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Approaches In Psychology Flashcards

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1
Q

When did psychology become distinct from philosophy?

A

1879, when Wilhelmina Wundt opened the first psychology experimental lab in Germany.

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2
Q

What is Wilhelm Wundt known for?

A

-Opening the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
-Being called the ‘father of psychology’.

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3
Q

What method did Wundt use?

A

Introspection

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4
Q

What is psychoanalysis known as?

A

The talking cure

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5
Q

The three parts of our mind according to Freud:

A

Conscious - here and now.
Preconscious - not accessible at all times, but easily recalled.
Unconscious - not easily accessible, unpleasant/traumatic events that you wouldn’t be able deal with it at that time.

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6
Q

What did Freud use as an analogy to the structure of a mind?

A

A glacier

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7
Q

According to Freud what did the mind do?

A

It prevents traumatic memories from the unconscious from reaching conscious awareness.

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8
Q

Defence mechanisms:

A
  1. Denial
  2. Repression
  3. Displacement
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9
Q

Denial:

A
  • 1st part of defence mechanisms
  • You completely reject the thought feeling.
  • Not a conscious thought.
  • Protects a person from anxiety.
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10
Q

Repression

A
  • 2nd part of defence mechanisms
  • The mind forces a distressing memory out of the conscious mind.
  • Kept in the unconscious mind, not allowed into the conscious mind.
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11
Q

Displacement

A
  • 3rd part of defence mechanisms
  • You redirect your feelings to a more ‘appropriate target’
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12
Q

The structure of the personality:

A

Id - selfish
Ego - reasonable
Superego - controlling

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13
Q

The Id:

A
  • 1st part of the human personality - the sole personality from 0 to 18 months
  • Unconscious focus on self
  • Deals with feeling and needs
  • Seeks pleasure
  • Motivated by the pleasure principal
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14
Q

The Ego:

A
  • 2nd part of the personality - 1 to 3 years
  • Conscious part of the mind
  • Tries to balance out the id and superego
  • Motivated by the reality principle
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15
Q

The Superego:

A
  • 3rd part of the personality - 3 to 6 years
  • Unconscious, acts as the moral guide based on parental and social values
  • Motivated by the morality principle
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16
Q

Evaluation of Defence mechanisms:

A
  • Lack of testability/falsifiability since defences mechanisms are unconscious processes they cannot be studied directly,
  • Defence mechanisms can only be inferred from behaviour or from reported thoughts or experiences.
  • Intuitive appeal - most people can appreciate the idea of denial, repression, displacement.
  • Use of evidence to support or contradict the existence of defence mechanisms e.g: case studies of people who are unable to recall upsetting events.
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17
Q

Freud’s stages of psychosexual development:

A
  1. Oral stage 0 - 1
  2. Anal stage 1 - 3
  3. Phallic stage 3 - 5
  4. Latency stage 6 - 12
  5. Genital stage 12/puberty - adulthood
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18
Q

Libido

A

Sexual urge

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19
Q

What can happen if a stage in the psychosexual development is not successfully completed?

A

Mental abnormality can occur - the person becomes ‘fixated’.

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20
Q

What are we all born with and how is it shown?

A

We’re all born with an urge. The drive is shown through each stage of development.

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21
Q

What must we do to be psychologically healthy according to Freud?

A

Successfully complete each stage of the psychosexual development.

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22
Q

Oral Stage

A
  • Age: 0 to 12 months
  • Sources of pleasure: activities involving the mouth like sucking, biting and chewing.
  • Successful completion: weaning
  • Results of fixation: excessive smoking, overeating or dependence on others.
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23
Q

Anal stage

A
  • Age: 1 to 3 years old or when potty training is completed
  • Sources of pleasure: bowel movement
  • Successful completion: finishing potty training
  • Results of fixation: overly controlling or easily angered

Important stage as the child can have some control over its environment - ego develops

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24
Q

Phallic stage

A
  • Age: 3 to 5 years
  • Sources of pleasure: Genitals
  • Results of fixation: guilt/anxiety about sex

Boys experience the Oedipus Complex
Girls experience the Electra Complex

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25
Q

Oedipus complex

A

Experienced by boys.
- Boy wants his mother as his ‘primary love object’.
- Wants his father out of the way.
- Fears that his father knows this and will castrate him as punishment.
- Identifies with father to stop castration anxiety - foundation of super ego

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26
Q

Latency stage

A
  • Age: 6 to puberty
  • Sources of pleasure: sexuality is latent/dormant
  • Results of fixation: None

Sexual urges sublimated into sports/hobbies/ same sex friendships.
Lull before the storm of puberty.

