Approaches Flashcards
Introspection
Means looking into
Ptps asked to reflect on cognitive processes and describe them
E.g., response to a metronome
Science
Attempted to study the mind in controlled conditions and standardise procedures
2 main assumptions: behaviour is 1. Determined 2. Predictable
4 goals: description, explanation, prediction and change
Methods are objective, systematic and replicable
Structuralism
Isolating the structure of consciousness
Wundt’s A breaks down behaviours into basic elements
Griffiths 1994
Used introspection to study the cognitive processes of fruit machine gamblers
Csikcentmilyi & Hunter 2003
Used introspection to study happiness
Positive A03 - Wundt
Not all psychs think human behaviour can be studied scientifically- Hunter
Used today to gain access to cognitive processes that = unobservable
Knowledge acquired using SA is more than the passive acceptance of facts
Behaviour causes can be established - empirical replicable methods
Scientific psychologists create artificial situations = artificial behaviour
Scientific knowledge is self corrective
Negative A03 - Wundt
Introspection produced data is subjective - varies per person - no gen principles established
Relies on non-observable responses to unable to comment on unconscious factors
Cannot be measured by any degree of accuracy = non observable
Unconscious
Controls our behaviour - psychic determinism - inborn and control behaviour
Conscious mind is unaware of what thoughts and emotions occur in the unconscious
Can have an effect on our conscious mind
Repressed ideas in dreams = latent and manifest content - how appears to dreamed
Free association encouraged to say what comes to mind
Psychosexual Stages
Oral 0-1
Anal 1-3
Phallic identify with same sex parent
Latent 6-11
Genital 12+
Must pass through each - failure = fixation
Tripartite Personality
Id - selfish part controlled by unconscious uses primary process to satisfy needs - pleasure principle
Superego - conscience and ego ideal opposes the develops during childhood
Ego - executive uses cognitive ability to control Id and superego = reality principle
Defence Mechanisms
Used by the ego to defend from id and superego
Repression = unconscious forgetting
Denial refusing to believe
Displacement - transferring feelings from to source to something else
Positive Evaluation - Freud
Emphasises NBance of unconscious factors in determining behaviour
Draws attention to the NBance of early childhood experiences
Provides insight into human behaviour - unconscious motivation
Useful applications in therapy
Negative Evaluation - Freud
Largely derived from the study of adults with emotional disorders = unrep
Case studies and techniques used = subjective & open to bias = ideographic
Unscientific and unfalsifiable = deterministic and pessimistic
Over emphasises the role of instinct
Psychotherapy is difficult to evaluate LT
Classical Conditioning
Learn through association
Operant Conditioning
Learn through consequences
Skinner suggested that learning is an active process in which animals and humans operate in environment
3 consequences: positive reinforcement receiving reward when certain behaviour is done, negative reinforcement doing something to avoid something, and punishment unpleasant consequences
Reinforcement increases behaviour punishment decrease
Skinner
Rats 1 = hungry 1 = full put in chamber with leaver when pressed releases food into pot
Hungry rat more active and accidentally presses finds food concentrates on that area
Eventually learns full one doesn’t
Pavlov
Found dogs salivated before given food - associated things with the food e.g., lab coat / door opening
Used bell to CC
Bell - no response food UCS - salivation UCR Bell NS + food UCS - salivation = UCR Bell CS - salivation CR
Scientific Credibility
Behaviourism able to bring some scientific language and methods from natural sciences - measured behaviour in controlled lab settings = increased credibility
Shows NBance of nurture and environment influence
Conducted in lab = replicable objective measurement & empirical research
Considered scientific and valid - strong support = little Albert
Real Life Application - Behaviourism
Principles = applied to range of real world behaviours & problems e.g., token economies & phobias
Mechanist view of behaviour
Sees humans and animals as passive & machine like - little/ no conscious insight into behaviour
Other approaches suggest we are more active in learning
Reductionist - Beh
Oversimplifies behaviour to object stimulus and response
Ignores other explanations & thinking
Lacks generalisability - Behaviourism
Research done on animals shouldn’t be generalised to humans
Hierarchy of Needs
Self Actualisation
Esteem
Love & Belonging
Safety
Physiological
Maslow - all levels must be met for SA
Self Actualisation
The desire to grow and develop to achieve full potential
Congruence
Healthy sense of well being = established if can maintain reasonable consistency between real & ideal self
The bigger the gap the higher the incongruence
Conditions of Worth
When a parent sets limits / boundaries on the love they have for their child
Can cause psychological problems
Unconditional Positive Regard
Positive no matter whatc
Acknowledges Free Will - H
Idea we have some choice in how we act
Assumes we to choose behaviour = self determined
Doesn’t mean we can’t be influenced by other factors (external)
Q Sort Assessment
Stephenson (1953) - adopted into CCT by Roger’s - measures congruence - sort personal statements under 2 conditions ideal and actual self
Positive Evaluation - Humanism
Holistic
Emphasises free will choice and responsibility
Considers subjective conscious experience
Values personal ideas & self fulfilment
Allows more sensitive research
Has contributed to the treatment of some disorders - H
Depression = bc of a lack of unconditional positive regard & inability too accept oneself
Schizo cannot tackle directly can be used to support relatives
Aggression = not fully functioning in a psychological level - blocks personal growth
Stress - counselling for stressful events - gives insight and control
Negative Evaluation - Humanism
Less impact on main stream psych - qualitative methods = questioned
Subject matter = individual experiences not possible to formulate general laws - not a comprehensive theory = loose set of abstract ideas
Vagueness of SA & fully functioning person - little empirical evidence = untestable
Not all cultures think individual achievement = fulfilment
Information Processing
Approach argues internal mental processes should be studied scientifically
