Approaches: Flashcards
The origins of psychology
1879:
Wundt opened the first experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany and, as a result, Psychology began to emerge as its own discipline. Before this, in the 17-19th centuries, psychology only was regarded as an experimental branch within philosophy.
1900:
Freud established the psychodynamic approach.
He highlighted the importance of the unconscious mind on behaviour and developed his own therapy called psychoanalysis.
1913:
Watson and Skinner established the behaviourist approach.
They criticised Freud and Wundt,
arguing that true scientific psychology should restrict itself to studying phenomena that can be
directly observed and measured. They believed that all behaviour is learnt and that psychologists
should only be interested in observable behaviours.
The 1950s:
Rogers and Maslow developed the humanistic approach. They rejected the views put forward by
both the behaviourist and psychodynamic approaches and emphasised the importance of free will by attempting to understand the whole person.
The 1960s:
Ten years later, the cognitive approach emerged with the introduction of the computer. The
cognitive approach was interested in studying mental processes; cognitive psychologists believe
that we can make inferences about how the mind works based on results from laboratory
experiments.
The 1980s:
The biological approach began to surface as the dominant approach in psychology. This was due to
advances in technology, for example, brain scans that allow psychologists to have an increased
understanding of the functioning human brain.
2000:
Most recently, cognitive neuroscience has emerged in the forefront of psychology, which brings together the biological and cognitive approaches. This approach investigates how biological
structures influence mental states.
Who was Wilhelm Wundt?
- Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) is often considered as the father of experimental psychology and was the first person to acknowledge
himself as a psychologist. - In 1875, at Leipzig University, Germany, he set up the first laboratory dedicated to experimental psychology.
- Wundt’s approach became known as structuralism because he used scientific methods to study human consciousness by breaking its structure down into smaller components, such as sensations and perceptions.
- He developed a technique, known as introspection.
what is introspection?
Introspection means “looking into” and is the process in which a person examines their inner world, by consciously observing their thoughts and emotions.
Wundt trained his participants so that they could give detailed observations from their introspection.
He strictly controlled the environment where introspection
took place, including the stimuli (e.g. images or sounds) and tasks (e.g. a description of their perception or emotions) that participants were asked to consider.
The information Wundt gleaned from his participants’ introspection was used to shed light on the processes involved in human consciousness.
The Emergence of Psychology as a Science
Wundt showed that empirical methods could be applied to mental processes.
Cognitive psychologists believe that internal mental thoughts are an important area of study and they attempt to make inferences based on human behaviour, where they draw conclusions about cognitive processes based on human behaviour in scientific laboratory investigations.
The biological approach makes use of sophisticated technology, including brain scanning techniques, like fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and PET (positron emission tomography) scans, to understand the structure and function of the human brain.
The cycle of scientific investigation is perpetuated by psychologists testing their concepts, making objective observations which can be replicated and then refining their theories according to the findings, before testing once again.
The behaviourist approach assumptions
( 4 Main assumptions)
- Psychologists should only study observable, quantifiable behaviour.
- All behaviour is learned.
- Humans are no different from animals and should not be regarded as more complex.
- Research on animal behaviour is directly relevant to humans.
Describe classical conditioning
Pavlov developed the theory of
classical conditioning: type of learning in
which an existing involuntary reflex is associated with a new stimulus.
- He famously tested his theory
using dogs, who were conditioned to associate the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus) with food (unconditioned stimulus).
- This resulted in the dogs
producing a salivation response (conditioned response) at the sound of a bell (conditioned stimulus), even when no food was present.
- Pavlov demonstrated that repeated exposure to an event leads to a learned and uncontrollable behaviour.
- This process can be used to explain the acquisition of phobias and the development of attachment.
Describe operant conditioning?
Skinner suggested that behaviour is the result of learning through the consequences of our actions.
- Skinner conducted research into his operant conditioning theory using rats.
- He found that three types of reinforcement will affect behaviour:
1) positive reinforcement – when a behaviour is followed by a desirable consequence (reward) and is more likely to be repeated;
2) negative reinforcement – when a behaviour is followed by the removal of an adverse consequence and is more likely to be repeated;
3) punishment – when a behaviour is followed by an unpleasant consequence and is less likely to be repeated.
The animal would move around the cage, and when it pressed the lever (by accident), it would be rewarded with a food pellet. The animal would learn, through positive reinforcement, that each time it pressed the lever, it would be rewarded with food. It, therefore, learnt a new voluntary behaviour which is repeated to receive the reward again.
evaluation of behaviourist approach?
▪ Behaviourists have significantly contributed to the still-developing recognition of psychology as a science.
- The experimental methods used by Pavlov and Skinner rejected the earlier emphasis in psychology on introspection and encouraged research that focused on more objective dimensions of behaviour.
