Approaches AO1

Question 1

How did Wundt contribute to emergence of psychology?

Answer 1

• Separated psychology from biology and philosophy
• Founded first scientific lab dedicated to psychology in Germany
• Developed structuralism
• Focused on observation, measurement and controlled experimentation which paved way for future psychological research
• Used introspection which paved way for more objective and measurable approaches such as behaviourism.

Question 2

Define Structuralism

Answer 2

Analysing components of consciousness and breaking down mental processes into basic components.

Question 3

Define Introspection

Answer 3

Individuals self reporting their conscious thoughts and experiences in response to a stimulus.

Question 4

Define Classical Conditioning

Answer 4

Learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that naturally produces a behaviour.

Question 5

Describe Pavlov’s Research

Answer 5

• Demonstrated importance of learning by association
• Dog strapped to harness with apparatus that measured amount of saliva produced
• Bell rung and saliva measured
• Food presented and saliva measured
• Bell and food presented at same time and saliva measured
• Repeated set number of times then bell is rung without food, then saliva measured to test strength of conditional response learned

Question 6

Define Operant Conditioning

Answer 6

Learning behaviour through rewards (reinforcement) and punishments.

Question 7

Describe Skinner’s Research into Operant Conditioning

Answer 7

• Skinner Box designed to teach rats how to push a lever.
• Positive reinforcement used by rewarding rat with food when it pressed the lever.
• Negative reinforcement used by letting the rat turn of electric shocks produced by the floor by pressing the lever.

Question 8

Define Social Learning Theory

Answer 8

A way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combing learning theory with the role of cognitive factors.

Question 9

Define Vicarious Reinforcement

Answer 9

Reinforcement that is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour. It is a key factor in imitation.

Question 10

Define Mediational Processes

Answer 10

Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response.

Question 11

What are the 4 mediational processes

Answer 11

Attention, Retention, Motor Reproduction and Motivation

Question 12

Describe Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment

Answer 12

• Investigate whether children learn aggression through observation and imitation, particularly through an adult.
• Children divided into 3 groups, A observes aggressive adult, B observes non-aggressive adult, C control group with no adult.
• Children in A more likely to imitate aggression, especially if model was same gender.

Question 13

Define Cognitive Approach

Answer 13

An approach focused on how our mental processes affect behaviour.

Question 14

Define Internal Mental Processes

Answer 14

Private operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response.

Question 15

Define Schema

Answer 15

A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing that are developed from experience.

Question 16

Define Inference

Answer 16

The process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour.

Question 17

Define Cognitive Neuroscience

Answer 17

The study of how brain structures and biology affect mental processes. It suggests that aspects of people’s thought processes have a physical basis.