Approaches in Psychology Flashcards
What is psychology?
The scientific study of the mind and behaviour
What are approaches?
Different schools of thought
What is introspection?
Psychological method of analysing thoughts + feelings internally
Why did Wundt use introspection?
1) to study sensation + perception
2) 1800s - no brain scans/ computers to investigate inside workings of the brain
How did Wundt measure introspection?
1) participants asked to describe experiences when presented with stimuli
2) reaction times recorded
What is a weakness of introspection?
1) doesn’t explain how the mind works - relies on people describing thoughts + feelings (usually isn’t objective)
2) doesn’t provide reliable data - people are reporting their experiences which can’t be confirmed
What is reductionism?
1) idea that things can be reduced to simple cause-and-effect processes
2) underlying structure of human experience can be broken down into smaller, measurable parts - measured by introspection
What is structuralism?
Breaking down human thoughts + experiences into basic components
What features make something a science?
1) objectivity
2) control
3) predictability
4) hypothesis testing
5) replication
What is objectivity?
Scientific observations should be recorded without bias + not influenced by any other factors/people
What is control?
Scientific observations should take place under controlled conditions
What is predictability?
Scientists should be able to use the results + knowledge gained from experiments to predict future behaviour
What is hypothesis testing?
Theories generate predictions (hypotheses) which can be tested to either strengthen support for the theory/disprove it
What is replication?
Each experiment should be able to be replicated exactly so people can have confidence in the results
What are the arguments for psychology being a science?
1) psychology has the same aims as a science - predict/understand/control
2) behaviourist/cognitive/biological approaches use scientific procedures to investigate theory - controlled + unbiased
What are the arguments against psychology being a science?
1) other approaches in psychology that don’t use objective methods to study behaviour - unreliable (can be biased + interpreted differently by different researchers)
2) hard to get representative sample of population for a study - findings can’t be generalised
3) experiments open to extraneous variable such as demand characteristics - hard to control
What are demain characteristics?
When participants try to guess the aim of the study
What are the 3 main assumptions of behaviourism?
1) nearly all behaviour is learnt
2) animals + humans learn in the same ways
3) the ‘mind’ is irrelevant
What are the contradictions to the idea that all behaviour is learnt?
1) inborn reflexes - blinking when we get dirt in our eyes
2) inborn instincts - instinctively running when in some types of danger
3) genetics can influence psychological features
How do animals + humans learn in the same way?
Form stimulus-response associations between stimuli + actions
Why is the ‘mind’ irrelevant?
1) can’t directly observe + measure person’s thinking
2) can only rely on measurable data by studying behaviour
3) cognitive abilities may give more complete explanation of behaviour
How did Pavlov investigate classical conditioning?
1) dogs salivate when seeing food - reflex action
2) food=unconditioned stimulus
3) salivation=unconditioned stimulus
4) when Pavlov gave food, he would ring a bell
5) after several times, rang bell without giving food
6) bell alone caused salivation
7) bell=conditioned stimulus
8) salivation=conditioned response
What are the principles of classical conditioning?
1) generalisation
2) discrimination
3) extinction
4) spontaneous recovery
5) higher order conditioning
What is generalisation?
Stimuli similar to conditioned stimulus produce conditioned response
What is discrimination?
Stimuli similar to original conditioned stimulus don’t produce conditioned response - can be achieved by withholding unconditioned stimulus when similar stimulus used
What is extinction?
Conditioned response isn’t produced as a result of conditioned stimulus - when conditioned stimulus repeatedly presented without unconditioned stimulus following it
What is spontaneous recovery?
Previously extinct conditioned response produced in response to conditioned stimulus - when conditioned stimulus presented again after period of time where it has not been used
What is higher order conditioning?
New conditioned stimulus produces conditioned response because animal associates it with original conditioned stimulus - achieved by consistently presenting new conditioned stimulus before original conditioned stimulus
What type of conditioning is applied to reflexive responses?
Classical conditioning
What is positive reinforcement?
