approaches ao1 Flashcards
psychology paper 2
who is wundt?
wundt published the first book on psychology and opened the first psych lab in 1879.
what was wundts approach to psychology?
study structure of mind breaking down behaviours etc this is known as structuralism
what is introspection?
recording own conscious thoughts and aim to break them down into constituent parts (isolating parts)
how was introspection carried out?
- under strictly controlled condition using same stimulus each time (ticking metronome)
- same standardised instructions were issued to all participants ad this allowed procedure to be replicated every time
why was wundts work significant to psychology?
marked the separation of modern scientific psychology from its philosophical roots
what cause psychology to emerge as a science?
- watson questioned introspection scientific status
- introspection produced subjective data so difficult to establish general principles
- said truly scientific psych would study phenomena that can be observed and measured so he created behaviourist approach
what did behaviourism cause?
behaviourism became dominant and controlled lab studies gaining observable evidence become widespread
when did other approaches come about?
- 1950s cog approach rose due to computer revolution
- 1980s bio approach appeared to recent advances in tech like fMRI
- these resulted in cognitive neuroscience bringing both bio and cog approaches together
what are assumptions of behaviourist approach?
- behaviourism measured observable behaviour as opposed to internal events
- behaviour can be objectively and scientifically be measured
- behaviour must be measured in highly controlled environments to establish cause and effect
- our mind is blank slate when born little difference in learning between animals and humans so research can done on animals
- behaviour is a result of stimulus and is learnt from environment
what is classical conditioning?
learning through association
what was pavlovs research on conditioning?
UCS (food) -> UCR (salivation)
NS (bell) -> no response
NS + UCS -> UCR
CS (bell) -> CR (salivation)
what is operant conditioning?
learning through consequences
what does skinner state about operant conditioning?
learning is an active process where humans and animals operate on their environment
what are the three types of reinforcement?
positive - receiving reward for behaviour
negative - when animal/human avoid something unpleasant
punishment - unpleasant consequence for behaviour
what is skinners box?
- rats in special cases
- every time rat pressed lever food got a food pellet
- after many repetitions animal continues behaviour (positive reinforcement)
- also showed how rats could be conditioned to perform a behaviour and avoid electric shocks
what are the assumptions of SLT?
- bandura agreed with behaviourists that behaviour is learnt from experience
- SLT proposed different way people learn through observation and imitation
- SLT suggest learning can occur through CC/OC but also indirectly
- believed in vicarious reinforcement
- also believed in mediational process
what does vicarious reinforcement mean?
indirect learning learning occurs observed behaviour is rewarded so imitation only takes place then
what is identification?
people likely to imitate (modelling) people they identify with (role model). observer imitates role model who has similar characteristics as them (dont need to be physically present)
what is mediational processes?
some thoughts take place prior to imitating behaviour after observing model
what was procedure for banduras bobo doll study?
children watched adults with bobo dolls
what was the findings of banduras bobo doll study?
children who saw aggressive adults were more aggressive with their dolls
what are the four mediational processes?
attention - learning
retention - learning
motor reproduction (ability to do behaviour) - performance
motivation (do behaviour if rewarded or punished) - performance
how do psychologists study internal mental processes?
- cog psychologist investigate memory etc
- internal mental processes are private and cant be observed so they study through inferences
- humans seen as information processors
what is the role of schema?
cognitive processing affected by persons belief/expectations which is called schema. packages of ideas and thoughts developed through experience. schemas allow quick information processing
what are theoretical models?
- make inferences by looking at behaviour and examining the thought process in mind
- one example is information processing approach which suggests info flows through cog system in sequence eg MSM model
what are computer models?
- involve programming a computer to see if such instructions produce a similar out put in humans
- if they do we can infer that those similar processes go on in human minds
what happened in the emergence of cog neuroscience?
- study of influence of brain structures on mental processes
- in last 20 years advances in brain imaging scientist have been able to observe and describe he neurological basis of mental processes through PET and fMRI etc
- understand how brain supports different cog activites/emotions
what are assumptions of biological approach?
- everything psychological is first biological
- emphasises on role of evolution (behaviour evolves same way as physical characteristics)
- neurochemistry important in explaining behaviour (hormones affect behaviour)
how is genetic basis used to understand behaviour?
- ongoing debate nature-nurture
- family studies (bio psychologists use family history to assess influence of genes)
- twin studies (MZ have higher concordance than DZ as genes 100%)
how is neurochemistry used to study behaviour?
study chemical process in nervous system specifically neurotransmitters eg dopamine and serotonin
how is biological structures used to study behaviours?
different parts of the brain have different functions and research has found in some mental disorders there are differences in brain structure
what are genotypes?
persons genetic makeup
what are phenotypes?
way genes are expressed result of interaction between genes and environment
what is evolution?
gradual changes within species in response to environmental pressures
what are 2 mechanisms Darwin identified which lead to gradual changes?
- survival of fittest
- natural selection
what is the unconscious?
driving force behind behaviour/personality
what is the role of unconscious?
- protects conscious from anxiety trauma through defence mechanisms
- known as psychic determinism
- conscious unaware of thoughts/ideas in unconscious
what is the structure of personality?
Id, ego and superego
what is the id?
- pleasure principle
- primitive part of personality
- present at birth and through life
- entirely selfish and demands gratification of its needs
what is ego?
- reality principle
- both in conscious and unconscious mind
- balances id and superego through cog abilities (defence mechanisms)
what is superego?
- morality principle
- represents moral standards of childs same sex parent
- punishes ego through guilt
- formed end of phallic stage around 5 (internalised right and wrong)
what are the defence mechanisms used by ego to protect from id-superego conflict?
repression - force distressing memory from conscious to unconscious mind
denial - refusing something because it is to painful to acknowledge
displacement - transfer feelings from source onto substitute target
what are the psychosexual stages of development?
oral (0-1) - focus of pleasure is mouth -> oral fixation (smoking biting nails sarcastic)
anal (1-3) - focus of pleasure is anus -> anal retentive (perfectionist/obsessive) or anal expulsive (messy/thoughtless)
phallic (3-5) - focus of pleasure is genitals -> phallic personality (narcissistic/ possibly gay?)
latency - earlier conflicts repressed
genital - sexual desires become conscious alongside puberty -> difficulty forming hetero relationships
what do humanists believe?
- humans have free will and are self determining
- still affected by internal/external influences
- psychologist reject scientific models that attempt general principles of behaviour
- all unique focus on ‘person centred approach’
- rogers emphasised on reflection and growing themselves
what is maslows hierarchy of needs?
self actualisation
esteem
love and belonging
safety needs
physiological needs
what are the bottom four rows of maslows hierarchy referred to?
deficiency needs - if not met we feel as though were missing something in our lives
what does the top level of maslows hierarchy suggest?
being need - individuals desire to reach personal fulfiment (needed to grow and develop)
how is the self and congruency linked?
the self concept must be congruent with their ideal self if gap is to big person experiences incongruence and self actualisation not p[possible
how does lack of unconditional positive regard come about?
when parents set boundaries on their love for their child ‘conditions of worth’ so child doesn’t receive conditional love and stores psychological problems for child in the future
how is lack of unconditional positive regard fixed at adulthood?
through therapy
in rogers client centred therapy what should therapist provide client?
genuineness
empathy
unconditional positive regard
what is the aim of rogers therapy?
to increase self worth and reduce incongruence between self concept and ideal self
where is rogers therapy used?
health education industry etc
