Approaches into Psychology Flashcards
Wundt’s Introspection
Where a ppt is given a stimulus, and is then trained to recall all their thoughts to do with this stimulus.
- Involves examination of one’s thoughts
What did Wundt do?
Separated psychology as a science from philosophy, physiology, and biology.
- Founded first psychology lab in Germany
Theory of Structuralism
Studying the structure of the mind through introspection or internal reflection
What are the main 5 Behaviourist Assumptions
- Most behaviour is learnt directly (except innate reflexes)
- Behaviour depends on its consequences
- Animals and humans learn the same way
- The mind is irrelevant
- The key form of learning is Conditioning
Unconditioned
Regular act/response before conditioning (unlearnt)
Conditioned
A learnt act in response to a stimulus which isn’t regularly associated
Stimulus
Cause of a response/act, can be un/conditioned
Association
Correlating a stimulus to a response
Reinforcement
Something to increase the likelihood of an action/behaviour being repeated
Positive Reinforcement
Receiving a reward to increase likelihood of an action/behaviour being repeated
Negative Reinforcement
Acting to avoid something unpleasant to increase likelihood of repetition
Punishment
Unpleasant consequence of behaviour to reduce likelihood of repetition
Operant Conditioning
Learning through reinforcement & consequences
Classical Conditioning
Learning through association
Pavlov’s experiment
Studied salivation in dogs as an expectant response to being fed, through using a small tube in the dog’s cheek which measures the amount of saliva produced.
- NS (bell) -> No Response / UCS (food) -> UCR (saliva)
- NS + UCS -> UCR
- CS (bell) -> CR (saliva)
Strengths of Behaviourism
- Uses controlled lab experiments (pavlov/skinner, scientific credibility)
- Has real life application (understandings for treatments for phobias & addictions - token ecomomy)
Limitations of Behaviourism
- Deterministic (very little free will as only env. shapes behaviour)
- Reductionist (ignores other factors like hormones)
- Nature/Nurture (ignores bio as it’s nurture)
Social Learning Theory
Believes behaviour is learnt from social environment through observation and imitation
Vicarious Reinforcement
The frequency of certain behaviors increases as a result of observing others rewarded for the same behaviors
Modelling
Individuals learn a particular behaviour through observing a model performing that behaviour
Imitation
Action of using someone or something as a model and copying their behaviour
Identification
Form of influence where an individual adopts an attitude/behaviour in order to be associated with a particular group/person
Mediational Processes
The internal mental processes that exist between environmental stimuli and the response made by an individual to those stimuli
What are the 4 Mediational processes?
Attention
Retention
Motor Reproduction
Motivation
Attention
The extent to which we notice certain behaviours
Retention
How well the behaviour is remembered
Motor Reproduction
The ability of the observer to perform the behavior
Motivation
The will to perform the behaviour,which is based of whether the behaviour was rewarded or punished
Strengths of SLT
- Cause & Effect as it uses scientific methods
- Real Life Application (contributed to understandings of aggression and gender development & formed basis for phobia treatments)
- Explains a large number of behaviours & a range of processes
Limitations of SLT
- Overrelies on evidence from lab studies that lack ext. validity
- Punishments/rewards are subjective so may be individual differences
- Lacks population validity as BOBO DOLL uses ppts from one location (stanford uni)
Cognitive Approach
Focuses on how internal mental processes affect behaviour
Schema
A cognitive framework that helps to organise and interpret incoming information in the brain
Inference
Reaching a logical conclusion based on evidence and reasoning
Reasons Schemas aren’t useful
- Contribute to negative stereotypes & make it difficult to retain new info that don’t fit preestablished ideas
- Schemas develop in childhood & are usually resistant to change
- If left unmanaged, they can cause negative patterns that are inforced by unhealthy interactions
- Once a schema is developed, it can unconsciously influence your thoughts & actions
Reasons Schemas are useful
- Help predict what will happen happen in the world based on our experiences
- Enable us to process vast amounts of information rapidly
- Prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
Strengths of Cognitive Approach
- The methods are highly controlled
- The approach is used w/ cognitive neuroscience so it has practical and theoretical applications
- Soft deterministic
- Takes into account unobservable processes
Limitations of Cognitive Approach
- Dependent on controlled experiments, so lacks ecological validity & mundane realism
- Subjective as unobservable processes can only be inferred
- Doesn’t consider genetics
- Machine Reductionism: comparing humans to machines ignores emotional and motivational factors
Theoretical Models
- Simplified representations of cognitive processes based on current research evidence
- Often are incompltete & are frequently changed, updated, and refined
Computer Models
- The process of using computer analogies as a representation of human cognition
- Development of computers and computer programming led to interpret the way sensory information is coded as it passes through the system
- information is inputted through senses, encoded into memory & then combined with previous information to complete a task
Cognitive Neuroscience
An area of psychology dedicated to the underlying neural basis of cognitive functions
What do Cognitive Neuroscientists do?
