approaches Flashcards
explain the origins of psychology?
Wundt favored introspection as a method to collect data in his laboratory. Introspection is collecting data by observing and describing inner mental states.
Attempt to describe the nature of consciousness
Reflection on sensations, feelings and images
Wundt would ask people to focus on an everyday object and look inwards noticing sensations and feelings and images
problems with this:
Reporting emotions is very subjective/objective (based on opinions)could be different between person to person
It is not a science as it is not directly observable and is mainly inferences that was cannot directly observe.
describe wundts role in the development of psychology? (6)
father of psychology
set up a laboratory
first textbook
study sensation and perception
developed and adapted himself
conciseness and reflection on images, sensation
His work paved the way for cognitive psychologists.
what is classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning is an association between a unconditioned stimulus and an neutral stimulus to produce a response. The behaviorist approach took the view that behaviors are learnt and animals and people learn in the same way, so it’s easier to investigate using animals, as their environment can be controlled.
what is the classical conditioning framework?
Unconditioned stimulus = unconditioned response
(taking the dog outside) = (excitement)
NS = NCR (Lead) = (no excitement)
NS + UCS = UCR
Lead + walk
CS = CR Lead = excitement
what is operant conditioning?
Operant conditioning is learning through consequences such as rewards and punishments.
what is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of behavior being repeated. This occurs when behavior leads to the provision of a reward. An example of this is real life is Being rewarded for revising by being giving a chocolate bar.
what is negative reinforcement?
Negative reinforcement also increases the likelihood of behavior being repeated. This occurs when behavior switches off an unpleasant stimulus. An example of this is real life is drug addiction where you have the need to take the drug to feel well and remove the negative effect of not taking the drug.
what is punishment?
Punishment reduces the likelihood of behavior being repeated. This occurs when behavior leads to an unpleasant outcome.
An example of this is real life is Breaking the law will lead to being punished.
study into operant conditioning?
Skinner placed the rat in the box and watched it explore the environment. At some point it would accidentally __push the lever and receive food ( a reward). As the rat learned the connection between an action (pushing lever) and reward (food), the frequency of the level pressing would increase.
The reward was also known as positive re-enforcement.
Skinner also experimented with unpleasant stimuli such as loud noises that could be switched off by pressing the lever. This is also known as negative re-inforceement which also increased lever pressing. Finally Skinner experimented with the use of punishment through the use of an electric shock after each lever press. This lead to the rat getting shocked when it touched the lever. Learning could also be extinguished. If reinforcement was no longer given for lever pressing, the rat would unlearn the connection between the two and lever pressing would cease.
how does SLT vary from behaviourism
Bandura agreed with behaviourists that much of our behaviour is learnt from experience. However SLT proposed a different way that people learn: through observation and imitation of others within a social context. SLT suggested that learning does occur directly through classical and operant conditioning, but also indirectly via vicarious reinforcement.
what is vicious reinforcement?
Vicarious reinforcement refers to learning that takes place through observing the consequences of a model’s actions in terms of rewards and punishment. Behavior that brings rewards to a role model is most likely to be imitated.
when are people more likely to imitate behavior?
People are also more likely to imitate behaviour of people that they identify with, called role models. A person becomes a role model if they are seen to possess similar characteristics to the observer, or are attractive. They don’t have to be physically present, thus having important implications for the media.
study into social learning theory?
In 1961 Bandura developed the social learning theory, with the focus of learning from others through observation and responce_.
He set up a series of laboratory experiments known as the ‘bobo doll’ studies, which examined the effects of a violent model on children’s behaviour.
Bandura et al. (1961) used a sample of 72 children (approx 4 years old) from a nursery at Stanford University. They were placed in 3 conditions.
Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups.
- There was more partial (using the mallet to hit another toy) and non-imitative aggression (novel acts) among those children who has observed aggressive behaviour, although the difference for non-imitative aggression was small.
- The girls in the aggressive model condition also showed more physical aggressive responses if the model was male but more verbal aggressive responses if the model was female. However, the exception to this general pattern was the observation of how often they punched Bobo, and in this case the effects of gender were reversed.
- Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls. (This is known as identification, where imitation is more likely to happen if there is a connection between the child and role model) The evidence for girls imitating same-sex models is not strong.
- Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. There was little difference in the verbal aggression between boys and girls.
what are the processes that SLT suggest take place for effective learning?
meditational processes
attention
retention
reproduction
motivation
Mediational processes are mental (cognitive) factors that intervene in the learning process to determine whether a new behaviour is acquired or not.
The four mediational processes proposed by Bandura are attention (whether we notice the behaviour); retention (whether we remember the behaviour); reproduction (whether we are able to perform the behaviour); and motivation (whether the perceived rewards outweigh the perceived costs).
bandora contradicting view?
Biological would suggest that boys are more aggressive due to testosterone and other hormones. Whereas the social learning theory would suggest that boys are more aggressive due to imitation of role models who are seen as aggressive.
2 limitations of the SLT?
A limitation is that it is environmentally restricted and our behavior is restricted by others actions but on the other side, we do have free will and are in control of our thought processes.
One limitation of the social learning theory is that it doesn’t explain cognitive processes in detail, For example the theory does not explain faulty thinking patterns or faulty beliefs. However, mediating cognitive factors have to be inferred so cannot measure extent of their influence and have been inferred eg retention and attention.
explain the cognitive approach?
Our mental system has limited capacity – amount of information processed is influenced on how demanding the task is
A control mechanism oversees all mental processes – more processing power needed for new tasks
2 way flow of information – take information in from the world, process it and react to it.
sees us as a computer processor
evaluation of the cognitive approach?
Computers have a more reliable memory whereas humans are unreliable in terms of memory
Computers do not emotion and feelings whereas humans do and these effect our ability to effect and process information
Problems with studying internal mental processes
explain the relationship between consistency and schemas?
When information is consistent with a schema, it is assimilated into the schema. Eg a child schema for an apple might be that it is edible, green, hard and spherical. Every time the child sees a green apple, the experience is assimilated and the schema is strengthened.
When information is inconsistent, accommodation occurs and the schema has to change. Eg a child sees a red apple, now the schema has new information that apples can be either green or red.
what are the different types of schemas
Role schemas – These are ideas about the behavior which is expected of someone in a certain role. For example
Event schemas – also called scripts, they contain information about what happens in a certain situation. For example
Self schemas – these contain information about ourselves based on physical characteristics and personality. They affect how we act eg. If my self schema says I am health conscious, I am more likely to eat well and exercise.
study to support schemas
Key study – Bartlett (1932) The War of the Ghosts.
English participants were asked to read a Native American folk tale. It was an unfamiliar story full of strange unusual names, ideas and objects. It was also a different structure. The participants were then asked to recall the story after different lengths of time.
All of the participants changed the story to fit in with their schemas, for example including English culture (canoes became boats). The greater the length of time, the less was recalled.
what is cognitive neuroscience?
Cognitive neuroscience uses scanning techniques to study ‘neurotypical people’, and patients who have had damage to the brain, for example from a stroke. This allows them to locate the physical basis of cognitive processes in the brain. Patients are asked to do cognitive tests (eg memory tests) whilst scanning is taking place, so the brain can be seen in action. The patterns from the activity are then compared with intact brains.
