Approaches Flashcards
What is the biological approach?
Hormones, neurotransmitters, brain psychology , the influences of genes, evolution
What is the learning approach?
Learning from experiences in the world
What is the cognitive approach?
Thought processes and perception of the world
What is the psychodynamic approach?
The unconscious mind
What is the humanistic approach?
The importance of human values and dignity
What is introspection?
The examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes
What is science?
Acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation
What are the four goals of psychology?
Description, explanation, prediction, change
What is description?
It tells us “what” occurred
What is explanation?
It tells us “why” a behaviour or mental process occurred
What is prediction?
Predicts what new behaviour or mental process is likely to occur
What is change?
Applying psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behaviour
What is the conscious mind?
The part of the mind we can see
What is the unconscious mind?
The part of the mind we can’t see and where most our actions are made from
What is the preconscious mind?
The part of the mind we are aware of if we tried i.e. memories, dreams
How is personality structured?
Id, ego, superego
Explain the id
•Primitive
•Present at birth
•Pleasure principle
•Selfish
•Instant gratification
Explain the ego
•Develops between 18 months-3 years old
•Reality principle
•Mediates between id and superego, •Defence mechanisms
Explain the superego
•Develops between 3-6 years old
•Morality principle
•Controls impulses from the ego
•Represent moral standards of same-sex parent
What is a defence mechanism?
Actions/behaviours that distort reality to reduce anxiety
What are the 3 types of defence mechanisms?
Repression, Denial, Displacement
What is repression?
Blocking out an unpleasant memory
What is denial?
Refusal to accept reality
What is displacement?
Redirecting of emotions onto objects and/or people
What is the idea behind the psychosexual stages?
•Instincts drives our conscious mind to dictate the stages we experience
•Each stage is marked by a different conflict the child must resolve in order to progress successfully to the next stage
What are the psychosexual stages?
Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
Explain the oral stage
•Focus of pleasure is the mouth. The mother’s breast is the object of desire
•Consequence = oral fixation - smoking, biting nails
•0-1 years old
Explain the anal stage?
•Focus of pleasure is the anus. The child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces
•Consequence = anal retentive - perfectionist, obsessive
•1-3 years old
Explain the phallic stage?
•Focus of pleasure is on genital area. Child experiences Oedipus or Electra complex
•Consequence = phallic personality - narcissistic, reckless, possibly homo
•3-5 years old
Explain the latency stage?
Earlier conflicts are repressed
Explain the genital stage
•Sexual desires become conscious, independence from parents
•Consequence = difficulty developing heterosexual relationships
What is the learning approach?
The idea that suggests behaviour is learnt
What are the explanations for the learning approach?
Behaviourist , social learning theory
What does behaviourist mean?
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable
What is classical conditioning?
Learning by association
What is operant conditioning?
Learning by reinforcement and consequences
What are the assumptions of behaviourism?
-All behaviour is learnt from experience- “tabular rasa”-blank slate
-Only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured
-Uses lab experiments to try and gain more control and objectivity in research
-The basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species
What is an example of classical conditioning
Pavlov’s dog
What did Pavlov’s dog reveal?
Dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell , if the sound was repeatedly presented at the same time they were given food
Gradually the dogs would associate the sound of the bell with food , and would salivate every time they heard the sound
What is positive reinforcement?
Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
What is negative reinforcement?
Avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus that would be viewed as a punishment
What is punishment?
An unpleasant consequence of behaviour that decreases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated
What is an example of operant conditioning?
Skinners box
What is social learning theory?
A way of explaining behaviour that includes direct and indirect reinforcement
What is the significance of a role model
-There must be a role model for an observer to watch
-Role models provide examples of behaviour that can be observed and later reproduced through imitation
What is imitation dependent on?
-Positive reinforcement = more likely to imitate because they want that reward
-Negative reinforcement = less likely to imitate as they want to avoid that outcome
-Imitation is dependent on the reinforcement the model receives
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Reinforcement is not experienced directly by the individuals but occurs through someone else being reinforced/ punished for a behaviour
What are internal mediational processes?
The bridge between learning and cognitive theories
Explain the internal mediational processes
In order for learning from a role model to occur the observer must:
1) Pay attention to the behaviour
2) They must retain the behaviour
3) The behaviour must be able to be reproduced by the observer
4) They must be motivated to perform the behaviour
What are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
- Instincts are thought to drive behaviour
- Early childhood experiences are extremely important in making us who we are
What is determinism?
The view that an individual’s behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces, rather than an individual’s will to do something
What is free will?