- According to behaviourists, this emphasis on the scientific method has led to an increasingly valid and reliable understanding of human behaviour.
- These methods have also helped psychology gain credibility and status as a scientific discipline, which in turn attracts more funding and research opportunities.
▪ The behaviourists were influential in encouraging the use of animals as research subjects.
- They believed that the learning processes in humans and animals are very similar; consequently, Pavlov conducted research using dogs, and Skinner used rats and pigeons.
- Using non-human animals in research gives experimenters more control over the process, without demand characteristics or individual differences influencing findings.
- However, many consider using animals in experiments to be unethical as there is less concern about protection from harm for non-human subjects.
- Furthermore, some argue that findings from animal experiments are not generalisable to human behaviour: Skinner’s operant conditioning theory may provide an understanding of rat behaviour, but little about human behaviour.
▪ The behaviourist approach has made important contributions to our modern understanding of human mental illness.
- For example, many phobias are thought to be the result of earlier unpleasant learning experiences.
- Consequently, this understanding has helped psychologists develop therapies, such as systematic desensitisation, that attempt to re-condition a patient’s fear response.
- This demonstrates that the behaviourist approach has many real-world applications in the understanding and treatment of atypical behaviour.
▪ The behaviourist approach has been criticised for its limited view regarding the origins of behaviour.
- Behaviourists ignore alternative levels of explanation including the role of cognition and emotional factors in influencing behaviour.
- Skinner countered this argument, however, stating that for behaviour to be investigated scientifically, it had to be directly measurable and observable, which cognitions are not.
- Further to this, he said that even the most complex of human interactions could be explained using operant conditioning principles of learning by the consequences of our actions to either repeat or cease the behaviour.
what is the Social Learning Theory
Social learning theory (SLT) rests on the idea of observational learning: that learning occurs through the observation and imitation of behaviour performed by role models.
- Unlike the behaviourist approach, from which it derives, SLT recognises the importance of cognitive processes - mediational processes - and rejects the notion that learning is purely the outcome of a stimulus-response loop.
SLT is defined by four distinct mediational, or mental, processes:
attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.
If these factors are implemented, imitation (i.e. copying of what has been observed) can take place; if the observed behaviour is rewarded, imitation is more likely. This learning from the observation of others is what Bandura called vicarious reinforcement.
Bandura, Ross & Ross (1961) – The Bobo Doll Experiment
AIM:
METHOD:
FINDINGS:
RESULTS:
EVALLUATION:
Aim:
To investigate whether aggression can be learned through social learning theory principles.
Method: 72 children (36 male and 36 female) aged between 3 and 6 years old were put into one of three groups for 10 minutes:
1) Aggressive model –
the child played in a room while an adult hit and shouted at a “Bobo doll”: a plastic inflatable toy doll which was heavy at the bottom and wobbled when hit. This group was further sub divided by the gender of the child and the adult model, creating four conditions (see below).
2) Non-aggressive model –
the child played in a room while an adult played quietly with a construction set. This group was further sub-divided once again by the gender of the child and the adult model, creating another four conditions (see below).
3) Control group –
the child did not see a model.
The children were deliberately frustrated by being taken into another room where they were told that they could not play with any toys. Then, they were placed alone in a room with a range of aggressive toys (mallet, gun) and non-aggressive toys (dolls, crayons) and the Bobo doll for twenty minutes whilst being observed.
Results:
Children who saw the aggressive model produced more aggressive acts than those in either of the other two groups. Boys imitated same-sex models more than girls. Girls imitated more physical aggression if they saw male models, and more verbal aggression if they saw female models.
Conclusion: Aggressive behaviour can be learned, in children, through observation and imitation of a model.
EVALUATION:
STRENGTH:
POINT: One strength of SLT is it emphasises the importance of cognitive factors
EVIDENCE: Neither classical nor operant conditioning can offer a fully comprehensive account of human learning on their own because cognitive factors are not taken into account. Humans and animals store information about the behaviour of others and use this to make judgements about when it is appropriate to perform certain actions.
EVALUATION: This shows that SLT provides a more complete explanation of human learning than the behaviourist approach by recognising the role of meditational processes.
COUNTERPOINT:
POINT: However, the SLT does not take any biology into account.
EVIDENCE: For example, recent research suggests that observational learning is controlled by mirror neurons in the brain, which allow us to empathise with and imitate other people.
EVALUATION: This suggests that SLT may make too little reference to the influence of biological factors on social learning.
POINT: Another strength of the SLT is that it has real-world application.
EVIDENCE: Social learning principles can account for how children learn from other people around them, as well as through the media, and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted. Therefore, SLT has proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours such as how children came to understand their gender role by imitating role models in the media.
