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.

Question 18

Define Biological Approach

Answer 18

A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neural function.

Question 19

What are the assumptions of the Biological Approach?

Answer 19

• There is a direct correlation between brain activity and cognition.
• Biochemical imbalances can affect behaviour.
• Brain psychology can affect behaviour.
• Behaviour can be inherited as it is determined by genes.

Question 20

Define Gene

Answer 20

Makes up chromosomes and consists of DNA which codes the physical features of an organism and psychological features. They are transmitted from parents to offspring.

Question 21

Define Biological Structure

Answer 21

An arrangement or organisation of parts to form an organ, system or living thing.

Question 22

Define Neurochemistry

Answer 22

Relating to chemicals in the brain that regulate psychological functioning. Neurochemical imbalances in the brain are associated with abnormal behaviour.

Question 23

Define Genotype

Answer 23

The particular set of genes that a person possesses.

Question 24

Define Phenotype

Answer 24

The characteristics of an individual determined by both genes and the environment.

Question 25

Define Evolution

Answer 25

The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations. This theory was proposed by Charles Darwin.

Question 26

Define Psychodynamic Approach

Answer 26

A perspective that describes the different forces (dynamics), most of which are unconscious, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.

Question 27

What are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 27

• Unconscious activity is the key development of how we behave.
• We possess innate “drives” or “instincts” that energise our minds to motivate behaviour as we develop.
• Our personality - the psyche - is comprised of the ID,ego and superego.
• Childhood experiences have significant importance in determining our personality when we reach adulthood.

Question 28

Define The Unconscious

Answer 28

The part of the mind that we are unaware of but which continues to direct much of our behaviour.

Question 29

Define Id

Answer 29

Entirely unconscious, the id is made up of selfish aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification. It acts according to the “pleasure principle”.

Question 30

Define Ego

Answer 30

The “reality check” that balances the conflicting demands of the id and superego. Acts rationally according to the “reality principle”.

Question 31

Define Superego

Answer 31

The moralistic part of our personality which represents the ideal self: how we ought to be. Acts as your conscience according to the “immorality principle” and controls id with feelings of guilt.

Question 32

Define Defence Mechanisms

Answer 32

Unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego.

Question 33

Define Psychosexual Stages

Answer 33

Five developmental stages that all children pass through. At each stage there is a different conflict, the outcome of which determines future development.

Question 34

Define Oral stage

Answer 34

Focus of pleasure is mouth, Focus of desire is mother’s breast, between 0-18 months old.

Question 35

Define Anal stage

Answer 35

Focus of pleasure is anus, Focus of desire if withholding and expelling faeces, between 18 months to 3 years old.

Question 36

Define Phallic stage

Answer 36

Focus of pleasure is genitals, children experience either the oedinus or electra complex, between 3-6 years old.

Question 37

Define Latency stage

Answer 37

Previous conflicts are resolved or repressed and early years largely forgotten, between 6-12 years old.

Question 38

Define Genitals stage

Answer 38

Sexual desires become conscious with onset of puberty.

Question 39

Define Repression

Answer 39

Forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.

Question 40

Define Denial

Answer 40

Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality.

Question 41

Define Displacement

Answer 41

Transferring feelings from the source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target.

Question 42

Define Humanistic Approach

Answer 42

An approach to understanding behaviour that emphasises the importance of subjective experience and each person’s capacity for self-determination.

Question 43

Define Free will

Answer 43

The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces. We are active agents who have the ability to determine our own development.

Question 44

Define Self-actualisation

Answer 44

The desire to grow psychologically and fulfil one’s potential - becoming what you are capable of.

Question 45

Define Congruence

Answer 45

When our self-image is similar to the ideal self. There is more overlap and people can self-actualise.

Question 46

Define Conditions of Worth

Answer 46

When a parent places limits or boundaries on their love of their children.

Question 47

What are the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 47

Physiological -> Safety -> Love/Belonging -> Esteem -> Self-actualisation

Question 48

What did Carl Rogers do?

Answer 48

• Asserted the idea of using unconditional positive regard in client-centered therapy.
• Used a form of pyschotherapy to treat his patients focusing on the positive aspects of the person and increasingg a client’s self-worth to reduce incongruence.