Approaches Flashcards
Introspection is….
The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations.
Wundt and introspection
Structuralism is…
to break down conscious experiences into parts
What are the 3 processes of introspection:
- Trained observers + stimulus exposure
- Internal examination
- Analysis
REPEAT
Explain the emergence of psychology and their years
1879 - Wilhem Wundt opens first experimental psychology lab
1900s - Sigmund Freud came up with psycho dynamic approaches
1913 - Behaviourists reject introspection. John B Watson argued introspection was subjective. They suggested that you can’t observe the mind
1930s- behaviourist scientific approach dominated psychology. B.F.Skinner brought nataural science into psychology
1950s- Humanistic approach developed - emphasises free will. Computers were invented which gave psychology and metaphor of the mind - cognitive approach
1960s-Albert Bandura proposes the social learning theory - draws attention to the role of cognitive factors.
1980s- Biological approach - advances in technology help with our understanding
2000s- cognitive neuroscience - brings together cognitive and biological approaches.
What are 2 strengths on Wundts theory
- Some aspects of Wundts method would be classed as scientific today
- Wundts method of introspection is still used in research today
Whats a limitation of Wundts theory
- Other aspects would of been considered unscientific - eg. relied on participants self-reporting
What is the definition of the behaviourist approach?
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and measurable in terms of learning.
What is the definition for classical conditioning?
Learning through association. Occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together - an unconditioned stimuls (UCS) and a neutral stimulus (NS). The neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the unconditioned stimulus alone.
Give 6 behaviourist assumptions:
- The behaviourist approach is only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured - they reject introspection because of this.
- They believe psychology should be scientific + research should be controlled + lab based
- Believe all behaviour is learned.
- Animals + humans learn in the same way - behaviourists carry out experiments on animals + generalise results on humans
- Behaviourists believe we were all born ‘tabula rasa’ - born a blank slate
- Highly deterministic - we are shaped by our environment - no free will
key facts about ‘Classical conditioning’:
- first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov in 1927
- He showed how dogs can be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if the bell was repeatedly present at the time of giving food.
Look in booklet at lesson 2 for the dog example
What are 2 strengths of the behaviourist approach?
- Behaviourism gave psychology scientific credibility - it is a science
- Therapies based on classical conditioning are effective - eg exposure therapy - it has useful applications
What are 2 limitations to the behaviourist approach?
- A lot of behaviourists research uses animals
- A limited perspective on behaviour - has been accused of ignoring other levels of explanation eg biological factors like genetics
Whats the definition of operant conditioning:
A form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained through consequences. Possible consequences of behaviour include positive/negative reinforcement or positive/negative punishment
Who came up with the operant conditioning learning theory?
- B.F.Skinner suggested learning is a active process where animals + humans operate on their environments
What are the two types of consequences and what do they lead to?
- Reinforcement - leads to an increase probability of behaviour being repeated
- Punishment - leads to a decrease in probability of behaviour being repeated
- Positive reinforcement -
- Negative reinforcement-
- Positive punishment -
- Negative punishment -
- giving something pleasant
- removing something unpleasant
- giving something unpleasant
- removal of something pleasant
What two questions would you ask yourself to decide on which consequence it would be?
- Is the behaviour more/less likely to happen again?
MORE= reinforcement
LESS= punishment - Is something being given/taken away?
GIVEN = positive
TAKEN = negative
What was the method Skinner used to test operant conditioning?
- Created the skinner box in which he placed a rat one at a time
- Each Skinner box contained various stimuli.
- Speaker, lights, floor with electrical shocks + food dispenser which released food each time the lever was pressed
- A hungry rat was placed in a skinner box.
- The time taken for the rat to learn that pressing the lever would give food was recorded
What were the results for the skinner box experiment?
Initially the rat would run around the cage until it was rewarded with food. The more the rat was put back the quicker the rat learnt where and what the lever does.
Whats the conclusion of the Skinner box experiment?
Rats learn behaviour through operant conditioning
PR- pressing lever + receiving food
NR - showed rat could learn to prevent electric shock by pressing lever when a light came on.
Whats a strength of operant conditioning?
- It has real life applications - it is applied to a broad range of real world behaviours and problems. eg. the token economy systems - appropriate behaviour exchanged for privilages.
What are the limitations for operant conditioning?
- Animal research lacks generalisability - there are ethical issues - keeping rats deliberately under fed + kept in cramped conditions
- A limited perspective on behaviour - behaviourists have been accused of ignoring other levels of explanation eg cognitive factors such as willpower and personal motivation
Definiton of social learning theory:
Learning through observing role models and imitating behaviours that are rewarded.
key facts about social learning theory:
- development of behaviourist approach
- Albert Bandura argued that classical and operant conditioning could not account for all human learning
- there are important cognitive and mental processes that intervene between stimulus and response.
