Approaches in psychology Flashcards
Who was Wundt (1832-1920)?
- First psychologist
- Wanted to break things down in most basic parts
- structuralism
- used introspection
Who was James (1842-1910)?
- disagreed with Wundt
- what really mattered was the function of thoughts and behaviour
- Functionalism
Who was Freud (1856-1939)?
- Thought the mind was built in stages
e. g. Deprivation leads to dependency
What was pavlov’s experiment?
He noticed his dogs salivating when they smelt food, he started ringing a bell when he brought food. In the end he just rang a bell and noticed his dogs salivating.
What are the stages of classic conditioning?
Unconditioned stimulus -> Unconditioned response
Neutral stimulus + unconditioned stimulus -> UCR
Conditioned stimulus -> Conditioned response
What was skinner’s experiment?
Skinner put rats into a box without food, if they pressed a button they would get food. Rats would learn to keep pressing it.
Then he made it that the rats would get an electric shock, when they found the button the shock stopped.
Then without warning he reversed the level so that rats got shocked for pressing it, the rats learned not to press it.
What are the stages of empiricism (scientific method)
Theory -> Make a prediction -> Experiment -> observation
What is volunteer sampling?
Advertise and accept applicants
What is opportunity sampling?
Ask whoever is convenient
What is random sampling?
use numbering system/ computer to select random people
What is systematic sampling?
use a list and choose “nth” person
What is stratified sampling?
Define relevant levels then randomly select
What are the strengths and weaknesses of volunteer sampling?
+less time consuming (use first people you get) and easier to get ppts
+Gives a variety of ppt’s so sample is more representative and less biased
+less chance of screw you effect as ppts eager
-volunteer bias (as volunteers are more motivated so different from rest of population)
-volunteers eager to please so demand characteristics likely
What are the strengths and weaknesses of opportunity sampling?
-biased as drawn from a small population so results cannot be generalised
What are the strengths and weaknesses of random sampling?
+unbiased as ppts randomly selected
+unbiased as everyone in a population has an even chance of being picked
-could still be a biased sample as you could randomly select all girls which you can’t generalise
what are the strengths and weaknesses of systematic sampling?
-time consuming as have to list everyone
-not truly random unless you randomly select first name and then do nth term
-can still get a biased sample (e.g. everyone on a street is young
+Likely to represent a population unless you pick people with a certain characteristic
What are the strengths and weaknesses of stratified sampling?
+Likely to be representative as it is proportional and then random
+can be generalised as population is randomly selected
-time consuming
-sample requires knowledge of a population which may not be available
What is the social learning theory?
People learn from others without direct experience.
What are the 4 ways people learn through the SLT?
Modelling- thinking about how to copy
Imitation- Copying the other person
Identification- how you relate to others
Vicarious reinforcement- others are rewarded so you change behaviour to also be rewarded
Write 3 evaluative paragraphs about the behaviourist approach
What 3 points can you write about
P- Reductionist
E- Behaviourists have been accused of ignoring other levels of explanation such as cognitive factors and emotional states. By treating humans as products of conditioning means we ignore the evidence for emotional states.
E- However, Skinner rejected this arguing that internal states are scientifically untestable. He argued that complex behaviours such as talking to other sex can be better studied using reinforcement history of individuaL
L- reductionist thinking, cannot be the sole reason people think
P- Can be applied to therapy
E- Systematic desensitization is a type of therapy based on classic C. Works by replacing CR with a relaxing response so no longer scared
E- effective when battling arachnophobia and aerophobia
L- Therefore can be applied to the real world, showing its economic benefits
P- Poor ecological validity
E-Based on rats and pigeons which are different to humans. Claim humans have free will rather than determined by + - reinforcement
E- skinner argued that free will is actually a product of external influences
L- cannot be generalised,
What are the 2 types of punishment?
Positive- adding something e.g. a slap
Negative- taking something away e.g. no phone
What are the 2 types of reinforcement?
Positive- Get a satisfying consequence when something is done so do it more e.g. get a lollipop when good
Negative- remove something unpleasant e.g. do homework to avoid detention
what was the bobo doll experiment? (1961)
Bandura
- wanted to see how people learned through indirect experience
- Divided 72 nursery children.who he had been observing in their education, grading how aggressive they were out of 5, into 3 groups of 24 (12 boys and 12 girls)
- 24 watched a model acting aggressively towards a doll, 24 watched a non aggressive model and 24 watched no model (control)
- CHildren then played in a room with toys including non aggressive and aggressive toys
- children played for 20 mins and watched through 2 way mirror and noted aggression.
What were the results from the bobo doll experiment?
“mediational processes”
Those who watched the aggressive model were more aggressive than those who had watched a non aggressive model.
Write 3 evaluative paragraphs about the SLT
P- The social learning theory can be applied to to serial killers.
E-For example, in the James Bulger case in 1993 it was found that the 2 murderers had been exposed to aggressive models. One had watched chucky several times and the other had witnessed assault in his home.
E-However this doesn’t fully support the theory as one of the ten year old boys was later discovered to be a psychopath.
L-Therefore the social learning theory cannot be generalized to all killers, as some have other motivations to kill.
P- Can be applied to Health campaigns
E- use models similar to target audience are more likely to bring around identification and greater social learning. Health campaigns use characters that model the desired behaviour of the target audience in terms of physical characteristics, attitudes and behaviours
E-Furthermore, Asenger et al (2006) found that similarity to a model in an anti alcohol campaign lead to a more effective message. Research suggests that some of the message potency may be lost may be lost if difficult to identify.
L- SLT can be applied to real world and has economic benefits as people get fitter
P- Low ecological validity
E-ignores other motivations- SLT says a person learns from gender specific modelling
E- however, a child is exposed to other influences, all of them interacting in complex ways. These include locus of control, medial portrayals and genetic predispositions. AS so many things have an effect it is hard to show that only one thing can
L- therefore cannot explain why everyone acts as they do, showing low ecological validity.
What is the cognitive approach?
Saying the brain works a lot like a computer.
Define the schema theory?
A mental plan, consisting of expectations. We use it to make a decision and to make sense of the world. It is a plan in your head which helps you to do stuff automatically.
What is cognitive neuroscience?
locating different parts of the brain that are associated, with different behaviours.
Recent scanning advances means we can see the physical modules in the brain.
What are the 2 ways we can study the brain in cognitive neuroscience?
PET scan (positron emission tomography) - £2000 a scan fMRI scan (functional magnetic resonance imaging)- £500 a scan
