Approaches - Behaviourist, Cognitive, Biological Flashcards
Who was the first person to call themselves a psychologist?
Wilhelm Wundt
What did Wundt theorise / study?
The human mind can be explained by science He believed in structuralism and the importance of introspection
Define structuralism
Breaking things down into their most basic parts
Define introspection
Looking inside of something
Why did James disagree with Wundt’s approach?
He thought that the basic parts were irrelevant -> what really mattered was functionalism
Define functionalism
The function of thoughts / behaviours
What are the 3 main assumptions of behaviourism?
- > nearly all behaviour is learnt
- > animals and humans learn in the same ways
- > the ‘mind’ and thought process is irrelevant
What are the two types of conditioning?
Classical and Operant
What did Pavlov notice about his dogs causing him to investigate classical conditioning?
Animals not only salivated when they were fed, but they also reacted to stimuli that they associated with being fed.
Describe Pavlov’s experiment
Pavlov rang a bell and got no response from his dogs. Every time he fed his dogs, he rang the bell. After a period of time, he began to ring the bell on its own. The dogs salivated at the sound of the bell alone -> they received no food.
What conclusions can be drawn from Pavlov’s experiment?
When a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus repeatedly, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus and produces a conditioned response
What was the aim of Pavlov’s experiment?
to see if a neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus for a period of time
What are the IV and DV for classical conditioning?
IV -> pairing the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus
DV -> if the conditioned response is caused or not
Define operant conditioning
Organisms can learn new behaviours through positive or negative reinforcement
Define positive reinforcement
When a behaviour produces a consequence that is satisfying or pleasant
Define negative reinforcement
When a behaviour removes something unpleasant
What was the aim of Skinner’s experiment
to investigate operant conditioning in rats
Describe Skinner’s experiment
A rat was put in a box. If it pressed a lever, a food pellet falls into the cage. The rat quickly begins pressing the lever in order to obtain food (positive reinforcement) Then, the rat is given shocks, and when it presses the lever the shocks stop (negative reinforcement)
What are some applications of the behaviourist approach?
Classical conditioning can be applied to therapy, especially for phobias
What are some weaknesses of the behaviourist approach?
- > only appropriate for associations with survival needs
- > reliance of non-human animals, can’t be generalised
- > ignores other factors such as thought processes
Define Social Learning Theory
That new behaviours can be imitated by observing a model that you identify with and is vicariously reinforced (the mediational process)
What are the 4 stages of the mediation process?
Modelling
Identification
Imitation
Vicarious Reinforcement
What are the benefits of SLT?
- > useful applications in crimonology (eg James Bulgar case)
- > can be used to promote good things (eg celebrities talking about mental health)
What are some drawbacks of SLT?
- > issue of causality? eg in James Bulgar - did the kids watch the film because they are violent or did the flim make them violent
- > ignores other factors eg biological factors
