Approaches Flashcards
Who was Wilhelm Wundst
He was the father of psychology
Separated philosophy from psychology by analysing the mind in a more scientific and structural way
Wrote the first psychology textbook- principles of physiological psychology
And opened the experimental psychology at a university in Germany in 1879
What is introspection
Refers to the process of observing and examining your own conscious thoughts and emotions
What is a scientific method
Objectively establishing facts through experiments and testing
What are key assumptions of the behaviourist approach
Learning is the same across all species
Nurturing behavioural patterns and learning from the environment influences behaviour
Born like a blank slate
Learning through association of a stimuli and a response
What did Pavlov believe
Classical conditioning
Learning through association. Conditioned dogs to know when food was coming (unconditioned stimuli) by a neutral stimulus ( a bells) to provoke a conditioned response (salivation)
Skinners research on operant conditioning
Learning through reinforcement and punishment
Reinforcement
- positive reinforcement= behaviour with pleasant reward
- negative reinforcement= when behaviour removes something unpleasant ( snooze button on alarm)
Punishment
Unpleasant consequences following a behaviour, with the result in the behaviour being less likely to happen again
Evaluative strengths and weaknesses of the behaviourist approach
Strength
As the approach is nomothetic it can be applied to everyone, it benefits from being more scientific and potentially more useful in applying to humans
( CA= animals???)
Useful in psychotherapy which was developed by Pavlov, in teaching people to manage their phobias and fears
Weaknesses
Very reductionist as it ignores emotions or cognitive bias (internally) as it focuses too
much on external behaviour
Doesn’t account for other un observable learning, such as if someone learns something that reinforces their belief’s: doesn’t change behaviour, stimulus encourages it.
What are the main assumptions of the SLT approach
People learn through observation and imitation
suggesting learning happens through indirect reinforcement
As well as vicarious reinforcement, which is observing another person being rewarded for their behaviour
What are the 4 meditational processes of SLT
Attention= noticing behaviour
Retention= remembering
Motor reproduction= attempting to perform behaviours
Motivation= the will to perform
People are more likely to imitate. Behaviour of those they model- eg: attractiveness, high status or highly respected
What is Banduras Bobo doll study
Research 1=
Children watched an adult being either aggressive or non agressive
observed aggressive behaviour= most likely to imitate it
Research 2=
Children saw an adult who was either rewarded, punished or with no consequence for behaviour
This suggests that children are likely to imitate acts of violence observed in an adult role model especially if behaviour is rewarded- vicarious reinforcement!
What landmark study can we use to support the SLT?
Williams observation on the effects on local children living in remote Notel to the introduction of a TV. They noticed a slight rise in aggression, suggesting that the media may have had a negative influence on behaviour
What can we say for a weakness of the landmark study by Williams on the children in Notel?
It was a remote village, small sample and therefore not reflective of the rest of Canada, lacks population validity- questions the usefulness of SLT!
Naturalistic observation that lacked control over extraneous variables cannot be certain aggression= TV exposure, biological differences in aggression- external factor
What is a weakness of the social learning theory
- Boys vs. Girls aggression= biological
- Lab studies when evaluating bandura
What is a STRENGTH of the SLT approach
Accounts for cultural differences such as eating disorders, where anorexia is more common in western societies due to an increase celebrity culture.
Suggests that eating disorders aren’t biological instead individuals imitate behaviour of ‘thin’ celebs especially if they’re rewarded for their ‘thinness’
Akers suggesting probability of someone engaging in criminal behaviour increases when exposed to models who have committed a crime.
They identify with these models and expect positive consequences
Demonstrates SLT in explaining behaviour of criminals, as a result supports the usefulness of the theory in the real world.
CA= criminals- accountability suggest there’s no choice by there established cause and effect relationship- implications for the legal system
What are the main assumptions of the cognitive approach
Thought processes should be studied scientifically by making inferences about what’s going on inside a persons brain. - innate internal mental processes
What are schemas
Schemas are a pocket of information that helps us organise and interpret information- based on previous experiences. Schemas are developed and evolve with experience becoming more detailed and sophisticated!
Helping us take shortcuts in thinking, but can lead to faulty conclusions and unhelpful behaviour.
What are computer models
When the mind is compared to a computer by suggesting that there are similarities in the way information is processed.
What is cognitive neuroscience
Scientific study of the influence of the brains structure on mental processes
Also it has been useful in establishing the neurological basis of some disorders such as OCD
A strength of the cognitive approach?
Useful applications
The cognitive approach to psychopathology explains dysfunctional behaviours in terms of faulty thinking processes. Leading to the development of treatments for illnesses such as depression with cognitive based theories
These treatments aim to change dysfunctional ways of thinking have been shown successful in some mental disorders suggesting the importance of using mental processes to understand mental disorders
What are some weaknesses of the cognitive approach
Use of computer modals- machine reductionist as it ignores emotions and motivations behind behaviours
CA= there are still many similarities, lead to greater understanding of mental processes
Relies on inferences as the brain is otherwise unobservable- can be incorrect -misleading information.
CA= most scientific method as they’re always based on factual information.
What are the main assumptions of the biological approach
Everything that is psychological was at first biological- so we need to look at the biological structure to understand human behaviour
What was Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution
Natural selection- only behaviour benefitting a species helping them reproduce and survive will be passed on to future offspring’s
What are genotypes and phenotypes
Genotypes are the actual genetic makeup of a person, whilst the phenotype are expressions of these genes through characteristics, physical appearance, behaviour and psychological factors
What are neurons and the nervous system
Carry messages through electrical impulses around the body such as fight or flight responses.
What are hormones
Hormones are chemicals that come from the endocrine system and can influence behaviour such as how testosterone influences aggression.