They are able to study the brain and collct detailed information about the brain structures involved in different kinds of mental processing
Phenotype
Characteristics that form a group
Genotype
A set of genes that form a group
Hormone
Chemical transmitters that play a role separate from the CNS
CNS
Part of the nervous system that consists of the brain & spinal cord
Neurotransmitters
A signalling mollecule secreted by a neuron to affect another cell across a synapse
Evolution
The change in heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations
Concordance Rates
Extent to which both members of a pair have a particular attribute
Mz
One fertilised egg that splits - identical twins
Dz
Two eggs that are fetilised separately - non-identical twins
What are the main assumptions of the biological approach?
- All behaviour has a biological root
- Twin studies can be used to determine whether particular behaviours have a genetic basis
Twin Studies
Involve comparison between sets of identical twins (Mz) & sets of non-identical twins (Dz) to give an indication of how much a specific behaviour may be genetic and/or environmental
Theory of Evolution
Proposed by Darwin which states that any genetically determined trait that enhances survival & reproduction will contrinure in future generations and any characteristics that are not suited to a species’ environment will die out as it struggles to survive
Strengths of Biological Approach
- Uses scientific methods that gather data without researcher bias, and are more likely to be valid
- Has real life application as it increases the understanding of biochemical processes in the brain to develop successful treatments (e.g. psychoactive drugs for depression)
Limitations of Biological Approach
- The approach claims to have discovered causes when there’s only an association, no cause & effect
- Deterministics as it argues all behaviour is shaped by biology but doesn’t consider free will
- Can’t separate nature/nurture as it overlooks confounding variables of sharing the same environment
What are the 4 Main assumptions of the Psychodynamic Approach?
- The conscious mind is only a very small part of what influences our behaviour
- Behaviour and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious motives
- The preconscious contains throughts and feeling that a person is not currently aware of, but which can easily be brought to consciousness
- All behaviour has a cause (usually unconscious) and is determined
Conscious
What we’re actually aware of
Preconscious
Awawreness - dreams & parapraxes (e.g. Freudian slip)
Unconscious
Unaware of but influences behaviour and personality, consists of biological urges & repressed memories
What are the 3 components of the Psyche
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
Id
- Works on the Pleasure Principle, and the idea that every wishful impulse should be immediately satisfied
- Present from birth
- “Selfish”
Ego
- Works on the Reality Principle, and thus mediates between the unrealistic id & external real world
- Develops around age 2
- Works out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society
- Mainly unconscious
Superego
- Works on the Morality Principle, and the ides of right and wrong
- Develops around age 5
- Controls the id’s impulses, especially those forbid by society
- Persuades the ego to turn to moralistic goals
Defence Mechanisms
- Employed by the ego to deal with conflict/stress/anxiety
- Operate at an unconscious level & are involuntary
- If used too frequently, it can lead to mental illness
Repression
Unconcscious mechanism to keep disturbing/threatening thoughts from becoming conscious as they would otherwise result in feelings of guilt
Displacement
Redirection of an (often aggressive) impulse onto a powerless subject
Denial
Blocking out external events from awareness. When overwhelmed, they refuse to experience it or accept reality
What are the 5 Psychosexual Stages & when do they occur?
Oral - 0-1years
Anal - 1-3years
Phallic - 3-5years
Latency - 5years-puberty
Genital - Puberty
What happens in the Oral Stage?
Sucking, swallowing, sees the mother’s breast as an object of desire
Consequence of a fixation in the Oral Stage
Smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical
What happens in the Anal Stage?
Requires ‘potty training’, withholding & expelling faeces
Consequence of a fixation in the Anal Stage
Anally Retentive - perfection, obsessive
Anally Expulsive - messy, thoughtless
What happens in the Phallic Stage?
Genital area, Oedipus & Electra Complex
Consequence of a fixation in the Phallic Stage
Phallic Personality - Narcissistic, reckless, possible homosexual (if male)
What happens in the Latency Stage?
Earlier conflicts are repressed - no conflict
Consequence of a fixation in the Latency Stage
Has no consequence as there’s no conflict
What happens in the Genital Stage?
Sexual desires become conscious alongside puberty
Consequence of a fixation in the Genital Stage
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
Oedipus Complex
- The boy develops sexual desire for his mother
- The boy recognises the father as a powerful rival & fears he will castrate him
- To resolve anxiety, the boy gives up his love for his mother & identifies with his father, internalising both his male identity & father’s superego
What happens if the Oedipus/Electra Complexes are left unresolved?