The notion that humans can make choices and that their behaviour/thoughts are not determined by biological or external forces
What is reductionism?
The belief that human behaviour is best understood by studying the smaller constituent parts
What is holism?
An arguement or theory which proposes that it only makes sense to study an indivisible system
What is the cognitive approach?
How our mental processes, such as, thoughts, perception, and attention impact our behaviour
What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach?
-The mind actively processes information from our senses e.g. taste, smell
-The approach argues that internal mental processes should be studied scientifically
-Mediational processes occur between stimulus and response (what is happening between the input into the mind and the output of human behaviour)
-Humans are information processors and therefore resemble computers (information is transformed, stored, and retrieved from the memory)
What does the term inference mean?
The process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
What is the schema?
-The cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information
Explain how the schema develops
-Babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours, such as sucking or grasping
-Our schemas become more detailed and sophisticated with age and is learned through experience, helping individuals respond to objects appropriately
-Schemas allow us to take shortcuts when interpreting information, preventing us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli. However they can lead to perceptual errors
What are perceptual errors? And why might they occur due to the schema?
The inability to judge humans, things or situations fairly
-This might occur as we make assumptions about people based on incomplete information because our schema can distort our interpretations of sensory information
What are the two models used in the cognitive approach?
Theoretical and computer
What is the theoretical model?
The model suggests that information flows through a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval
What is the computer model?
-The model refers to programmes that can be run on a computer to imitate the human mind
-For example, a computer uses ‘coding’ to store information, whereas a human uses ‘coding’ to store memories in different formats, such as semantic and acoustic
How do the computer programmes help psychologists?
They help psychologists test whether their ideas about information processing are correct
What is cognitive neuroscience?
The scientific study of the influence of biological brain structures on cognitive processes
Explain the emergence of cognitive neuroscience
-Cognitive neuroscience was formally formed in MIT in 1956
-The term “cognitive neuroscience” was coined by George Miller and Michael Gazzaniga in the 1970s
What has the emergence of cognitive neuroscience scientists to do?
Neuroscientists are now able to study the living brain, using brain technology, like PET and fMRI
How does brain technology benefit neuroscientists?
Brain technology helps psychologists understand the neurological basis of mental processing
What are internal mental processes?
Private operations of the mind, such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response
Evaluate the strengths of the cognitive approach
-The cognitive approach uses highly controlled and rigorous methods of study to allow psychologists to infer the cognitive
processes that are at work
-The cognitive approach has been used to explain how faulty
thinking processes can cause illnesses, such as depression, leading to the development of successful treatments, like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
-The cognitive approach is less deterministic than other approaches
Evaluate the weaknesses of the cognitive approach
-The approach has been criticised by many for being reductionist
-It is difficult to apply the research from his approach to everyday life
What is the biological approach?
The biological approach is a perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body, such as genetic inheritance and neural function
What are the assumptions of the biological approach?
-Everything that is psychological is first biological
-An understanding of the brain’s structure and function can explain our thoughts and behaviour
-All thoughts, feelings and behaviours have a physical basis in contrast to the cognitive approach
-The mind lives in the brain, whereas the cognitive approach believes they are two different
What are the three different areas of the biological approach?
Genetics, genotype + phenotype and evolution
What are genes (genetics)?
They make up chromosomes and contain DNA, coding the features of an organism
What are twin studies (genetics)?
Studies used to determine the likelihood that certain traits have a genetic basis by using concordance rates between twins to see if they have the same characteristics
What are concordance rates (genetics)?
The statistical measure that describes the proportion of pairs of individuals that share an attribute, given one already has that trait
What percentage of DNA do MZ twins share (genetics)?
100%
What percentage of DNA do DZ twins share (genetics)?
50%
What percentage of DNA do siblings share (genetics)?
50%
If MZ twins have a higher concordance rate than DZ twins, what does it suggest (genetics)?
They have a genetic basis
What is evolution (evolution)?
The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations
What is natural selection (evolution)?
-Any genetically determined behaviour that enhances an individual’s survival. This will continue in future generations
-E.g. adrenaline/fight or flight response that helps humans stay out of danger
What happens as a result of natural selection to genes that do not provide an advantage (evolution)?
They are less likely to be passed on as the possessor is less likely to survive. It wont remain in the gene pool
What is a genotype?
A particular set of genes a person possesses
What is a phenotype?
The characteristic of an individual that is both determined by the genes and the environment
What do genotypes and phenotypes show about human behaviour?
Behaviour depends on the inherited factors, which is nature and the environment, which is nurture
