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Psychology A Level (AQA) > Approaches > Flashcards

Approaches Flashcards

Paper 2

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1
Q

Which psychologist marked the beginning of scientific psychology

A

Wundt

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2
Q

What was Wundts pioneering method and what does it mean

A

Introspection - first systematical attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations

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3
Q

One strength and one weakness of Wundts work

A

Strength - Some of his methods were systematic and well-controlled (scientific)

Weakness - Other aspects of his work would be considered unscientific today - relied on some participants self- reporting their mental processes

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4
Q

The 2 learning approaches

A
  • The behaviourist approach
  • Social learning theory
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5
Q

The 2 types of conditioning and how they suggest people learn

A
  • Classical conditioning - Learning through association
  • Operant conditioning - Learning through consequences / reinforcement
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6
Q

The procedure of classic conditioning (Pavlov)

A

Pavlov showed how dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented with food. Gradually Pavlovs dogs learned to associate the sound of a bell with the food.
Neutral stimulus - Unconditioned stimulus - Unconditioned response - Conditioned stimulus - Conditioned response

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7
Q

The procedure of operant conditioning (Skinner) - types of reinforcement

A

Positive reinforcement - receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed - likely to repeat
Negative reinforcement - avoiding something unpleasant - likely to repeat (outcome is positive)
Punishment - unpleasant consequence of a behaviour - unlikely to repeat

The skinner box :
- Pigeons
- When pigeons completed the task (peck or turn) and given reward for correct behaviour and given punishment for unpleasant behaviour

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8
Q

2 strengths of the behaviourist approach

A
  • Approach is based off well- controlled research - highly controlled lab settings : scientific credibility
  • Principles of conditioning have been applied to real-world behaviours and problems : operant conditioning is basis of token economy system (used in institutions) - has widespread application
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9
Q

2 weaknesses of the behaviourist approach

A
  • Behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process - learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone, and that private mental processes are also essential
  • All behaviour is seen as conditioned by past conditioning experience - ignores any possible influence that free will may have on behaviour
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10
Q

What one type of reinforcement is included in the social learning theory and what type of learning is this

A

Vicarious reinforcement : Indirect learning through watching the consequences of others

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11
Q

the 4 stages of the mediational processes

A

ARMM

Attention
Retention
Motor reproduction
Motivation

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12
Q

Why are people more likely to imitate others

A

Identification - they identify with the person they are imitating

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13
Q

What is the person they identify with called

A

A role model

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14
Q

Who is the main psychologist within the social learning theory

A

Albert Bandura

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15
Q

What was Albert Banduras procedure and what were the findings

A

Recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave aggressively towards a Bobo doll
Procedure :
- lab experiment
- 36 boys and 36 girls aged 37-69 months (mean age of 52 - 4 1/2 years)

1st IV :
- Non aggressive model
- Aggressive model
- No model (control group)

2nd IV :
- Gender of the role model

3rd IV :
- Participants (male or female)

DV :
- Physical : any acts imitated
- Verbal : phrases imitated such as ‘pow’

Findings:
Children who observed the aggressive model more likely to have aggressive responses than other 2 groups.
Boys showed more physical aggression and girls more verbal
Boys more likely to imitate same-sex models but both sexes tended to imitate the same-sex model

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16
Q

2 strengths of the social learning theory

A
  • Recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning - more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes
  • SLT principles have been applied to range of real-world behaviours - able to explain cultural differences in behaviour (e,g modelling, imitation and reinforcement can account for cultural differences)
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17
Q

2 weaknesses for the social learning theory

A
  • Makes too little reference to the influence of biological factors on social learning - some aspects may be the result of the mirror neurons in the brain
  • Evidence gathered through lab studies - participants may respond to demand characteristics - tell us little about learnt aggression in everyday life
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18
Q

The role of schema - what are they?

A

Schemas are ‘packages of ideas and information developed through experience.
Act as a mental framework for the interpretation for incoming information.
Allow us to process information quickly and easily

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19
Q

what are the two models of the cognitive approach

A

Theoretical and computer models

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20
Q

what is an important theoretical model and what does it suggest

A

Information processing approach - suggesting that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages

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21
Q

what has the computational model proved useful for

A

Developing Artificial Intelligence (‘thinking machines’)

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22
Q

what is cognitive neuroscience

A

Scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes

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23
Q

2 brain imaging technology

A
  • fMRI
  • PET scans
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24
Q

what is one possible application of the brain analysis - Cognitive neuroscience

A

Eye witness testimonies to determine whether they are lying in court

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25
Q

2 strengths of the cognitive approach

A
  • Uses objective, scientific menthods - credible scientific basis
  • Practical application - e.g AI - supports the value of the cognitive approach
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26
Q

2 weaknesses of the cognitive approach

A
  • Cognitive psychology relies on the inference of mental processes rather than direct observation - sometimes too abstract and theoretical - lacks external validity
  • Machine reductionism : ignores influence of human emotion and motivation. - weakens the validity
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27
Q

