Approaches

Question 1

Who was Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 1

• first person to call himself a psychologist
• published first book on psychology - principles of psychological psychology
• his approach paved the pathway for the acceptance of psychology as an distinct science

Question 2

What was Wundt’s aim

Answer 2

to study the structure of the human mind and the best way to do this was to break down behaviours such as perception and sensation into basic elements
- because of this his approach was referred to as structuralism and he used introspection as a technique

Question 3

Describe what introspection means?

Answer 3

introspection is when a person gains knowledge about his or her mental health and emotional states, it allows us to observe our inner world
- he believed that with sufficient training mental processes such as memory and perception could be observed systemically as they occurred through perception, this information could be used to gain insight to the inner workings of the mind

Question 4

What do empiricists believe

Answer 4

• knowledge comes from observation and experience alone, rather than being innate,
• this allowed psychology to become distinct as a science
• based on two major presumptions: first of all the behaviour is seeing as being caused, second if the behaviour is determined than it is possible to predict how they would behave in other conditions = scientific method

Question 5

What is the scientific method

Answer 5

refers to the use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic and replicable, they sure that they do not let bias or preconceived ideas influence there data,
- have to be replicable and be able to repeat, if not the results cannot be accepted as being universally true
-

Question 6

Evaluation of The Origins of Psychology: Wundt’s methods were unreliable

Answer 6

• approach relied primarily on nonobservable responses, although participants could report on their conscious experience the process themselves were unobservable constructions
• lack of reliability
• in contrast Pavlov and Thorndike were producing reproducible results

Question 7

Evaluation of The Origins of Psychology: introspection is not particularly accurate

Answer 7

• most psychologists accept Nisbett and Wilsons 1977 claim that we have little knowledge of the cuases of and processes underlying our behaviour and attitudes, a claim that would challenge the introspection idea,
• found that consumer were unaware of the influences that made them buy and item

Question 8

Evaluation of The Origins of Psychology: strengths of a scientific approach to psychology

Answer 8

• because of reliance on objective and systamtic methods it can be accepted as fact
• because they rely on determinism they are able to establish cause and effect
• if the scientific theories no longer fit the fact they can be abandoned or changed, therefore it is self corrective, hard for a theory to hold on for long

Question 9

Evaluation of The Origins of Psychology: limitations of a scientific approach to psychology

Answer 9

• create contrived situations this tells us little about how somebody acts in a natural environment therefore it is lacking ecological validity
• psychology is unobservable therefore cannot be measured by any degree of accuracy
• human behaviour is not subject to the laws and regularities implied by scientific methods then predictions become impossible and methods inappropriate

Question 10

Evaluation of The Origins of Psychology: introspection is still useful in scientific psychology

Answer 10

• Csikszentmihalyi and Hunter - used introspective methods as measuring a way of happiness, they gave a group of teenagers beepers that went off during the day at random they then had to write down their thoughts and feelings in the moment before the beep
  most were unhappy but found when focusing on the challenging task they were more upbeat

Question 11

Who came up with the idea of classical conditioning

Answer 11

Ivan Pavlov

Question 12

Who came up with the idea of operant conditioning

Answer 12

Burrhus Skinner

Question 13

Explain Pavlov’s research (Classical Conditioning)

Answer 13

studying the salivary reflexes in dogs

• he noticed that the dogs salivated when the food was placed in their mouth but also reacted to the stimuli that coincided with the presentation of the food
• the food was the UCS which produced the natural stimulus of salivating which is the UCR
• when the food was paired with the NS a bell over time and through many pairings the NS eventually caused the same response in absence of the UCS
• the NS was now a CS and the response it produced was CR

Question 14

What are the important features of classical conditioning

Answer 14

• Timing - if the NS cannot be used to predict the UCS, then the conditioning does not take place
• Extinction - Pavlov discovered that unlike the UCS the CR does not become permanently established and after a few presentations of the CS in absence of the UCS it will become extinct
• Spontaneous recovery - following the extinction if the CS and UCS are then paired together once again the link is made more quickly
• Stimulus generation - Pavlov discovered they respond to other stimuli that are similar to the CS

Question 15

What is positive reinforcement

Answer 15

occurs when behaviour produces a consequence that is stratifying or pleasant for the organism

Question 16

What is negative reinforcement

Answer 16

work because they remove something aversive and so restore the organism to its “pre-aversive” state

Question 17

What are other features of operant conditioning, that re important

Answer 17

• schedules of reinforcement - although a continuous reinforcement schedule, is most effective in establishing a particular response a partial reinforcement schedule is more effective in maintaining that response and avoiding extinction
• punishment - refers to the circumstance whereby a behaviour is followed by a consequence that is undesirable or unpleasant for the organism = can be positive or negative

Question 18

Evaluation The Behaviourist Approach: Strengths of classical conditioning explanations

