Approaches To Psychology Flashcards
Who was the founder of Psychology
Wilhelm Wundt
When and where did Wundt set up the first psychology lab
1879- Leipzig, Germany
What separated psych from philosophy
Controlled, standardised procedures
What experiment did Wundt do and what did it consist of
Ticking metronome- ppts would report images, thoughts and sensations which were systematically reported so it was reliable
What was the ‘scientific way to look into the human mind’
Introspection
What did introspection do
Paved the way to structuralism
What is structuralism
Identifying consciousness by breaking down behavs into their basic elements of thought, images and sensations
What did structuralism do
Marked the beginning of scientific psychology separating it from it broader philosophical roots
Wundt Eval- :) P-scientific methodology
E- Ticking metronome
E- Meant all ppts could be tested the same to check for reliability in findings
L- let Psych est itself as a science as it had an experimental method
Wundt Eval- :( P- subjective and lacked scientific rigour
E- Wundt relied on self-reporting which may have been affected by indiv bias
E- difficult to est meaningful behav inline with aims of science
L- today’s standards would say his methods are naïve
Eval- :) P- wundts research shaped future of Psych
E- the 1st person to attempt to study human behav in a scientific way using controlled and standardised procedures e.g. recording reaction time
E- without wundts contributions, psych may not be the academic subject it is today
L- Most unis have Psych department which have scientific status.
What is meant by behaviouralist approach
A way of explaining behav in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
What is meant by classical conditioning
Learning by association- UCS paired with NS. NS produces same response(CS)
What is meant by operant conditioning
Learning by reinforcement- behav is shaped and maintained by its consequences
What is meant by reinforcement
Consequence of behav (+ or- reinforcement) increases likelihood of behav being repeated
What are the 5 assumptions of behavourism
Observable events- if it isn’t observable it won’t be studied
Scientific- Psych is a science so behav must be measured in highly controlled environments to establish cause and effect
Blank slate (tabula rasa)- we are born as a blank slate and everything is learnt (nothing is inate)
Animal research- findings from animals can be generalised to humans because they believe there is no difference between our learnings
Behaviour S-R response- behaviour is the result of stimulus —> response
Who were the key researchers of Classical Conditioning
Pavlov and Watson
What did Pavlov study
How dogs would be taught to associate a bell with food so it was then shown that they would salivate (indicating that had associated the bell with food)
What did Watson study
Little Albert - a loud gong was hit when a rabbit touched Albert. He then associated the gong with the rabbit which initiated his phobia
Who was the key researcher for operant conditioning
Skinner
What is positive reinforcement
A reward is given when certain behaviour is performed
What is negative reinforcement
When an animal/human avoids something unpleasant
What is punishment
An unpleasant consequence of a behaviour
What was Skinners research
Skinners boxes- rats or pigeons were placed in a box and would move around until they hit a lever on accident. This lever released food and they then learnt through positive reinforcement that each time the lever was pressed they would be rewarded with food
What is meant by environmental determinism
Behaviourists argue that humans have little choice in their behaviour and our behaviour is simply a product of environmental learning
Behaviourism Eval- :) P- contributed to developing recognition of Psych as a science
E- Experimental methods used in animal studies by Pavlov and Skinner
E- Emphasis on scientific method has led to increased valid and reliable understanding in human behaviour
L- Helped Psych gain credibility and status as a science
Behaviourism Eval :) P- Important contributions to our modern understanding of human mental illness
E- e.g. Many phobias are thought to be from previous unpleasant experiences and developed therapies such as systematic desensitisation
E- addictions of gambling can be understood through OC
L- Thus many real life applications
Behaviourism Eval :( P- Too reductionist
E- ignore alternative explanations such as role of cognition, emotion and biological factors
E- skinner countered stating for behaviour to be investigated scientifically it had to be directly measurable and observable, cognition is not any of these
L- the most complex human interactions could be explained by operant conditioning
Behaviourism Eval- :( P- issues with animal extrapolation
E- assumed that findings from animal research can be generalised to humans
E- human brains are qualitatively different to non-human animals
L- means results from animal testing need to be cautiously generalised to humans
What did Bandura propose
The social learning theory
What was the social learning theory
A development of the behaviouralist approach which say in between the behaviouralist approach and the cognitive approach
What makes us more likely to imitate role models
If we identify and admire them
What does vicarious mean
Through others
What is vicarious reinforcement
Learning through rewards or consequences of others (role model) which will motivate the learner to imitate the behaviour of their role model as if they had been rewarded themselves
