Approaches to Psychology

Question 1

What is introspection?

Answer 1

Latin; ‘looking into’ is the process by which a person gains knowledge about his or her own mental and emotional states. Allows us to observe our inner world - suggests that data is subjective.

*With sufficient training, mental processes such as memory could be observed systematically as they occurred, using introspection.

Question 2

Outline two criticisms of introspection as a method of investigation.

Answer 2

• Wundt’s methods were unreliable - relied on non-observable responses and participants reported on their own conscious experiences, subjective.
• Introspection is not particularly accurate - Nisbett and Wilson found that participants were unaware of factors that had been influential in their choice of a consumer item.

Question 3

Define: Empiricism

Answer 3

The belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience.
It is generally characterised by the use of the scientific method in psychology.

Question 4

Explain William Wundt’s contribution to psychology

Answer 4

Wundt was the first person to call himself a psychologist (FOUNDING FATHER), believing that all aspects of nature, including the structure of the human mind could be studied scientifically, he was the FIRST TO CARRY OUT RESEARCH IN THE LAB.
Mental processes could be observed systematically as they occurred using introspection.

Question 5

What is the scientific method?

Answer 5

All behaviour is seen as being caused (deterministic).
If behaviour is determined then it should be possible to predict how human beings will behave in different conditions (predictability).

Question 6

What are the 4 goals of psychology?

Answer 6

1. Description - what has occurred?
2. Explanation - why?
3. Prediction - identify future behaviour
4. Change - apply knowledge to prevent

Question 7

Briefly outline the emergence of psychology as a science

Answer 7

• More recently compared to natural sciences such as biology.
• Has its roots in philosophy (tabulata, nature vs. nurture) and biology (genetic explanations).
• Use of the scientific method (eg. Laboratory experiments).

Question 8

Discuss the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

Answer 8

• Neuroscientists now use neuroimaging techniques to study the brain such as PET scans to help understand how the brain supports different cognitive activities and emotions.
• Burnett et al found that when people feel guilty several brain regions are active, including the medial prefrontal cortex - which is associated with social emotions.

Question 9

Outline one strength and one limitation of the scientific approach in psychology

Answer 9

• Relies on objective and systematic methods of observation - therefore knowledge is acquired using the scientific method which is able to establish the causes of behaviour.
• Experiments are usually animal studies - problems with generalisability.

Question 10

Describe classical conditioning (in terms of the behaviourist approach) and its features

Answer 10

Originated from the work of Pavlov. A behavioural response is learned when it becomes associated between a previously neutral stimulus and a reflex response.

• Timing - NS must be shortly before UCS.
• Extinction - CS loses its ability to produce CR after a few trials if no reinforcement.
• Spontaneous recovery - CS + UCS paired again, link made quickly.
• Stimulus generalisation - CR to stimuli that are similar to CS.

Question 11

Define: reinforcement

Answer 11

Anything that strengthens the response and increases the likelihood that it will occur again in the future.

Positive: when behaviour produces a consequence/reward that is satisfying or pleasant e.g. Food to a hungry animal.

Negative: removing something unpleasant and so restoring the organism to its pre-aversive state e.g. hitting the sleep button on an alarm which allows a person to sleep for longer (pleasant).

Question 12

Describe operant conditioning (in terms of the behaviourist approach) and its features

Answer 12

Organisms spontaneously produce different behaviours and these behaviours produce consequences which may be positive/negative reinforcement or punishment. Whether or not this behaviour is repeated depends on the nature of these consequences. Skinner.

• Schedules of reinforcement - continuous is more effective for establishing a behaviour, partial is effective for maintaining it.
• Punishment- decreases the likelihood of repeated behaviour as it adds unpleasant consequence or removes a pleasant stimulus. (Eg. When the lever produced electric shocks to rats).

Question 13

Evaluate the behaviourist approach

Answer 13

~Classical conditioning - led to training of sleep behaviour in babies, dogs and obedience training. Led to the development of therapies such as systematic desensitisation - which replaces a learned anxiety response with a relaxation response.
Reductionist as it portrays humans as far too simple than they are, the theory does not account for the free will and ability for conscious thought.