Answer 18

• lead to reduction of anxiety and phobias

- Systematic desensitisation

Question 19

Evaluation The Behaviourist Approach: Limitations of classical conditioning explanations

Answer 19

• different species face different challenges to survive so have different capabilities to learn through the process of classical conditioning therefore can be more difficult to establish for some species than others
• animals more prepared to learn things that are significant in terms of their survival

Question 20

Evaluation The Behaviourist Approach: Strengths of operant conditioning explanations

Answer 20

• reliance on experimental method

- use of controlled conditions

Question 21

Evaluation The Behaviourist Approach: Limitations of operant conditioning explanations

Answer 21

• non humans
• relied on rats and pigeons
• human beings have on free will

Question 22

Evaluation The Behaviourist Approach: A limited perspective on behaviour

Answer 22

• behaviourists ignore other levels of explanations,
• ignore shaping behaviour
• skinner rejected this and argued that these internal states are scientifically untestable

Question 23

Describe Modelling (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 23

in order for social learning theory to happen modelling must take place

• there must be someone who carries out the attitude or behaviour for the observer to learn this
• the observer later reproduces this behaviour this is called imitation

Question 24

What are the different types of models? (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 24

• Live model - this may be a parent or teacher or a member of the peer group
• Symbolic model - this could be someone portrayed in the media

Question 25

Why is imitation better than learning through direct reinforcement(Social Learning Theory)

Answer 25

if the child has a behaviour presented to them through a model they would learn more quickly than just learning through conditioning

Question 26

What are the key factors that determine whether the child learns from the model or not (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 26

• the characteristics of the model
• the observers perceived ability to perform that behaviour
• the observed consequences of that behaviour

Question 27

What is identification (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 27

This refers to the extent that the observer relates to the model and feels that they are similar to the model
- (Shutts et al 2010) - observers are more likely to identify and learn with the model that is most similar to them therefore they are more likely to imitate their behaviour, therefore its more effective

Question 28

Describe an example of vicarious reinforcement (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 28

Bandura and Walters in 1963 noted that children who observe a model rewarded for aggressive behaviour was more likely to copy that behaviour that those children who observed a model who was punished for aggressive behaviour
- this is called vicarious reinforcement

Question 29

Describe Vicarious reinforcement (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 29

this is when the individuals learn about the consequences of an action and then adjust their behaviour accordingly, they do not need to experience the consequences themselves but instead just observe them and the likelihood of them

Question 30

What is the role of mediational processes (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 30

Bandura in 1986 claimed that in order for the social learning to take place the observer must form a mental representation of the behaviour displayed by the model and the consequence on the model

Question 31

Describe Bandura et al (1961) procedure (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 31

Carried out an experiment involving children who observed aggressive or non-aggressive adult models and then were tested for imitative learning in the absence of the models

• half the children were exposed to aggressive models and the other half exposed to non-aggressive models beating a bobo doll
• aggressive model beat the bobo doll by striking it with a mallet and yelling words such as “POW” towards it
• following this the children were then frustrated and not allowed to play with any toys, then they were taken into another room where there were other toys and the bobo doll that they could play with

Question 32

Describe Bandura et al’s findings (Social Learning Theory)

Answer 32

• Children who observed the aggressive model were more likely to behave aggressively towards the bobo doll, whereas the children who has observed the non-aggressive model showed no aggressive behaviour towards it
• following up from the study Bandura showed that children shown models being rewarded for aggressive behaviour were more likely to copy this

Question 33

Social Learning Theory Evaluation Strengths: Social Learning theory has useful applications

Answer 33

The principles of soical learning theory has been used to increase our area of human behaviour including criminal behaviour

• Akers 1998 suggested that the probability of someone engaging in criminal behaviours increases when they have models which commit crimes, they then develop the positive consequences for their own criminal behaviour
• Ulrich (2003) supports this claim in review of the literature - strongest cause of violent behaviour was found in delinquent peer groups

Question 34

Social Learning Theory Evaluation Strengths: Research support for identification

Answer 34

• Fox and Bailenson 2009 - found evidence for this using a computer generated human models, the models either looked similar or dissimilar to their participants
• the participants saw their similar model engaging in exercise and subsequently engaged in more exercise in the next following 24 hours in comparison with the participants who saw their model loitering or dissimilar model exercising

Question 35

Social Learning Theory Evaluation Limitations: A problem of causality

Answer 35

• There is a problem with the idea that increased association with deviant peers increases the likelihood that an individual adopts the same views
• arguably the cause of deviancy is not adopting the attitudes while hanging around with those but instead having those attitudes before hand
• Siegel and McCormick 2006 suggested that young people with deviant attitudes will seek out peers with similar behaviours and attitudes

Question 36

Social Learning Theory Evaluation Limitations: A problem of complexity

Answer 36

• in real life an individual is exposed to many different ideas on behaviour and this influences them
• e.g. media portrayals, genetic predispositions this would all influence our behaviour

Question 37

Social Learning Theory Further Evaluation: The importance of identification in social learning of health behaviours

