Approaches Flashcards
Define introspection
Systematic analysis of your own own conscious experience of a stimulus
Training participants to report on their own mental processes as they occur
What was Wundts part in psychology?
Set up first psychological laboratory in 1870s in Liepstig,Germany
He developed 4 steps for introspection
- focus on stimulus
- reflect on different mental processes
- provide a systematic description of the inner processes they were experiencing
-compare different participants responses to the same stimuli
List the timeline of the emergence of psychology as a science
- Wundt followed an empirical approach acquiring knowledge through direct experience- understanding psychological processes
- Watson and Skinner developed the behaviourist approach focussing on observable learned behaviour
- Rise of cognitive approach saw study of mental processes
- Biological approach took advantage of technology such as fMRI and EEG
- Cognitive neuroscience joins the cognitive and biological approach
Evaluate Wundt’s introspection
+ it paved the way for new approaches to investigate brain activity using scans
- Watson criticised saying behaviour should be observable so it isn’t a science
What does the psychodynamic approach assume?
Unconscious mind- influences behaviour and personality
Pre-conscious- includes thoughts and ideas escaping during Freudian slips, dreams and hypnosis
What is the structure of the personality according to Freud?
ID- pleasure principle, unconscious, present at birth
Ego- reality principle, mediates personality, 2 years, use defence mechanisms (repression, denial, displacement)
Superego- morality principle, guilt, 5 years
Name the three defence mechanisms in the psychodynamic approach
Repression- pushing painful memory into unconscious
Denial- refusing to acknowledge pain
Displacement- transferring distress from source to target
What are Freuds psychosexual stages?
Fixations are consequences of unresolved conflict
Oral- 0-2 years, mouth pleasure, smoking and nail biting
Anal- 2-3 years, anus pleasure, anally retentive (obsessive perfectionism) and anally repulsive (messy)
Phallic- 3-5 years, genital focus, child experiences oedipus or electra complex, narcissism, possibly homosexuality
Latency- 6-12 years, conflicts repressed
Genital- 12+, sexual desires in puberty, difficulty in homosexual relationships
Evaluate the psychodynamic approach
Practical applications
Psychoanalysis eg dream analysis
However- claimed as inappropriate for those with severe mental health disorders
Case studies
Little Hans- repressed fear of father
unrepresentative due to abnormal small sample so lacks validity
Unscientific, cannot be falsified
Unconscious cannot be tested
less reductionist
reduces down to instinctive drives and sexual desires, however, interaction between upbringing too
determinist
psychic determinism
However, we have far more conscious control than Freud suggested
What is the assumption of the behaviourist approach?
Learning through the environment, focussed on observed and measurable behaviour in controlled conditions
Explain the behaviourist approach
Stimulus-response learning
Classical conditioning- Pavlov’s dogs- learning by association
do not need to salivate in response to food (UCS)
Bell (NS-CS) doesn’t naturally produce saliva but dog learned to associate
salivation (UCR TO CR)
Operant conditioning- Skinner’s rats- learning by reinforcement
in “skinner boxes”
positive reinforcement- adding positive (food pellet for pressing lever)
negative reinforcement- removing negative (avoid electric shock on feet)
not increase likelihood of behaviour
Evaluate the behaviourist approach
scientific- observable and measurable- research in controlled environments
prac apps- systematic desensitisation- McGrath 75% effective in phobic patients
based on animal studies- not reflecting human behaviour who may respond t external stimuli differently
reductionist- reduces to environment ignoring biological eg twin studies genes- requires holism
determinist- environmental determinism- doesn’t explain how two people react different to same stimulus (Phobia vs not)
What does the humanistic approach assume?
free will, active agents consciously choosing how to behave
we are unique = person-centred approach
Describe self-actualisation and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as part of humanism
Humans all have drive to realise true potential = self actualise
Five-levelled sequence= physiological needs (hunger), safety needs, love and belonging, esteem, self actualisation
More basic the need- more powerful, not everyone will self actualise due to barriers preventing
Describe the self, congruence and conditions of worth as a part of humanism
Rogers- To achieve personal growth the self must have congruence with ideal self
too big gap= incongruence and self-actualisation isn’t possible due to negative feelings
low self esteem due to lack of unconditional positive regard from parents
Conditions of worth= limits on love
What is Roger’s counselling in humanism?
Non-directive using q-sort technique
Therapist shows empathy and provide unconditional positive regard
This dissolves clients conditions of worth reducing incongruence between self concept and ideal self
Evaluate the humanistic approach
unscientific- not observed and measurable cannot see ppl self-actualise
+ prac apps- revolutionised counselling- uk and us use client centred approach
- uses non-experimental methods - impossible to verify results of counselling
+not reductionist
considers the whole person - does not reduce behaviour down
- rejects determinism- ignores factors outside of control eg genes in twin studies
focuses on free will
What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach?
explained in internal mental processes
cog processes are private and inferences are made
Explain the cognitive approach
Theoretical models- info processing= input, storage and retrieval eg MSM
Computer models- computer analogy eg brain is central processing unit
development of AI
Schema- mental frameworks of ideas and expectations developed through experience
Acts as mental short-cut= fill in gaps in absence of full info
prevents us becoming overwhelmed
processes vast info rapidly
distorts interpretations of world
Emergence of cog neuroscience- scientific study of biological structures and functions that underpin cog processes
using fMRIS and PET scans
Tulving- episodic and semantic in pre-frontal cortex, procedural = cerebellum
Evaluate the cognitive approach
scientific- lab exps= enables bio and cog to come together however cannot observe inferences
prac apps- CBT March et al 81% effective as drugs in depression
research lacks ecological validity- artificial tasks not representing real life
reductionist- machine reductionism ignores human emotion eg eat affected by anxiety- holism
less determinist than others- free to think before responding to stimulus- soft determinism
What are the assumptions of social learning theory?
People learn indirectly though observation and imitation of role models
Explain the social learning approach
If India observes a behaviour being reinforced (Vicarious reinforcement) then imitate
Banduras bobo doll study- children observe aggressive adult / non aggressive
those who observed aggressive reproduced (1/3 verbally)
adult being rewarded= more likely to show aggression
More likely to imitate with whom they identify with called role models= modelling
Similar characteristics, high status, attractive
Mediational processes argue mental processes involved in learning- intervene to determine whether new response acquired
Attention- notice, Retention- remember, Reproduction- ability ton perform, Motivation- will to perform
Evaluate the SLT approach
scientific- Bandura showed observable behaviour from children- HOWEVER meditational processes have to be inferred
prac apps- identification and modelling used to encourage behaviour in therapy eg anti-alcohol advert increases effectiveness
based on young children in lab settings- demand characteristics eg argued main purpose of bobo doll is to strike It
less reductionist than behaviourist- incorporates internal cog factors but still ignores biology
les deterministic than behaviourist- we have ability to mediate influence = soft determinism required
What are the assumptions of the biological approach?
physical structures and processes in brain and body eg neurochemistry, genetics
