Approaches Flashcards
Describe Wundt’s role in the development of psychology.
Wundt founded his lab in Germany in 1879 and he contributed to the establishment of psychology as a science, separate from philosophy, physiology and biology.
He studied the structure of the human mind and believed this could be achieved by breaking down behaviours such as perception and sensation into their basic elements.
He’s known as the ‘father of psychology’ as he contributed to the use of empirical research.
He’s a founder of structuralism as he used introspection to learn more about our inner human experiences (eg. sensations, thoughts and feelings). This was done under controlled conditions in response to a stimulus (eg. a metronome).
What is structuralism?
Studying the structure of the mind through introspection or internal reflection.
One of its founders was Wundt.
What is introspection?
The act of reflecting on your thoughts and feelings and expressing them to others. This was the primary technique within structuralism.
Why did Wundt develop structuralism?
He wanted to learn more about our inner human experiences connected to culture, sensations, thoughts and feelings.
He also wanted to organise and categorise the different structures of the mind.
From structuralism, Wundt developed different theories of psychological topics such as consciousness, perception, mental associations and human will.
Outline Wundt’s method of introspection.
Asked participants to reflect on their thoughts and feelings in response to stimuli (eg. a metronome) and then they’d express those thoughts and feelings to others. This was done to learn more about inner human experiences connected to sensations, thoughts and feelings. It’s a branch of structuralism.
How did Wundt establish controlled conditions during introspection?
People would be given the same stimulus and told to think about that stimulus.
The environment was controlled (lab), and so were the stimuli used, instructions given to participants and responses the participants could give (made results more comparable).
His participants were all highly trained and given things like a ticking metronome whilst they were told to think about the metronome. They’d then be asked to reflect on their conscious thoughts and overall observations of their thoughts by giving as much detail as possible.
What did Wundt attempt to establish about stimuli and thoughts through introspection?
Attempted to establish a cause and effect relationship between the types of thought and sensation that a particular stimulus provoked by controlling extraneous variables.
What did Wundt’s introspection involve?
Measuring reaction times to a stimulus and word associations whilst being exposed to these stimuli since he had a background in physiology and introspection involves analysing your own personality and actions.
What was an issue with Wundt’s experiments?
He repeated the experiments and carefully recorded and compared them to get a general conclusion of the effects of the stimulus on the participants’ thought processes. However, the results when repeated in these early studies were inconsistent and therefore unreliable.
What are the 5 key assumptions of behaviourism?
- All behaviour is learned from the environment (all behaviour is learnt directly from an interaction with our environment, apart from inborn reflexes; behaviour is the product of learning, not genetics; all behaviour can be understood in terms of stimulus-response links; people are born tabula rasa; and extreme nurture theory).
- Animals and humans learn in the same way (accept Darwin’s theory of evolution and animals are generally used in experiments).
- The mind is irrelevant- we cannot measure and directly observe a person’s mind - we can only gain measurable data by studying behaviour.
- Behaviour depends on its consequences - if a behaviour has pleasant consequences, it’s likely to be repeated and vice versa.
- The key form of learning is conditioning (classical and operant).
What is classical conditioning?
Learning by association.
Demontrates how a new association can be made between a neutral stimulus and an already existing response.
What is operant conditioning?
Learning by reinforcement.
Concerned with the use of consequences or reinforcements to modify and shape behaviour.
What is a neutral stimulus?
An event that doesn’t produce an innate response.
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
An event that produces an innate, unlearned reflex response.
What is an unconditioned response?
An innate, unlearned reflex behaviour that an organism produces when exposed to an unconditioned stimulus.
What is a conditioned stimulus?
An event that produces a learned response. Previously a neutral stimulus.
What is a conditioned response?
A learned physical reflex behaviour that an organism produces when exposed to a conditioned stimulus. Previously a unconditioned response.
Describe the process of classical conditioning.
There’s a NS that doesn’t cause an innate response. There’s also a UCS that does elicit an innate response, which is the UCR, in an organism-reflex.
Pairing the NS and UCS produces an UCR.
The NS becomes a CS and it produces a CR which was previously the UCR. This is because the NS is now associated with the UCR so they become the CS and CR. It often takes many occasions of the pairing for an association to be made.