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27
Q

Genital stage:

A
  • Age: puberty to adulthood
  • Sources of pleasure: the genitals;sexual urges return
  • Results of fixation: none

Task is to develop healthy adult relationships.
This should happen if earlier stages have be successfully completed.

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28
Q

Tabula rasa

A

You are born as a blank slate.

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29
Q

Stimulus

A

Anything, internal or external, that brings about a response.

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30
Q

Response

A

Any reaction in the presence of the stimulus

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31
Q

Reinforcement

A

The process by which a response is strengthened.

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32
Q

When and by whom was the behaviorist approach founded by?

A

JB Watson in 1915

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33
Q

Why did JB Watson fund the behaviorist approach?

A

He rejected the vagueness of introspection instead focusing on how we are a product of our learning, experience and environment.

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34
Q

Assumptions of the behaviorist approach:

A

It’s primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. Observable (external) behavior can be objectively and scientifically measured.

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35
Q

Ivan Pavlov’s contribution to the behaviorist approach:

A

Theory of classical training.

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36
Q

B.F Skinner contribution to the behaviorist approach

A

Theory of operant conditioning.

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37
Q

Abbreviations to know that are concerned about the Behaviourist Approach:

A
  • UCS: Unconditional stimulus
  • UCR: Unconditional response
  • NS: Neutral stimulus
  • CR: Conditional response
  • CS: Conditioned stimulus
  • Reflex: automatic response (uncontrolled)
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38
Q

Contribution of Pavlov on understanding human behaviour:

A
  • Pavlov showed that learning could be investigated experimentally using non-human participants.
  • This provided laws of learning - Classical conditioning.
  • This has provided therapies for conditions such as phobias and addictions (aversion therapy, SD and flooding).
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39
Q

What is operant conditioning :

A

All behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences in our environment. This involves learning through the consequences of behavioural responses, both positive and negative.

40
Q

What is reinforcement?

A

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.

41
Q

What is positive reinforcement?

A

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they happen.

42
Q

What is negative reinforcement?

A

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by removing unpleasant consequences e.g. student does homework to avoid punishment (detention).

43
Q

What is punishment?

A

Anything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant e.g. getting a detention for not doing homework so to avoid punishment do homework in future.

44
Q

Skinner box:

A
  1. Animal, rat or pigeon, learns to press a button or lever in order to get food.
  2. If the animal moves close to the lever, then food appears in order to encourage pecking on the lever itself.
  3. Animal has control over its environment.
  4. Food is a positive consequence of behaviour and so the pecking is repeated.
45
Q

Positive reinforcement in Skinners box:

A

A hungry rat was placed in a Skinner box.
The box contained a lever in the side and as the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever.
Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop into a container next to the lever.
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box.

46
Q

Negative reinforcement in Skinners box:

A

A rat was placed in a Skinner box and then was subjected to unpleasant electric shocks which caused it discomfort.
As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever.
Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off/prevent electric shock.
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box.

47
Q

Strengths of Behaviourist Approach:

A

• Very scientific with its experimental methodology -Theories are testable and supported by rigorous experimental research – Uses the experimental method
• Objective
• Replicable
• Mainly quantitative data – easy to analyse
• Behaviourist explanations can be applied to the real world to explain everyday behaviour such as phobias and has produced many practical applications such as treatments which have been found to be effective. For example systematic desensitisation which is based on classical conditioning is effective in the treatment of phobias.
• Useful applications to education, child rearing (i.e. super nanny)

48
Q

Weaknesses of Behaviourist Approach:

A

• Much data has been obtained from species such as rats, dogs and pigeons but the relevance of these findings to human behaviour is dubious.
• Many forms of learning cannot be satisfactorily explained by classical and operant conditioning - It sees people as passive in their learning with little conscious thoughts influencing their behaviour, other approaches recognise the importance of mental events in the learning process
• Deterministic as it sees all behaviours determined by previous conditioning and does not recognise free will. For example we could argue that we choose not to behave in certain ways because of moral or religious values. However the behaviourist approach argued that free will is an illusion.
• Lack of ecological validity due to highly controlled experiments issues with generalisability
• Ethical issues not all research meets ethical guidelines
• Lack of qualitative data

49
Q

Origins and history of Humanistic Approach:

A
  • Developed in early 1960’s
  • It was termed the ‘third force’ since it aimed to replace the two main approaches - Behaviourism and Psychodynamic.
  • Intended to offer a less deterministic and artificial approach.
  • Humanistic theories are concerned with human experiences, uniqueness, meaning, freedom and choice.
50
Q

What is Free Will and Holism about?

