Approaches Flashcards
Who ‘created’ psychology
Wilhelm Wundt
How did Wundt ‘create’ psychology
Opened first psychology lab in Leipzig, in 1879.
Used controlled procedures and operationalised variables.
What did Wundt study
Introspection
What was introspection and what was its procedure
Exploring your own mind.
Standardised instructions given to all participants and stimuli (objects or sounds) were presented in the same order.
Thoughts and sensations felt by Ps were recorded.
What is a strength of introspection
Scientific procedures
Used controlled lab environment, standardised procedures and instructions.
Therefore Wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner in later scientific approaches.
What is a limitation of Wundt’s introspection
Subjective
Wundt relied on participants self-reporting their ‘private’ mental processes, meaning participants may have hidden some thoughts.
Makes it difficult to establish meaningful ‘laws of behaviour’.
What is the behaviourist approach key assumption
That all behaviour is learned
Only studies behaviour that can be directly observed and measured.
What is classical conditioning
Learning through association
Who studied classical conditioning
Pavlov
(Pavlov’s Dogs experiment)
What is the procedure of classical conditioning
UCS –> UCR
NS –> no response
NS + UCS
CS –> CR
How did Pavlov’s dogs follow the classical conditioning procedure
UCS = food
UCR = salivation
NS = bell
During conditioning - bell and food occurred simultaneously
After conditioning:
CS = bell
CR = salivation
What is operant conditioning
Learning through reinforcement
Who investigated operant conditioning
Skinner
(Skinner’s rats)
What was Skinner’s procedure
Placed rats in a specially designed cage
When a rat pressed a lever, it was rewarded with a treat
A desirable consequence led to behaviour being repeated.
Also conducted the study with electric flooring on the cage. When lever was pressed, electric shock stopped.
Avoiding a negative made behaviour repeat.
What are the three types of consequences for behaviour
Positive reinforcement - a reward when behaviour is performed
Negative reinforcement - avoiding something unpleasant when behaviour is performed
Punishment - an unpleasant consequence of a behaviour (makes behaviour less likely to be repeated.)
What are 2 strength of behaviourism
Well-controlled research
Uses observable behaviour in controlled lab settings
Suggests behaviourist experiments have scientific credibility
RWA
Principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real world problems, e.g token economy in psych wards and prisons.
What are 2 limitations of behaviourism
Deterministic
Ignores influence of free will, as believes all behaviour comes from past learning.
This ignores the influence of conscious decision making processes on behaviour as suggested by cognitive approach.
Ethical issues
Skinners rats and Pavlovs dogs kept in poor conditions and deliberately underweight so they were always hungry.
What is social learning theory
Indirectly learning through observation and imitation.
Who proposed social learning theory
Bandura
(Bandura’s Bobo dolls)
What is vicarious reinforcement
Individuals learn the likely consequences of their actions and behave accordingly.
Behaviour seen to be rewarded is more likely to be copied, behaviour seen to be punished is less likely to be copied.
What are mediational processes
Cognitive processes that play a crucial role in learning
What are the four mediational processes in learning
Attention - whether behaviour is being noticed
Retention - whether behaviour is remembered
Reproduction - being able to repeat the behaviour
Motivation - the will to perform the behaviour
What was Bandura’s research procedure
Children watched either an adult behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll or an adult behaving non-aggressively to Bobo doll.
Children were then given their own doll to interact with.
What did Bandura find and what does this suggest
Children who witnessed aggressive behaviour behaved much more aggressively to the doll than children who viewed non-aggressive behaviour.
This suggests that children are more likely to imitate behaviour if observed in an adult model.
What are two strengths of SLT
Includes cognitive factors
Neither classical or operant conditioning offers insight on cognitive factors.
This means SLT may offer a more holistic view of human learning than behaviourism.
RWA
Can help understand how children learn and have views influenced, and explains social norms, as well as advertising principles.
This increases the value of SLT as it accounts for behaviour in real-life settings.
What is a limitation of SLT
Demand characteristics
Bandura’s ideas were developed through observation of children’s behaviour in lab settings; raises issue of demand characteristics.
Main purpose of a Bobo doll is to hit it, so children mat have been behaving as they thought was expected.
This means the research tells us little about how children learn aggression in everyday life.
What is the key assumption of cognitive approach
Mind operates in a similar way to how a computer processes information.
How are mental processes studied
Indirectly, making assumptions and inferences on what is going on in someone’s head based on behaviour.
What is a schema
Cognitive frameworks that help us make shortcuts, interpret and organise information.
What are the two models used to explain mental processes
Computer models
Theoretical models
What is cognitive neuroscience
Scientific study of brain structures on mental processes.
What are two strengths of cognitive approach
Scientific and objective methods
Always use rigorous study methods, e.g lab studies.
Sometimes uses techniques like brain scans.
Has a credible scientific basis.
RWA
Cognitive psychology can be applied to a range of things, from AI to interviewing witnesses.
This increases value of cognitive approach
What are two limitations of cognitive approach
Machine reductionism
Using computer assumption/ analogy discounts the influence of emotion or motivation on human behaviour.
This suggests machine reductionism reduces validity.
Can be subjective
Many cognitive experiments rely on researcher making inferences based on behaviour.
