approaches Flashcards
structuralism
breaking down behaviours and analysing them
introspection
systematic analysis of ones own conscious experiences
wilhem wundt
-considered father of experimental psychology
-opened the first experimental psychology lab in Germany in 1879
-wrote first book of psychology
-seperated psychology from philosophy
method of introspection
-gave participants a stimulus (usually a metronome)
-participants were asked to reflect on internal mental processes by reflecting on emotions, thoughts and feelings
-drawn conclusions by comparing all responses
features of science
- empirical evidence
- predictability
- objectivity
- replicability
- falsifiability
- control
- systematic
- hypothesis setting
one strength of wudnts research
some of his methods were scientific
- systematic
- replicability
- lab study
one weakness of wudnts research
some elements of his research would be considered unscientific today
- self reporting
emergence of psychology timeline
structuralism, psychodynamic, behaviourism, humanistic, cognate, social learning theory, biological, cognative neuroscience
behaviourist assumptions
- all behaviour is learnt from personal experiences with environment
- only liked behaviour that could be observed and measured
- human and animal learning is the same
- born a black slate and ‘written on’ by experiences
classical conditioning pavlov
wanted to look at learning through associations, presented a dog with a bowl of kibble (UCS) to produce salvaging (UCR), then before pairings presented dog with sound of a bell (NS) ,after pairings of both the bell and food, the dog was only presented with the bell (CS) and produced a salvaging response (CR).
operant conditioning skinner
learning through consequences, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment.
positive reinforcement
behaviour is followed by a desirable consequence (reward), more likely to repeat behaviour.
rats received food when they pressed the lever.
negative reinforcement
removal of an unpleasant consequence and more likely to be repeated.
rats were on electric shock plate, once pressed the button shock was stopped.
punishment
behaviour is followed by an unpleasant consequence, less likely to be repeated.
when rats pressed button electric shock was given.
schedules of reinforcement
rewarding a behaviour every time it is performed is the best way to establish a behaviour, every 3rd time is best to maintain.
one strength of behaviourist approach
it is based off well controlled research
one weakness of behaviourist approach
used extrapolation from animals to humans
one strength of behaviourist approach
it has been applied to therapy especially linked with phobias
one weakness of behaviourist approach
it is deterministic, which raises ethical and legal issues
social learning theory assumptions
extension of behaviourism- agrees we learn directly through conditioning. We learn indirectly through observation and imitation.
modelling
other people act as models for our behaviour, can be real people (live) or tv characters (symbolic).
modelling is also the demonstration of particular behaviour.
imitation and identification
characteristics of models influence the likelihood of imitation. models we can relate to (identify) are more likely to be imiated.
vicarious reinforcement
behaviour is more likely to be repeated if the model is observed getting a reward.
mediational proccess
- attention
- retention
- motor repoduction
- motivation
Banduras Bobo doll study aim
-interested in how children learn aggressive behaviour
banduras method
- 3 groups (one observed aggressive behaviour, one observed non aggressive behaviour and one was control)
- all 72 children were in a seperate room with interactive toys, as soon as the child started to play with the toys they were taken away.
- next room containes aggressive and non aggressive toys includig bobo doll.
- children were there for 20 minutes and observed through a one way mirror.
bandura results
children who saw the aggressie adults were more likely to immitate aggressive behaviour, those who saw non aggressive behaviour were less aggressive.
boys were more aggressive than girls.
strength of bobo doll study
P= Scientific due to being a well controlled lab study
E= Systematic due to same instructions given to all 3 groups, contains predictabilitiy as Bandura had a hypothesis and aim.
T= Has higher internal validity.
weakness of Banduras study
P= Study lacks ecological validity
E= Artificall task of being in a room witnessing adults behaviour and left in similar situtaion on what to do.
T= lacks external validity, and has less real world application
cognative approach assumptions
- studdies internal mental proccesses
- between stimulus and response there is complex mental proccesses.
- We use inferences
theoretical model
simple, illustrated representation of mental procceses. e.g. multistore model
computer model
programming computers to see if ouput produces similar in human mind, then applied to humans.
what is a schema?
mental representations about people/ objects/ situations.
formed by experiences with life.
cognitive neuroscience
scientific study of brain structures and mental processes.
weakness of cognitive approach
P= based on machine reductionism
E= Suggests human minds mirror computerss, however computer models dont take into account emotions e.g. motivation.
T= Lacks external validity and real world application due to ignoring important factor.
strength of cognitive approach
P= Has real world applications
E= Applied to therapy and treatements for depression and explanation for EWT
T= cognitive approach has external validity
biological approach
eerything psychological was first biological
brain structures
-2 hemispheres
-4 lobes (occipital, parietal, frontal, temporal)
-brain stem, cerebellum, cerebrum
phineas gage case study
explosion sent iron bar through frontal lobe, didnt die however noticeable changes in his personalilty, demonstrating different lobes have different functions.
darwins theory
-survival of fittest
-need strong characteristics to survive
geneotype
genetic makeup of physical characteristics, inherited by parents, stored in DNA
phenotype
expression of characteristics in enviroment
monozygotic
dizygotic
idential twins- share 100% of DNA
non identical twins- have 50% of DNA
concordance rate
the probability that two people will have similar characteristics.
neurotransmitter
a chemical message which passes over synaptic gaps.
what neurotramsmitter
depression
too little serotonine
inhabitory- less likely to fire
schizophrenia
too little dophamine
excitatory- more likely to fire
strength of biological approach
P= Has real world application
E= Treatement of drugs therapy e.g. antidepressents for depression.
T= People can better manage their condition
