Approaches Flashcards
What process did Wundt use to study mental states?
Introspection
Introspection refers to observing and examining one’s own conscious thoughts or emotions.
When did Wundt set up the first laboratory of experimental psychology?
1879
What method did Wundt use to study sensation and perception?
The scientific method
How did Wundt’s use of introspection differ from that of philosophers before him?
Wundt controlled the environments and tasks, while philosophers did not set limits or judgments.
What complex mental processes did Wundt’s introspection inspire others to study?
Learning, language, and emotion
What issue arose from the use of introspection in psychological research?
It was not a reliable method for finding out about mental states.
Why was introspection considered biased in observations?
Participants were trained, which influenced their observations.
What was a weakness of Wundt’s research?
Wundt found that reports from participants could not be replicated, making them unreliable.
This suggests that individuals’ everyday experiences vary, affecting the reliability of the results.
What did Wundt’s research reveal about participants’ experiences?
Participants had different thoughts, feelings, and emotions during the metronome experiment.
This indicates that the study was too subjective and findings were inconsistent.
What is a strength of Wundt’s work?
Wundt’s work paved the way for later research.
Cognitive psychologists built on Wundt’s early work to study internal mental processes.
What is a limitation of using the scientific method in psychology?
Scientific psychologists create controlled situations that can lead to artificial behaviors.
For example, Bandura’s Bobo doll study lacks ecological validity.
What does the scientific method allow psychologists to establish?
The scientific method allows causes of behavior to be established using replicable methods.
The use of standardized instructions reduces bias.
What is a further limitation regarding the scientific method?
Not all psychologists believe human behavior can be explored through scientific methods.
Humanistic psychologists like Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow argue that behavior is self-determined.
What do humanistic psychologists believe about behavior?
Humanistic psychologists believe that behavior is self-determined and cannot be explored through scientific methods.
This suggests that alternative methods could better explain human behavior.
What is the first important feature of classical conditioning?
Timing of the neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus. The closer these are paired together, the faster the association will be made.
What happens during the extinction of conditioned response?
If the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response will stop occurring.
What is spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning?
After conditioning has initially occurred, the conditioned response can be brought back quicker.
What is stimulus generalisation?
The conditioned response is generalisable to similar stimuli, e.g., church bells, door bells.
What is a weakness of classical conditioning regarding generalization to humans?
A weakness is the issue of whether results from animals can be generalised to humans.
It is argued that humans possess a more highly developed cortex and higher cognitive function compared to animals.
What does the difference in cognitive abilities suggest about classical conditioning research?
It suggests that findings from animal studies, such as Pavlov’s research, may not be appropriate to extrapolate to humans.
This indicates that evidence for classical conditioning in animals cannot be generalised to humans.
What is a strength of the behaviourist approach?
A strength is its high scientific credibility due to the focus on observable behaviour.
Experiments like Pavlov’s and Skinner’s are conducted in highly controlled laboratory settings.
How does the scientific credibility of the behaviourist approach benefit its findings?
The credibility is increased because results are based on rigorous procedures that are replicable.
This leads to a stronger foundation for the evidence supporting the approach.
What is a limitation of the behaviourist approach regarding lab studies?
The credibility is limited by the use of lab studies, which create artificial behaviours lacking ecological validity.
This means that the behaviours observed may not accurately reflect real-world situations.
What is a further weakness of classical conditioning?
It fails to consider biological factors such as genetics, hormones, and neurotransmitters in explaining behaviour.
Research indicates that these biological factors have an impact on human behaviour.
Can you provide an example of biological factors that classical conditioning ignores?
Hormones like testosterone and neurotransmitters like serotonin play a role in human aggression.
This suggests that classical conditioning may only provide a partial explanation for human behaviour.
What is a limitation of operant conditioning?
A limitation of operant conditioning is that it relies on research conducted on animals such as rats, which may not generalize to humans.
Critics argue that this reliance tells us little about human behavior, as humans have more developed cortexes than rats and pigeons.
What do humanistic psychologists claim about behavior?
Humanistic psychologists claim that free will determines human behavior rather than positive and negative reinforcement.
This suggests that operant conditioning may have limited generalizability to human behavior, reducing its external validity.
What is a strength of operant conditioning?
A strength of operant conditioning is the use of experimental methods, which gives scientific credibility.
This involves controlled conditions to discover possible causal relationships between variables.
How did Skinner establish cause and effect relationships?
Skinner established cause and effect relationships by manipulating the consequences of behavior (IV) and measuring the effects on the rats’ behavior (DV).
This enables high external validity and replicability due to controlled conditions.
What is a limitation of the behaviorist approach?
A limitation of the behaviorist approach is its use of animal research, which has ethical and practical issues.
What is classical conditioning?
Learning by association, exemplified by Pavlov’s dogs.
What is the unconditioned stimulus in Pavlov’s experiment?
Food
What is the unconditioned response in Pavlov’s experiment?
Salivate
What is the neutral stimulus in Pavlov’s experiment?
Bell
What is the conditioned stimulus in Pavlov’s experiment?
Bell
What is the conditioned response in Pavlov’s experiment?
Salivate
What are the components of classical conditioning in Pavlov’s experiment?
