Approaches Flashcards
What are the features of science ?
-Control
-Objectivity
-Replicability
-Empiricism
Who is Wundt (1879)
-“Father of psychology”
-Helped psychology become known as a science
-Set up the first psychology laboratory
-Method of introspection
What is introspection ?
-A systematic analysis of ones own conscious experience
-This method of analysis was used to make the data objective rather than subjective
-Participants were presented with environmental stimuli such as a ticking metronome and asked to report their reactions
(‘looking into’)
Limitations of Wundt’s method of introspection
-Bias: no way to prove that the participant was telling the truth when reporting back their reactions
The main assumptions of the Psychodynamic approach?
-Unconcious forces in our mind determine our thoughts and feelings and behaviour
-Our behaviour as adults = strongly influenced by our childhood
-Abnormal behaviour = result of mental conflict
-Mind can be divided into three levels of consciousness
What are the 3 levels of consciousness?
-Concious
-Preconcious
-Unconcious
What is the concious mind?
-The small amount of mental activity we know about
-Responsible for dealing with our everyday actions of the present
What is the preconcious mind?
-Responsible for storing easily accessible memories and past events
What is the unconcious mind?
-Things we are unaware of and can not become aware of
-Stores all our experiences, especially those of a traumatic experience or unpleasant nature
What is the Tripartite model of the personality?
-The personality is split into three parts :
-The ID
-The Ego
-The Superego
What part of the Tripartite model of the personality is the unconcious and impulsive part?
-The ID
What part of the personality is present from birth?
-The ID
What part of the personality demands immediate satisfaction and gratification?
-The ID
What principle is the ID governed by?
-The pleasure principle
Instinctual drives such as food, sleep and sex. Its motive is to satisfy these desires
What part of the personality is the concious and rational part?
-The Ego
When does the Ego develop?
2-3 years old
What is the function of the Ego?
-Balance the demands of the ID and Superego
What principle is the Ego governed by?
The reality principle
When does the Superego develop?
-Develops 4/5 years
What principle is the Superego governed by?
The morality principle
-Seeks to perfect and civilise out behaviour and is governed by the need to act in ways our parents would approve of; it punishes with anxiety and guilt when we don’t
-Embodies child’s sense of right and wrong + his or her ideal self
What is an ego defence mechanism?
Ways the ego protects itself from unconcious thoughts and feelings that may cause stress if they become conscious
Examples of ego defence mechanisms?
-Denial
-Displacement
-Repression
-Projection
-Regression
-Rationalisation
-Sublimation
-Reaction formation
What is denial ?
The unconcious refusal to accept reality
What is displacement?
Take anger/ unacceptable feeling or impulse and divert it from its source to someone else
What is repression?
Burying of the problem into the unconsciousness so that you no longer think about them
What is projection?
Disguising their own threatening impulses by pinning them on other people
What is regression ?
Retreating to an earlier stage of development
What is regression ?
Retreating to an earlier stage of development
What is reaction formation?
Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposite
What is rationalisation?
Justifying actions and covering up the real unconcious reasons
What is sublimation?
Rechanneling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable stuff
What are the psychosexual stages of development?
-Oral stage
-Anal stage
-Phallic stage
-Latency stage
-Genital stage
What age does the oral stage take place
-0-1 years
The ID is dominant as the ego and superego have not yet fully developed (actions based on the pleasure principle)
What does the baby derive pleasure from in the oral stage?
-Suckling
The mouth is the erogenous zone. This is the area the libido is focused
What development takes place in the oral stage?
-The baby loses much of the intimate contact with the mother due to weaning and leads to the first feelings of loss. This adds to baby’s awareness of self as it learns not everything is under its control and gratification is not always immediate
What causes fixation in the oral stage and how does this affect development in later life?
-If the baby is under or overfed
What is the result of healthy development in the oral stage?
-Healthy- Good ability to form relationships, accept their affection and enjoyment of food and drink
What is the result of underindulgence in the oral stage?
-Underindulgence- Oral aggressive character: Aggressive, dominant, manipulative, trusting, chews pen ends or gum
What is the result of overindulgence in the oral stage?