A

This is the notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces.

51
Q

What do humanistic psychologists say about Free Will?

A

Emphasise that people have full conscious control over their own destiny i.e. they have free will.
• This is not to say that we are free to do anything at all, as we are subject to many other forces including biological and societal influences.
• Humanistic psychologists believe that human beings are able to make significant personal choices within the constraints imposed by these forces.

52
Q

What do humanistic psychologists reject?

A

• They rejects scientific methods that establish general laws as we are all unique

53
Q

Methodology of Humanistic approach:

A
  • Unstructured interviewing- This allows access to other people’s views and experiences without imposing on them the researcher’s ideas about what is important.
  • Participant observation- This is where the researcher takes part in what the participants are studying in order to understand how their participants perceive it.
  • Diaries, letters and biographical material- Humanistic psychologists may also analyse all sorts of other qualitative materials that allow them insight into how people understand their world.
54
Q

Maslow:

A

• Maslow wasn’t interested in what went wrong with people but rather in what could go right with them.
• His hierarchy of needs emphasised the importance of personal growth and fulfilment and opened the door for later movements in psychology such as positive psychology and happiness.
Hierarchy of needs- represented in a pyramid- the most basic physiological needs are represented at the bottom of the pyramid and the most advanced needs at the top. Each level must be fulfilled before a person can move up to a higher need.
• Maslow believed that the more basic the need the more powerfully it is experienced and the more difficult it is to ignore.

55
Q

What was Maslows hierarchy of needs about:

A
  • Represented in a pyramid.
  • The most basic physiological needs are represented at the bottom and the most advanced needs at the top.
  • Each level must be fulfilled before a person can move up to a higher need.
56
Q

Maslows hierarchy of needs:

A
  1. Physiological: breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, excretion, homeostasis
  2. Safety: security of food, body, money, employment, resources, morality, property, health
  3. Love/belonging: friendship, family, sexual intimacy
  4. Esteem: Self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others
  5. Self-actualisation: morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem-solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts
57
Q

Carl Rogers

A
  • Founder of the humanistic approach.
  • Rogers’ focus on the concept of self and self-acceptance.
  • Freud had dealt with the “sick half” of psychology, so the humanistic approach concerned itself with explanations of healthy growth in individuals.
58
Q

Carl Rogers Self Theory:

A

• My self is my immediate experience of all that is me
• It is made up of two selves:
• Real Self
• Ideal Self

59
Q

Réal Self:

A

• How I am in the real world
• More objective
• How others see me

60
Q

Ideal Self:

A

•Who I wish I could be if I were the best “me”
• Evidences the growth potential
• Can also evidence unrealistic expectations

61
Q

What is congruence?

A

• A healthy sense of wellbeing is established if an individual maintains a reasonable consistency between ideal self and actual self. This is known as congruence.
• However if there is a difference between the self and ideal self the person experiences a state of incongruence.
• The closer our self image and ideal self are to each other the greater the congruence and the higher our feelings of self worth.

62
Q

What’ s incongruence?

A

• Incongruence can lead to low self-worth and maladjustment/anxiety etc.
• Defence mechanisms (distortion, denial, blocking) can stop the self from
growing and changing, and widen the gulf between our ideal self and true self.

63
Q

What are conditions of worth?

A

• Rogers believed that more often than not people hinder the process of self actualisation.
• Humans have a basic need to feel nurtured & valued by significant people in their lives.
• If this is given freely, without conditions (unconditional positive regard), then people will develop a healthy sense of self-worth.

64
Q

The love and acceptance given to people by others can be (2 types):

A
  1. Unconditional positive regard:
    - When a person is accepted for ahi they are/what they do
    - No ‘strings attached’
  2. Conditional positive regard:
    - When they are accepted only if they do what others want them to do
    - There are ‘strings attached’
    - Psychological issues arise from it - depression
    - Children who receive conditions of worth develop low self-esteem
65
Q

Origin of the cognitive approach:

A

Ulric Neisser (1967) published “Cognitive Psychology”, which marked the official beginning of the cognitive approach.

