Approaches Flashcards
Contrast the behavioural and biological approaches
-Behaviourists believe all behaviour is learned through your environment (though classical and operant conditioning) whereas biological psychology theorises that behaviour is determined by genes, hormones and neurochemistry.
-Behaviourists take the side of nurture while biological psychologists favour nurture.
-Both are reductionist as they only focus on either environment or biology, rather than taking a more holistic approach and considering psychodynamic explanations, eg.
-Both have informed effection treatment methods, eg. classical conditioning has been applied to systematic desensitisation, and this has been helpful to people who deal with phobias, while many medications have been developed to treat a whole range of mental illnesses.
Define schema
This is a mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. Schemas contain our understanding of an object, a person or an idea. Schemas become increasingly complex during development as we gain more info about each object/idea.
Which approaches are on the side of nature in the nature/nurture debate?
-Biological
-Psychodynamic (stance is a compromise between nature and nurture)
What is meant by introspection?
This is a technique devised by Wundt so a person can gain knowledge about their own mental and emotional states as a result of the examination of their conscious thoughts and feelings.
What is the role of reinforcement in behaviour?
This refers to things that strengthen and increase the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated in the future.
Define conditions of worth
These are conditions imposed on an individual’s behaviour and development that are considered necessary to earn positive regard from significant others.
Which approaches take the side of nurture in the nature-nurture debate?
-Behaviorist
-Humanistic
-SLT
-Psychodynamic (stance is a compromise between nature and nurture)
Define vicarious reinforcement
This refers to learning that it is not the result of direct reinforcement, but rather through observing someone else being reinforced for that behaviour.
Define free will
This refers to the ability to act at one’s own discretion, how to choose to behave without being influenced by external forces.
Define determinism
This is the belief that behaviour is determined by external or internal forces acting upon an individual that is out of their control.
List three types of determinism
-Biolgical
-Environmental
-Psychic
What is the difference between hard determinism and soft determinism?
Soft determinism is the concept that there are constraints on behaviour, but within these limitations, we are free to make our own choices.
Hard determinism however, is the view that all behaviour is determined by factors out of our control.
Define classical conditioning in Pavlov’s study
-Pavlov paired the ringing of a bell with the arrival of dog food.
-The ringing of a bell was the neutral stimulus (it did not natural produce salivation in the dogs) while the food was an unconditioned (innate) stimulus which naturally resulted in salivation.
-Through pairing of these stimuli, a conditioned response was formed
-The bell became a conditioned stimulus - producing a conditioned response of salivation, even in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus, the food.
Define congruence
This refers to similarity between a person’s ideal self and their own self-image. Incogruence refers to the opposite - disparity between the ideal self and their self-image.
Outline the emergence of cognitive neuroscience
This is an area of psychology dedicated to the underlying neutral bases of cognitive functions.