Concordance rates - twin studies

A

The extent to which the twins share the same characteristic

28
Q

the difference between monozygotic and dizygotic twins

A

Monozygotic twins - share 100% of the same genes

Dizygotictwins - share 50% of the same genes

29
Q

Genotype

A

Genotype is a persons genetic makeup

30
Q

Phenotype

A

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

31
Q

what is the interactionist approach

A

inherited factors (nature) and the environment (nurture)

G x E (Genes x Environment)

32
Q

who was behind the theory of natural selection

A

Charles Darwin

33
Q

2 strengths of the biological approach

A
  • real world application : increased understanding of neurochemical processes in the brain is associated with the use of psychoactive drugs to treat serious mental disorders
  • uses scientific methods of investigation - objective and reliable data
34
Q

2 weaknesses of the biological approach

A
  • Antidepressant drugs work but not for everyone - brain chemistry may not account for all cases
  • Approach is determinist - sees human behaviour as governed by internal, genetic causes over which we have no control : approach too simplistic and ignores the mediating effects of the environment
35
Q

What does Freud believe makes up most of our mind

A

The unconscious

36
Q

What are the three types of consciousness’ and what do they mean

A

The conscious - The small amount of mental activity we know about preconscious - Things we should be aware of if we wanted to or tried unconscious - Things we are unaware of and can become aware of

37
Q

What three parts form the ‘tripratite’ (structure of the personality)

A

Id , Superego, Ego

38
Q

What principle does each part of the personality link with

A

Pleasure principle - Id
Reality principle - Ego
Morality principle

39
Q

What two motives do we have and what do they mean

A

Latent motive - The unconscious forces that drive our behaviour
Manifest motives - the lies that we tell ourselves to protect us from the truth

40
Q

What are all the parts of the personality responsible for

A

Id - driving us to satisfy selfish urges
Ego - acts rationally, balancing the Id and the superego
Superego - concerned with keeping to moral norms and attempts to control a powerful id with feelings of guilt

41
Q

What is the most desirable part of the unconscious personality

A

Ego

42
Q

What are the three ego defence mechanisms

A
  • Repression
  • Displacement
  • Denial
43
Q

What are the 5 psychosexual stages (in order of when they happen - if possible add ages)

A
  • Oral 0-18 months
  • Anal 18 months - 3.5 years
  • Phallic 3.5 years - 6 years
  • Latency - 6 years - puberty
  • Genital - puberty onwards
44
Q

what might be a consequence if a person does not get out the oral stage

A

Oral fixation - smoking, biting nails, sarcastic,critical

45
Q

What might be a consequence if a person does not get out the genital stage

A

Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships

46
Q

What are 2 strengths of the psychodynamic approach

A
  • Introduced the idea of psychotherapy (as opposed to physical treatments) - psychoanalysis : new range of techniques to access the unconcious such as dream analysis - brings repressed emotions into their conscious mind
  • Ability to explain human behaviour - remained a key force in psychology for the first half of the 20th century and has been used to explain a wide of phenomena including personality development and gender development etc
47
Q

What are 2 weaknesses of the psychodynamic approach

A
  • Psychoanalysis is regarded as inappropriate even harmful for patients experiencing more serious harmful disorders such as schizophrenia - many of the symptoms including paranoia and delusional thinking - lost grip of reality and cannot articulate thoughts in a way that is required for psychoanalysis
  • Much of it is untestable - Karl Popper argued that it does not meet the scientific criterion of falsification , not open to empirical testing - Freuds theory was pseudoscientific rather than established fact
48
Q

What do humanist suggest people have and are

A

Have - free will and are self-determinist

49
Q

What is the order of Maslows hierarchy of needs (bottom to top)

A

Physiological needs
Safety and security
Love and belongingness
Self-esteem
Self Actualisation

50
Q

What self actualisation mean

A

Reaching ‘full potential’ , fulfilled, satisfied and goal-orientated

51
Q

What does a person need to do in order to reach self-actualisation

A

All four lower levels of the hierarchy need to be met

52
Q

How does Carl Rogers say that a person can achieve personal growth

A

Individuals concept of self must be broadly equivalent to or have congruence with their ideal self

53
Q

What is it when an individual has too big of a gap between self and ideal self

A

Incongruence

54
Q

What did Rogers develop to reduce the gap between the self concept and ideal self

A

Client - centred therapy (‘councelling’)

55
Q

How can worthless feelings and low self-esteem be explained by a lack of as a child

A

Unconditional positive regard (or lack of unconditional love) from parents

56
Q

What do we refer to as a parent giving children set boundaries or limits on love for child

A

Conditions of love - “I will only love you if…”

57
Q

What did Rogers see as his role as an effective therapist as being able to provide his clients with…