Outline Pavlov’s research into classical conditioning.
Pavlov was studying dogs and he discovered that dogs salivated when a bell rang. This was because as the dogs were given their food, a bell would ring. The NS of the bell initially produced no response, whereas the UCS of food produced the UCR of salivation. When these 2 stimuli were paired over time, the dogs began to associate the NS with the UCS and this pairing would produce the UCR of salivation. The NS became a CS which produced a CR - the bell ringing would cause the dogs to salivate.
What was Watson and Rayner’s aim in the Little Albert experiment?
To find out if classical conditioning works on humans. Specifically, to find out if a fear response can be conditioned into a 9 month old baby boy. Also, to see if the fear response will be generalised to other animals and objects and how long the conditioning lasts.
What was Watson and Rayner’s sample in the Little Albert experiment?
One baby boy, Albert B, aged 9 months at the start of the study and 11 months when the conditioning began. Albert’s mother was a wet nurse at the hospital and Albert was chosen because he seemed healthy and quite fearless.
What was Watson and Rayner’s method in the Little Albert experiment?
1) Baseline assessment - showed no fear when presented with a rat, monkey, dog, cotton wool.
2) Albert was presented with a white rat and as he reached for it a steel bar behind him was hit. Albert jumped cried at the noise and fell forwards.
3) This was repeated several times over 7 weeks.
4) Albert response to the rat alone was tested.
RM - Lab experiment.
IV - before and after conditioning.
DV - response to rat (fear).
Opportunity sampling method.
What were Watson and Rayner’s findings in the Little Albert experiment?
Eventually Albert could be presented with the rat - without the iron bar- and he would cry.
In addition, the Watson and Rayner found that Albert developed phobias of objects which shared characteristics with the rat, including the family dog, a fur coat, some cotton wool and a Father Christmas mask. (Generalisation of fear.)
Over the next few weeks and months Little Albert was observed and 10 days after conditioning, his fear of the rat was much less marked. This dying out of a learned response is called extinction - over time, associations become weaker.
Even after a full month, the fear was still evident, and the association could be renewed by repeating the original procedure a few times.
What did Skinner believe?
As a behaviourist, Skinner believed that it was not really necessary to look at internal thoughts and motivations in order to explain behaviour. Instead, he suggested, we should look only at observable behaviour.
Where the early behaviourists had focused their interests on associative learning, Skinner was more interested in how the consequences of people’s actions influenced their behaviour.
What did Skinner suggest and who was he influenced by?
Skinner suggested that learning is an active process whereby humans/animals operate on their environment.
His theory was heavily influenced by the work of psychologist Edward Thorndike, who had proposed what he called the law of effect. According to this principle, actions that are followed by desirable outcomes are more likely to be repeated while those followed by undesirable outcomes are less likely to be repeated.
How did Skinner (1948) study operant conditioning?
By conducting experiments using animals which he placed in a ‘Skinner Box’ which was similar to Thorndike’s puzzle box.
What is positive reinforcement?
Providing a consequence that an individual finds rewarding. This strengthens behaviour, making it more likely to be repeated.
How did Skinner (1948) study positive reinforcement?
- Placed a hungry rat in the Skinner Box.
- The Box contained a lever on the side and as the rat moved around, it accidentally knocked the lever.
- Then a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever.
- The rat quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times in the Box.
What is negative reinforcement?
Removal of an unpleasant consequence (acts as a reward). This strengthens behaviour, making it more likely to be repeated.
How did Skinner (1948) study negative reinforcement?
- Placed a rat in the Skinner Box and the electric grid would be on. Caused some discomfort.
- The Box contained a lever on the side and as the rat moved around, it accidentally knocked the lever.
- Then the electric current was switched off.
- The rat quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times in the Box.
What is punishment in operant conditioning?
Directly applying an unpleasant consequence or removing a potentially rewarding consequence.
Designed to weaken or eliminate a response, making it less likely to be repeated.
How did Skinner (1948) study punishment in operant conditioning?
- Placed a rat in the Skinner Box.
- The Box contained a lever on the side and as the rat moved around, it accidentally knocked the lever.
- Then the electric current would be turned on and the rat would experience some discomfort.
- The rat quickly learned to avoid the lever after a few times in the Box.