~Operant conditioning - relies on the experimental method which uses controlled conditions, accuracy is improved and causal relationship identified.
However much of skinners work was on nonhuman animals, excluding the possibility of human free will therefore cannot generalise. Reductionist, focuses only on observable behaviour does not factor in the influence of thoughts and cognitive processes

Question 14

Define: punishment

Answer 14

Application of an unpleasant consequence following a behaviour, with the result that the behaviour is less likely to occur again in the future.

Question 15

Describe social learning theory and what are its 4 aspects?

Answer 15

Suggest that learning occurs through not only direct experience and observing the consequences of one’s own behaviour, but also through vicarious learning and the observation of other peoples actions (models) and the consequences they face.
Based on this feedback they develop hypotheses about the types of behaviour most likely to succeed in a given situation. These hypotheses then serve as guides for their future behaviour.

Modelling, imitation, identification and vicarious reinforcement.
+ mediational processes: attention, retention, reproduction and motivation

Question 16

What is modelling? (SLT)

Answer 16

A form of learning where individuals learn a particular behaviour by observing another individual performing that behaviour.

Live model: someone you can actually contact with.
Symbolic model: someone on the TV.

Question 17

What is imitation? (SLT)

Answer 17

The action of using someone or something as a model and copy in their behaviour.

This is determined by:
~ Characteristics of the model
~ Observers perceived ability to perform the behaviour
~ Observed consequences of the behaviour

Question 18

What is identification? (SLT)

Answer 18

A form of influence when an individual adopts an attitude or behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular person or group.
Eg. Same sex models.

Question 18

What is vicarious reinforcement? (SLT)

Answer 18

Learning that is not a result of direct reinforcement of behaviour but through observing someone else being reinforced for that behaviour.

Question 19

Evaluate social learning theory

Answer 19

• Useful applications including criminal behaviour, which probably increases when they are exposed to models who commit criminal behaviour - Akers (1998).
• (Fox et al) Research support for greater identification with a model leads to more learning, because it is easier to visualise the self in the place of the model, so feels like having the same experience.
• Cannot explain all behaviour particularly when there appears to be no apparent role model for individuals to have learnt from (e.g. when psychopathic behaviours are limited to just one individual within the family).
• Does not account for other potential influences on behaviour such as genetic predisposition or locus of control.

Question 20

Describe the cognitive approach

Answer 20

Studies internal mental processing (ways in which we extract, store and retrieve information) that helps to guide our behaviour.

Mental processes cannot be studied directly so must be inferred.

This is achieved through the role of schemas (cognitive framework that helps to organise and interpret new info in the brain) and the role of theoretical/computer models (simplified pictorial representations based on current evidence).

Question 21

Evaluate the cognitive approach

Answer 21

• Useful applications - E.g. has been used to explain how dysfunctional behaviour can be traced back to faulty thinking processes, which has led to successful treatment of people suffering from illness such as OCD using CBT.
• Uses scientific methods (brain imaging) so conclusions are based on far more than common sense or introspection (both can be misleading).
• Ignores the WHY and focuses on the HOW, the role of emotion and motivation has largely been ignored by this approach.
• Many studies into cognitive psychology tend to use task that have little to do with everyday behaviour in their natural settings, lacking validity.

Question 22

Describe the biological approach (in terms of the influence of genes on behaviour)

Answer 22

Explains how all aspects of behaviour is related to biological functioning (genetics, neurochemistry and hormonal changes) and therefore has a genetic basis.

~Each individual possesses a unique gene set, therefore we differ from each other in personality, intelligence, etc. Heritability.
~Genes - can carry the instructions for a particular characteristic such as temperaments but how this characteristic develop depends on the interaction of the gene with others and environment.
~Genotype/phenotype

Question 23

Describe the biological approach (in terms of the influence of biological structures on behaviour)

Answer 23

• The nervous system carries neurotransmitters - many aspects of behaviour are under neuronal control including breathing, eating and sexual behaviour.
• The outer surface of the cerebrum (cerebral cortex) is responsible for many of the higher order functions such as thought and language.

