Approaches in Psychology Flashcards
Describe the three main assumptions of the behaviorist approach.
Behaviorists believe nearly all behavior is learnt.
Aside from a few natural inborn instincts, like gripping as a baby, sucking your thumb or blinking when dirt gets in your eye, behaviorists believe that conditions such as schizophrenia or other mental illnesses stem from what sufferers experienced at a different part off their lives.
Behaviorists believe animals learn in the same way as humans.
This is reflected in Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner’s studies - they were done on rats and dogs and the results of the study were later concluded reflecting human behavior.
They believe the principles by the way we learn are the same as animals, for example they believe the same way we learn to drive a car is the same way a cat or dog learns to pee in specific areas instructed by their owner.
As a result, they can use animals in studies following the assumption it is ecologically valid on humans.
Behaviorists believe the ‘mind’ is irrelevant. In other words, they do not consider cognitive processes.
Other approaches, such as the cognitive approach, understand that there are mediational processes that take place before a response when a stimuli is seen which allow people to react in different ways.
However, the behaviorists ignore mediational processes are they are unscientific in nature (behaviorists try to study psychology scientifically) and so only look at the stimuli and response of a study.
Describe the practical benefits of using animals in research reflecting the behaviorist approach.
The practical benefits of using animals in this regard is:
They are easier to keep and maintain
Are more likely to act ‘natural’ - more ecologically valid as they are not usually wary they are in a study.
Things can be done with them that can’t be done on humans.
Outline Ivan Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning theory, and the experiment that developed It.
Classical Conditioning is a psychological behaviorist theory developed by Ivan Pavlov.
The theory states that learning is made from associations, initially from an unconditioned stimuli.
For example, Pavlov was trying to experiment how dogs salivation allowed them to digest food, and so every time he opened the door he would give them food.
He realized, after repeated feedings after opening the door, that the dogs would be salivating before the food was even given. He decided to test this:
Whenever Pavlov gave his dogs food, he would ring a bell initially before giving them food right after. He did this procedure multiple times and the dogs would successfully salivate, but with the presence of the unconditioned stimulus (the food).
Pavlov attempted to ring the bell without actually giving any food to the dogs, in which he realized the dogs had developed an association with the ringing of the bell directly with the food that would be given after. The salivation as a result of a bell is a response which was conditioned into the dogs, as well as the conditioned stimulus, the bell.
Naturally, dogs wouldn’t salivate to a bell, but Pavlov successfully developed an association within the dogs that linked the bell with food which would make them naturally salivate.
This theory was then made and is seen to be applicable to humans as behaviorists believe animals learn the same way as humans.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of Ivan Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning experiment.
Disadvantages:
Classical Conditioning is only applicable to reflex actions, such as salivation or vomiting.
This means Classical Conditioning, in a practical field, is limited in what it can explain as not all actions are reflexive.
Regardless of the belief of the behaviorists, dogs aren’t exactly the same as humans and so many will see the experiment to be ecologically invalid as some people believe humans think differently to animals.
Advantages:
Extremely scientific, every single thing that was measured and concluded went from quantifiable evidence, from the salivation (measured from a needle which collected the saliva from the dogs) to the actual food and bell given.
Good practical benefit, this theory has led to the development of Aversion Therapy as well as many other treatments regarding addiction and mental illness.
Outline the Little Albert experiment, as well as what it demonstrated.
The Little Albert Experiment demonstrated that classical conditioning - the association of a particular stimulus or behavior with an unrelated stimulus or behavior - works in human beings. In this experiment, a previously unafraid baby was conditioned to become afraid of a rat.
John Watson was a Psychologist that experimented with a 9 month old called Albert.
He wanted to see the effect of classical conditioning on humans, and he knew that Albert had no fear of rats or white fluffy objects initially, and wanted to condition a feeling of fear using the principle Ivan Pavlov used, but on an actual human being.
He knew that loud noises made Albert cry and feel fear, and so every time he showed the white fluffy rat to albert, he would then produce a loud noise which made him feared and cry.
After several attempts of the same thing, producing a loud noise making Albert scared near a white, fluffy rat, he then showed the rat to albert without making the loud noise.
