Approaches in psychology Flashcards
What is the mind
an internal and hidden response that relies on inferences about underlying processes on the basis of observable behaviour
What is behaviour
a response that can be measured
what is introspection
the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations
when participants reflect their own cognitive processes and describe them in order to
investigate the human mind
(mention structuralism in an exam question alongside introspection as well as metronome experiment)
who is wilhem wundt
known as the founding father of psychology (1873). He established psychology as a science using the scientific method
what is structuralism
the study of the structure of the human mind by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements –> done by Wundt in controlled lab settings
what is the scientific method
1) all behaviour is seen as caused
2) if behaviour is determined then it should be possible to predict how human beings would behave in different conditions
-the method is objective, systematic and replicable
What is behaviourism
this approach emerged in the beginning of the 20th century and became the dominant approach in psychology for half that century. John B Watson and skinner rejected introspection thus brining about behaviourism as it was too vague and difficult to measure
What does the behaviourist approach study
behaviour that can be observed and measured. It is not concerned with mental processes of the mind
What did behaviourists believe about animals and humans
following Darwin behaviourists suggested that basic processes govern the same in all species so animals could replace humans as experimental subjects
What do behaviourists believe about the mind
We are born a blank slate (tabula rassa) and thus there is no genetic influence on behaviour. Behaviour is instead the result of a stimulus and the environment
What is classical conditioning
one of the behaviourist principles of learning (learning by association)
a key idea is that learning occurs when an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a reflex response
What is the neutral stimulus in pavlov’s dog
the bell
What is the unconditioned stimulus in Pavlov’s dog
food
What is the unconditioned response in Pavlov’s dog
salivation
What is the conditioned stimulus in Pavlov’s dog
bell
What is the conditioned response in Pavlov’s dog
salivation by association
What is the order to classical conditioning
Before: NS —> NR
UCS —> UCR
During: CS + association of UCS —> UCR
After: CS —> CR
What is operant learning
another learning principle of the behaviourist approach. It works on the principle of learning by consequence. There are three types (positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment)
What is positive reinforcement
receiving an award for a certain behaviour which makes this behaviour more likely to reoccur because of positive consequences
What is negative reinforcement
Increases the likelihood of a certain behaviour occuring because it involves the removal of unpleasant consequences. The behaviour is more likely to occur because of avoidance.
What is punishment
an unpleasant consequence to a behaviour
What is the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment
negative reinforcement causes positive behaviour to occur because of AVOIDANCE.
What was Pavlov’s dog experiment
experiment where the dogs associated a bell with food so began to salivate after hearing the bell. Initially the bell was a neutral stimulus but then was able to elicit a response by association
What is Skinner’s research (the skinner box)
A hungry rat would be placed in a box and there would be a lever. When pressed a pellet of food would be delivered. Soon, the rat learned the lever would result in a reward (food) so the rat continued to pull the lever. The rat had been positively reinforced.
What structure is used for evaluation responses
PEEL
What is a strength of the behaviourist approach
A real strength of the behaviourist approach is that behaviourism was able to bring the language and methods of natural sciences and psychology. Early behaviourists developed in the early work of Wundt and measured observable behaviour within controlled lab settings. For example Pavlov’s dog experiment which emphasised the importance of scientific processes such as objectivity and replicability. Behaviourism was influential in the discovery of psychology as a scientific discipline
What is another strength of the behaviourist approach
we see many applications to real life in classical and operant conditioning e.g development of systematic desensitisation used to treat phobias
What is a limitation of the behaviourist approach
A limitation is that from a behaviourist perspective animals are seen as passive and machine like responders to the environment with little or no conscious insight to their behaviour. They assume that animal behaviour can be applied and used to explain human behaviours. For example, skinner studied rats to explore operant conditioning but this may miss the complexities of human nature. Therefore a critism of the behaviourist approach is that it is very simplistic and implies humans have no control over our behaviours
What is another limitation of the behaviourist approach
-unethical as works on animals
-over-simplifies humans
What is a possible problem on lab experiments
-lab experiments lack ecological validity
-risk of experimenter bias
What is extinction
extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus. Overtime the learned behaviour occurs less often and returns to the neutral stimulus
What is spontaneous recovery
When the individual carries out the conditioned response some time after extinction occurs
What is the social learning theory
a way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement combining learning theory factors and cognitive factors.
What did Bandura’s SLT propose
people learn through observation and imitation of others within a social context. Learning occurs directly and indirectly through classical and operant conditioning
What is imitation
when people copy what other people do
What is identification
when a person becomes a role model because they have status, morals that align with us, are older or the same sex as us
What is modelling
How well we can imitate the role models behaviour
What is vicarious reinforcement
watching/observing other people receiving enforcement
what is mediational processes
thought prior to imitation which occurs between the behaviour and response. (cognitive factors that influence learning)
What are the 4 mediational processes
attention, retention, reproduction, motivation
What is attention
the extent to which we notice certain behaviour
What is retention
how well the behaviour is remembered
What is reproduction
the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour
What is motivation
the will to perform the behaviour which is often determined by whether the behaviour was rewarded or punished
What was bandura’s bobo doll experiment
children are split into groups and some watch adults be aggressive with the bobo doll and the others watch a more passive/subdued reaction. The children who watched the aggressive adults are more likely to imitate them.
What were the results of bandura’s SLT
Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups.
There was more partial and non-imitative aggression among those children who had observed aggressive behavior, although the difference for non-imitative aggression was small.
The girls in the aggressive model condition also showed more physically aggressive responses if the model was male, but more verbally aggressive responses if the model was female. However, the exception to this general pattern was the observation of how often they punched Bobo, and in this case the effects of gender were reversed.
Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls. The evidence for girls imitating same-sex models is not strong.
Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. There was little difference in verbal aggression between boys and girls.
What was the conclusion of the bobo doll experiment
Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observational learning, through watching the behavior of another person.