66
Q

Assumptions of the cognitive approach:

A
  • Internal mental processes can be investigated using scientific methods.
  • Mental processes are private and can’t be observed.
  • Our internet mental processes are affected by schema that we have formed through experiences.
  • Internal mental processes of the mind is similar to a computer.
  • They use theoretical models of me Emory to explain how our mind works.
67
Q

Internal mental processes:

A
  • How we process things directs how be behave.
  • Mental processes mediate between the stimulus and response.
68
Q

The role of schema:

A
  • The experience, knowledge and understanding
  • Helps us predict what will happen in our world based on our experiences
  • Enables us to process vast amounts of information rapidly
  • Prevents us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
  • Can change/evolve as you get older
69
Q

Negatives of schema:

A
  • Can lead to faulty conclusions & unhelpful behaviour
  • Causes bias and stereotypes
  • Can lead to errors
  • Causes us to exclude important information to instead focus only on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas.
70
Q

Evidence to support the cognitive approach:

A

Rat man - Bugelsky and Alampay, 1962, supports the role of schema

71
Q

Computer models:

A
  • Been influenced by development in technology
  • This has led to a focus on the way information is ‘coded’: input, coded,storage.
72
Q

Theoretical models:

A
  • Representation of how the human mind works.
  • We cannot directly see processes such as thinking but we can make inferences.

Models can be used if provide testable theories about mental processing and these can be studies scientifically and inferences made.

73
Q

Cognitive neuroscience:

A
  • It’s the scientific study of relating brain structure on out mental processes.
  • Currently used
  • Combination of biology and cognitive psychology.
74
Q

Applications of cognitive neuroscience:

A
  • Helps to study mental processing of patients with depression and other mental problems and illnesses.
  • Treatment for memory problems.
  • Modelling to develop voice recognition programmes.
75
Q

Applications of cognitive neuroscience:

A
  • Helps to study mental processing of patients with depression and other mental problems and illnesses.
  • Treatment for memory problems.
  • Modelling to develop voice recognition programmes.
76
Q

Social Learning Theory:

A
  • Developed in the 1960’s
  • Albert Bandura proposed it as a development of the behaviourist approach.
  • Believed there was a process between the stimulus and response proposed by the behaviourist approach.
77
Q

Assumptions of SLT:

A
  • Agrees with behaviourists in that much behaviour is learned through experience.
  • It is concerned with human rather than animal behaviour.
  • Learning occurs through the observation and imitation of role models.
  • Learning can occur directly through CC + OC but can also occur indirectly.
78
Q

How we learn according to the SLT:

A

Imitation
Identification
Vicarious reinforcement

79
Q

Learning through SLT, Imitation:

A
  • Children learn through copying others - modelling their behaviour from parents.
  • Learn from people of higher status/celebrities - there must be something we can identify with that person.
80
Q

Learning through SLT, identification:

A
  • We have to see ourselves in that person and see how we identify with them.
81
Q

Learning through SLT, vicarious reinforcement:

A
  • When you learn about the consequences of behaviours from others.
  • Our tendency to repeat or duplicate behaviour for which others are being rewarded and we adjust our own behaviour accordingly.
82
Q

Results from Bobo Doll and experiment by Bandura:

A
  • Children who observed the aggressive model acted more aggressively towards the Bobo doll then the group you observe, not aggressive model or control groups.
  • Voice imitated more physically, aggressive acts than girls.
  • Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls.
83
Q

The role of mediational processes, SLT:

A

A - Attention to the role model.
R - Retention of the observable behaviour and forming a mental representation.
R - Reproduction of the target behaviour.
M - Motivation to imitate the observed behaviour.

84
Q

SLT evaluation:

A
  • It has experimental support: The Bobo doll experiment shows that children are more likely to imitate models who are rewarded for their behaviour (vicarious reinforcement).
  • Most of the support for SLT comes from laboratory experiments which is a strength as they are well controlled. However the results might be influenced by demand characteristics. The artificiality (lacks EV) of the environment may not reflect the way people learn in everyday life.
  • It does not take into account the influence of biological factors on behaviour i.e. the levels of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine.
  • It can be used to explain the influence of media on behaviour.
  • Sees behaviour as environmentally determined; some behaviours may be innate.
  • Influential in introducing age appropriate films, computer games and the watershed on tv.
  • It is a more complete explanation of human behaviour than conditioning as it takes into account cognitive factors in learning. However it does not take into account free will and moral values.
85
Q

Overview of biological approach:

A
  • The biological approach combines psychology and biology to provide *physiological explanations for human behaviour.
    •Biological psychology tries to explain how we think, feel and behave in terms of physical factors within the body.
86
Q

Assumptions of biological approach:

A

• The approach investigates how biological structures and functions of the brain including localisation of function impacts on behaviour.
• Much of human behaviour has a biological cause which may be genetically or environmentally altered.
• Genes affect behaviour; genotypes and phenotypes which influence individual differences between people.
• The nervous system including hormones and neurotransmitters affect behaviour.
• Infections of the brain can play a role in mental illness.
• Evolutionary psychology considers genetic influences in common behaviours through process of natural selection.

