Approaches in psychology Flashcards
The behaviorist approach
Studies behavior that can be observed and measured. Interested in the environment and its effect on us.
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
Stimulus and response
Unconditioned and neutral stimulus.
What is operant conditioning?
Learning through rewards and punishments to modify behavior.
Pavlov’s Dogs study
Pavlov found that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if it was repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food. The dogs learnt to associate the sound of bell with food.
Skinner’s Rats
Studied rats
1st condition - if rat pressed lever it would be rewarded with food.
2n condition - floor is electrified and if rat presses button the shock stops.
3rd condition - if rat presses button it gets electric shock and so rat ceases to perform this behavior.
Strengths of behaviorist approach
Scientific credibility - brought methods of natural sciences. Takes place in a controlled lab setting and the studies are objective and easily replicated. Creates internal validity.
Real-life application - token-economy systems .
Cognitive approach
Internal mental processes should be studied scientifically.
Memory, perception, thinking.
Inference
An assumption about a mental process
Schema
A mental framework of beliefs and expectations
What schemas are babies born with?
A simple motor schema for innate behavior
How can schemas be unhelpful?
They can divert our interpretations of sensory information
Faulty conclusions.
Bartletts study (1932)
English participants were asked to read a Native American folk tale. It was an unfamiliar story full of unusual names etc etc. The participants were then asked to recall the story after different lengths of time.
All participants changed the story to fit their own schemas. The story became more English.
Strengths of cognitive approach
Has real-life application - most dominant approach in psychology. Applied in a lot of contexts.
Uses scientific and objective methods - control of extraneous variables - high internal validity.
Limitations of cognitive approach
Machine reductionism - Similarities between human mind and computer but ignored influence of human emotion and motivation.
Can only infer mental processes from observable behavior -artificial stimuli - lacks external validity.
Emergence of cognitive neuroscience
Scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes.
Combines biological and cognitive approaches.
Damage to frontal lobe could permanently damage speech production.
Who put forward SLT?
Albert Bandura
What is the SLT?
Learning through experience.
Through observation and imitation of others in social contexts.
Vicarious reinforcment
Indirect learning - when an individual observes behavior of another.
Why is SLT considered a bridge between cognitive and behaviorist approach?
Focuses on how mental processes are involved in learning.
4 Mediational processes
Attention - extent to which we notice behavior.
Retention - how well behavior is remembered.
Motor Reproduction - ability to perform the behavior.
Motivation - will to perform behavior.
Why is identification important?
You are more likely to imitate behavior of people of whom you identify with.
Limitations of SLT
Over-reliance on evidence from lab studies - participants my respond with demand characteristics which means it lacks ecological and external validity.
Underestimates biological factors - Bobo doll discovered that boys were more aggressive than girls but it could be biologically linked to hormones - meaning that it is reductionist.
Strengths of SLT
Places importance on cognitive factors - classical and operant conditioning are not adequate ti be learnt on their own so SLT provides comprehensive explanation of learning by mediational processes.
Explains cultural differences in behavior - can account for how children learn through individuals in media - adds influence.
Bandura and Walter (1963)
Showed videos to children where adult behaved aggressively towards bobo doll and was praised for it. A second group saw the adult being punished for it. The third group saw the aggression with no consequence.
The first group showed much more aggression at doll.
Identical twins share…
Non-identical twins share…
100% DNA
50% DNA
Concordance rate
likelihood that if one twin displays a certain behavior then the other will too.
Assumptions of the Biological approach
To understand human behavior we have to look at biological structures and processes within the body.
All thoughts feelings and cognitions have a biological basis.
Genotype
Genetic make-up.
Coding in cells.
Phenotype
When genes are expressed through physical, behavioral and psychological characteristics.
PKV
Rare genetic disorder that can lead to severe learning disabilities.
If detected early enough, the child can be put on a restricted diet and will normally develop.
What was Charles Darwin’s theory?
Natural selection - genetically determined behavior which enhances survival and reproduction skills.
Limitations of Biological approach
Determinist - seen as humans having no control - implications for the legal system and wider society.
Cant separate nature and nurture - similarities between twins or family members is always seen to be genetic but a confounding variable could be the environmental conditions meaning that findings could support nurture rather than nature.
What is the genetic basis of behavior?
Study whether behavioral characteristics are inherited in the same way as physical characteristics.
Strengths of Biological approach
Real-life application - understanding biomedical processes have lead to a development of psychoactive drugs which gives validity.
Scientific methods of investigation - scanning techniques such as Fmris or EEGs - advances in tech mean its possible to accurately measure biological and neural processes.
Role of the unconscious mind
Conscious mind - part we are aware of
Unconscious mind - contains biological drives and instincts which influence behaviour and personality.
Preconscious mind - just under the surface, contains thoughts and ideas that we might become aware of in dreams.
Strcuture of personality
The ID - primitive part of personality and operates the pleasure principle, present at birth.
The ego - works on reality principle, reduces conflict between id and superego and employs defence mechanisms. Develps at 2.
The superego - based on morality principle, moral standards of childs same sex parent. Formed around 5.
Psychosexual stages
Oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital
At each stage (except latency) the child must resolve conflict and progress to move on to the next stage.
The oedipus complex
Phallic stage - little boys devrlop feelings for their mother and a murderous hatred for their father, to repress feelings they repress feelings for mother and identify with the father.
The electra complex
Girls of same age develop penis envy - they desire their father and hate their mother.
Desire for father goes after a while and the penis envy is replaced with a desire for a baby.
Little Hans
5 year old with a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse on the street, Freud suggested that the phobia was a form of displacement and his actual fear was a fear of his father.
Defence mechanisms
Ego has difficulty balancing id and superego and so has help from defense mechanisms
Eg repression, denial and displacement.
Psychodynamic strengths
Has explanatory power - had a huge influence on psychology for first half of 20th century and has been used to explain a wide range of phenomena.
Practical application - Freud created a new form of therapy called psychoanalysis, a range of techniques to access unconscious.
Limitations of psychodynamic approach
Untestable concepts - must be open to empirical testing and there is a possibility that it could be disproved. It is unfalsifiable and difficult to test.
Psychic determinism - no such thing as an accident and free will is an illusion.
The humanistic approach
Emerged in the 50s and challenged the behaviorist and psychodynamic approach.
Free will
Human beings are self determining and haave free will however it doesnt mean that we are unaffected by external influences
Self actualisation
Every person has an innate tendency to achieve their full potential
Maslows hierarchy of needs
Physiological - safety and security - love and belongingness - self esteem - self actualisation.
The self
Concept put forward y Rogers, for a persons growth to be achieved the persons concept of self must be equivalent to ideal self.
Client centered therapy
Developed by Rogers - many issues in adulthood have roots back to childhood.
Strengths of humanistic approach
Not reductionist - doesnt break up behaviour and experience into smaller components - also adovocates holism
Positive approach - ‘bringing back the person into psychology’ and promotes a positive image of the human condition.
Limitations of humanistic approach
Limited application - Maslows hierarchy has been used to explain motivation but the approach has limited impact within disipline in psychology as a whole.
Untestable concepts - Vague and abstract ideas and difficult to test scientifically - self actualisation and congruence.