Albert would cry and be fearful of the white, fluffy rat, even though he didn’t at the start, as he began to associate the loud noises he was fearful of to the rat. This demonstrated Classical Conditioning can be done on humans in the same way.
Albert was also scared of other white, fluffy objects as he had associated them, also, with the noise, maybe because they had looked similar to the rat.
Produce a Classical Conditoning formula from the little albert study.
US = Loud noise
CS = White rat
CR or UR = Fear
US -> UR
Little Albert had a reflexive, unconditioned response of fear when shown a loud noise. This did not apply to the rat, initially.
US + CS -> UR = Fear
John Watson produced a loud bang with the presence of a white rat he was not scared of.
This builds up the association of the white rat with the loud bang as it’d only happen as the white rat was present.
CS -> CR
Albert is scared as he expects a loud bang from a white rat as it used to be.
However, this time, there is none, but he is still scared as he associates the white rat with an incoming loud bang.
Explain an ethical issue regarding John Watson’s experiment with Little Albert.
The experiment was traumatic for Little Albert - he may develop a phobia of white, fluffy objects or rats in the upcoming future from something that was very preventable.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages regarding john Watson’s experiment with Little Albert.
Advantages:
Suggested and proved that Classical Conditioning can be done on humans. This is because he had followed the formula and conditioned Albert to be scared of something he was not initially cared of before.
Disadvantages:
Very unethical - Albert may develop phobias in the future and may even press charges against Watson.
Albert was 9 months old… There are tons of scientific evidence suggesting that young children develop much faster than older people and so the process of classical conditioning manipulating Albert’s reflexes can be seen as much easier to do than trying to do it to a 60 year old… This is one way his study was not representative and did not prove classical conditioning could be done on all humans.
Extremely unrepresentative - other ages should’ve been used for a meaningful conclusion, or at least more people.
Outline Operant Conditioning.
Operant Conditioning is a psychological behaviorist theory that suggests individuals learn from the consequences of their actions.
Outline 2 Operant Conditioning consequences.
Positive reinforcement - when something which is seen as ‘desirable’ is given to a person with good behavior to encourage good behavior.
For example, you may give a chocolate bar to a child which demonstrates good behavior to encourage the good behavior - it may incentivize the child to keep its good behavior.
Negative reinforcement - When something ‘undesirable’ is removed from you upon doing something.
For example, a child might hate homework but might be told by their teacher that they won’t give the child homework if they pass their test. This can motivate the child to do better to get rid of that negative stimulus.
Outline B.F Skinner’s experiment on rats, on both negative and positive reinforcement.
B.F Skinner had a box called the ‘Skinner Box’ - a box which consisted of various stimuli, such as a floor which toggles an electric shock, a light and a lever.
The lever, when pressed, produced food. When a hungry rat was put in the box, it would run around the box until it accidentally pressed the lever.
Initially unaware the lever gave out food to the rat, it got positively reinforced as it got rewarded by food for pressing the lever, encouraging the behavior.
Skinner recorded the time it would take for the rat to touch the lever each time it was hungry after each incident of hitting the lever. Following the theory of operant conditioning, the rat would have been positively reinforced food as a consequence from hitting the lever, meaning it should press the lever at a faster speed.
Indeed, when the rat was put in the lever hungry for the second time after hitting the lever the first time, it was able to press the lever much faster, and even faster as time went on for each repeat. This showed that operant conditioning occurs in animals.
To test for negative reinforcement, the rat would be put in a skinner box where the floor’s electric shock configuration would be turned on. In order for it to be turned off, the rat would have to press the lever (which it was not aware would turn it off).
The pressing of the lever getting rid of the electric shock featured negative reinforcement, as the removal of an undesirable stimuli was caused from something else.
Indeed, as operant conditioning shows, the rat was able to realize the consequence of the removal of the undesirable stimulus was the lever, and so every time the electric configuration was turn off to deliver a shock to the rat, it was able to get to the lever much faster as it realized the consequence of pressing the lever turned off the electric shock, something the rat didn’t want.
Highlight the disadvantages and advantages of B.F Skinner’s experiment on rats outlining Operant Conditioning.