87
Q

The influence of genes:

A

• Genes carry instructions for characteristics e.g. personality, IQ etc.
• But how it develops depends on interaction of the gene with other genes and the environment-this is the nature-nurture debate
• Heritability refers to the amount of variation in a trait (behaviour) within a population that can be attributed to genetic differences
• The more a trait is influenced by genetic factors the greater the heritability.
• Genetics are thought to influence the risk of mental illness e.g. schizophrenia. Genetically people can be predisposed.

88
Q

Concordance rates:

A
  • Agreement between.
  • This refers to the extent to which a pair of twins share similar traits or characteristics.
  • So, there should be 100% concordance rates between MZ twins if a particular characteristic /trait is a genetic one. DZ twins will show lower concordance rates
  • Comparisons can be made between twins raised together and twins raised apart.
89
Q

MZ meaning:

A

Monozygotic, identical twins.

90
Q

DZ meaning:

A

Dizygotic, non-identical twins.

91
Q

Findings from Bouchard’s Reseach into concordance rates for Intelligence:

A

• Identical twins reared together - 86%
• Identical twins reared apart - 72%
• Non-identical twins reared together - 60%
• Biological siblings reared together - 47%
• Parent and child living together - 42%
• Cousins - 15%
• Unrelated people living apart - 0%
• Same person tested twice - 86%

92
Q

An analysis of Bouchard’s twin research:

A

• Identical twins reared apart have a much higher concordance rate (72%) than ordinary siblings reared together (47%) suggesting that genetics have a much greater influence on intelligence than environment.
• There is not a great deal of difference between the concordance rates of identical twins reared together (86%) and identical twins reared apart (72%), suggesting that environment has a limited effect on intelligence.
•Identical twins reared together have a much higher concordance rate (86%) than non-identical twins reared together (60%), suggesting that, as they are both raised in the same environment at the same time, genetics must account for the greater similarity between the MZs, but as the concordance rate is not 100%, environment must play a part.
•The same person tested twice has the same concordance rate as identical twins reared together (86%). This raises the issue of whether the measure of intelligence lacks reliability, and if so, does this mean that potentially their could potentially be perfect concordance between the identical twins raised together?

93
Q

Difference between genotype an phenotype:

A

• The genotype is the genetic programming that provides the phenotype.
• To a large extent, an individual’s phenotype is determined by its genotype.
• However, genes are only part of the equation
- Genotype + environment = phenotype.

94
Q

Importance of twins in studying the effect of genes:

A

• Identical twins are another good example of the interaction between inheritance (genotype) and environment.
• They have the same genetic makeup and they look alike, but they possess different phenotypes.
• Identical twins have differences that allow those who are close to them to tell them apart.
• Twins are genetically the same - any differences you may see between them – for example in personality, tastes and particular aptitudes – are due to differences in their experience or environment.

95
Q

Strengths of biological approach:

A

• It is a scientific approach. This suggests that we can find cause and effect of biology on behaviour.
• Use of scientific method is highly controlled increasing reliability and validity of findings.
• Impact of biology on behaviour can lead to treatment e.g. drugs to counteract neurotransmitter imbalance e.g. SSRIs to treat OCD and depression.
• Scientific measurements are objective as it can be performed by machines which have no vested interest in the outcome e.g. PET scans, EEGs etc. Use of complex machinery allows accurate and precise measurements.

96
Q

Limitations of biological approach:

A

• It is a deterministic approach as it believes that we are determined by our physiological, genetic or evolutionary make-up. Thus stating that there is no free will.
• This approach is reductionist by stating that all human behaviour can be explained through a single biological process
• We are therefore not unique as individuals. It is also dehumanising to present humans as ‘biological machines’.
• Dangers of looking for a biological cause of all behaviour led to problems e.g. searching for the ‘criminal gene’.
• Biological approach ignores the role of the environment etc. it should be used in combination which is known as the biosocial approach.
• It is very difficult to separate the effects of nature (genes) from nurture (the environment)
• Laboratory experiments can lack ecological validity

97
Q

Darwin’s 2 main concepts in his evolutionary theory:

A
  • Natural selection
  • Sexual selection

Psychology (12 decks)

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