- He agrees with behaviourists that behaviour is learnt from experience - however SLT proposed a different way in which people learn - through observation + imitation of others
- social - involving others
Explain vicarious reinforcement :
- vicarious = through someone else
- for learning to take place, an individual observes behaviour of others.
- learner may imitate behaviour
imitation occurs if behaviour is seen to be reinforced rather than punished - learner observes behaviour + consequences
What is the role of mediational proccesses?
- SLT is described at the bridge between behaviourist approach and cognitive approach
- focuses on how mental (cognitive) factors are involved in learning. These metal factors mediate in learning process to determine whether new response is acquired
What are the 4 mediational processes?
- Attention - whether behaviour is noticed
- Retention - whether behaviour is remembered
- Reproduction -physically being able to do it
- Motivation - the will to perform behaviour - often determined by if it was rewarded/punished
What is identification:
people (especially children) are more likely to imitate people they identify with - process called identification.
Person they identify with = role model = called modelling
look in booklet for Banduras research with the bobo doll
What are the limitations of SLT?
- Underestimates the influence of biological factors -in findings boys showed more aggression - may be explained by difference in testosterone levels as this is linked to aggressiveness
- SLT is supported by Banduras bobo doll experiment which has limitations- low ecological validity - unfamiliar role model, participants may be responding to demand characteristics
What are the strengths are SLT
- SLT has useful applications - helps us understand criminal behaviour - Ulrich (2003) found strongest cause of violence = association with criminal peers
-Research supporting SLT - Becker (2002)- studied eating related thoughts + behaviours of girls in Fiji
- SLT is supported by Banduras bobo doll experiment which has good internal validity- lab experiment - precise and controlled. Used standardisation procedures + instructions that allowed it to be replicable.
Whats the definition of the cognitive approach:
The term ‘cognitive’ has come to mean ‘mental processes’, so this approach is focused on how our metal processes (eg. thoughts, perceptions, attention) affect behaviour.
What are the key assumptions of the cognitive approach:
- Mind actively processes information from our senses (touch, taste ect), between stimulus and response is a series of complex mental processes
- These internal mental processes can and should be studied scientifically. As a result, cognitive approach has investigated those areas of human behaviour that were neglected by behaviourists - memory, perception + thinking
- These processes cannot be observed. Cognitive psychologists study them indirectly - making inferences about whats going on in the mind on bases of their behaviour.
- Humans can be seen as data processing systems.
- The workings of a computer and the human mind are alike they encode and store info, and they have outputs.
Whats the definition of schema:
A cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information in the brain. Schemas help an individual to make sense of new information.
6 points on the role of schema
- Cognitive procsessing can often be affected by a persons beliefs or expectations, which are often referred to as schema. Schema are packages of ideas and info developed through exerprience.
- They act as mental framework for the interpretation of incoming info received by senses. They act as internal script for how to act/what to expect from a given situation.
- Its a package of info learned through experience that helps you to respond to objects/ situations appropriately.
- As we get older our schema gets more detailed and sophisticated.
- Schemas enable us to process lots of info quickly - this is useful as a sort of mental shortcut that prevents us from bring overwhelmed by environmental stimuli.
- However schema may also distort our interpretations of sensory info - leading to perceptual errors.
Explain the computer model
software simulations are mental processes which are created in collaboration with computer scientists - both process info through programmed steps.
Explain the theoretical model
flow chart representations of the steps of a scientific mental process - eg. the multistore model of memory - shows that how sensory input, if not forgotten, progresses from short term memory to long term memory. ( look at lesson 5 for the model)
Definition of cognitive neuroscience:
Scientific study of the influence of brain structures (nero) on mental processes (cognition)
Explain the emergence of cognitive neuroscience:
With advances in brain scanning (FMRI) tech in the last 20 years, scientists have been able to describe neurological basis of mental processing.
For example, Tulving et al (1994) - research has syggested episodic and semantic memories are located on opposite sides o prefrontal cortex.
Give 3 strengths of the Cognitive approach:
- The emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enabled confirmation of links between brain structures and internal mental processes. This was traditionally explored by studying individuals with unique brain injuries.
- Cognitive psychology has practical, real-world applications. Understanding the role of thought processes has led to the development of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), where therapists help clients change negative thought patterns which may be causing their depression.
- The cognitive approach is considered to be a scientific approach due to the use of highly controlled experiments and rigorous methods of study. eg. lab studies - in order to infer cognitive processes at work. This has led enabled two fields of biology and cognitive psychology to come together - cognitive neuroscience.