What is the mediational process
Where we do not automatically observe the actions of our role model, there is a thought process prior to imitation (mediational process) which occurs between the behaviour (stimulus) and imitation (response)
What is attention and retention an example of
Learning
What is motor replication and motivation an example of
Performance
What was Banduras experiment called
Bodo doll
What was the aim of Banduras bodo doll research
To investigate whether aggression can be learned through social learning theory principles
What was the method of Banduras Bodo doll research
72 children (36 boys and 36 girls) aged 3-6 put into groups who were either with an aggressive role model who hit and shouted at the bodo doll, with a non-aggressive role model who played quietly with a construction set and a control group who did not see a model
What were Banduras findings in his “Bodo doll” research
Those who saw aggressive models were more aggressive than those in either of the other two groups. Boys imitated same-sex models more than girls as girl showed more physical aggression if they saw male role models and more verbal aggression if they saw a female model
The conclusion to Banduras “Bodo doll” research is…
Aggressive behaviour can be learned, in children, through observation and initiation of a model
AO3 for Banduras Bodo Doll study
Questionable eco validity and mundane realism as children won’t know what to do when left in a room by themselves and watch an adult carry out tasks
The findings may be effected by demand characteristics
Bodo eval- :) P: Empirical evidence
E- Fox and Bailenson found humans are more likely to imitate computer generated ‘virtual humans’ who were similar to them. Rushton found same sex modelling increased the number of females who donate blood
E- supports the fact we are more likely to imitate someone we identify with
L- increased validity
Bodo eval :) - P- More holistic than behavourism
E-Considers mediational processes
E-SLT gives more comprehensive explanation
L-Better explained complex behaviour
Bodo eval :( P- Ignores biological factors
E- individuals may be more aggressive due to higher testosterone levels
E- eg no role model in the persons life to imitate a given behaviour
L- not a fully comprehensive explanation to human behav
Bodo eval :( P- methodological issues as it is a strictly controlled lab experiment
E- children may have thought they were supposed to imitate the role model rather than being a genuine and new learned behaviour
E- demand characteristics
L- could lower internal validity of results
Why was the cog approach developed
It was a reaction against the behavourism
What areas did the cog approach focus on
The areas that behaviourists neglected e.g. memory, perception and thinking
How do cognitive psychologists study what is going on inside people’s minds
Through inferences
What is an inference
An assumption made based on someone’s behaviour
What is the informational processing model
It is how cog psychologists think the mind works
Input —> process —> output
What do cog psychologists think the mind is similar to
A computer
What is the role of theoretical models
Helps cog psychologists study internal processes
What is an example of a theoretical model
The Multi-store memory model
What are the roles of schemas
Schemas are a cognitive framework of ideas and information which are developed through experience
What are the positives and negatives of schemas
:( schemas can lead to perceptual errors
:) schemas act as a mental framework for interpretation of incoming information
:) schemas help to organise and interpret info in the brain
:( schemas can lead to stereotyping and prejudice
What is cognitive neuroscience
A cross between biology and psychology. It is a scientific study of the influence of brain structure on mental processes. Uses PET and fMRI scans to show how different parts of the brain become active during different cognitive activities and emotions
Cog approach eval :) P- real life application: treating depression
E- cog approach has lead to the development of CBT
E- CBT is cost and time effective which puts less of a burden onto healthcare services
L- therefore benefits the economy
Cog approach eval :) P- highly controlled and rigorous methods
E- reliable and objective methods in studies such as Peterson and Peterson’s trigrams
E- the findings of the trigram experiment made inferences into the human mind
L- therefore scientific methodology is used
Cog approach eval :( P- too simplistic: machine reductionism
E- the computer analogy ignores complex human characteristics and behaviour
E- this may affect our ability to process information rather than it just being cognitive
L- therefore doesn’t consider all aspects of what could influence human behaviour
Cog approach eval :) P- less deterministic than behaviourists
E- many researchers consider the behavourist theory that free will is an illusion is an extreme position
E- however complete free will is unlikely given the many and varied factors that exert an influence on us
L- cog approach offers a logical compromise to the behaviouristic approach
What do biological psychologists argue about human behaviour
That everything psychological is at first biological
What are genes
Genetic info carried by DNA in chromosomes, found in a cell nucleus and are passed down genetically
How do genes affect behaviour
Behavioural characteristics such as intelligence and mental illnesses can be inherited
Can you inherit a behaviour?
