Approaches Flashcards
What is Wundt’s nickname in the psychology community?
Father of psychology
Which research method became the preferred way of studying human behaviour because of Wundt (hint: not introspection; it’s one we learned in research methods)?
Lab experiments
When and where did Wundt set up the first Psychology laboratory?
Leipzig, Germany in the 1870s
Wundt believed that the human mind could be studied scientifically. Scientifically in which ways?
Introspection and structuralism
Wundt’s work paved the way for a later approach which studies internal mental processes. Which one?
Cognitive approach
What is structuralism?
Breaking down behaviours (such as perception and sensation) into their basic elements
What is introspection?
A systematic analysis of our own conscious experience of a stimulus
Describe what participants do in a study of introspection.
Wundt would ask people to focus on an everyday object (e.g. a metronome) and look inwards to analyse it in terms of its component parts e.g. noticing sensations and feelings and images. Therefore, they would break down their thoughts about an object into separate elements and report it in a systematic way (in the order that the thoughts occurred).
Explain how Wundt made his research as scientific as possible by giving examples of how his research was:
Controlled - He used the same carefully controlled stimuli for each participant (e.g. Metronome), took place in a lab so controlled environment
Objective - Used standardised instructions to prevent investigator effects, he made accurate measurements as a result of using controlled stimuli, standardised procedure) every participant did the same thing via introspection)
Replicable - As a result of all the above, his procedure was replicable)others could repeat it in the exact same way to check the reliability of findings)
Introspection is still used today. How?
Griffiths
It is still used today to gain access to cognitive processes e.g. Griffiths (1994) used introspection to study the cognitive processes of fruit machine gamblers. He asked them to ‘think aloud’ whilst playing a fruit machine into a microphone on their lapel. They found that gamblers used more irrational verbalisations. This has led important theories and treatments for gambling addictions. This demonstrates introspection’s value as one way that mental processes can be investigated (supports its external validity).
Why was Watson critical of introspection?
Watson was highly critical of introspection’s focus on ‘private’ mental processes, arguing that such processes couldn’t be objectively measured. He argued that Psychology is only truly scientific when it restricts itself only to studying phenomena that can be directly observed and measured. This led to the behaviourist approach and the emergence of Psychology as a science.
How is Wundt’s research not entirely scientific?
We can’t directly see peoples thoughts so we can’t measure them
Show the process of how Psychology became a science, beginning with Wundt and ending with the use of scientific methods to study behaviour
Wundt’s idea that we can systematically analyse our own concious experience of a stimulus
Watson argued that we can’t objectively measure mental processes and therefore that introspection isn’t scientific
Empiricism - Watson suggested that all behaviour is a result of observation and experience alone (we learn behaviour)
Empiricism was a more scientific approach to studying psychological phenomena as it is argued that the cause of behaviour was experience/observation and therefore we could predict people’s behvaiour in different situations
Empiricism could be studied scientifically, using objective, systematic and reliable methods
Why is being scientific important in Psychology?
So it can be objective, systematic and reliable
Why is being scientific not always appropriate in Psychology?
Not all psychologists share the view that all human behaviour can be explored by the use of scientific methods (e.g. humanists). If human behaviour is not subject to the laws implied by scientific methods, then predictions become impossible and these methods are inappropriate.
According to the behaviourist approach, what is the cause of our behaviour?
They argue that all behaviour is learnt from the environment. We learn new behaviour through classical or operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning is learning via…?
Association
Operant conditioning is learning via…?
Consequences
Describe the procedure and results of Pavlov’s study of classical conditioning
Aim = to discover what causes saliva to flow
Procedure = rerouted the salivary glands to the outside of the dogs cheeks so he could measure the saliva produced. He gave the dogs food and measured the saliva, finding that the dogs produced saliva when their tongues touched the food. But eventually, they started producing saliva beforehand as they were anticipating food. So he erected screens so that the dog couldn’t see when the food was coming. He then introduced a stimulus unrelated to food (a metronome) before feeding the dog. This was repeated many times.
Findings = Initially, the dog only produced saliva when its tongue touched the food. But after repeated pairings, the dog learned to associate the metronome with the food and so salivated when it heard the metronome (same volume of saliva as for the food).
Conclusion = He concluded that animal learn by association (theory of classical conditioning).
Explain the process of classical conditioning, using all of the technical terminology (including association)
Classical conditioning is the idea that we learn by association. Initially, there is a reflex where an unconditioned, or natural, stimulus (e.g. a loud noise) causes an unconditioned, or natural, response (e.g. fear). A neutral stimulus (e.g. a clown) does not naturally produce a response.
During conditioning, the neutral stimulus (clown) and unconditioned stimulus (loud noise) are paired together, with the neutral stimulus being presented just before the unconditioned stimulus. This often happens repeatedly. Initially the unconditioned response (fear) occurs as a result of the unconditioned stimulus (loud noise).
After many pairings, an association is formed between the neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus leading to a learned response (conditioned response) to what was previously the neutral stimulus, and is now called the conditioned stimulus (clown). Therefore, the conditioned stimulus (clown) alone now elicits the conditioned response (fear) without the unconditioned stimulus (loud noise) and so learning has taken place.
Describe Watson and Rayner’s study of Little Albert and explain how exactly Little Albert learned to fear white rats using the technical terminology from classical conditioning
They showed Little Albert a range of stimuli including a rat, rabbit, dog. Little Albert liked the white rat the most and so this was chosen for the experiment. Then whenever Little Albert went to touch the white rat, a steel bar was struck creating a loud noise, which frightened him.
Learned to associate the white rat with the loud noise and so was conditioned to have a phobia of the white rat.
Before conditioning:
NS (white rat) –> no response
UCS (loud noise) –> UCR (afraid)
During conditioning:
NS (rat) + UCS (noise) –> UCS (afraid)
An association is formed between the NS and UCS
After conditioning:
CS (rat) –> CR (afraid)
In classical conditioning, what do we mean by generalisation, timing, extinction and one-trial learning?
Generalisation - a CR is produced to stimuli similar to the CS.
Timing - if the NS is presented after the UCS, or it is presented before but there is a big time gap between the NS and UCS, conditioning does not take place.
Extinction - a CR is not permanent. If the CS is presented enough times without the UCS, it loses its ability to produce a CR.
One-trial learning - an association is formed between the NS and UCS after just one pairing
Define reinforcement, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment
Reinforcement - a consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated. (can be negative and positive)
Punishment - a consequence of behaviour that decreases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.
Positive reinforcement - the person is more likely to repeat the behaviour in the futures because they gained something
Negative reinforcement - the person is more likely to repeat the behaviour in the futures because it takes away something bad
What is a Skinner box?
An animal chamber used in behavioural psychology (by behaviourists) to test hypothesis related to behaviour and learning