When something ‘desirable’ is obtained in response to doing something
What is negative reinforcement?
When something ‘undesirable’ is removed when something happens
Give an example of positive reinforcement.
Giving a chocolate bar to a well-behaved child to encourage future behaviour
Give an example of negative reinforcement.
Being told by the teacher that you’ll have no extra homework if you pass your test
How did Skinner (1938) show operant conditioning using rats?
1) created a ‘Skinner box’ + placed one rat in at a time
2) Skinner box contained different stimuli - speaker/lights/floor which gave electric shock/food dispenser (released food when lever was pressed)
3) hungry rat placed in Skinner box
4) time taken for rats to learn that pressing lever would release food was recorded
What were the findings of Skinner (1938) where he showed operant conditioning using rats?
1) rat would run around cage until it accidentally pressed lever + was rewarded with food
2) the more the rat was put back into the box, the quicker they got at learning where the lever was
3) rats found pressing lever could prevent something unpleasant - avoid receiving electric shock
What is a strength of Skinner (1938)?
Hugely influential in promoting idea of behavioural psychology
What is a weakness of Skinner (1938)?
1) used animals - results might not be generalisable to humans
2) small sample size - reduces reliability of results
What is a strength of conditioning?
1) lots of evidence to show animals + humans can learn by conditioning
What is a weakness of conditioning?
1) most research involves animals - generalising to humans is difficult
2) more research into human conditioning would be useful different
3) species have different capacities for learning by conditioning
4) some species may learn by simple observation - no reinforcement needed
5) genetics influence + limit what different species can learn by conditioning
6) experiments into learning in animals may be seen as unethical - researchers must conduct cost-benefit analysis of whether it’s acceptable to use animals + they must ensure any animals are well looked after
Is Skinner (1938) classical conditioning or operant conditioning?
Operant conditioning
How did Watson and Rayner (1920) show classical conditioning on Little Albert?
1) 11-month-old boy ‘Little Albert’ showed no fear of white fluffy objects (rats/rabbits)
2) white rat placed placed in front of Little Albert
3) as Little Albert reached for rat, metal bar was struck loudly behind his head - repeated twice + 5 more times a week later
What were the findings of Watson and Rayner (1920) where they classically conditioned Little Albert?
1) fear response to white fluffy objects had been conditioned
2) when shown a rat, Little Albert started to cry - extended to other white fluffy objects (white Santa Claus beard)
What does the study of Little Albert show?
1) fear response to white fluffy objects had been conditioned
2) abnormal behaviour can be learned
What is a weakness of Watson and Rayner (1920) where they classically conditioned Little Albert?
1) unethical
2) not everyone develops fear/phobia after a negative situation
3) lacks ecological validity - laboratory study + artificial situation
What is a strength of operant conditioning?
1) token economy used in institutions such as prisons + hospital for behaviour modification - appropriate behvaiour rewarded with tokens which can be exchanged for priveleges
2) token economy used to treat patients with schizophrenia found their behaviour become more appropriate
3) Skinner (1938) - highly controlled conditions used to discover cause + effect relationship between variables
4) nurture side of nature/nuture debate - learning occurs due to environmental factors + external stimuli rather than nature + biology (manipulating environmental factors can have effect on learning + behaviour)
What is a weakness of operant conditioning?
1) Skinner (1938) - ignores free will (suggest past experiences involving operant conditioning will affect future behaviour + animals/people have no control over actions or behaviours)
2) Skinner (1938) - unethical (rats + pigeons placed in Skinner box in stressful conditions which could have negative effect on psychological + physical health of animals)
3) Skinner (1938) - results gained from animals + may not be applicable to humans
4) ignores biological approach - behaviour is not learnt but heavily influenced by genes/hormones/bichemical + neural mechanisms
5) other approaches must be considered when examining influences upon behaviour
7) cannot explain all behaviours (do people learn how to be aggressive?)
What does the social learning theory explain?
How behaviour is learnt
What processes need to take place for learning to happen?
1) modelling
2) imitation
3) identification
4) vicarious reinforcement