Give 3 limitations to the cognitive approach:
- Cognitive psychology is scientific, but its highly controlled research methods can be artificial. eg. memory tasks can involve patients recalling long digits of numbers- doesn’t involve daily life situations- makes it lack ecological validity.
- The use of the computer models of the mind by the cognitive approach can be criticised for being machine reductionist - overly simplistic. It is argued that the human brain is much more complex than a computer and a computer can store memory and recall it perfectly, whereas the human memory is flawed and reconstructive.
- The cognitive approach makes inferences about mental processes, which can be mistaken as they are only assumptions. For this reason, cognitive psychologists are not considered as scientific as biological or behaviourist psychologists who support their theories with directly observable behaviours and physical processes.
What is the definition of the biological approach:
A perspective that emphasises the importance of biological processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function.
Give 5 key assumptions to the biological approach:
- All behaviour can be explained by using biological processes and structures - everything psychological is first biological.
- The mind lives in the brain- all thoughts, feelings and emotions ultimately have a physical basis - contrast from cognitive approach which sees mind as being separate from physical brain.
- Biochemical imbalances can affect behaviour
- Brain psychology can affect behaviour
- Behaviour can be inherited - determined by genetics/evolution.
What are the 4 key features of the biological approach:
- Influence of neurochemicals
- The influence on genetics
- The influence on evolution
- The influence on brain structure
Key points on the influence of neurochemicals in the biological approach:
- Neurochemistry - refers to action of chemicals (eg. neurotransmitters) in brain.
- The biological approach explains cause of mental disorders as imbalance of neurotransmitters
-eg. OCD is caused by a low level of serotonin. - Between two neurones is a gap called the synapse- signals are sent between neurons by neurotransmitters.
Key point on the influence of genetics in the biological approach:
- Genes are passed on from generation to the next
- Genes carry info in form of DNA which carry instructions for certain characteristics.
- Twin studies - used to investigate genetic influences- concordance rate (extent to which twins share characteristics) between twins are calculated.
- Higher concordance rates between identical (monozygotic) twins are generally 100% the same then non- identical (dizygotic) twins which are generally 50% the same is evidence of a genetic basis of characteristic
- genotype = actual genetic makeup, fixed from birth
- phenotype = the way the genes are expressed , the observable characteristics of a person.
Key points on the influence of evolution in the biological approach:
- Genes are the mechanism through which evolution takes place
- Darwin (1859) proposed theory of natural selection- any genetically determined behaviour that enhances survival and reproduction will be passed on to future generations. - such as genes give the possessor + offspring survival advantages. eg. attachments behaviours in newbornd eg. crying promote survival and therefore adaptive and naturally selected
Key points on the influence of brain structure in the biological approach:
- The outer surface of the brain is called the cerebral cortex - divided into 2 halves - the left + right hemisphere
- left hemisphere controls the left side of the body + right hemisphere controls the right side of body
- the brain is further divided into lobes, which have different functions.
- localisation of functions = the theory that specific parts of the brain are responsible for specific functions eg: the motor area- towards back of the frontal lobe -responsible for controlling movement.
What are the 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses of the biological approach?
- strength - It has real - world applications - understanding the neurochemical processes in the brain has led to use of psychoactive drugs to treat serious mental disorders. eg. drug used to treat clinical depression increase levels of neurotransmitter serotonin + reduce depressive symptons.
- strength - biological approach uses scientifc, objective methods - in order to investigate both genetic and neurochemical factors, the biological approach makes use of a range of objective methods.
- limitation- antidepressant drugs dont work for everyone - challenges value of biological approach - suggest brain chemistry alone may not account of all the cases of depression.
-limitation- this overlooks influence of environment , social factors which also play a significant role.
Whats the definition of the psychodynamic approach:
A perspective that describes the different forces (dynamics), most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.
Whats the definition of the unconscious:
The part of the mind that we are unaware of but which directs much of our behaviour.
What are the 4 key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
- The unconscious part of the psych drives our behaviour - freud argued that we are unaware of most our mental psychology. The unconscious protects the conscious mind from potentially harmful thoughts eg. traumatic memories.
- We posses inner ‘drives’/instincts that motivate our behaviour - inbuilt - we are born with them - exist in our unconscious
- The adult personality in comprised of 3 parts - the ID , ego and superego. - these elements emerge at different stages of development
- Chilhood experiences have significant importance in determing our adult personality/behaviour.
Explain the role of the unconscious and the iceberg theory:
- Sigmund Freud suggests that the mind is made up of 3 components linked to an iceberg
- The conscious mind- thoughts we are consciously aware of - tip of iceberg.