Disadvantages:
Firstly, the experiment was done on rats. Regardless of behaviorist belief, some people believe that rats do behave differently to humans, and so making the study ecologically invalid.
Unethical - the rat experienced distress during negative reinforcement where it was shocked with electricity.
Humans have different mediational processes than rats - something behaviorists don’t consider and so this may cause them to react differently if they were used in the experiment compared to a rat.
Advantages:
Very scientific and quantitative - Skinner used a laboratory experiment with operationalized measurements, such as the use of seconds and minutes scientifically proving the time at which the rat needed to press the lever each time depending on the stages of the experiment, leading to a reliable and replicable conclusion.
Evaluate the strengths and limitations of the behaviorist theory.
Disadvantages:
While conditioning offers a lot of evidence towards humans and animals learning by consequences and associations, it can’t explain all human behavior to learning, as we can also learn by observation.
Most research into conditioning has involved animals. This means that the behaviorist approach is ecologically invalid and has caused a lot of issues regarding the behaviorist approach, as further testing will have had to be done in order for the conditioning theories to be applied to real life to suggest any ecological validity between humans - animals and humans just don’t think the same way.
As well as this, most research into conditioning did not use a variety of animals - the lack of variety makes the studies badly generalizable regarding even animals themselves as not all animals think the same way.
Animal testing, as well as behaviorist experiments involving humans, is seen as unethical, especially with the negative reinforcement of rats in B.F Skinner’s experiments and Little Albert being given fears.
Advantages:
Conditioning has led to a myriad of practical benefits, such as aversion therapy which is used as a last ditch effort to get people out of drug addictions, saving some people’s lives.
Conditioning is scientifically credible - the use of highly controlled quantitative research allows for results to be reliable and replicable.
Some studies into conditioning are fully ethical, such as the research Pavlov did with his dogs which did not demonstrate any harm to the dogs.
Describe Aversion Therapy.
Aversion Therapy is a type of behavioral therapy developed from the theory of Classical Conditioning.
It involves associating the usage of something that would once be harmless to a distressing reflex, for example, vomiting.
This is used in the real world as a last ditch effort to get drug addicts to stop using drugs, leading to many saved lives.
Make a classical conditioning formula with the given scenario:
When you are given food, you begin to salivate. After a while, the person who provides food rings a bell beforehand giving food, leading you to associate the bell with food and causing you to salivate.
US = Food | UR = Salivation
US = Food + Bell | UR = Salivation
CS = Bell | CR = Salivation
Describe Systematic Desensitization and it’s process.
Systematic Desensitization is a process used to treat phobias using the theory of Classical Conditioning.
Therapists will often use this technique in order to treat people’s phobias. Firstly, a phobia must be described by the patient, for example, spiders.
The patient may be extremely scared of large spiders, but not as scared as smaller spiders and as a result the therapist can then use something called an anxiety hierarchy.
An anxiety hierarchy is a list of stimuli, for example, spiders, which are ordered in a hierarchy from least scary to scariest while still causing a phobia in the patient. A low anxiety hierarchy may be a small spider and a high one might be a tarantula.
The therapist will then expose the animal with the smallest anxiety hierarchy first. The person that has a phobia of the spider will firstly associate the spider with a reflex of fear, being very scared of it irrationally. However, the longer the person is told to relax by the therapist and stays longer with the spider, it will learn to associate relaxation with the spider and not to be feared as much.
This will be repeated over and over again until the established phobia is eradicated from the smallest part of the anxiety hierarchy.
This process is repeated over and over again, from the lowest anxiety hierarchy right up to the highest, and once the patient can stay relaxed near the spider with the highest anxiety hierarchy, it is said that the process of systematic desensitization is complete.
Describe the Token Economy System.
The Token Economy System is a system built on operant conditioning, used frequently in psychiatric hospitals and prison facilities.
The Token Economy System is a simple, artificial currency system which establishes an economy within the building that it’s set in.
It is used to keep people behaving correctly by operant conditioning, by rewarding a token to people who do desirable habits, such as being respectful or not speaking out. By doing this, people like prisoners or psychiatric patients may learn to become more respectful as they get rewarded for their good behavior.