Answer 37

• Health adverts have tried to match their models to the physical characteristics that they are trying to apply in order to achieve greater identification
• Andsager et al 2006 found that perceived similarity to a model in anti-alcohol advertisement was positively related to the message effectiveness - if the individual cannot relate then some of the message will be lost

Question 38

What is humanistic psychology (Humanistic Approach)

Answer 38

This is a type of psychology that focuses on the conscious experience rather than on behaviour, it focuses on personal responsibility and free will rather than determinism and discussion rather than on the experimental scientific method

Question 39

Describe Free Will (Humanistic Approach)

Answer 39

• people have full conscious control over their destiny, we are constrained by biological and societal influences however human begins are able to make personal choice within these constraints

Question 40

Describe what Maslow came up with (1943) (Humanistic Approach)

Answer 40

• he was interested in what could go right with people
• he came up with the hierarchy of needs and emphasised the importance of human growth and development
  Hierarchy of needs
• the most basic psychological needs are at the bottom of the pyramid and these have to be fulfilled before you can move up and fulfil the other needs
• the more basic the need the more powerful the experience and the more difficult it is to ignore
  Self-Actualisation
• this represents the characteristics shared by people who complete the hierarchy of needs, these people tend to be creative, accepting of others and have a real perception of the world around them
• they can experience peak experiences these are moments of extreme inspiration and are times were the individual leaves behind all fear and doubts

Question 41

What did Rogers come up with (Humanistic Approach)

Answer 41

Self Concept
- 1951
- this is how we perceive ourselves as a person, we have two basic needs this is positive regard from others and a feeling of self-worth - this could develop from childhood experiences and interactions with parents and this can be influenced by interaction with significant others
- the closer are self-concept and our ideal self are to each other the greater our feeling of self worth and psychological health
Congruence
- when there are similarities between a persons ideal self and how they perceive themselves in real life then there is a state of congruence
- if there is a difference between a persons ideal self and how they perceive themselves in real life then there is a state of incongruence
Conditions of worth
- although other people may help the process to self-actualisation they often hinder it
- the love and acceptance given by others may be unconditional or conditional - unconditional means that they will be accepted and loved for who they are or whatever they do whereas conditional mean that they will be accepted if they do what others want them to do - this is conditions of worth

Question 42

Rogers and counselling (Humanistic Approach)

Answer 42

• claimed that an individuals psychological processes were a direct result of their condition of worth
• counselling provides unconditional positive regard so people can solve their problems in constructive ways and become a fully functioning person
• they also provide empathy

Question 43

Name the hierarchy of needs (Humanistic Approach)

Answer 43

Physiological - breathing, food, water, sleep, homeostatis
Safety - security of the body, empolyment, resources, morality, family. health, property
Love/Belonging - friendship, family, intimacy
Esteem- self esteem, confidence, acheivement, respect of othes, respect by others
Self-actualisation - morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of fact

Question 44

Humanistic Approach Evaluation Strengths: Maslow’s hierarchy is linked to economic depression

Answer 44

• Research suggests that Maslow’s hierarchy may have relevance on a much larger stage than individual growth
• Hagerty 1999 - looked at the relationship between economic growth and measures of Maslow’s need levels in 88 countries over 34 years - he found that countries in the early stages of economic development were characterised by lower level needs e.g. access to food, whereas in the advanced stages of economic development did esteem needs and self-actualisation become important

Question 45

Humanistic Approach Evaluation Strengths: Research support for conditions of worth

Answer 45

• Research with adolescents has shown evidence consistent with Roger’s view - those who had experienced conditional positive regard are likely to display false self behaviour - they do things to meet other peoples expectations
• Harter et al 1996 - discovered that teenagers who feel that they have to fulfil certain expectations to obtain parents approval end up not liking themselves, if they become the person that their parents would love which is not themselves then they often end up developing depression

Question 46

Humanistic Approach Evaluation Limitations: Humanistic research methods

Answer 46

• scientifically hard to prove as there most of the evidence that is used to support this approach fails to establish a relationship between variables
• rogers suggested that the requirements of the scientific method would not be able to measure counselling and the effects of counselling
• most psychologists argue that without experimental evidence the evaluation of a theory becomes very hard to prove
• does not prove that therapy causes the changes seen in counselling, they may be other factors

Question 47

Humanistic Approach Evaluation Limitations: The humanistic approach is unrealistic

Answer 47

• represents an overly idealised and unrealistic view of human nature
• critics argue that people are not self good and not everyone wants to grow as a person
• the innate potential from growth is an oversimplification - not realistic in a modern society

Question 48

Humanistic Approach Evaluation: Cultural differences in the hierarchy of needs

Answer 48

Nevis 1983 in China - found that belonging needs were more fundamental than psychological needs therefore they did not fit the hierarchy of needs table
- the hierarchy of needs only fitted the western culture and not collectivist cultures