The child will be confused about their gender identity
Electra Complex
- The girl becomes unconsciously aware that she doesn’t have a penis & believes she’s been castrated
- The girl blames her mother & sees herself and her mother as powerless
- The girl sexually desires a penis & therefore desires her father due to penis envy
- The girl fears losing the love of her mother & converts the penis envy into desire for a baby, identifying with her mother & internalising the female identity and mother’s superego
Why did Freud state that the identification with the mother isn’t as strong as boys with their father?
Freud believed that the girl’s fear of their mother isn’t as strong as the boy’s fear for her father, so therefore the identification with the mother isn’t as strong.
Little Hans
- At age 5, Hans developed a fear of horses and feared they may bite him - specifically white horses wearing blinkers
- Freud interpreted this as the horse symbolising Hans’ father as Little Hans was going through the Oedipus Complex
- As Hans’ father was pale and wore glasses, he almost looked like these horses
- When Hans’ father talked to him, Hans overcame his fear
Strengths of the Psychodynamic Approach
- Has high explanatory power as it’s used to explain a wide range of occurrences (e.g. gender development & abnormal behaviour)
Limitations of the Psychodynamic Approach
- The case study method can’t make universal claims based on one ppt & can’t generalise
- Subkective as it is based on opinion and lacks scientific backing
- Unfalisifiable as it can’t be empirically tested, and can never be sure if it’s right or wrong
- Psychic Deterministic as it ignores free will which is important as it is necessary to believe you have a choice
What are the main assumptions of the Humanist Approach?
- Every person has their own unique way of perceiving & understanding the world
- Claims humans are self-determining & have free will
- Biology & environment do have an effect but individual shave control
- Holistic, so studies the whole person
Maslow
- Created a hierarachy of needs
- Said people are motivated to achieve certain needs & if a need isn’t met, we will be motiated to meet it
- The purpose of learning is an innate drive to reach our full potention, or SELF-ACTUALISE
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- Self-actualisation
- Esteem
- Social: Belonging & Love
- Safety
- Physiological
Self-Actualisation Level
Reaching your full potential (Growth Need)
Esteem Level
The self-worth, having a high view of yourself (Deficiency Need)
Social Level
Feeling belonging & love, friendships & relationships are satisfied and wanting them (Deficiency Need)
Safety Level
Feeling secure and safe (Deficieny Need)
Physiological Level
Basic needs for survival, e.g. thirst & hunger (Deficiency Need)
Rogers’ Main Assumptions
- For a person to fully develop/grow, they need an environment that provides them with genuineness, acceptance (unconditional positive regard), and empathy
- Whether a person reaches self-actualisation or not is dependent on the gap between the way the individual sees themselves (self-image) and the person they want to be (ideal self)
- If their self-image & ideal self are similar then congruence is achieved & self-actualisation is possible
- If their self-image & ideal self aren’t similar, then incongruence occurs & self-actualisation is not possible due to low self-esteem
Self-Image
The way someone views themself
Idea Self
The type of person someone wants to be
Self-esteem/worth
Someone’s opinion of themself
Conditions of worth (Conditional Positive Regard)
Loving someone if they act the way you want them to only
Unconditional Positive Regard
Loving someone no matter what, for who they are and not their actions
Congruence
The self-image & ideal seld are similar & allows for self-actualisation
Incongruence
The self-image & ideal seld are different & leads to low self-esteem
Client Centred Therapy (CCT)
Addressing childhood roots through counselling to help reach self-actualisation
Strengths of the Humanist Approach
- Both Rogers & Maslow have real life application (Rogers - CCT has changed counselling techniques for the better as it looks at how ppts see themselves; Maslow - Students need to feel emotionally & physically safe and accepted within a classroom to progress and reach their full potential)
- It is a positive approach as it promotes a positive image of the human condition unlike other negative approaches, so must be able to help people feel better
Limitations of the Humanist Approach
- The concepts are untestable as self-actualisation cannot be measured empirically so we can’t be sure of the reliability & thus validity of the concepty & explanation as a whole
- Focuses on Western cultures so it ignores all Collectivist cultures, making it culturally bound so it cannot be generalised
- The real life application is limitated as it lacks a sound evidence base (Maslow attempted to formulate the characteristics of self-actualised individuals by looking at biographies but was biased by the researcher and the sample was androcentric)
Sequential Processing
The idea that humans process a single piece of information at a time
Limited Capacity Processing
Individuals selectively attends to only a small portion of the stimulation available, while the vast majority of information remains in the background
