Approaches Flashcards
outline the behaviourist approach
- Behaviour can be explained in terms of conditions, rather than factors like thoughts bad feelings
- Classical conditioning- aka-Pavlov’s dogs
- Operant conditioning- aka Skinner’s rats
what is positive/negative reinforcement
- Positive reinforcement- a pleasant consequence
- Negative reinforcement- removal of pleasant stimuli
what is positive/negative punishment
- Positive punishment- addition of unpleasant stimuli
- Negative punishment- removal of pleasant stimuli
evaluate the behaviourist approach to psychology
- RWA- lead to the development of treatments for disorders like anxiety and phobias. Systematic desensitisation was developed to classically conditions patients to unlearn a response to stimuli
- Hard to distinguish as different species have different learning capabilities and so relationships between stimuli and responses can be difficult to establish. Animals may have a bio-preparedness to learn anything that promotes survival e.g. a dog will learn to associate food with the smell than food with a bell
- Skinner used experimental methods which mean controlled conditions so we can attempt to conclude a causal relationship between variants by manipulating consequences and measuring the effects.
- Skinner did receive criticism for using non-human animals, a reliance on animals makes it hard to generalsie
outline the Wilhelm Wundt’s approach to psychology
Appraoch= structuralism
Technique=introspection
-He thought higher mental processes like language and learning could not be studied under strict/controlled circumstances.
-Introspection- person gains knowledge on their own mental processes and emotional state, observe their inner world.
-He would observe the person reactions when the react to stimuli and they would describe their inner processes.
-
outline the emergence of psychology as a science
-It was the first time that psychology had started to used empirical evidence
-It was based on two assumptions
1- all behaviour was caused and determined
2-we can then predict other behaviour
evaluate the origins of psychology
- Unreliable methods- relied on non-observable responses, ps could report on their own experiences, but we can’t observe the mental processes. Lack reliability
- Not accurate- we have little knowledge of the causes and processes of underlying behaviour. Psychologists found that people were very unaware of factors influencing their choices, for example, people may be implicitly racist which would influence their actions but they would realise.
- Strength of scientific approach- objective and systematic
- Limitations- contrived situations, tells us little about natural processing
outline the social learning theory
- Observation, imitation and modelling
- Modelling- persons observes model carrying out the model behaviour
- Imitation- allows pattern of behaviour to be rapidly acquired
- Identification- persons must relate to the model, must feel similar enough that they feel they will gain the same rewards. Children identify more with people the same gender
- Vicarious reinforcement- learning through observing someone getting rewarded
- Bandura’s Bobo Doll- children either witnessed aggressive behaviour or non-aggressive. Those who observed aggression later imitated the behaviour and 1/3 imitated exact words they had heard.
evaluate the social learning theory
- RWA- can be used to increased understanding of human behaviour. Akers found that the probability of someone committing a crime increased when exposed to criminal models
- Support for identification- greater identification means a greater chance of imitation. Fox and Bailenson supported this by using computer engineered virtual humans who either looked similar/dissimilar to their participant counterpart. Those who saw their counterpart exercising, exercised more over the next 24 hours, more than the ones who saw themselves loitering.
- Health- campaigns, identification helps get a target audience for advertising. Found perceived similarity helped drive the message of anti-alcohol
- Causality- hard to determine that deviant behaviour is a result of this association as deviance may have always been present. Deviants seek out other deviants.
outline the cognitive approach
- How we extract, store manipulate and use info
- Schemas- cognitive frameworks
- Theoretical models- simplified representations. Pictorial in nature, represented by boxes and arrows. Incomplete and informal, frequently changed and refined
- Computer models- using computer analogies as a representation of human cognitions, input goes in which may be a piece of information
- Cognitive neuroscience- use of non-invasive neuroimaging such os functional magnetic resonance imaging. Guilt means the pre-frontal cortex is active.
evaluate the cognitive approach
- Applied in many areas of psychology- like how we form impressions, we can track our thinking to see how we got to a behaviour
- Scientific- emphasis on scientific method, rigour method and collecting
- Different from human emotion- the info we gain is different than that is inputted into a computer. Computers make mistakes or forget. Also ignores emotion and motivation, over dependence on analgoies.
- Lack of ecological validity- tasks have little in common with ps natural everyday lives
outline the biological approach
-Gene- genotype is the genetic code written in DNA, the phenotype is the physical characteristic shown. Concordance rates, 60-80% for intelligence.
-Biological structure- included the NS and the PNS. Brain structure- cerebrum, in 4 lobes
-Neurochemistry- neurotransmitters can influence our behaviour, those that are excitatory or inhibitory. e.g. people with low serotonin had high levels of aggression.
Hormones- chemicals produced int he pituitary gland. Secreted into the blood by glands where they then travel to the target cells. Can cause of the physiological reaction, altering the cells activity.
evaluate the biological approach
- Scientific method- uses experiments, highly controlled so replication is possible, adding to the validity. Sophisticated imaging and recording, precise and objective
- RWA- clear predictions e.g. treatment for depression, now we now neurochemical imbalances can be a cause, we now have treatment to correct it
- Reductionist- need to take into account other factors as concordance rates are never 100%
- Legal problems- criminals can blame theri actions on biological.
outline the psychodynamic approach
- Freud- thought the unconscious, as he thought it drives our behaviour, and our traumatic past may be repressed in the unconscious and may manifest in mental disorders.
- id- pleasure principle, impulse, innate, immediate gratification
- superego-guilt, conscious, developed through scoaillisation, right/wrong
- ego mediates between them, morality
- Defence mechanisms- repression, projection etc
- Psychosexual stages- oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. If resolution doesn’t take place, the infant becomes fixated on the stage e.g. Oedipus complex, if they become fixated the moral compass won’t be fully developed.
evaluate the psychodynamic approach
- RWA- pioneering approach, it represented a huge shift in psychological thinking. First to show methodological procedures and to produce psychological treatment for depression etc
- Scientific evidence- although it is unfalsifiable, there is evidence to support this approach. Fisher and Greenberg studied 2,500 studies and found they compared well with other studies in psychology. Also found evidence for defence mechanisms and the role of the unconscious
- Comprehensive theory- can be used in many areas of psychology e.g. literacy criticism, Hamlet and his repressed emotions, allowing us to delve deeper
- Gender bias- his views and data for females is extremely underdeveloped. He remained ignorant to female sexuality. Said they were less morally developed
- Culture bias- little relevance to other cultures, psychoanalysis believes mental disorder are due to repressed trauma, but not all cultures value insight in that way. People in China are told to purposely avoid any negative or anxious thoughts.
