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