Approaches Flashcards
Who was the founding father if psychology (and what did he do)?
Wilhelm Wundt
In 1879 he opened the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
In 1873 he published the first book on psychology (Principles of Physiological Psychology).
How did psychology emerge as a science?
Wundt attempted to use objective methods.
Participants were given the same standardised instructions and the same stimuli (objects or sounds).
E.g - A ticking metronome and participants would report their images, thoughts and sensations which were systematically recorded.
What is meant by introspection?
Comes from Latin - ‘looking into’.
Participants were asked to reflect on their own cognitive processes and describe them.
People were trained to report in detail on their inner experiences when presented with a stimulus such as a problem to solve or something to be memorised.
What is meant by structuralism?
Introspection paved the way for structuralism.
This is identifying consciousness by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements of thoughts, images, sensations.
Structuralism marked the beginning of scientific psychology, separating it from its broader philosophical roots.
What is meant by the behaviourist approach?
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.
Classical conditioning
Learning by association.
Unconditioned stimulus + neutral stimulus (neutral stimulus is eventually a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response).
Operant conditioning
Learning by reinforcement (rewards and punishment).
Maintained by consequences.
Reinforcement
A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.
Assumptions of behaviourism (x5)
Observable events - observable and measurable behaviour
Scientific - behaviour must be measured in highly controlled environments to establish cause and effect
Tabula rasa - when born our mind is a blank slate (all behaviour is learnt from the environment)
Animal research - there is little difference between learning in humans and other animals
Behaviour S-R response - all behaviour can be reduced to a simple stimulus-response association
Classical conditioning (key researchers, process of CC)
Key researchers - Pavlov (dogs), Watson (rats)
1. An unconditioned stimulus produces an unconditioned response
2. The UCS is paired with a neutral stimulus to produce an UCR
3. The NS is now a conditioned stimulus, producing a conditioned response
Operant conditioning (key researcher and his research)
B.F Skinner 1904-1990
Skinner’s boxes - rats push a lever for food - positive reinforcement
Skinner’s boxes - rats push a lever to stop electric shocks - negative reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
Receiving a reward when certain behaviour is performed so that the behaviour is continued.
Negative reinforcement
Avoiding something unpleasant by continuing doing a behaviour.
Punishment
An unpleasant consequence of behaviour given to stop the behaviour.
Environmental determinism
Behaviourists argue that humans have no choice in their behaviour and our behaviour is simply the product of environmental learning.
They argue that free will is an illusion.
What is the social learning theory?
Proposed by Bandura. Much of our behaviour is learned from experience, but he argued that people learn through observation, modelling and imitation of others.
SLT is a bridge between behaviourism and the cognitive approach.
Social learning theory - role models (x3)
Learning occurs through the observation of role models.
People are more likely to imitate a role model if they identify with them.
Modelling can occur when an observer imitates a role model.
Vicarious reinforcement
Learning through the observation of the consequences of actions for other people.
When the role model receives reinforcement, the learner is more motivated to imitate the behaviour as if they had been reinforced themselves.
Mediational process
We do not automatically observe the behaviour of a model and imitate it. There is some thought prior to imitation, and it occurs between observing the behaviour (stimulus) and imitating it or not (performance).
Attention (notice)
Retention
Motor reproduction
Motivation
The bobo doll experiment (researcher, aim, procedure)
Bandura, Ross & Ross (1961)
To investigate whether aggression can be learned through social learning theory principles.
72 children, aggressive model (male/female), non-aggressive model (male/female), control group.
Watched the model for 10 mins, played with toys for 20 mins.
The bobo doll experiment (results (x4), conclusion)
Children who saw the aggressive model produced more aggressive acts than those in either of the other 2 groups.
Boys imitated more same-sex models than girls.
Girls imitated more physical aggression if they saw male models.
Girls imitated more verbal aggression if they saw female models.
Conclusion - Aggressive behaviour can be learned, in children, through observation and imitation of a model.
What is meant by the cognitive approach?
Our behaviour is determined by internal processes - how thinking shapes our behaviour.
Examples of cognitions
Memory, perception, thinking, decision making.
The importance of inferences in the cognitive approach
Mental internal processes are private and cannot be observed so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inference.
Inferences = assumptions about what is going on inside people’s minds on the basis of their behaviour (e.g The Stroop Test).
Cognitive approach - computer analogy (information processing model)
The mind has input from our senses which it then processes and produces an output such as language or specific.
Input - process - output
The role of theoretical models in the cognitive approach
Theoretical models = a visual representation of an idea or concept.
They dominated research in the 1960s and still have a strong influence today.
e.g The information processing model, multi-store model, working memory model.
The role of schemas in the cognitive approach
Schema = A cognitive framework of ideas and information developed through experience.
They act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system.
The cognitive approach - cognitive neuroscience
The scientific study of the influence of brain structure on mental processes.
The use of PET and fMRI scans show how different parts of the brain become active in different cognitive activities and emotions.
What do biological psychologists argue about human behaviour?
Everything psychological is at first biological.
Genes
The genetic information carried by DNA in chromosomes, found within a cell’s nucleus and are passed on through generations of a species.
Can you inherit a behaviour?
Individuals can only inherit a gene which gives then a pre-disposition to certain behaviours.
How do we study the genetic basis of behaviour?
Twin studies - Comparing the concordance rates of MZ to DZ twins.
If MZ twins have a higher concordance rate, it would suggest a genetic basis of that behaviour.
Concordance rates
The extent to which twins share the same characteristics.