Cog A has investigated areas of human brain not looked at by behav
E.g., memory perception & thinking processes = private and have to be studied via inference
Inference
Cog psychs try work out what thought processes occur
Use objective, controlled and scientific methods results = basis for infers
1st strand of cog research = case studies of ppl w/ brain damage - comp performance w/ control - help understand which areas = used for what
Computer Models
Mind = comped to computer
Suggests = sims in way info = processed
Central processor (brain), coding and use of ‘stores’
= useful in the development of AI & robots use theoretical models
Schema
= packs of ideas & info developed w/ experience = mental frame work for interp of incoming info received by cog system
Helps learn how to respond = m detailed if older
Cog processes often affected by person’s beliefs / expectations
Scientific & Objective Methods - C
Nomothetic approach
Highly controlled and rigorous methods of study
Lab experiments = reliable and objective data
Emergence of cognitive neuro enables cog and bio to come together = cred basis
Machine Reductionism
Cog
Although = some sims between mind and computer = crit bc ignores emo & motivation on cog system and how this may affect ability to process info
Application to everyday life -C
Most research = lab = less valid Ptp response = not accurate
Focus on detail of what exactly can be recalled by ptps in controlled environment = not everyday so not gen
Produces good descriptions of processes that occur & informs treatment e.g., CBT
Meditational Processes
Bridge between trad behav & cog approach
Mental processes help mediate in the learning process to determine if it is worth learning
Attention
The extent to which we notice a certain behaviour
Retention
How well it is remembered
Motor reproduction
The observer ability to perform the behaviour
Motivation
The will to perform the behaviour
Determined by reward / punishment
Identification
Ppls esp children = m likely to imitate someone they identify with = role model
If have similar characteristics / are attractive have higher status
Media = NB
Vicarious Reinforcement
Indirect learning
Individual observes others behaviour then imitate if rewarded - reinforces - observe consequences
Bandura et al (1961)
Aim: to test idea children could learn aggression via imitation
Method: basic: kids aged 3-5 saw adult = aggressive to BOBO doll
Results: had chance to play with range of toys including BOBO doll - children showed signs of imitation of same sex model - boys = more aggressive
NBance of Cognitive Factors in learning
Neither CC/OC give adequate account of learning on own - humans & animals store info about others behav to judge appropriate behav
Over-reliance on Lab Studies
Most of Bandura’s observations = lab = crit for artificial nature may = DCs - may not = actual behav
Underestimates Bio Factors
B makes v little reference to bio f’s of SL found boys = more aggressive - could = hormones & higher testosterone
Real World Application - SL
SL learning = used to rate games, films & TV shows have positive role models
Genetics
Behaviour genetics study whether behav chars e.g., intel, personality mental disorders etc inherited like physical charas
Twin studies = used to show how likely charas = inherited comp MZ & DZ concor
Fam studies also used - Golton “all natural abilities are inherited” = simplistic - late accepted = genes & envir
Alcoholism has bio predis
Selective breeding shows charas have genetic basis e.g., aggression
Biochemistry
Relating to chemicals in the brain that regulate psycho func
Neurochemistry refers to action of chems in brain
Imbalance of neuro chems can lead to mental disorders
E.g., dopamine and schizophrenia
Genotype & Phenotype
G = genetic make up
P = way = expressed via physical, behav & physical charas
MZs can express differently = environment
Evolution & Behaviour
Evolution of plants and animals = fact = theory of evolution
= prin that any behav that = beneficial will continue some animals can = bred w/ certain genes
In natural selection desirable charas survive others don’t
Scientific Methods - Bio
Precise and highly scientific methods used e.g., scanning fMRI & family and twin studies & drug trials
W/ advanced tech = pos to accurately measure bio & neural processes w/o bias = reliable
Real Life Application - Bio
Higher understanding of bio chem processes in brain - development of psychoactive drugs e.g., Sz - don’t work on all but can help some live more normally
Deterministic - Bio
States all behav = deter by internal processes we have no control over
= legal implications - offenders seen as responsible- criminal gene would complicate
Reductionist - Bio
Explains human behav & psychological states at level of gene / neuron
Nomothetic - Bio
Built on studies of large groups = more reliable
Bio & Cog Approaches Combined
Main basis is to look for bio basis to thought processes spec how neurons explain it
= study of influence of brain structure on mental processes
Mapping brain areas to specific funcs - Broca’s area - damage = permanent speech impairment
Neural Imaging
Only in last 25 years advance have allowed observation & description systematically of neuro processes in mental processes = useful to establish basis of some disorders
Maguire et al (2000)
Aim: investigate func of hippocampus in spatial memory
Ptps: 16 male London TD’s comp to MRI scans of 50 male non TDs
Hippocampus = bigger in TDs & volume = correlated w/ time as TDs
Strengths of Cognitive Neuroscience
Cog A aways employed highly controlled & rigorous methods - helps infer cog processes at work
Cog neuro allows study of mind to have reliable scientific basis
Weaknesses of Cognitive Neuroscience
Most support = lab = less valid
Machine reductionism
fMRI
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging - detects change in blood oxygen flow
Doesn’t use radiation, = low risk & non invasive
M expensive, poor temp resolution,
EEG
Electroencephalogram - measures electricity in the brain via electrodes on the scalp
Good temp res, NB for epilepsy diagnosis,
Only gen info, doesn’t pinpoint / distinguish between sim areas
ERP
Event related potentials isolate specific neural responses
Partly addresses EEG problems, good temp res, can identify many different types to specific roles
Pure data is hard = background noise, = lack of subordination in method between studies = hard to confirm findings
Post Mortem
Analysis of brain after death
Improves medical knowledge & helps generate hypothesis
Causation = issue what you observe as decay may not be the cause
