approaches Flashcards
what critical role did Wundt have in developing psychology
he opened the first psychology lab in germany
he wrote the first book on psychology
he used introspection
what is introspection
mental processes could be observed systematically by makinig patients reflect on their own cognitive processes
what is structuralism
breaking thought into seperate elements as an attempt to uncover the structure of the mind
evaluate Wundts influence on psychology
+ he paved the way for later scientifically controlled research
- critisised by later behaviourists who thought that you cant study internal processes with introspection and instead should focus on observable behaviour
what do behaviorists believe
that all behaviour is learned and that we are all born with a “clean slate”
why was behaviourism developed
to make psychology more scienfic bu using controlled experiments and studying observable behaviour
what is classical conditioning
learning through associsation
NS + UCS –> UCR
CS —> CR
what are the basic featurs of introspection
focusing on being objective
reflection on feeling, sensation and images
asking people to look at an every day object adn reflect on their inward sensations
breaking thoughts down and systematic reporting of them
evaluate the strengths and limitations of introspection
-not reliable- cannot objectively measure a persons response as they are unobservable
-lacks validity- nisbett and wilson found that participants were unaware of factors that had been influential in their choice of a consumer item
+practical applications like Griffiths(1994) using it to study the cognitive processes of fruit machine gamblers
what is the scientific method
method used in investigations to ensure that preconcieved ideas dont affect the data collected and that experiments are conducted in an orderly way
evaluate the sceintific method
+relies on objective and systematic methods so is more than the passive acceptance of facts
+if scientific theories are jo longer fitting they can be refined or abandoned
+things can be retested reliably as they just follow the scientific method
-concentrates so much on objectivity it tells us little on how people act in a more natural environment and lacks ecological validity
-lots of the subject matter is unobservabelt and therefore cant be measured with a degree of accuracy thats certain
-not all psychologists share the view that all human behaviour can be explored by the use of the scientific method
what did Pavlov do to prove behaviourism
he discovered classical conditioning
he investigated the effects of pairing a bell with food and how much saliva the dogs woiuld produce
bell(NS) + food(UCS) –>salivate(UCR)
bell (CS) –> saliva ( CR)
he managed to condition the dogs to associate the bell with food by pairing them together repeatedly in close time
what did Watson and Rayner do
they suceeded in applying classical conditioning to a human
They paired a loud noise with a white rat several times to little albert
loud bang (UCS) + white rat (NS) –> fear(UCR)
white rat (CS) –> fear (CR)
little albert had learnt through association to fear the white rat as it had been paired with the loud bang
what is the operant conditioning
encouraging behaviours to be repeated through reinforcement
what did Skinner do to prove positive reinforcement
positive reinforcement- he put a hungry rat in the Skinner box and as they walked around and hit a lever a food pellet would drop. the food pellet is the postivie reinforcement and the rats soon learnt to go straight to the lever to get food which is the behaviour that has been encouraged to be repeated again.
what did skinner do to show negative reinforcements affect on behaviour
He put the rats in the Skinner box and they would be subjected to an electric shock. When the rats went around the box and knocked the lever the electric shock would turn off. The rats learnt that if they knocked the lever the electric shock would go away so when they were put in the box after several tries they learned to run straight to the lever. This is negative reinforcement as they are encouraged to do a behaviour to take away a bad feeling.
what is the oposite of reinforcement in behaviorism and why
punishment
it is designed to weaken or eliminate a bahviour rather than increase it
evaluate behaviourism
+practical applications like systematic desensitisation
+reliable as all the research that proves it is scientific and lab exp.
-both theories of classical and operant conditioning is on animals
-reductionist as it doesnt take into the nature side of the arguements like genes and brain
-can be seen as unethical as you are trying to control behaviour
-environmentally determinist as the behaviours wouldnt be happening if they werent forced
what did Bandura do
bandura conducted an experiment involving children and two different conditions. One condition was an aggressive role model playing with a Bobo Doll the other was non agressive. They were tested for imitative behaviour when the role model left.