-Overindulgence- Oral receptive character: Optimistic, gullible, over dependent on others, trusting, overeater, smoking
What age does the anal stage occur?
-1-3 years old
The ego has now developed
What does the baby derive pleasure from in the anal stage?
-Child derives pleasure from the expulsion and retention of faeces
The erogenous zone is the anus as the libido is now focused in this area
What development takes place in the anal stage?
-The child becomes more aware of the demands of reality as potty training is imposed by the parents
What causes fixation in the anal stage?
-Too strict or too lax potty training
What is the result of healthy resolution in the anal stage?
-Healthy- The ability to deal with authority and have a balance between being orderly and being disorganised
What is the result of too strict potty training in the anal stage?
-Anal Retentive character:
Neat, stingy, precise, orderly, and obstinate.
Obsessed with organisation and excessive neatness
What is the result of too lenient potty training in the anal stage?
-Anally expulsive character:
Generous, messy, disorganised, careless, defiant, reckless, hot tempered and destructive
What age does the phallic stage occur?
-3-6 years old
-The superego has developed
-Child becomes fully aware of gender differences and becomes obsessed with its own genitals
What is the Oedipus complex?(Phallic stage)
-Freud suggested children in phallic stage begin to have unconcious sexual desires for opposite sex parent. This makes them resentful of same sex parent ( they are a competitor for their parents love).
-Boys realise they cannot compete as their father is bigger and stronger.
When they realise that girls do not have a penis, they think that they have been castrated and fear their father will castrate them too if their desire for their mother is uncovered (castration anxiety).
-To resolve this, they identify with their father and internalise his morals and standards, which becomes his superego.
According to Freud why do boys develop castration anxiety?
-Realise girls don’t have a penis and think they have been castrated.
-Fear their father will castrate them too if desire for mother is uncovered
What is the Electra Complex? (Freud, Phallic stage)
-Femininity = failed masculinity
-Girls believe they don’t have a penis because their mother must have already castrated them
-They turn to their fathers for love in hope of regaining their penis
-Suffer from penis envy their whole lives and only way to resolve is to have a male baby and a male lover or having a career
What is the healthy resolution of the phallic stage?
-The superego is based on internalisation of the views of the same sex parent, leading to the development of the conscience and mature morale development
What is the result of fixation in the phallic stage?
-Phallic character:
Reckless
Self assured
Harsh
punitive superego
problems with sex and sexual identity (may lead to homosexuality)
What causes fixation in the phallic stage?
-Oedipus complex- if boys never identify with their father (superego cant properly develop)
-Electra Complex- if girls never identify with their mother
When does the latency stage occur?
-6 years until puberty starts
What happens during the latency stage?
-The libido is dormant during this stage and no further psychosexual development occurs (no sexual desires)
-Children want nothing to do with the opposite sex and end to keep same sex friends as social and intellectual development occurs
When does the genital stage occur?
-When puberty begins, marking the start of mature adult sexuality
What happens during the genital stage?
-The calm of latency disrupted as the ID makes powerful demands in the form of heterosexual desires
-The opposite sex is now needed to satisfy the libido
What is the result of fixation in the genital stage (Nearly all become fixated)
-Well adjusted, mature adult who is able to love and be loves, work hard and contribute to society
What is fixation?
If child receives too little stimulation the libido might become fixated in this stage
-This affects the development of the adult personality
(Fixation in genital stage is normal)
Main assumptions of the Behaviourist approach?
-Psychology is a science- behaviour must be measure in highly controlled environments
-When born our mind is a blank slate
-All behaviour is learnt from the environment. The environment shapes who we are. We learn new behaviour through classical or operant conditioning
-There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that in other animals. Therefore research can be carried out on animals as well as humans
-Behaviourism is primarily concerned with observable behavior
What investigation did Pavlov (1903) carry out?
Classical conditioning
-Became interested in how dogs learned to salivate before food was presented to them. He found that the dogs had learned to predict the arrival of food by making associations E.G the kitchen door being opened, with being fed.