The objective use of the token economy makes the positive reinforcement stick, as it can often be used for exchanging goods leading to desirable things, such as maybe some more food or extra toys, depending on the area.
Outline a beliefs shown in Social Learning Theory that goes against the behaviorist approach.
SLT acknowledged mediational processes between the stimulus and response. Other behaviorist theories do not in order to stay purely scientific.
Outline one of the ways in which people learn from observation in SLT.
Vicarious Reinforcement - observing others get rewarded for a particular behavior may influence you to imitate the observed behavior in order to get the same treatment.
Modelling - the process of imitating and observing the behavior of role models, individuals by which you identify with.
If you identify with a certain role models, certain attractive qualities and behaviors may make you much more likely to imitate them.
Role models are often people significant to the observer, like a celebrity, or a parent.
Name and explain the four mediational processes in learning in SLT.
Attention - you must pay active and full attention to the model you are perceiving to make sure you notice and attend to the behavior being shown.
Retention - the behavior must be remembered, as well as the model doing the behavior in order for it to be imitated.
Reproduction - the observer will then decide if they are physically able to reproduce the action shown by the model. If they are less likely to reproduce the action, they are less likely to imitate it.
Motivation - the effect of the behavior is acknowledged. If the behavior will result in a good reward, there’s a much higher chance the behavior will be imitated.
Describe research into SLT.
Albert Bandura and others researched into SLT, a theory which stated that learning can be made from observations.
Firstly, Bandura set up a matched pairs group, consisting of 36 boys and 36 girls, with a mean age of 52 months.
Bandura separated the children into three groups (children were matched by their rating of aggressive behavior at their nursery).
In each group except one, the children would go in a room with adults in which modelled behavior to them. The room would have non-aggressive toys and aggressive toys, with a bobo doll.
In one group, the adults played aggressively with the bobo doll, hammering it with a mallet in the room. The children in that group would observe the behavior modelled to them.
In another group, the adults did not play aggressively with the bobo doll and ignored it mostly - they played peacefully and non-aggressively with the appropriate toys.
In the last group, the children were not given adults to observed. This is known as a control group.
After the adults in the 2 groups stopped playing with the dolls after displaying very different behavior, they left the room and the children were able to play with the toys themselves.
The children that were previously modelled a very aggressive usage of toys displayed a much more aggressive nature, attacking the bobo doll with a mallet and playing with it violently.
The children that were previously modelled a very non-aggressive usage of toys displayed a much less aggressive nature, barely touching the bobo doll and sticking to more peaceful toys.
The children that were not shown adults were a little more aggressive than the children that were not aggressive. However, they were not as aggressive as the children that were modelled aggressive behavior.
This study provided evidence for SLT as it showed that behavior can be learnt from observation.
The differences in the modelling for each group shows more in depth information, as it suggested that children that get modelled behavior from role models are more likely to imitate what was shown.
The usage of a control group suggested that there was a legitimate difference in aggression caused by the modelling of the behavior by the adults.
Evaluate research into SLT.
Disadvantages:
Bandura’s study into SLT was laboratory. This meant that it is lacking in ecological validity, as the experiment was not done in a natural setting, thus making the experiment less representative of the general population.
Bandura’s sample was not representative regarding age - the mean age of the participants were 52 months. This means that generalizing the study to a population will not be representative as populations mean age are much higher.
All the children were white from middle-class families, once again making the sample extremely unrepresentative of the general population as a whole.
Advantages:
Highly controlled laboratory experiment showed a clear cause and effect, thus making it fairly scientifically credible.
Highly replicable - this can be applied to real life rather easily and thus practical benefits can be shown from it in parenting.
What is the Cognitive Approach?
The Cognitive Approach is an approach to psychology that focuses on unobservable behavior, such as memory.
The Cognitive Approach will try to scientifically observe unobservable behaviors using theoretical models such as the Multi Store Model of Memory.
Fill in A to H:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/352951793187029005/808105395519881246/unknown.png
A = Sensory Input B = Sensory memory C = Short Term Memory D = Long Term Memory E = Forgetting F = Active Attention G = Rehearsal H = Retrieval
Describe how the Multi Store Model of Memory explains how we process information into memory.
Firstly, information must be picked upon, usually by the eyes in which it is picked up and into the first memory store, the sensory memory.