Unconditioned stimulus x 2, Unconditioned response x 2, Neutral stimulus x 1, Conditioned stimulus x 1, Conditioned response x 1.
What is the unconditioned stimulus in Little Albert’s experiment?
Noise
What is the unconditioned response in Little Albert’s experiment?
Anxiety
What is the neutral stimulus in Little Albert’s experiment?
White rat
What is the conditioned stimulus in Little Albert’s experiment?
White rat
What is the conditioned response in Little Albert’s experiment?
Anxiety
What are the components of classical conditioning in Little Albert’s experiment?
Unconditioned stimulus x 2, Unconditioned response x 2, Neutral stimulus x 1, Conditioned stimulus x 1, Conditioned response x 1.
What does the biological approach use in research?
The biological approach uses highly controlled environments.
What is a strength of the biological approach?
It has led to the development of drug treatments for certain mental illnesses.
What is a criticism of the biological approach?
It can be criticized for being reductionist.
What are SSRI’s used for?
SSRI’s are used to treat depression by increasing serotonin levels.
Example: SSRI’s help alleviate symptoms of depression.
What do anti-psychotic drugs do?
Anti-psychotic drugs are used to lower levels of dopamine in schizophrenia sufferers.
What is a limitation of controlled biological studies?
The artificial nature of controlled biological studies means that the resulting behaviours or biological processes may be artificial.
What do critics argue about understanding behaviour?
Critics argue we cannot fully understand a behaviour without taking into account other factors such as emotional, cultural, and cognitive factors.
What is a feature of lab studies in the biological approach?
Lab studies have high control over extraneous variables and use standardised procedures.
What does the biological approach allow for in terms of predictions?
It allows clear predictions to be made about different hormones/neurotransmitters and human behaviour.
What is a limitation regarding ecological validity?
The studies lack ecological validity as the results cannot be generalised to everyday settings.
What are the implications of the biological approach for mental health treatments?
It may be a useful treatment for those affected by mental conditions like depression, who may struggle with other treatments like CBT.
What does the deterministic nature of the biological approach question?
It questions its usefulness for describing certain aspects of human behaviour, like criminal behaviour.
What does the biological approach suggest about human behaviour?
It sees human behaviour as determined by our biology, implying a lack of control.
What does reductionism in the biological approach entail?
Complex behaviours are broken down into their simplest parts, such as genes and hormones, which may be too simplistic to explain human behaviour.
Is the biological approach the only deterministic approach?
No, all approaches except the humanistic approach are deterministic.
What is suggested about the effectiveness of the biological approach?
It may be most effective when combined with other approaches.
What is a key characteristic of the biological approach?
It uses scientific research methods.
What is a strength of the cognitive approach?
It uses highly controlled, scientific methods to investigate mental processes.
For example, Bugelsky and Alampay (1962) conducted their rat-man experiment where participants were shown either a sequence of faces or animals before all being shown the same image.
What did Bugelsky and Alampay (1962) find in their experiment?
Participants who saw a sequence of faces were more likely to see the final figure as a man’s face, while those shown a sequence of animals were more likely to see it as a rat.
What is a limitation of using lab studies in cognitive psychology?
Much research lacks mundane realism due to artificial stimuli that are unrepresentative of everyday experiences.
What criticism is associated with the computer model in the cognitive approach?
The computer model has been regularly criticized for not adequately explaining human behavior.
What does machine reductionism ignore?
It ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system, which are not present in computers’ decision-making processes.
What is a benefit of lab studies in cognitive psychology?
They produce reliable, objective data due to high control over extraneous variables and standardized procedures.
What are some real-world applications of cognitive psychology?
Cognitive neuroscience has led to developments like ‘brain fingerprinting’ to analyze brain wave patterns of eyewitnesses and has played a key role in AI and the development of thinking machines (robots).
What role do schemas play in the cognitive approach?
Schemas, based on prior experiences, influence the expectations of participants, giving more credibility to the cognitive approach.
What is a concern regarding the ecological validity of lab studies?
The artificial nature of lab studies means that the resulting behaviors may also be artificial, lacking ecological validity.
How can emotional factors affect memory according to cognitive psychology?
Emotional factors, such as anxiety, can influence eyewitness recall of traumatic experiences.
What is a potential issue with the cognitive approach?
It may not be as useful as first thought due to issues with the associated research method (lab studies).
What is the role of the unconscious in the Psychodynamic Approach?
The unconscious is a vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that significantly influences our behaviour and personality.
What does Freud suggest about the conscious mind?
Freud suggested that the conscious mind is merely the ‘tip of the iceberg’.
What does the preconscious contain?
The preconscious contains memories we are not consciously aware of but can be accessed at any time.
What are the three parts of personality in the tripartite structure?
The three parts are Id, Ego, and Superego.
When does the Id develop?
The Id develops at birth.
What principle does the Id operate on?
The Id operates on the pleasure principle.
When does the Ego develop?
The Ego develops at 2 years old.
What principle does the Ego use?
The Ego uses the reality principle.
When does the Superego develop?
The Superego develops at 5 years old.
What principle does the Superego operate on?
The Superego operates on the morality principle.
How does the Ego affect behaviour?
The Ego balances between the Id and Superego through defense mechanisms.