Question 24

Describe the biological approach (in terms of the influence of neurochemistry on behaviour)

Answer 24

The balance of neurotransmitters in our bodies can affect behaviour. Eg. Serotonin is an inhibitory transmitter which is necessary to maintain a stable mood.
Crockett et al found that when serotonin levels are low people tend to display increased aggression.

Question 26

Describe the biological approach (in terms of evolution and behaviour)

Answer 26

Charles Darwin’s natural selection theory is used to explain behaviour from an evolutionary perspective.
• A random mutation in the genetic make up of an animal due to environmental pressures, leads to a physical characteristic/behavioural change.
• This either increases the chances of survival and reproduction or lowers it.
• Animals then compete for resources and if this mutation increases the chance of survival they become more likely to gain access to resources.
• If they succeed in reproducing the adaptive traits may get passed on to their subsequent offspring. Psychological characteristics such as aggression and intelligence and also be explained through this evolutionary explanation.

Question 27

Evaluate the biological approach

Answer 27

• Uses the scientific method as its main method of investigation therefore its studies are highly controlled and can be replicated.
• Real life applications - research into the role of the neurochemical imbalance in depression has led to the development of drug treatments which corrects this and minimises symptoms.
• Reductionist - as it explains that genes or neurochemistry imbalances are believed to be the main causes of disorders. Free will and conscious thought is overlooked.
• Raises serious ethical issues particularly when applied to criminality, as criminals may use this as a defence to avoid taking responsibility for behaviour within the courts.

Question 28

What are the key assumptions of the psychodynamic approach? (FREUD)

Answer 28

• The unconscious mind influences behaviour. As does childhood experiences influence adult behaviour.
• Structure of the personality: id (pleasure), ego (realistic) and superego (moralistic).
• Psychosexual stages - oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital.

Question 29

What are the 5 psychosexual stages?

Answer 29

1. Oral - focus of pleasure is the mouth, mothers breast is object of desire. (0-1yrs)
2. Anal - pleasure is the anus, child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces. (1-3yrs)
3. Phallic - pleasure is the genital area, child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex. (3-5yrs)
4. Latency - earlier conflicts are repressed.
5. Genital - sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty.

• Conflict in each stage (apart from latency) results in fixation.

Question 30

What are the 3 defence mechanisms that stop individuals from becoming aware of unpleasant thoughts (the ego)?

Answer 30

1. Repression - the unconscious blocking of unacceptable thoughts.
2. Denial - the refusal to accept reality so as to avoid having to deal with any painful feeling.
3. Displacement - involves redirecting thoughts/feelings in situations where the person feels unable to express them.

Question 31

Evaluate the psychodynamic approach

Answer 31

• Explanatory power - huge influence on psychology and western thought. Childhood experiences can affect later development/relationships.
• Case study method - unique and abnormal, but lacks scientific rigour.
• Untestable concepts - much of the theory is unfalsifiable therefore pseudoscientific.
• Practical application in psychoanalysis.
• Psychic determinism denies our free will.

Question 32

What are the key assumptions of the humanistic approach?

Answer 32

• Humans are unique and shouldn’t be compared.
• Self actualisation, we are motivated by the need to reach potential.
• People have ‘free will’ therefore are self-determining.
• Focuses on the persons growth and potential, not past experiences. This required the self, congruence and conditions of worth.
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Question 33

What is Maslow’s hierarchy?

Answer 33

Self actualisation 
Self esteem
Love and belonging 
Safety and security 
Physiological needs 

(Must go through lower ranks to meet self-actualisation)

Question 34

Evaluate the humanistic approach

Answer 34

• Not reductionist - views individuals as unique, therefore places importance on the whole person (holism).
• Limited application - not a comprehensive theory but a loose set of abstract concepts.
• Positive approach - ‘brings the person back into psychology’ views people in an optimistic way/image.
• Cultural bias - collectivist cultures would emphasise the needs of the group, so may not see self-actualisation at the top of the hierarchy.