The sensory memory is the part of the memory which has the lowest capacity. It is very easy to forget the information you have sensed if it stays in this stage for a while.
If you pay active attention to the information showed to you, it will be processed further into the short term memory. It is seen to have a higher capacity [5 to 9 units] compared to the sensory memory and forgetting takes a while longer.
To get the information into the long term memory, the information must be rehearsed. For example, repeating the information sub-vocally will allow you to remember it for longer and possibly get it integrated into the long term memory.
Both the sensory and short term memory are seen to have finite capacity.
In the long term memory, you have a much lower chance of forgetting information and often remembering it may cause retrieval, a process in which information goes back from the long term memory into the short term memory.
The long term memory is seen to have infinite capacity and duration. However, retrieval means bringing the memory back into the short term memory into conscious mind.
Who developed the Multi Store Model of Memory?
Atkinson and Shiffrin
George Miller created the name of what famous psychological article on memory?
Magic number seven - plus or minus two
Describe evidence for the George Miller’s famous article on the Multi Store Model of Memory, as shown by Jacobs in 1887
Jacobs (1887) provided evidence for the finite capacity of the short term memory.
The finite capacity was firstly stated in Miller’s (1956) article - magic number seven - plus or minus two, which stated that the short term memory had a capacity of 9 to 5 units.
He used a test called the digit span test, a test used commonly to test the cognitive abilities of a person’s short term memory.
He got people to remember and recall almost all letters in the alphabet and numbers in orderly fashion.
He was able to get a range of results, realizing that people found it easier to recall numbers than letters. The average amount of numbers recalled were 9.3, while the average amount of letters recalled were 7.3.
These results are complementary to Miller’s statement and provide evidence for his theory.
Describe what Miller’s article (magic number seven - plus or minus two) states about the Multi Store Model of Memory.
Miller’s article states that the Multi Store Model of Memory’s Short Term Memory has a finite capacity of 9 to 5 ‘units’ (7 plus or minus two).
Explain why cognitive psychologists find it useful to even use computers to compare to humans in the first place.
As computers developed in the 1950s and 1960s, the analogy between the human brain and a computer was formed.
People began to see similarities in how computers and humans make sense of information.
Cognitive Psychologists use computer models to represent particular features of the human mind.
Describe a disadvantage and advantage of Miller’s theory on Short Term Memory capacity.
Disadvantage:
There is no expansion onto what an ‘unit’ is - Miller did not describe exactly what is defined as a unit and this can be an issue as a number is considered in the same field as something like the definition of a word, which is usually seen as harder to remember.
Advantage:
Practical benefits have risen from the theory.
Firstly, schools are able to take advantage of their understanding of Short Term Memory from George Miller to offer an education system which compliments the way children remember things.
For example, since the capacity of the Short Term Memory is finite, schools may allow students more time to absorb longer pieces of information to make sure it is processed fully than just cramming information that is likely lost.
Label A to K:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/352951793187029005/808412492246155285/unknown.png
A = Information passed into through stimulus, e.g. keyboard press
B = Computer processor transforms the information
C = Information transformed and displayed onto the monitor of the computer
D = Signals passed through wires
E = Data input F = Data Processing G = Data output
H = Information comes in by the outside world picked up by sensory organs
I = Brain to process information
J = Information passed out of the brain in order to cause the reaction
K = Signals passed through neurons
Outline differences and similarities between computers and humans from the ability to process information and variables which control it.
Differences:
Humans feel emotions, computers do not - this can cause humans to act in a different way
Humans in the cognitive approach are seen to have unobservable processes, such as memory. This means a humans reaction to something will vary between any human, which is not seen in computers, as if they are all written by the same code, they all react in the exact same way.
Humans’ memories are not transferable. Computers’ memories are.
Certain variables must be put in place for humans to react in a proper way. For example, humans retention is variable but a working computers retention is fixed.
Humans have free will, computers don’t.
Similarities:
Both humans and computers transfer signals to other parts of themselves, whether by wires or neurons.
Both humans and computers need to process information, whether by the brain or a processor.
Both humans and computers transform information given to them, which are then turned into actions, motor or not.
