approaches Flashcards
introspection
when we reflect our thoughts, emotions, and memories and examine what they mean
behaviourism
behaviours are required through conditioning: classical and operant
classical conditioning
learning through association
unconditioned stimulus
something that causes a natural response
unconditioned response
an automatic reaction to a stimulus
neutral stimulus
a stimulus that has no effect on behaviour, and so causes no response
conditioned stimulus
something that we have learnt to react to
conditioned response
a learnt response to a stimulus
extinction
a learned response is extinguished
spontaneous recovery
an association has not been completely extinguished
classical conditioning study
pavlov:
- dogs paired the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus together to create saliva.
operant conditioning
learning through reinforcement and punishments
positive reinforcement
receiving an award
negative reinforcement
removing something bad
punishment
an unpleasant consequence of a behaviour
continuous reinforcement schedule
reinforcement is provided every single time after the desired behaviour
partial reinforcement schedule
only reinforced occasionally rather than all of the time. This leads to slower learning but it produces the behaviour that is more resistant to extiniction
operant conditioning study
skinner:
- found that rats activated a lever within a box to receive a food pellet. From then on the rat would continue to perform behaviour
social learning theory
learning through the environment through a process of modelling and reinforcement
modelling
learning through the obeservation of other people
models
people similar to us in terms of age, gender, race, social class
identification
taking on behaviours, qualities and beliefs of another person
mediational processes
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
Attention Processes
we pay attention to the models actions
Retentional Processes
Having observed the model we must remember what happened
Reproduction Processes
This is where memories are translated into action
Motivational Processes
Whether we imitate the action that has been observed depends on our motivation to do so
cognitive approach
the study of the internal mental processes such as memory, perception and attention
cognitive
mental process
computer models
the mind is seen as operating in the same way as a computer
schema
a mental framework of beliefs and expectations about events or things that influence cognitive processes
how are schemas developed
through experience
bugelski & alampay (1962)
when your schema is activated, it influences your perception of environmental stimuli
role schema
norms and expected behaviour behaviour from people with a specific role in society
event schema
focused on patterns of behaviour that should be followed for certain events
self schema
cognitive framework including information and beliefs about the self that guides a person’s perception of the world
cognitive neuroscience
the scientific study of the influence of brain structures on your mental processes
evaluation of cognitive approach
uses objective scientific methods
biological approach assumptions
a concept that emphasises the importance of the physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function
frontal lobe function
behavioural and emotional control
parietal lobe function
sensory information
occipital lobe function
visual processing
temporal lobe function
processes emotions, language and visual perception
neurochemistry
the actions of chemicals in the brain
neural definition
brain
agression is caused by what amounts of serotonin and dopamine
low serotonin and low dopamine
schizophrenia is caused by what amounts of serotonin and dopamine
high serotonin and high dopamine
depression is caused by what amounts of serotonin and dopamine
low serotonin and low dopamine
concordance rates
the extent to which twins share the same characteristics
family studies definitions
research where close relatives (parents and children) are compared certain traits to determine genetic factors
twin studies definition
it is assumed that all twins share the same environment so by comparing them allows the amount of influence genes have to be investigated
adoption studies definition
genetically related family members who were adopted are compared with each other in order to tease apart genetic and environmental influences
genotype
an individuals genetic make up
pheontype
the way genes are expressed through physical, behavioural and psychological characteristics
evolution
the change in characteristics of a species over several generations, or over time
natural selection
Darwin
- genetically determined characteristics or behaviour that enhances our chances of survival and reproduction will be passed onto the next generation and become more common in a population.
environment of evolutionary adaptation
all living creatures have traits that make them suited to their environment
strength of the biological approach
- real world application (can be applied to treat mental disorders through the development of therapies etc)
- uses scientific methods (fMRIs and EEGs)
limitation of the biological approach
- deterministic
psychodynamic approach
a perspective that describes the different forces, most of which are unconcsious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience
role of the unconcious
stores threatening and disturbing memories that have been repressed - can be accessed during dreams or through ‘slips of the tongue’
preconcious
contains thoughts and memories which are not currently in the conscious mind but we can access them if needed
tripartite
freud
- personality is composed of three parts: id, ego, superego
the id
unconscious set of instincts people are born with that are completely selfish
- primitive part of personality
- operates on the pleasure principle
- present at birth
- demands instant gratification of its needs
the ego
the conscious and rational part of the personality
- operates on the reality principle
- the mediator between the id and the superego
- develops around the age of 2
the superego
the last part to develop - is concerned with right and wrong
- formed at the end of the phallic age of five
- operates on the morality principle
- represents moral standards of same sex parents
- punishes the ego for any wrong, through guilt
psychosexual stages of development
freud
- child development occurs in five stages
- each stage is marked by a conflict which the child must resolve in order to progress to the next stage
- any psychosexual conflict that is not resolved leads to fixation where the child becomes stuck and carries certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that stage throughout adult life
oral psychosexual development
0 - 1 years
- the mouth is the focus of sensation and the organ of pleasure
- overfixation occurs if a child is under fed or over fed at this age
consequences of unresolved oral conflict
oral fixation
- smoking
- biking nails
- sarcastic
- critical
anal psychosexual development
1 - 3 years
- the anus is the organ of pleasure
- the child gains pleasure from retention or expulsion of faeces
- ego develops at this stage
consequences of unresolved anal conflict
anally retentive
- perfectionist
- obsessive personality
anally expulsive
- thoughtless
- messy personality
phallic psychosexual development
3 - 6 years
- genitals is the organ of pleasure
- the child becomes aware of gender differences so becomes obsessed with its own genitals
- freud states that this is the most important stage of development where the oedipus complex occurs
consequences of unresolved phallic conflict
phallic personality
- narcissistic
- reckless
latency psychosexual development
6 years
- puberty
- sexual desires remain dormant
- children want nothing to do with the opposite sex as social and intellectual development complex occurs
genital psychosexual development
- puberty maturity
- this stage marks the beginning of mature adult sexuality
- the clam latency is disrupted as the id makes powerful demands in the form of heterosexual desire
- the opposite sex is not needed to satisfy labido
consequences of unresolved genital conflict
- difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
oedipus complex
originates from the Greek tragedy of king Oedipus who unwittingly married his mother and killed his father
- freud suggested that children in the phallic stage have unconscious sexual desires for the opposite sex parents
- this makes them resentful of the same sex parents as they view them as competitors
castration anxiety
boys fear that they will be castrated because they notice girls dont have a penis, so the boys begin to identify with their fathers and internalise his morals and standards
electra complex
girls believe that they do not have a penis because their mother must have already castrated them
- they turn to their fathers for love and in hope of regaining a penis
- girls suffer penis envy for the rest of their lives
- to resolve this they have to have a male baby and a male partner to become more like a man as a way as compensating for their lack of penis
defence mechanisms
unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego
repression
forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind
denial
refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality
displacement
transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target
research to support psychodynamic
little hans
- a five year old that developed a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse in the street
- freud suggested that Han’s phobia was a form of displacement in which he repressed his fear of his father onto the horses, and hans’ real fear was the fear of castration experienced during the Oedipus complex
real world application of psychodynamic approach
introduced the idea of psychotherapy
- freud introduced psychoanalysis which was the first attempt to treat medical disorders by accessing the unconscius such as dream analysis
- psychoanalysis formed the starting point for more modern therapies such as counselling
untestable concepts of psychodynamic approach
Karl Popper argued that the psychodynamic approach does not meet scientific criterion of falsification
- the unconscious mind cannot be investigated