- The precocious mind - thoughts which are not immediately accessible but can be brought into conscious awareness.
- The unconscious mind - most mind= unconscious + made up of our sexual + aggressive thoughts and drives that influence our behaviour . Only accessed through dreams + freudian slips.
What is a Freudian slip?
when something randomly slips out when your meant to say something else.
What are the 3 parts to the structure of personality?
ID
Ego
Superego
What is the Id and what is it responsible for?
- The selfish part of the personality. It is irrational and emotional.
- it opperates the pleasure principle
- unconcerned with consequences and obstacles
-Id is present at birth and remains in unconscious throughout life.
What is the super ego and what is it responsible for?
- The internal sense of right and wrong
- Operates on the moral principle + demands perfection
- Punishes ego through guilt and shame
-Develops at around age of 5+ remains in unconscious
What is the ego and what is it responsible for?
-Works on reality principle and is the mediator between id and superego
- attempts to find a liveable balance between id and superego
- develops at around age 2 as part of conscious psych
Explain the psycho sexual stages
Freud claimed that child development occurred in 5 stages.
Each stage apart from latency is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve in order to progress successfully to next stage.
During each stage energy (libido) is expressed in different parts of the body.
Any psycho sexual conflict that is unresolved leads to fixation where child becomes stuck and carries certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that development stage through adult life.
Frustration and overindulgence may lead to fixation
Frustration = needs not met
overindulgence = needs overly met
What are the 5 psycho-sexual stages and the ages of which they occur?
- Oral (age 0-1)
- Anal (1-3 yrs)
- Phallic (3-6 yrs)
- Latency (6-12 yrs)
- Gential (12yrs +)
What is the description of the 5 psycho sexual changes
- Oral - focus of pleasure is the mouth, mothers breast can be the object of desire
- Anal - Focus of pleasure is the anus. Child gains pleasure from withholding/expelling faeces.
- Phallic - Focus of pleasure is the genital area. Childrens curiosity and awareness of their own bodies and differences between sexes.
- Latency - earlier conflicts are repressed - pushes into unconcious
- Genital - Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty
What is the Conflict of the 5 psycho sexual changes?
- Oral - Weaning off breastfeeding or bottle-feeding too early or too late. Being overly/underly fed
- Anal - Potty training, parents may be too strict or too lenient
- Phallic -Oedipus/Electra complex where the child experiences unconscious sexual desire for the opposite sex parent and jealousy or rivalry toward the same-sex parent
- Latency - earlier conflict are repressed - pushes into unconscious
- Genital - Forming mature sexual relationships and integrating previous stages development
What are the fixation/consequences of the 5 psycho sexual changes?
- Oral - Oral fixation: smoking, biting nails, overeating, excessive alcohol drinking. Sarcastic and critical.
- Anal- Anal fixation: Anal-retentive personality- perfectionist and obsessive. Anal -expulsive personality- thoughtless and messy.
Phallic- Phallic fixation - overly dependent on Mother/Father or confusion with gender identity. Narcissistic, reckless, sexually aggressive and issues with authority.
Latency- earlier conflicts are represses - pushes into unconscious.
Genital - Difficulty forming intimate relationships and sexual dysfunction.
Explain the Oedipus complex:
-All young boys experience this.
- Develop an unconscious passionate desire for their mother.
- Want to possess mother for themselves
- See father as rival - jealous - wishes their father is dead
- Afraid father will discover their desire for their mother + punish them by removing penis - castration anxiety
- Recognises father = more powerful because he has bigger penis.
- Conflict - between lust for mother and fear of father
- Resolution =
1. identifies with father
2. Internalises male gender identity + rules /values = develops superego
substitutes his desire for his mother with desire for another women.
Explain the Electra complex:
- All young girls experience this
- Develop unconscious passionate desire for father
- resents mother as realise don’t have a penis, believe they are castrated and blame mother for this (sees herself and mother as powerless)
- longs for penis - penis envy
- fear - losing love of mother
- conflict - between lust for father and fear of losing mothers love
- resolution - converts desire for penis into desire for baby.
Why does the body have defence mechanisms?
the ego has a difficult job balancing the conflicting demands of id and superego, but has help in form of unconscious defence mechanisms - help us deal with unresolvable conflict and reduce anxiety.
what are the 3 forms of defence mechanisms:
- repression - forcing a distressing memory out of conscious mind and into unconscious
- Denial- refuse to accept some part of reality
- displacement- transferring feelings from the source of distressing emotion onto substitute target.
Whats 2 strengths of the psycho dynamic approach?
- The use of case studies helps to provide evidence and helps to treat phobias.