(+) Explanatory power evaluation for behaviourism.
Behaviourism focuses on solely observable behaviour which increases validity and plausibility of theories.
(+/-) Method evaluation for behaviourism.
Scientific due to use of lab experiments - high level of control.
However use of animals leads to extrapolation.
(+) Real-life application evaluation for behaviourism.
There is real-life application for behaviourism.
Operant conditioning - token economy programmes.
Classical conditioning - systematic desensitisation.
(+) Deterministic evaluation for behaviourism.
Stimulus-response relationships are supported by the determinist approach (all behaviour has a cause and is thus predictable, free will is an illusion and our behaviour is governed by internal/external forces over which we have no control).
(-) Reductionist evaluation for behaviourism.
Behaviourism is mechanistic - seen as passive with machine-like responses.
Reduces complex human behaviour to simple stimulus-response blocks. Processing during learning isn’t considered.
(-) Nature-nurture evaluation for behaviourism.
Extreme nurture perspective - born ‘tabula rasa’ and learn behaviour from environment.
Largely ignored the influence of nature.
(-) Ethics evaluation for behaviourism.
Use of animals can be considered morally unethical - animal research for human benefit.
What are the 5 key assumptions of SLT?
- Bandura agreed that a great deal of our behaviour is learned through what we experience ourselves. This is called direct learning. But he argued that we also learn via observation and imitation. This is called indirect learning.
- In SLT, Albert Bandura (1977) states behaviour is learned from the social environment through the process of observational learning.
- Bandura (1977) believes that humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between their behaviour and its consequences. Therefore he does not see learning as a simple stimulus-response reflex. Observational learning could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work.
- Most human behaviour is learned observationally through modelling: from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviours are performed, and on later occasions this coded information serves as a ‘guide for action’.
- Use of mediational processes, identification and vicarious reinforcement.
What is SLT?
Connects behaviourism and cognitive approach.
It looks at mental factors that are involved in learning.
It considers the factors that mediate between stimulus and response.
These cognitive/mental factors shape (mediate) in the learning process to determine whether a new response is learnt/acquired.
What are the 4 mediational processes of SLT?
Attention - observer must actively pay attention to the model.
Retention - they must then encode and form a memory of the behaviour that the model performed.
Reproduction - they think about whether they have the physical ability to reproduce an action. May require practice before imitation or may not have the ability to reproduce it at all.
Motivation - the desire to reproduce the behaviour - must want to imitate the model.
What is identification in SLT?
More likely to imitate behaviour if we identify with a role model. This could include:
If we feel we are similar to the role model (eg age, gender).
If we see them as attractive/high status (eg parents, celebrities).
What is vicarious reinforcement in SLT?
Vicarious reinforcement is our tendency to repeat or duplicate behaviours for which we observe models being rewarded.
(Vicarious punishment is when a model is observed being punished for a behaviour, so the observer is less likely to repeat that behaviour.)
What was Bandura’s aim in the bobo doll study?
To find out if children would show more aggressive behaviour if exposed to an aggressive role model and less aggressive behaviour if exposed to a non-aggressive role model. Also, to see if the sex of the role model and the child made a difference, specifically to see if the children were more likely to imitate a same sex role model and if boys were more aggressive than girls.
What was Bandura’s sample in the bobo doll study?
Opportunity sample - mainly children of students/lecturers.
36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School aged between 3 to 6 years old.
What was Bandura’s experimental method and design in the bobo doll study?
Experimental method: lab experiment. Gender aspect is quasi (comparison of girls and boys).
Experimental design: matched pairs. Participants were matched on pre-existing aggression levels from observations on four 5-point rating scales. Aggressive model shown to 24 children. Non-aggressive model shown to 24 children. No model shown (control condition) - 24 children.
This balances individual differences.
What was Bandura’s first step in the method in the bobo doll study?
24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) watched a male or female model behaving aggressively towards a toy called a ‘Bobo doll’. The adults attacked the Bobo doll in a distinctive manner - they used a hammer in some cases, and in others threw the doll in the air and shouted ‘Pow, Boom’.
Another 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were exposed to a non-aggressive model who played in a quiet and subdued manner for 10 minutes (playing with a tinker toy set and ignoring the bobo doll).
