Approaches P2 Flashcards
Introspection (Wundt)
The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind under controlled conditions, by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations.
- conscious examinations of conscious experiences
- self observing of own thoughts
(e.g by using a ticking metronome)
Wundt’s contribution to the emergence of psychology as a science
- 1879 —>opened first lab dedicated to psychological inquiry in Leipzig Germany
- His work marks the beginning of scientific psychology>Philosophical roots
- Founding father of psychology (first psychologist)
- Idea of introspection (e.g by using a ticking metronome)
- Paved the way for the behaviourist approach and its emphasis on the importance of an empirical method in research
Criticisms of Wundt
1) Highly subjective
- Self report on mental processes so thoughts were not observable (how do we know what they said happened actually occurred) meaning Wundt did not use an empirical method so Difficult to draw predictions (low predictive validity) and lack scientific rigour
2) Unscientific
- Mistakes made by flawed and naive attempts to study the mind
- B.F Skinner argued that his research was unscientific as his research was not empirical (observable) due to subjectivity
Strengths of Wundt
1) Contribution to psychology as a science
- His mistakes made by the flawed and naive attempts to study the mind compared to todays Standards pave the way for the behaviourist approach
- Showed importance of empirical method of research
- BF skinners argument did not matter (that wundts work was unscientific as it was unobservable) on a large scale as they lay the foundation for psychology as a science as we know today.
2) Emphasise importance of controlled settings
- Use lab experiment to control exposure to stimuli which prevented extraneous variables affecting internal validity
- Standardised experiments in a systematic way
- Able to determine causation so validity and reliability increased this increase the scientific credibility of results and procedure
Assumptions of the Behaviourist Approach (4)
-We are born a ‘blank slate’
-all behaviour is learned from experience (nurture)
-animals learn the same way
-only behaviours which are directly observable and can be scientifically measured should be studied
What are the two types of conditioning (behaviourist)
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov’s dog, Watson and little albert)
Operant Conditioning (B.F Skinner)
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov’s dog)
Before Conditioning:
Unconditional stimulus/UCS (food) -> Unconditioned response/UCR (salivation) = unlearned
Neutral Stimulus/NS (bell) -> no response
During Conditioning: (where an association is made)
Unconditional Stimulus/UCS (food) + Neutral stimulus/NS (bell) -> Unconditioned response (salivation)
After Conditioning:
Neutral stimulus is now called the CONDITIONED STIMULUS (bell) -> Conditioned response (salivation)
What step in conditioning is the association made? (when something you sense makes you behave in a certain way)
During conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus is paired with the neutral stimulus to create the unconditioned response
What is the neutral stimulus called after conditioning ?
Conditioned stimulus which creates the conditioned response
Classical Conditioning (Waton/Little Albert)
Before C:
UCS (bang) -> UCR (crying)
NS (white rat) -> no response (no crying)
During C:
UCS (bang) + NS (white rat) -> UCR (crying)
After C:
NS is now called the CS (white rat) -> CR( crying)
Operant Conditioning + the types of reinforcement (B.F Skinner)
= a form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. Possible consequences of behaviour include reinforcement (positive/negative) and punishment
e.g the ‘Skinner Box’ with the rat/pigeon inside, activate lever would be rewarded with food, electric shock
positive reinforcement
when a behaviour is rewarded which makes it more likely to reoccur (e.g gifted, attention)
negative reinforcement
when a behaviour avoids/removes a negative consequence which makes the behaviour more likely to occur (doing hw to avoid a dt, taking antibiotics which may have a side effect to avoid getting ill, cleaning your room to avoid getting nagged at)
punishment
a negative consequence in response to the behaviour which makes the behaviour less likely to reoccur (spanking, yelling, naughty step, detention)
Classical Conditioning definition
A form of learning by association. It occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together (UCS + NS). The NS eventually produces the same response that was first produced by the UCS alone.
- based on reflex responses
Pavlov Dog Experiment explained
Dog would eat food = produce saliva from cheeks
Before food was being given to dog (just by observation), salivation would begin so Pavlov placed a board up in which the dog could not see the food.
Using a ticking metronome would pass through food. Every tie the dog heard the metronome it would associate it with the food, so salivation would begin.
Criticisms of the Behaviourist Approach (DRE)
- Ethical issues: Although the Skinners box experiments allowed behaviourists to maintain a high degree of control over their subjects, it was unethical. Animals were kept in harsh, cramped conditions where they were purposeful kept below their natural weight to make them always hungry.
-Deterministic (negated free will): It sees all behaviours as conditioned by past conditioning experiences. Skinner suggested that everything we do is a sum total of our reinforcement history, thus determining our outcome over our own freewill. Thus, ignoring conscious decision making processes on behaviour.
-Reductionist: Oversimplified the learning process, they ignore human thoughts (mental processes). Therefore, suggesting that learning is more complex than observable behaviour alone, and the private mental processes are also essential.
Positive evaluations of behaviourist approach
- Based on well-controlled research: focused on observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings. By breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus-response units, all extraneous variable were removed: allowing cause and affect relationships tp be established. Thus suggesting behaviourists have scientific credibility.
- Real world application: Operant conditioning shown in token economy systems in prisons where they reward appropriate behaviours with tokens to exchange for privileges. Therefore, increasing the value of the behaviourist approach as it is has widespread application.