-The stimulus of food (Unconditioned stimulus) naturally caused the response of salivation (unconditioned response).
-Pavlov also then rang a bell ( neutral stimulus ) when presenting the food, something that does not naturally produce the response of salivation
-After doing this an average on 7 times, a dog would then salivate just to the sound of the bell ( now a conditioned stimulus) (conditioned response) with no representation of food.
-The dog had learned to associate the sound of the bell with food presented .
-
What research did Watson and Raynor conduct with Little Albert that supports Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning?
-Rat ( unconditioned stimulus) is presented to Little Albert, causing no fear to Albert ( unconditioned response)
-Loud noise (neutral stimulus) paired with the rat causes the response of fear
-After this is repeated Albert began to make associations with the presence of the rat and the loud noise (conditioned stimulus) and so became scared and cried when seeing the rat (conditioned response)
This supports Pavlov’s study as it shows that a reaction can be conditioned.
What is classical conditioning?
Learning by association
What is operant conditioning?
Learning from the consequences of our behaviour
-Punishment is a negative consequence of an action
Positive reinforcement
reward as a positive consequence of the action
(adding something)
Negative reinforcement
The encouragement of certain behaviours by removing or avoiding a negative outcome or stimuli.
(Taking away)
Punishment
A consequence which reduces or aims to reduce the likelihood of a targeted and undesirable behaviour from happening again.
What investigation did Skinner carry out?
Operant conditioning
-Placed rats in a cage that was designed to deliver food only when a lever was pressed by the rat
-Found that the rats quickly learned to press the lever and continued to do it until they were full
He conducted other variations of this study.
-One used a box that produced a continuous electric shock under the rats feet until the lever was pressed.
-Another variation delivered a shock to the rat when the lever was pressed
In both cases that rats learned what would lead to the most positive consequence and repeated that behaviour
Strengths of Skinner’s work on operant conditioning?
-Effective way for both humans and animals to learn. For example, schools use it to shape student behaviour through reward and sanctions
-Token economies, a form of therapy based operant conditioning, have been shown effective for treating many different problematic behaviours . For example, reducing aggressive behaviours in prisoners
Criticisms of Skinner’s work on operant conditioning?
-His work was conducted on animals and has been criticised for then being applied to humans. Humans often have thoughts associated with learning that are not taken into account into this theory of learning
-Ethical problems- Much of the research took place on animals and exposed them to some unpleasant stimuli.
Neutral Stimulus
A stimulus that initially produces no specific response other than focusing attention
When used together with an unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus
Unconditioned stimulus
Triggers a response naturally without previous learning on how to respond
Conditioned stimulus
A learned stimulus that can eventually trigger a conditioned response
Conditioned response
A learned reaction to a specific stimulus
Unconditioned response
Unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to the unconditioned stimulus
Main assumptions of the Humanistic approach
-Humans have free will; not all behaviour is determined.
-Each person is a rational and concious being and not dominated by unconcious insitincts
-People have an innate need to achieve their full potential
-Psychology should study the individual person and their subjective experiences
What are the levels of Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs in order?
-Self Actualisation
-Esteem
-Love and Belonging
-Safety
-Physiological
What do Humanists mean by ‘free will’?
-Humans are active agents who have the ability to determine their own development and have their own free will
-People can still be affected by external and internal factors
-We are all unique
What does Mazlow say about his hierarchy of needs?
-Each level must be fulfilled before the individual can move up higher
-Humans have a desire to grow and self- actualise
-Starts of with the basic needs and then to the more advanced growth needs as you go higher
What is meant by a ‘person centred approach’
Studying of the subjective experience of an individual rather than general laws
What is meant by congruence
Similarity between a persons ideal self and current self image
Meaning of ‘the self’
The way a person sees themselves and how they would describe their own identity
What is meant by ‘conditions of worth’
When a parent sets boundaries on their love for their child
What is meant by ‘unconditional positive regard’
unconditional love and encouragement and support
What does Rogers say about personal growth?