The final 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were used as a control group and not exposed to any model at all.
What was Bandura’s second step in the method in the bobo doll study?
All the children (including the control group) were subjected to ‘mild aggression arousal’.
Each child was (separately) taken to a room with relatively attractive toys.
As soon as the child started to play with the toys the experimenter told the child that these were the experimenter’s very best toys and she had decided to reserve them for the other children.
What was Bandura’s third step in the method in the bobo doll study?
Child was taken to the next room with a mixture of aggressive and non-aggressive toys and the bobo doll.
All the children were in that room for 20 mins, observed and rated through a one-way mirror.
Observations were taken at 5 second intervals (240 response units per child).
What were Bandura’s results in the bobo doll study?
Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses (imitated specific actions) than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups.
Girls in the aggressive model condition also showed more physical aggressive responses if the model was male and verbal aggression if the model was female.
Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls.
Boys imitated more physically aggressive behaviour than girls.
What were Bandura’s conclusions in the bobo doll study?
The findings support Bandura’s (1977) SLT.
That is, children learn social behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation through watching the behaviour of another person.
This study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children.
How did Bandura study vicarious reinforcement in SLT?
Bandura (1965) used a similar experimental set up to bobo doll study above to test vicarious reinforcement. The experiment had different consequences for the model’s aggression to the three groups of children.
One group saw the model’s aggression being rewarded (being given sweets and a drink for a ‘championship performance’), another group saw the model being punished for the aggression (scolded), and the third group saw no specific consequences (control condition).
When allowed to enter the playroom, children in the reward and control conditions imitated more of aggressive actions of the model than did the children in the punishment condition.
This shows vicarious reinforcement does make the observed behaviour more likely to be imitated by the observer.
(+) Cause and effect evaluation for Bandura’s bobo doll study.
Able to establish cause and effect - lab experiment has high control of EVs (eg toys available, aggression arousal, how long children are left in the room). Can be sure that IV is impacting the DV.
(+) Replicability evaluation for Bandura’s bobo doll study.
Easily replicable as it’s a carefully controlled lab experiment with standardised procedure (eg timings for each stage). Bandura himself even conducted later variations.
(-) Lacks ecological validity evaluation for Bandura’s bobo doll study.
Lacks ecological validity as it’s a controlled setting - in real life, EVs may impact children’s behaviour.
Also lacks mundane realism - model is a stranger, adult acts aggressively - kids may think it’s a game. Bobo doll was a rare toy, kids may not know how to play with it.
(-) Low population validity evaluation for Bandura’s bobo doll study.
Low population validity as children are aged 3-6 years old. Can’t be sure that older children would be affected by IV in the same way. They were also all from the same area, potentially from more intelligent parents (may raise children differently), higher socio-economic class etc so may affect others differently.
(+/-) Ethics evaluation for Bandura’s bobo doll study.
Parents gave consent, no deception.
However protection from harm - potentially could cause children to repeat aggressive behaviour in the future though this is unlikely and would most likely be temporary if it did occur.
(+) Real life application/high explanatory power joint evaluation for SLT.
For example, as a result of Bandura’s research, media outlets now have age ratings and watershed to prevent children from observing and imitation inappropriate behaviour.
This shows how the understanding of the role of modelling has allowed us to shape behaviour in the real world.
This is significant because it has allowed the theory to positively contribute to society, which as a result also highlighted its explanatory power.
(+) Less reductionist evaluation for SLT.
For example, the theory considers mediational processes that take place between an action being observed and imitated.
This is important because it considers the idea that we also learn through observations, not just our experiences. Bandura considered how the cognitive processes of attention, retention, reproduction and motivation act as mediators between the stimulus (observation) and response (imitation).
This is significant because taking an integrated approach may be a better way to explain complex human behaviour.
(+) Evidence based approach evaluation for SLT.
For example, Bandura’s research directly measured behaviour by assessing if children would observe and imitate aggressive behaviour in response to a bobo doll. They found that children who viewed an aggressive role model would behave more aggressively with a bobo doll than those who saw a non-aggressive doll.
This shows how observation and imitation can be used to explain aggressive behaviour.
This is significant because it increases explanatory power and validity of the approach as an explanation of human behaviour.