A

… unconditional positive regard that they failed to receive as children

58
Q

What are 2 strengths of the humanistic approach

A
  • Rejects attempts to break up behaviour and experience into smaller components (reductionism) - the subjective experience can only be understood by considering the whole person (holistic) - more validity because it considers the meaningful human behaviour within its real-world context
  • It is optimistic - promotes a postitive image of the human condition - offers a refreshing and optimistic alternative to other approaches
59
Q

What are 2 weaknesses of the humanistic approach

A
  • Reductionist approaches are more scientific - ideal of science is the experiment which reduces behaviours to independent and dependent variables : short on empirical evidence to support claims
  • Culturally - biased : individual freedom , autonomy and personal growth would be more associated with countries that have a more individualist tendencies - approach not applicable universally and is a product of the cultural context within which it was developed
60
Q

What does each approach say about the views on development

A

Psychodynamic - concepts and processes to specific (psychosexual) stages that are determined by age - Freud saw very little further development once a child enters the genital stage in their teenage years

Cognitive - stage theories have contributed to our understanding of child development - form increasingly complex concepts (schemas) as they get older

Biological - genetically determined changes in a childs physiological status influence psychological and behavioural characteristics

Humanistic - development of self is ongoing throughout life - childs relationship with their parents is important in terms of unconditional positive regard

Behaviourist & Social learning theory - do not offer coherent stages theories of development but instead see the processes that underpin learning as continuous , occuring at any age

61
Q

What does each approach say about the views on nature vs nurture

A

Behaviourist - characterised babies as blank slates (tabula rasa) at birth and suggest that all behaviours come about through learned associations

Biological - behaviour is the result of a genetic blueprint that we inherit from our parents though the (genotypes) way it is expressed is influenced by the environment (phenotypes)

Psychodynamic - much of behaviour is driven by biological drives and instincts but also saw relationship with parents as playing a role in in fundemental future development

Humanistic - regard parents, family and friends and wider society as having a critical impact on the persons self-concept

Cognitive - recognise that many of our information processing abilities and schema are innate but are constantly refined through experience

62
Q

What does each approach say about the views on reductionism

A

Behaviourism - Reductionist : breaks up complex behaviour into stimulus and response

Biological - Reductionist : Explains human behaviour and psychological states at the level of the gene or neuron

Psychodynamic - Reductionist : Reduces much of our behaviour to the influence of sexual drives and biological instincts - Frueds argument that personality is a dynamic interaction between the 3 parts of the personality is often viewed as holistic

Cognitive - Machine Reductionism : presenting people as information processing systems and ignoring the influence of emotion and behaviour

Social Learning theory - Reductionist : reduce complex learning to a handful of key processes (imitation,modelling etc) though they do at least place emphasis on cognitive factors that mediate learning and how these interact with external influences

Humanistic - Not reductionist : formulates a holistic approach to understanding human behaviour

63
Q

What is reductionism

A

The belief that human behaviour can be most effectively explained by breaking it down into constituent parts (opposite to holism)

64
Q

What is determinism

A

All behaviour has an internal and external cause and is as such predictable

65
Q

What does each approach say about the views on determinism

A

Behaviourist - Sees all behaviour as environmentally determined by external influences that we are unable to control (Hard determinism)

Biological - Genetic determinism: Assumption that much of our behaviour is dictated by innate influences (Hard determinism)

Psychodynamic - Psychic determinism: Unconcious forces that drive our behaviour are the ultimate cause of behaviour, and these are simply rationalised by our concious minds (Hard determinism)

Cognitive - We are the choosers of our own thoughts and behaviours, yet these choices can only operate within the limits of what we know and have experienced (soft determinism)

Social learning theory - reciprocal determinism : the idea that as well as being influenced by our environment, we also exert some influence upon it through the behaviours we choose to perform (soft determinism)

Humanistic - Human beings have free will and operate as active agents who determine their own development (not deterministic)

66
Q

What does each approach say about the views on the explanation and treatment of psychological disorders

A

Behaviourist - Abnormality as arising from maladaptive or faulty learning in the sense that inappropriate or destructive patterns of behaviour have been reinforced (expl)
Behaviourist therapies such as systematic desensitisation which aim to condition new more healthy responses (treatment)

Social learning theory - Principles of modelling and observational learning have been used to explain how negative behaviours may be learned through dysfunctional role models (expl)
Has little application on treatment

Psychodynamic - Anxiety disorders emerge through unconscious conflict, childhood trauma and the overuse of defence mechanisms (expl)
Psychoanalysis has had some success as a therapy but is not appropriate for everyone as it requires a considerable input from the patient in terms of time and ability to talk and reflect about emotions (treatment)

Cognitive - Cognitive therapy is very effective especially when combined with CBT (treatment) . It aims to identify and eradicate faulty thinking (expl) which is assumed to be the root cause of maladaptive behaviour.

Humanistic - Humanistic therapy (counselling) based on Rogers philosophy that closing the gap (incongruence) between the self concept and ideal self will increase self esteem and stimulate personal growth

Biological - Drug therapy : regulate chemical imbalances - e.g SSRIs, Antipsychotics

Psychology A Level (AQA) (12 decks)

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