-For personal growth to be achieved by an individual, their sense of self and their ideal self must be similar to or have congruence with each other.
-If the gap between the two is too broad, the person will not be able to develop and reach self actualisation due to the negative feelings of the self that arise from the incongruence
According to Rogers, how can the gap between the self and ideal self be reduced?
-Client-centered therapy ( person centered approach)
-The negative feelings we have towards our current self as adults is caused by childhood experiences like a lack of unconditional positive regard from our parents.
-Additionally, the conditions of worth also stores up psychological problems from the future, for example ‘I will only love you if …’
-Rogers saw one of his roles as an effective therapist as providing clients with the unconditional positive regard they lacked as children
What does Rogers argue an effective therapist should provide?
-Genuineness
-Empathy
-Unconditional positive regard
The aim of Rogerian therapy is to increase a person’s feelings of self worth so that hey can achieve congruence with the self and ideal self, allowing for more development
Main assumptions of the cognitive approach?
-People actively respond to environmental stimuli based on schemas and thoughts.
-The human mind operates similarly to a computer, processing information through cognitive processes.
-Cognitive processes can be modeled and tested scientifically.
-The mind processes information including memory, perception, and problem-solving
What is the information processing approach?
-A theoretical model that suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval. (as in the multi store model of memory)
What is meant by ‘schema’?
- ‘Packages’ of ideas and information developed through experience
-They act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system.
(preconceived ideas of something based off of experience that help you respond to the object appropriately)
What schema do babies have?
-Simple motor schema for innate behaviours (natural), for example, sucking and grasping
-This is because babies do not have much experience so do not have many schemas
Why do adults have more detailed and sophisticated schema?
-Adults have developed mental representations for everything as they have had a lot of experience
Do schema enable us to interpret information quickly or slowly and why is this useful?
-Quickly
-Useful as it enables us to process lots of information at once and so it acts as a mental short cut that prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
What is meant by perceptual errors?
-When the schema distort our interpretations of sensory information, leading us to believe incorrect information about something
What is meant by cognitive neuroscience?
- The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes.
-For example, damage to an area called the frontal lobe can cause permanent speech impairment
What happened to Phineas Gage in 1884 and how did this affect his behaviour?
-Working cleaning rocks off a railway, using gunpowder when he made a mistake and was impaled with a rod
-He suffered from frontal lobe brain damage, resulting in him becoming:
Highly agitated
More aggressive
Impatient
-He became disinhibited, which results in inability to resist impulses, angry outbursts, sexual impulses etc
-He made a full physical recovery within 10 weeks, however, never psychologically fully recovered
What analogy does the cognitive approach use to explain how the brain processes information?
-The computer analogy
-Input
-Processing
-Output
Main assumptions of the biological approach?
-All behaviours, thoughts and emotions have a biological origin
-Genes, brain structures, neurochemistry and evolution all influence our behaviour
-Psychological processes can be explained by looking at biological factors
What 4 factors influence our behaviour, according to the biological approach?
-Genetic Inheritance: Genes passed down from parents
-Brain Structure: How different parts of the brain function
-Neurochemicals: Such as neurotransmitters that affect mood
-Evolutionary Adaptation: How behaviours have evolved to aid survival
What are Dizygotic twins?
-Share 50% of their genes, just like any other siblings (two sperm fertalising two eggs)
(non identical twins)
What are Monozygotic twins?
-Share 100% of their genes (result for one fertalised egg that splits into two embryos)
-They help to determine whether a characteristic is influenced more by inherited genes or the environment
(Identical twins)
What is an ethical way to study genetics in humans?
Studying twins
What is meant by concordance rate?
-Percentage of pairs of twins (or other relatives) who both display the same trait or behaviour
-A high concordance rate in monozygotic twins compared to dizygotic twins suggests that the trait or behaviour has a strong genetic basis
What is a genotype?
-The genetic information carried by an organism, determined by the makeup of alleles.
-They are the characteristics that are not expressed
What is a phenotype?