(-) Research methods are highly artificial evaluation for SLT.
For example, Bandura’s use of the bobo doll study to support his theory can be considered flawed in this respect.
However it’s criticised for lacking mundane realism as model was a stranger which is highly unlikely in the real world.
This is significant because it means that findings of observation resulting in imitation in research may not be generalisable to real life, thus lacking ecological validity.
(-) Extreme nurture perspective evaluation for SLT.
For example, SLT believes all human behaviour is learnt through observation and imitation of models in our social environment.
This underplays the role of biological influences (eg genes) in human behaviour.
This is significant because it means it may not be a complete explanation of human behaviour.
(+) Soft determinism evaluation for SLT.
Behaviour is influenced by other factors (eg observation) but there is some free will.
(+) Ethics evaluation for SLT.
Experiments are generally ethical (despite Bandura’s being unethical due to taught aggression).
What are the 5 assumptions of the cognitive approach?
- The cognitive approach focuses on internal processes in the mind.
(Believed that if we want to understand an individual’s behaviour, we first need to understand their mind. Therefore, cognitive psychology refers to the study of human mental processes and the role they play in thinking, feeling, and behaving - they are interested in the variables that mediate between stimulus/input and response/output, how humans process information and how this shapes behaviour. People actively try to make sense of their environments by considering the meaning of stimuli and organising information in a structured way.) - Unlike behaviourists, cognitive psychologists do believe that internal mental processes can be studied scientifically. (Therefore, they use methods such as lab experiments, controlled observations, brain scans. However they do acknowledge that processes are private (not directly accessible) so psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences.)
- Use of models - as cognitive processing is not observable, it employs models/metaphors to explain what is happening in the mind and help to explain complex and abstract theories. For example, the computer analogy and multi-store model.
- We use schemas to organise information about the world.
- Cognitive neuroscience - formally formed in MIT in 1956 and cognitive neuroscience was coined by George Miller and Michael Gazzaniga in the 1970s.
What is inference in the cognitive approach?
Making an assumption about a person’s mental processing which cannot be directly measured, based on their behaviour.
What is a schema in the cognitive approach?
Schemas are ways of organising knowledge and experience of the world into ‘templates’ that are used to make sense of objects, situations and people we encounter.
Schemas come from our experiences. They are a framework of beliefs and expectations that shape our cognitive processing.
What would a cognitive model of the memory system suggest?
A cognitive model of the memory system would suggest that it has two main components, one for dealing with the information that we need to process now (working memory - sensory register and STM), and another for storing all the information we have acquired in the past and might need again in the future (long term memory).
These components are assumed to be interconnected, because current information processing may need to draw on past experience and because the outcome of current information processing might need to be stored for future reference.
What are some strengths of schemas?
‘Fills in the gaps’ based on previous experiences of stifling with a memory.
Mental shortcut - can prevent the brain from becoming overwhelmed.
Can help us predict future situations to reduce anxiety.
What are some weaknesses of schemas?
‘Filling in the gaps’ can lead to inaccuracy of memory - problematic for things like eye witness testimony.
Negative schemas can lead to depression.
If schema doesn’t match reality, this can lead to distorted view/distortion.
What is cognitive neuroscience?
The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes.
Combination of cognitive and biological approach.
Result of development in brain scanning technology.
Involves ‘brain mapping’ - mapping brain areas/structures to specific cognitive functions.
How has the development of cognitive neuroscience benefitted psychology?
More scientific/objective in research study.
Nature/nurture - demonstrated the brain’s plasticity throughout life, supporting the role of experience.
Free will/determinism debate - demonstrated the role of experience in shaping the brain, showing biology isn’t destiny.
What are some similarities between the mind and computers in the computer analogy (cognitive approach)?
Input
Processing
Memory stores
Output
System is connected
What are some differences between the mind and computers in the computer analogy (cognitive approach)?
Memory on hard drive isn’t manipulated by itself.
Emotions in humans.
Humans have free will (can choose output).
Human memory is unreliable and unlimited.
What are 2 limits to processing?
Capacity - limited, only a certain amount of information can be processed at once.
New tasks - require significantly more processing than old tasks, leaves less processing for other tasks.