What one researcher sees and infers from behaviour can be different to what another may see.
This reduces the validity of the approach.
What is the key assumption of the biological approach
Everything psychological has a biological basis.
What is the neurochemical basis of behaviour
Refers to action of chemicals in the brain
An imbalance of neurotransmitters may cause mental disorders.
What is the genetic basis of behaviour
Psychological characteristics are inherited.
Uses twin studies to investigate genetic influences.
What is the difference between a genotype and phenotype
Genotype is a persons actual genetic makeup
Phenotype is how the way those genes are expressed. Phenotype can be influenced by environment.
What is the theory of evolution
Darwins theory
Believes any genetically determined behaviour that enhances survival and reproduction will be passed onto future generations.
What is a strength of biological approach
RWA
Understanding neurochemistry has led to treatment of mental disorders through drug therapy, like antidepressants
However, antidepressants vary widely in their effectiveness patient to patient. Means neurochemistry doesn’t account for all cases of depression.
What is a limitation of biological approach
Determinist
Sees behaviour as governed by internal genetic factors that we cannot control.
This suggests that biological view is too simplistic and ignores environmental effects.
Who theorised the psychodynamic approach
Sigmund Freud
What did Freud believe the mind is made up of
Unconscious
Preconscious
Conscious
What is the preconscious mind
Latent parts of the brain that are available to conscious mind but not currently in use.
What is the conscious mind
Thoughts and feelings we are aware of
Tip of the iceberg
What is the unconscious mind
A vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that influence our behaviour.
What is the tripartite structure of personality
Freud’s theory that the personality has three parts working with dynamic interaction between them.
What did Freud believe personality is made up of
Id - primitive part of personality, operates on pleasure principle. Demands instant gratification.
Ego - Works on reality principle, is the mediator between id and superego.
Superego - Based on morality principle. Punishes the ego through guilt.
What are psychosexual stages
Stages in child that represent conflict, which determine adult personality.
Child must resolve these stages to move onto the next.
What happens if a child does not resolve these conflicts
Leads to fixation where child becomes ‘stuck’ and carries behaviours associated with that stage for life.
What are the 5 stages and when do they occur in Freud’s psychodynamic explanation
Oral (0-1 years) - pleasure focus on the mouth, mothers breast object of desire
Anal (1-3 years) - pleasure focus = anus, child gains pleasure from defecation
Phallic (3-6 years) - pleasure focus = genitals.
Latency - earlier conflicts are repressed
Genital (puberty) - sexual desires become conscious
What is oedipus complex
In phallic stage, boys develop incestuous feelings for mother and hatred towards father.
Later, boys repress feelings for mother and identify with father, taking on his gender role and values.
Girls of the same age experience penis envy, which is the same but mother and father are reversed.
What are defence mechanisms employed by the ego to reduce anxiety
Repression - forcing a distressed memory out of the conscious mind
Denial - refusing to acknowledge reality
Displacement - transferring feelings from true source to a substitute target
What is a strength of psychodynamic approach
Opened further exploration into mental illness
Psychodynamic approach was first attempt to look at mental health in a psychological way rather than a physical way.
This means psychodynamic approach, while being controversial and bizarre, led to further therapies and treatments.
What are two limitations of psychodynamic approach
Deterministic
Believes that our behaviours are due to childhood experiences, leaving no room for free will or other factors beyond early childhood.
Untestable concepts
Popper (philosopher of science) believed psychodynamic approach did not reach the scientific criterion of falsification, as the theory cannot be disproved, as most of the theory occurs at the inaccessible unconscious mind.
This means Freud’s theory lacks validity, and can be seen as a pseudoscience.
What is the humanistic approachs key assumption
Humans are affected by external and internal influences, but are self-determining (have free will).
What are the five levels of Maslows hierarchy of needs, with an example for each (bottom to top)
Physiological needs - air, water, food
Safety and security - employment, health
Love and belonging - friendship, intimacy, family
Esteem - respect, recognition, status, self-esteem
Self-actualisation - desire to become the most that one can be
What is congruence
A persons ideal self and perceived self. Rogers argues these need to be similar or the same, or it leads to incongruence.
What can incongruence cause
Unpleasant feelings, potentially leading to mental illness like depression
What is conditions of worth
When a parent does not see child in unconditional positive regard, and sets boundaries on love.
e.g “i will only love you if…”
What 3 things does Rogers say is needed from therapist in his person-centred therapy
Genuineness
Empathy
Unconditional positive regard
What is the aim of person-centred therapy
Reduce feelings of incongruence
What is a strength of humanistic approach
Holistic
Accounts for free-will as well as past experiences and other influences.
This may increase the approach’s validity as it improves its generalisability to the wider world.
What are two negatives of the humanistic approach
Few single variables
Due to being a holistic approach, there are many factors that cant be reduced to single variables and measured.
This means humanistic psychology does not have much empirical data to support its claims
Culture bias
Many humanistic ideas, like self-actualisation, focus on individualist cultures like the US.
Collectivist cultures like India emphasise the needs of the group, so may not identify with the ideals of humanistic psychology.
Therefore, it is possible that the approach does not apply universally, and is a product of the cultural context it was developed in.