The Social Learning Theory assumptions
- the same as the behaviourist approach as it assumes behaviour is learned from the environment and our experiences
- its an extension of the behaviourist approach
- it claims we learn indirectly from others by observing their behaviour and its consequences
- views cognitive processes as being important in learning too (overlooked by behaviourist)
SLT definitions and order
Role models = people significant to us who we might watch
Vicarious Reinforcement = when a role model’s behaviour is positively reinforced, making the observer more likely to imitate the behaviour. (Key factor in imitation)
Imitation = where the observer copies the behaviour show by the role model
Modelling = combined process of observing and subsequently imitating a behaviour shown by a role model
Vicarious punishment = when a role models behaviour results in a negative consequence , making the observer less likely to imitate the behaviour.
Mediational Processes = internal cognitive processes which create a mental representation of the behaviour ( through Attention,Retention, Reproduction,Motivation)
Identification= when an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like them.
Mediational Processes (SLT)
Mediational Processes = internal cognitive processes which create a mental representation of the behaviour. These include paying attention to the behaviour and its consequences, remembering the behaviour and its consequences, believing they have the require motor reproduction skills to reproduce the same behaviour, all which affect the observers motivation to perform the behaviour. (ARRM)
Vicarious Punishment and Vicarious Reinforcement
Punishment = when a role models behaviour results in a negative consequence , making the observer less likely to imitate the behaviour.
Reinforcement = when a role model’s behaviour is positively reinforced, making the observer more likely to imitate the behaviour.
Modelling (SLT)
combined process of observing and subsequently imitating a behaviour shown by a role model
SLT Bandura Bobo doll research
Participants: 4yr olds (36girls/36 boys)
- either watched an aggressive model (adult behaving aggressively towards the doll, punching it) or a non-aggressive adult.
- children were frustrated that they could not play as they were placed in a room with toys which they could not play with
- then moved the children to a different room where there was a hammer and a doll
- behaviour observed through a one way mirror
Findings:
- children reproduced much of the physical and verbal aggressive behaviour exposed to an aggressive adult.
- boys and girls were more likely to reproduce the aggressive behaviour if their role model was the same gender (identification)
- children in non-aggressive condition exhibited virtually no aggression towards the doll.
- boys showed higher levels of aggression compared to girls
Evaluation of SLT (pros)
PROS:
1) Recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning (SOFT DETERMINISM/RECIPRICOL DETERMINISM)
- The SLT states how humans and animals store information about the behaviours of others and use this to make judgments about when it is appropriate to perform these actions. This suggests that the SLT prod dies a more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of Mediational processes. —-> whereas behaviourist approach neither classical/operant conditioning can offer an adequate account of learning on their own.
- We are not merely influence by our external environment but we also exert an influence upon it, through the behaviours we choose to perform. Therefore, it suggest we have some free will in the way we behave, ——> contrasts to behaviourist approach as denies the possibility of us having free will.
2) Real life application
- SLT principles, such as modelling, imitation and reinforcement can account for in real life when children learn from around them and can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies. This increases the value of the approach as it can account for real world behaviour.
Evaluation of SLT (cons)
CONS:
1) Ignores Nature (biological approach)
- Although Bandura claimed that natural biological differences influenced our learning potential, the SLT states that learning is determined by the environment. This is criticised as research has showed that observational learning may be the result of mirror neurons in our brain; these allow us to e,empathise with and imitate people. Therefore, the SLT has underemphasised the rule of the biological influence.
-> boys naturally more agg in Bobo doll exp
2) Lab study
- Participant’s displayed demand characteristics due to the main purpose of the Bobo Doll was to strike it, thus the children were simply behaving i a way they thought was expected. This suggest that the results have low validity as it may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life.
Assumptions of the cognitive approach
- all our behaviour is governed by our internal mental processes; our thoughts and emotions
(e.g language, memory, learning, perception, decision making) - compares us to computers to help us understand internal mental processes (input, information processing , output)
- e.g theoretical expanation of the multi-store model of memory
inference
going beyond the immediate evidence/findings of a study to make assumptions about one or more mental processes that cannot be directly observed
schema
organised packages of knowledge built through experience which helps us process and interpret the world.
(new info can be added to an existing schema or we can make a new schema)
Cohen’s 5 suggestions of ways schemas sort out perception of events (DIFCB)
1) distort memories to fit in with expectations
2) ignore aspects which don’t fit into the activated schema
3) make sense of an event by ‘filling in’ the missing info
4) only need to store central features (not exact)
5) use schema to make a ‘best guess’
- why humans aren’t good eye witnesses
Dicks In Fanny Cums Beautifully
cognitive neuroscience def and aim + importance
The study of how biological processes and structures might influence our thought processes (cognitive and biological approach).
- aim: To relate mental processes to brain structures
= the advancement in technology of MRI and PET scans have enabled scientists to systematically observe and describe the neurological basic of mental processes.
Positive evaluations of the cognitive approach
1) Objective, scientific methods
- Cognitive psychologists employ highly controlled and vigorous methods of study so researchers are able to infer cognitive processes at work. + the emergence of cognitive neuroscience enabled the two fields of biology and cognitive psychology to come together to enhance the scientific basis of the study. Thus the study of the mind has credible scientific basis.
2) Real world application
- Cognitive psychology has made an important contribution in the field of artificial intelligence and the development of robots which may revolutionize the future.
- Been applied to treating depression and improved the reliability of eyewitness testimony, so has more value as has a widespread application.
3) Soft determinism
- The view that human behaviour may be determined by internal and external factors but we also can exert our free will at times. Thus it is more flexible than the behaviourist approach.