EVALUATION: This increases the value of SLT as it can account for real-world behaviour.
WEAKNESS:
POINT: One limitation of the SLT is that it relies too heavily on evidence from contrived lab studies.
EVIDENCE: Many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through observation of children’s behaviour in lab settings. This raises the problem of demand characteristics as the artificial setting may have encouraged the children to behave as they believe was expected of them therefore reducing the study’s internal validity.
EVALUATION: This suggests that Bandura’s research actually tells us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life.
what is the cognitive approach?
The cognitive approach focuses on the examination of internal mental processes such as perception, memory, attention and consciousness.
Since these processes are internal and cannot be studied directly, their operation must be inferred from the observation and measurement of visible human behaviour.
- To assist this inference, cognitive psychologists make use of theoretical models and computer models.
- Theoretical models enable the visual representation of complex conceptual processes, and computer models provide a basis for research within the field of cognitive psychology.
what is the study of internal mental processes?
Internal mental processes are the operations that occur during thinking.
- Examples include how we turn the information from our eyes into a usable form (perception); how we choose what to think about (attention); how we store information to use in the future (memory); how we construct meaningful sentences to communicate with others (language); and how we construct new solutions (problem solving).
- Cognitive psychologists appreciate that these concepts cannot be directly observed and use inferences as a means of understanding human experience from observable behaviours.
What is the role of schema?
Schema theory is an information-processing model that emphasises how perception and memory are shaped by cognitive frameworks.
- Schemas are mental frameworks of information that we use to organise past experiences and to interpret and respond to new situations.
- For example, a classroom schema might consist of a whiteboard, tables, chairs, books, pens and a teacher.
- As we age, our schemas become increasingly sophisticated, and adults develop more and more schemas to cover most situations.
- Schemas allow us to make sense of ambiguous situations by “filling in the gaps” in our knowledge. They enable us to act comfortably even when our information is incomplete which makes it much easier to deal with complex situations.
- However, schemas can lead to errors in information-processing such as prejudice and discrimination.
The use of theoretical model?
Theoretical models are visual representations of internal mental processes that are used to help
researchers simplify and study complex processes.
- Theoretical models are typically diagrams or flowcharts that show how information is passed between the different systems that manipulate it.
- For example, the multi-store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968) is a theoretical model of memory.
describe the The Emergence of Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience is a relatively new field that tries to bridge the gap between the cognitive and biological approaches.
- This field has resulted from the development of techniques for scanning the living brain while it is actively processing information.
- Cognitive neuroscience uses non-invasive brain scanning techniques like PET (positron emission tomography) scans and MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) to understand which parts of the brain are active while specific internal mental processes are being used.
- For example, brain scans have highlighted the distinction between different types of long-term memory (LTM).
- The hippocampus is associated with episodic memory; the temporal lobe is associated with semantic memory, and the cerebellum and motor cortex are associated with procedural memories.
- Brain imaging techniques have also been successful in establishing a link to certain mental health disorders.
Evaluation of Cognitive Approach
▪ Recent advances in neuroimaging technology, such as fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), have lent weight to theoretical models by providing empirical confirmation of brain activity for specific cognitive functions under controlled conditions.
- However, the precise meaning of this activity is still a matter for debate.
- Some claim that these techniques provide the cognitive approach with a strong scientific grounding, while others insist that neuroimaging evidence is only correlational, and therefore does not constitute true scientific validation of either theories or models.
- Nevertheless, the availability of such techniques and their increasing sophistication is one clear strength of the cognitive approach.
▪ A speciality of the cognitive approach is its recognition of the complexity of human behaviour, and thus its hesitation to assert a reductionist explanation of mental processes. There can be no doubt that all cognition rests on a biological foundation since it occurs in the brain and is made possible by its operation. But the precise nature of consciousness and memory and perception are not easily reducible to purely biological outcomes, as the lived experience of all human beings seems to demonstrate consistently.
▪ The cognitive approach has many real-world applications. For example, cognitive research into memory and the effects of misleading information has reduced the use of eyewitness testimony in court cases, and led to major reforms in police procedure, like the use of the cognitive interview. Additionally, a better understanding of thinking patterns has helped professionals understand and treat mental illnesses such as depression through the use of therapies like CBT. This indicates that cognitive research has made concrete contributions to contemporary society and has developed professional understanding in many fields.
What are the assumptions of the Biological Approach?
The biological approach assumes that all human behaviour has a biological origin. This approach insists that to comprehend human behaviour fully, it is necessary to understand internal biological structures and processes including genes, the nervous system, and neurochemistry.
what is The Influence of Genes
- Genes are passed on from one generation to the next.
