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.
What is Darwin’s theory of natural selection?
Publication on the Origin of Species (1859)
Characteristics not suited to the environment will die out.
Characteristics will evolve over generations so that only adaptive characteristics remain in future offspring.
What is an example of evolutionary psychology?
Fessler (2006)
Women in their first trimester scored higher in disgust sensitivity than women in the second and third trimesters (protecting their unborn child).
Genotype
The actual genetic make-up of a person, the pairing of alleles for a particular trait (BB, Bb, bb).
Phenotype
The way genes are expressed (represented) through the observable characteristics (physical, behavioural and psychological) shown by the individual. These are due to a combined effect of genes and environment.
What is the neurochemical basis of behaviour?
How neurotransmitters affect our behaviour.
What is an example of the neurochemical basis of behaviour?
People with low serotonin levels and high dopamine levels are vulnerable to developing OCD.
What is the neuroanatomical basis of behaviour?
Different parts of the brain are responsible for different functions.
What is an example of the neuroanatomical basis of behaviour?
Chance et al (2001)
Found a correlation between schizophrenia and enlarged ventricles.
(Correlation - cannot establish cause and effect)
Hormones
Chemicals that are produced by endocrine glands.
They cause a physical reaction in the target cell, altering its activity.
What is an example of hormones as a basis of behaviour?
Carre et al (2006)
Found increased testosterone levels whenever a Canadian ice hockey team played in their home stadium.
The hormone energised the players to behave aggressively and defend their home territory.
What is the psychodynamic approach?
All psychodynamic theories emphasise the importance of unconscious motives and desires (innate drives) and the importance of early childhood experiences in shaping personality.
What analogy does Freud use to describe the mind?
Iceberg:
Consciousness = The top of the iceberg (we are aware of)
Unconscious = Beneath the surface (we are not directly aware of or able to access at free will)
Conscious
Thoughts that someone is aware of at any given moment.
Preconscious
Involves things that can be brought into consciousness at any time.
Unconscious
The thoughts and feelings that exist outside one’s conscious awareness.
Tripartite theory of personality - id (x4)
- Present from birth
- Contains the innate drives
- Operates solely in the unconscious
- Governed by the pleasure principle (an innate drive to seek immediate satisfaction, contains the libido)
Tripartite theory of personality - superego (x4)
- The internalisation of societal rules (parents included)
- Develops around age 5
- It determines which behaviours are acceptable and causes feelings of guilt when rules are broken
- Governed by the morality principle (the ego-ideal is what a person strives towards, and is most probably determined by parental standards of good behaviour)
Tripartite theory of personality - ego (x2)
- Origin of consciousness (the self)
- Governed by the reality principle (the ego mediates between the impulsive demands of the id, the superego and the reality of the external world)
Defence mechanisms
Unconscious strategies used by the ego to manage the anxiety caused by the conflict of the id and the superego.
These are not clinical symptoms but part of everyday life.
Defence mechanisms - repression
Unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses.
Defence mechanisms - denial
Refusing to believe reality.
Defence mechanisms - displacement
Transferring feelings of the source to someone else.
When are defence mechanisms problematic?
Excessive use will result in the ego becoming increasingly detached from reality and can cause a psychological disorder.
Psychoanalysis
Involves effort to understand defences and unconscious motives driving self-destructive behaviours.
What is the stage theory of development? (x3)
- Each stage has a designated ‘pleasure zone’ and ‘primary activity’
- Children pass through a series of age-dependent stages during development - failure to navigate a particular stage’s conflict is known as fixation
- This can determine our adult character
Oral stage (x5)
- 0-1 years old
- Focus of pleasure is the mouth
- The mother’s breast is the object of desire
- Conflict = the child’s desire is the mother’s breast but has to stop breast feeding
- Consequence = oral fixation (smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical)
Anal stage (x5)
- 1-3 years old
- Focus of pleasure is the anus
- Child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces
- Conflict = potty training
- Consequence = anal retentive (perfectionist, obsessive), anal expulsion (thoughtless, messy)
Phallic stage (x4)
- 3-5 years old
- Focus of pleasure is the genital area
- Conflict = Oedipus or Electra complex
- Consequence = narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual
Oedipus complex (x4)
- Males have an unconscious desire for their mother
- They have hostility towards their father and worry their father will castrate them (castration anxiety)
- They identify with their father and internalise his identity
- Traumatic and cannot be confronted directly
Electra complex (x3)
- Girls (aged 3-6) become subconsciously sexually attracted to their father and increasingly hostile towards their mother
- They get penis envy and this leads them to want a baby (a ‘penis substitute’)
- They identify with their mother and internalise her identity
Latency stage
Defence mechanism to repress earlier conflicts.
Genital stage (x2)
- Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty
- Consequence = Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
Freud - Psychosexual stages
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
What is humanistic psychology?
Discovering what it means to be fully human.
Holism
Studying a person as a whole (opposite of reductionism)
Why do humanists reject scientific methods?
They see it as dehumanising and unable to capture the richness of conscious experience.
Free will (humanism)
Humans have a complete choice in how they behave.
Humanistic psychology assumes that every individual can assert free will.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (1943)
- Physiological (breathing, food, water, sleep)
- Safety (security of body, employment, health)
- Love / belonging (friendship, family, sexual intimacy)
- Esteem (self esteem, confidence)
- Self actualisation (morality, creativity)
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - which are deficiency needs?
Physiological, safety, love / belonging, esteem
If you are lacking these needs, you are intrinsically motivated to achieve them.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - which are growth needs?
Self actualisation
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs - what does the theory suggest? (x3)
- Individuals are intrinsically motivated to ‘work up’ through the hierarchy step-by-step
- The needs become more psychological as you move up
- The needs are harder to satisfy the higher up you go
Self actualisation
Becoming the best version of yourself (e.g Albert Einstein).
What is Roger’s most famously known for? (x2)
His main focus was on ‘the self’
He developed person-centred therapy
Roger’s the self - what are the 3 features?
- Positive regard
- Congruence
- Conditions of worth
According to Roger’s, how does self-worth develop?
Good relationships with supportive parents in childhood, and later with friends and partners, which directly impacts on psychological well being.
Unconditional positive regard (x3)
- Love and acceptance is unconditional
- Positive regard is not withdrawn if the person does something wrong
- Poeple who are able to self actualise are more likely to have received positive regard from others, especially their parents in childhood
Conditions of worth (x2)
- Individuals feel they must behave in certain ways to receive positive regard
- If a person has conditions of worth they only receive conditional positive regard
Congruence (x3)
- Being similar to or in agreement with something
- A state in which a person’s self and ideal self are consistent or very similar
- The development of congruence is dependent on unconditional positive regard
Congruence and incongruence
Congruence: self image is similar to ideal self
Incongruence: self image is different to ideal self
How did Roger’s influence counselling? (x3)
- The role of the therapist to provide unconditional positive regard to the client by expressing acceptance, empathy and understanding of their condition
- This will help to close the gap between the perceived and ideal self
- The gap can be reduced by developing a more healthy view of oneself or has a more achievable and realistic ideal self