-The physical expression or characteristics of a genotype, influenced by both genes and the environment. The environment can influence how the genotype is expressed as a phenotype
-E.G eye colour
Name the 4 structures of the brain
-Frontal lobe
-Temporal lobe
-Occipital lobe
-Parietal lobe
The role of the Frontal lobe
-Responsible for higher level cognitive functions, such as decision making, problem solving and controlling emotions and behaviour
The role of the Temporal lobe
-Processes auditory information and is involved in memory formation
The role of the Occipital lobe
-Involved in visual processing, allowing us to interpret what we see
The role of the Parietal lobe
-Processes sensory information like touch, temperature and spatial awareness
What is Serotonin and what are low levels of it linked to?
-A neurotransmitter, associated with regulating mood
-Low levels are linked to depression
What are neurotransmitters?
-Chemical messengers in the brain that transmit signals between neurons
-These neurotransmitters are critical for regulating various aspects of behaviour, including, mood, attention and ,motivation
What is dopamine and what can happen if levels of it are imbalanced?
-A neurotransmitter, involved in the brain’s reward system and is linked to motivation and pleasure
-High levels have been linked to schizophrenia
-Low levels have been linked with parkinsons disease
What is evolutionary psychology? (biological approach)
-Examines how certain behaviours and traits have evolved over time because they were advantageous for survival and reproduction
-It is based on Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection
What is meant by ‘ natural selection’?
-The process by which certain traits are selected because they help an organism survive and reproduce
What is meant by ‘sexual selection’?
-A specific type of natural selection that focuses on how traits and behaviour enhance reproductive success
-It suggests that certain behaviours or characteristics may have evolved because they increase an individuals chances of finding a mate and passing on their genes
Main assumptions of the social learning theory?
-People learn through observation of others’ behavior and consequences
-People can acquire new behavior and knowledge without performing it or being directly reinforced or punished
-Internal mental states, such as attention, motivation, attitudes, and emotions, play a role in learning and behavior
-Learning something does not necessarily lead to a change in behavior
Summary of Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment (1961)
-Put children (both boys and girls) into a room with an adult and a bobo doll. The adult started playing aggressively with the doll, punching it, kicking, throwing etc. The children were then given an opportunity to play with the doll. They copied the adults violent behaviour
-Another group of children saw the adult being gentle with the doll and so they also acted this way too
Why is learning through observation of others more efficient than classical and operant conditioning? (social learning theory)
-You can readily observe the behaviour of numerous people in hundreds of situations in the course of a single day.
-It would be very hard to put yourself in those situations in a short period of time.
-t can also be safer in some cases e.g watching the fate of others who perform dangerous actions rather than doing it yourself
What is meant by imitation?
-A concept in social learning theory proposed by Bandura
-The process of copying the behaviour of a model, either live, symbolic or verbal
What are the 3 types of modelling (SLT)
-Live : Occurs when the model is physically present while being observed
-Symbolic: Observing real or fictional models through mass media
-Verbal: Occurs when instructions or descriptions are given on how to perform a behaviour, rather than directly observing someone else doing it. They listen to the instruction and reproduces the behaviour based of verbal guidance
What is meant by the concept of identification (SLT)
-The more similar the role model is to the observer (who they identify with), the more likely that the behaviour will be imitated
E.G same gender, age or older as they can spire to be like them in the future
-Also if the role model is seen in a positive light E.G likeable and high status
What does Bandura mean by mediational processes? (SLT)
-Several mediational processes all influence how we think and respond in any given situation
-Learning can still occur even if there is no direct imapct of what has been learned on behaviour
The 4 mediational processes:
-Attention
-Retention
-Reproduction
-Motivation
What are the 4 mediational processes?
-Attention: Pay attention to something/ someone’s behaviour
-Retention: Retain the information
-Reproduction: Then they are capable of reproducing the behaviour
-Motivation: Motivated to imitate this behaviour
Positive punishment
Adding something unpleasant as a consequence of inappropriate behaviour
Negative punishment
Removing something as a consequence of negative behaviour
What is meant by inference?
Inference is the process of drawing conclusions about internal mental processes through the observation of behaviour