No, however you can inherit a gene which gives a predisposition to certain behaviours
How do we study the genetic basis of behaviour
Twin studies
What does MZ and DZ stand for
MZ- monozygotic
DZ- dizygotic
How much DNA do MZ and DZ twins share
MZ- 100%
DZ- 50%
What suggests a genetic basis in twin studies
If MZ are found to have a higher concordance rate than DZ
findings of McGuffins twin studies into depression and what does this mean
MZ- 46% concordance rates
DZ- 20% concordance rates
This shows that depression can be passed down genetically
Who proposed the evolutionary theory
Darwin
What is the theory of natural selection
Characteristics which aren’t suited to the environment die out. Only adaptive characteristics remain in offspring
What is an example of evolutionary psychology in humans
Fessler (2006)- discovered women in their first trimester (3 months of pregnancy) scored higher in disgust sensitivity than woman in the second and third trimester. This is to protect the foetus as they are most vulnerable in the first trimester
What is meant by a genotype
The genetic make-up of a person, the painting of the alleles for a particular trait
What is meant by a phenotype
The way genes are expressed through observable characteristics shown by the individual. These are due to a combined effect of genes and the environment
What is the psychodynamic approach
Emphasises unconscious motives and desires and the importance of early childhood experiences and shaping personality
Who was the main person behind the psychodynamic approach
Freud
What were freuds two innate characteristics
Aggression and sexual drives
What analogy does Freud use to describe the mind
An iceberg
Is the conscious, subconscious and unconscious accessible
Conscious- accessible
Subconscious- accessible with aid
Unconscious- unaccessible
Fill in the gap of Freud’s idea about the mind. _____________ theory of ________________
Tripartite theory of personality
Features of the tripartite theory of personality
Id
Ego
Superego
What is the id
It is present from birth
Operates in the unconscious
Contains innate drives
What governs the id
Pleasure principle- an innate drive to seek immediate satisfaction
What is the superego
Develops around the age of 5
Determines which behaviours are acceptable and cause feelings of guilt when rules are broken
What governs the superego
Morality principle- considers what is morally correct
What is the ego
Origin of consciousness
Meditates between the demands of both the Id and superego
What governs the id
Reality principle- considers whether to go along with the id or superego. May try to comparison between them both
What are defence mechanisms
Unconscious strategies used by the ego to manage the anxiety caused by the conflict of the id and superego
What are the the defence mechanisms
Repression
Denial
Displacement
What is repression
Unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts and impulses
What is denial
Refusing to believe reality
What is displacement
Transferring feelings of the source to someone else
When are defence mechanisms problematic
Excessive use of defence mechanisms will result in the ego becoming increasingly detached from reality
What is psychoanalysis
It involves effort to understand defences and unconscious motives during self-destructive behaviours
How is childhood important according to Freud
Psychodynamic theory states that events in our childhood have a large influence on our lives, shaping our personality
Event that occur in childhood remain in the unconscious and can cause problems as adults
What are the 5 psychosexual stages
Oral
Anal
Phallic
Latency
Genital
What is the oral stage
0-1 years- where the id is developed
Focus of pleasure in the mouth
Pleasure= mothers breast
Conflict= weening
Oral fixation leads to smoking, biting nails, sarcastic and critical
What is the anal stage
Developed 1-3: ego is developed
Pleasure= anus: withholding and expelling feces
Conflict= toilet training
Psychodynamic eval: :) P- Great explanatory powers
E- Huge influence on psych and western contemporary thought
E- Remained a dominant force in psychology and explains a wide range of behav
Psychodynamic eval- :( P- Unscientific and untestable
E- An example is that there is no way to prove whether the ego, superego and id are actually there as it is a characteristic of the mind
E- Popper argued that you have to prove it’s not true. You cannot prove this so it is subjective interpretation of the psychoanalysis
