of what?

A

chemicals within the brain
Some mental disorders e.g. low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin has been linked to OCD

49
Q

The biological approach - what does the biological approach say can be inherited?

A

psychological characteristics

50
Q

The biological approach - what are used to investigate genetic influences?

A

twin studies - concordance rates between twins are calculated - the extent to which twins share the same characteristic

51
Q

The biological approach - what are concordance rates?

A

The percent of cases in which both members of a pair have a particular attribute

52
Q

The biological approach - higher concordance rates among identical twins (MZ) than non-identical twins (DZ) is evidence of what?

A

A genetic basis

53
Q

The biological approach - why are higher concordance rates found among monozygotic twins than dizygotic twins

A

as they share 100% of their DNA with each other, they are more likely to share the same behaviour

54
Q

The biological approach - what is a genotype?

A

A person’s actual genetic make up

55
Q

The biological approach - What is a phenotype?

A

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

56
Q

The biological approach - what can the expression of a genotype be influenced by and what is an example of this?

A

Environmental factors
Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a genetic disorder that can be prevented by a restricted diet. This suggests that much of human behaviour depends on the interaction of nature and nurture

57
Q

The biological approach - explain the theory of natural selection proposed by Darwin (1859) (2)

A

• Any genetically determined behaviour that enhances survival and reproduction will be passed on to future generations
• Such genes are described as adaptive and give the possessor and their offspring advantages

58
Q

The biological approach - what is an example of a naturally selected behaviour

A

attachment behaviours in newborns promote survival and are therefore adaptive and naturally selected

59
Q

The psychodynamic approach - what did Freud suggest the mind is made up of? (3)

A

conscious - what we are aware of

preconscious - thoughts we may become aware of through dreams and ‘slips of the tongue’

unconscious - thoughts, memories and feelings that we are unaware of that influence our behaviour

60
Q

The psychodynamic approach - our personality is made up of what three interacting elements?

A

Tripartite structure: id (birth) , ego (2 years old) , superego (5 years old)

61
Q

The psychodynamic approach - what is the id? (3)

A

• Primitive part of the personality that operates on the pleasure principle
• Demands instant gratification
• Has no morals

62
Q

The psychodynamic approach - what is the ego? (2)

A

• Works on the reality principle and is the mediator between the id and superego
• Its role is to reduce the conflict between the demands of the id and the Superego

63
Q

The psychodynamic approach - what is the superego? (3)

A

• Internalised sense of right and wrong
• Based on the morality principle it represents the moral standards of the child’s same-sex parent
• Punishes the ego through guilt.

64
Q

The psychodynamic approach - what would happen if someone had too much of a superego?

A

they would feel guilty all the time

65
Q

The psychodynamic approach - describe the five psychosexual stages (3)

A

• Determine adult personality
• Each stage is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve to move onto the next
• Any conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation where the child becomes ‘stuck’ and carries behaviours associated with that stage through to adult life

66
Q

The psychodynamic approach - the first stage (oral) - explain when it happens, what the pleasure focus is, what can cause fixation and what fixation at this stage can lead to

A

• 0-1 years

• mouth - the mother’s breast is the object of desire

• deprivation of food and love, early weaning

• smoking, overeating, drinking excessively, being needy, biting nails, sarcasm

67
Q

The psychodynamic approach - the second stage (anal) - explain when it happens, what the pleasure focus is, what can cause fixation and what fixation at this stage can lead to (4)

A

• 1-3 years
• anus - the child gains pleasure from withholding and eliminating faeces
• harsh toilet training, lax toilet training
• an obsession with hygiene and potentially OCD, tidiness, meanness

68
Q

The psychodynamic approach - the third stage (phallic) - explain when it happens, what the pleasure focus is, what can cause fixation and what fixation at this stage can lead to (4)

A

• 3-6 years
• genital area - pleasure comes from genital stimulation. Development differs between the sexes at this stage. (Oedipus Complex and the Electra Complex)
• no father figure, very dominant mother
• narcissism, sexual anxiety, envy, self-obsession

69
Q

The psychodynamic approach - boys at the phallic stage - Oedipus Complex (4)
Primary love object
Father
Castration
Repress