- Genes carry information in the form of DNA, which carry instructions for characteristics, such as eye colour, intelligence, etc.
- Geneticists working within this approach have found evidence that some behavioural or psychological characteristics, such as intelligence or psychological illness, can be inherited in a similar way to physical characteristics, such as eye and hair colour.
- Much research in this area has used monozygotic (MZ) twins because they share 100% of their DNA (often called identical twins) in comparison to dizygotic (DZ) twins (non-identical) who share 50% of their DNA.
What is Genotype and Phenotype?
A person’s genotype is their genetic makeup, which is fixed from birth.
A person’s phenotype is the expression of their genes which leads to the observable characteristics of a person. The phenotype is influenced by both the genetic inheritance and the interaction of this with the environment.
what is monozygotic + dizygotic twins?
monozygotic (MZ) twins -
share 100% of their DNA (often called identical twins)
dizygotic (DZ) twins -
(non-identical) who share 50% of their DNA.
- Recent research has found that MZ twins have an increased concordance rate of developing schizophrenia compared to DZ twins.
- Other psychological conditions are also influenced by genes. For example, McGuffin et al. (1996) found that if one identical twin has depression, there is a 46% chance that the other twin will also have depression.
- This suggests that there is a genetic component to illnesses like schizophrenia and depression.
- These relationships are important for understanding the genetic component of psychological illnesses and demonstrate the impact of genes on certain human conditions.
Describe The Influence of Biological Structures
Biological psychologists believe that the structure of organs, such as the brain, central nervous system (CNS), the
peripheral nervous system (PNS) and the endocrine system determine our behaviour.
- The nervous system transmits
messages through a type of nerve cell called a neuron. - Many examples of human behaviour are controlled by neuronal action including eating (feeling hungry and satiated) and breathing.
- Furthermore, research has shown
that the different lobes of the brain are linked with general functions, for example, the occipital lobe is associated with
visual perception, and the parietal lobe is linked to the processing of sensory information. - The effect of damage to the brain is demonstrated by the case study of Phineas Gage who lost his ability to inhibit antisocial behaviour after an explosion sent an iron bar through his head, destroying a large portion of his frontal cortex. This case study demonstrates the influence of a biological structure (frontal cortex) on behaviour (inhibition).
Describe the influence of Neurochemistry
- At the synapse, signals are sent between neurones by chemicals called neurotransmitters.
- Imbalances in the number of neurotransmitters are associated with atypical behaviour
- for example, too little serotonin has been associated with depression and too much dopamine has been associated with schizophrenia.
- Research in this area helps us to understand the role of neurotransmitters.
- For example, recent research suggests that abnormally low levels of serotonin are linked to aggressive behaviour, indicating that this neurotransmitter is important in regulating behaviour and impulse control (Crockett et al., 2008).
- Other types of chemicals found in the body which can also influence behaviour are called hormones.
- They are released into the bloodstream where they travel to the target cells which are activated by them specifically.
- Carre et al., (2006) found that high levels of testosterone are associated with defensiveness and territoriality in a study investigating the behaviour of ice hockey players.
Describe Evolution and Behaviour
- Genes are the mechanism through which evolution takes place.
- The process of natural selection, proposed by Darwin, ensures that characteristics which provide an evolutionary advantage, such as survival and enhanced reproductive chances, are passed from one generation to the next, whilst others which do not, die out.
- A classic example of evolutionary psychology research is Buss’s (1994) survey of heterosexual mate selection.
- Across all 37 countries studied, he found that men preferred good looks, youth and chastity, while women preferred good financial prospects, industriousness and dependability. These results suggest that certain behaviours and traits have evolved in both males and females since they promote better prospects for passing on favourable genes.
Evaluation of the Biological Approach
Strengths:
Scanning research techniques are useful for investigating the functions of the brain: an organ with obvious involvement in our behaviour that would otherwise be unobservable.
The approach presents the strong nature viewpoint of the nature-nurture debate.
The experimental methods used (gathering empirical [i.e. observable] evidence) make this approach very scientific
Another strength of the biological approach is that it has many real-world applications. Drug therapies have been developed for many mental illnesses based on research into neurotransmitters; antidepressants work to increase serotonin levels in the brain, based on the understanding of how low levels of serotonin contribute to depressive symptoms. Understanding ‘abnormal’ neurochemical activity in the brain has not only been helpful for developing treatments but has also provided patients with an explanation that their illness is not their fault.
Weaknesses:
The approach is considered reductionist; complex behaviour, thoughts and emotions are all equally explained by low-level biological mechanisms such as biochemicals and nerve impulses.
Biology alone has been unable to explain the phenomenon of consciousness.
An extreme biological approach does not account for the wide base of evidence that points to the influence of our environment (e.g. culture and society).