Bandura found that the group with the agressive model reproduced a good deal of the verbal and physcial aggresive behaviour and the children who observed the non agressive role model exhibited no agression towards the Bobo Doll.
what are the 5 processes that take place in order for people to learn behaviour through SLT
- Modelling- someone must see the behaviour carried out
- Identification- the individual relates to the model and feels they are similar so they can have the same outcomes of that behaviour
- Imitation- this is influenced by the characteristcs of the model, the ability to perfrom the behaviour and the outcome of the behaviour
4.vicarious reinforcement- reward for the behaviour
5.mediational processes- forming mental representations of the behaviour displayed adn the consequences of it
what is the mediational process
the idea that there has to be a congitive aspect to imitation as they have to think about if they can do it and what the consequences are in order to want to imitate it
what does social learning theory state
the theory that people learn through imitation
what are the 4 mediational processes
- attention- the behaviour has to grab the attention
- retention- the behaviour being remembered so it can be imitated later
- reproduction- can the behaviour be imitated realistically
- motivation- the will to perfrom the behaviour after weighing up the rewards or punishments
what does the cognitive approach suggest
all behaviour is preceeded by a thought process and that they can be studied scientifically
evaluate SLT
+practical applications- increases our understanding of criminal behaviour as Akers suggested that is a person is exposed to models that commit crime they are much more likely too.
+research support- bandura showed that agressive behaviour being modelled is likely to be repeated
+includes cognitive processes as well as observations
-problems with causality as it could be argued that delinquency isnt learnt through models ans that the person had a devient attitude and seeked out others who also had the same attitude.
-it is reductionist as it ignores any other potential influences like genetic predispositions
-some behaviours may be better explained by biological explanations
what is the comouter analogy
suggests the brain works in much the same way as a computer
infromation is taken in by the sense processed by the brain and the ouput is produced in the form of behaviour or speech
what is the schema theory
states that all knwoledge is organized into units that allow us to make quick responses
what did Piget say about schemas
schemas are crucial in cognitive development and said that thet can be defined as a set on linked mental representations of the world which we use to understand and respond to situations
why are schemas important
they allow us to make shortcuts when interpreting a huge amout of data we deal with daily
they also help us fill in gaps in the absense of full info about a person
why can schemas be bad
they cause us to exclude anything that doesnt confrom to our established ideas about the world
also causes us to form stereotypes
What did Bartlett do
he told ppt an unfamiliar story that was part of native american folklore and asked them to recall it
he found that ppts changed the story as they tried to remember it
what is distortion and what are the three patterns of it
distortion is changing something when remembering it
assimilation: the story becomes more consisent with the ppt own cultural expectations
levelling: the story becomes shorter with each retelling
sharpening: changing the order of the story to make it make more sense and adding details and emotions
how do twin studies support the biological appraoch
psychologists look as the concordance rates of Mz twins and Dz twins and there should be a higher concordance rate in Mz twins then Dz twins as they share 100% of their genes
Gottesman and Shields found a 58% concordance rate for schizophrenia with Mz twins compared to 12% fro Dz twins
what does the biological approach assume
all behaviour has a biological cause
evaluate the cognitive approach
supporting research- Bartletts ghost story and schemas
critisism- the computer analogy is machine reductionist
opposing- doesnt take into account external factors like SLT can affect the brains thinking
practical applications- psychopathology as it is used to trace disfunctional behaviour back to though processes and helps with therapies like CBT
testablity- research lacks external validity but the results are reliable
what are the three types of scans in neuroscience and what does it allow us to do and an example
fMRI, PET scan and Brainbows allow us to have an insight into the functionality of the brain
for example we know the Brocas area is very important in speech as any damage to the area on scans it paired with speech problems
what do twin studies tell us about the limitations of the biological approac
Mz twins share 100% of their genes but dont have a 100% concordance rate so thier must be other factors other than genes
what lobe is responsible for speech
the frontal lobe
what lobe is responsible hearing and memory
temporal lobes
what lobe is resposible for visual sensory information
occipital lobe
what are the five biological explanations for behaviour
genes
brain
neurotransmitters
evolution
hormones
how can neurotransmitter be responsible for behaviour
they can influence the brain functioining which can cause imbalances in hormoes which can change behaviour
how can hormones be an explanation for behaviour
they can affect the way a person feels and therfore change their behavioirs
for example doppamine will make a person have a feeling of euphoria but too much doppamine has been linked to things like schizophrenia
how can evolution be used to explain behaviour
darwin suggests that organisms become adapted to their environement over time due to natural selection. Bowlby argues that we have evolved to behave a certain way to our primary caregiver as it gives us a survival advantage.
evaluate the biological approach
+very scientific and therefore reliable
+practical applications like drugs developed for hormonla disorders like ADHD and dopamine
-reductionist and it reduces complex behaviour down to simple form and Mz twins dont have 100% concordance rate
-deterministic as it says that is you are born with the biological predispostition to behave a certain way you will but thats not true as Mz twins dont have 100% concordance rates with mental disorders