A

• boys focus on their mother as a primary love object - they desire their mother
• they see their father as a rival and want him out of the way
• leads to a fear that the father will find out and castrate the boy as a punishment - castration anxiety
• boys repress their feelings for their mother, identify with their father, taking on his gender role and moral values - development of the superego

70
Q

The psychodynamic approach - girls at the phallic stage - Electra Complex (6)
Mothers
Penis envy
Father
Hostile
Baby
Identifies

A

• desire their mothers
• develop penis envy
• develops affection for their father as the penis is the primary love object
• become hostile towards their mother as they see her as a love rival
• resolve feelings as they replace the desire for the father with a desire for a baby
• identify with their mother and internalises her moral views - development of the superego

71
Q

The psychodynamic approach - the fourth stage (latency) - explain when it happens and what happens (3)

A

• 6 years - puberty
• calm period before puberty
• earlier conflicts are repressed

72
Q

The psychodynamic approach - the fifth stage (genital) - explain when it happens, what happens, and what fixation at this stage can lead to (3)

A

• puberty into adulthood
• sexual desires become conscious
• difficulty forming adult relationships

73
Q

What are defence mechanisms?

A

Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego

74
Q

Describe the unconscious strategies called the defence mechanisms used by the Ego to reduce anxiety (3)

A

repression - pushing unwanted memories and emotions into the unconscious mind. The conscious mind can’t cope with it, no longer able to access it

denial - refusing to acknowledge reality

displacement - transferring feelings from their true source onto a substitute target

75
Q

The humanistic approach - humanistic psychologists see humans as affected by what?

A

External and internal influences but self-determining (have free will)

76
Q

The humanistic approach - why does the approach think that psychology should concern itself with subjective experience rather than general laws?

A

We are all unique

77
Q

The humanistic approach - Describe Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (that he said motivate our behaviour)

A

The needs of the four lower levels (deficiency needs - physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging and self-esteem) must be met before the individual can work towards self-actualisation (growth need) and fulfill their potential

78
Q

The humanistic approach - what is self-actualisation?

A

The innate tendency that each of us has to want to achieve our full potential and become the best we can possibly be

79
Q

The humanistic approach - what is the self?

A

The ideas and values that characterise ‘I’ and ‘me’ and includes perception of ‘what I am’ and ‘what I can do’

80
Q

The humanistic approach - what is self-concept?

A

how you see yourself

81
Q

The humanistic approach - what is the ideal self?

A

the self you want to be

82
Q

The humanistic approach - what is the real self?

A

the self you actually are

83
Q

The humanistic approach - Rogers argued that for personal growth to be achieved an individual’s concept of self needs to be what with their ideal self?

A

congruent

84
Q

The humanistic approach - if there is too big a gap between an individual’s concept of self and their ideal self, what happens?

A

The person will experience a state of incongruence and self-actualisation isn’t possible

85
Q

The humanistic approach - Rogers claimed that issues such as worthlessness and low self-esteem have their roots in what?

A

Childhood and are due to a lack of unconditional positive regard from our parents

86
Q

The humanistic approach - how might a parent store up psychological problems for their child in the future?

A

If they set boundaries on their love for them (conditions of worth) by claiming ‘I will only love you if’

87
Q

The humanistic approach - What did Rogers develop to close the gap between the self-concept and the ideal self?
A method….

A

Client-centred therapy - a method of treatment for mental disorders where the focus is on the problem from the client’s viewpoint rather than any diagnosis from the therapist

88
Q

The humanistic approach - what is the aim of the therapy

A

To increase feelings of self-worth and reduce incongruence between the self-concept and the ideal self

89
Q

in Rodger’s client centred therapy, an effective therapist should provide the client with what three things and what happens in the therapy
Client discovers
Therapist makes
Client will

A

• genuineness, empathy, unconditional positive regard
• client discovers their own solutions in a supportive and non-judgmental environment
• therapist makes the client feel accepted (unconditional positive regard)
• client will feel comfortable being honest and will be able to discover the barriers that prevent from being congruent

90
Q

The humanistic approach - what is unconditional positive regard?

A

Accepting and respecting others as they are without judgment or evaluation