Assumptions Flashcards
Behaviourist
Describe “Blank Slate”
- Means “Tabula Rasa”
- Behaviour is learnt and based upon our experiences.
- All Behaviourist can be shaped.
- Babies born neutral and will be moulded by their environment
- No free will because we have been shapes by the environment and experiences.
Behaviourist
Give psychological example for Blank Slate
- Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment
- Experimental and control group
- Children shown aggressive model mimicked the verbal and physical behaviour
- Control group ignored bobo doll
- Supports that behaviour is learnt from environment are we are “manipulated” [no free will]
Behaviourist
Describe Classical Conditioning
- Learning through association
- Two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response
- Reinforcement involves strengthening a behaviour to make it more likely to be repeated.
- UCS -> UCR then UCS + NS -> UCR then CS -> CR
Behaviourist
Give the psychological example for Classical conditioning
- Pavlov’s dogs
- Conditioned to associate the bell with salivation
- UCS [food] -> UCR [salivation]
UCS + NS [bell] -> UCR
CS [bell] -> CR [salivation]
Behaviourist
Describe Operant Conditioning
- Learning through consequence
- Thorndike’s law of effect [reward or punishment increases or decreases the likelihood of behaviour]
- P. reinforcement, negative reinforcement [removing something unpleasant] and punishment.
Behaviourist
Give the psychological example for Operant Conditionint
- Thorndike’s puzzlebox for cats.
P. Reinforcement= treat
N. Reinforcement= leaving box
Punishment= put back into box - Prison System
P. Reinforcement= e.g extra free time
N. Reinforcement= jobs to avoid getting into trouble
Punishment= e.g no free time
Behaviourist
Describe ‘Animals and humans learn in similar ways’
- Animals are used in experiments because behaviourists believe the laws of learning are the same for both animals and humans
Behaviourist Give the psychological example for ‘Animals and humans learn in similar ways’
- Classical: Pavlov’s dogs (producing a given response from an unrelated stimulus AND Little Albert (fear wasn’t there originally)
OR
- Operant: Thorndike’s puzzle box (trial and error learning) AND Prison/education system.
Biological
Describe Neurotransmitters
- Chemical messengere passed from the presynaptic neuron to the postsynaptic neuron across the synapse
- Electrical signals release the neurotransmitters.
- They diffuse across the synapse to be absorbed.
- Message is converted back into an electrical message and continues along the neuron.
Biological
Give the psychological example for Neurotransmitters
- Being tactile with others stimulates the neurotransmitter oxytocin. All neurotransmitters have different functions.
- This helps us feel safe, secure and be trusting
- Leads us to form relationships and social bonds with others
Biological
Describe ‘Localistation of Brain Function’
- Brain controls everything including reflex actions movements thoughts and emotions.
- Frontal: Thinking, planning, languages. [Bronca’s area- thought into speech]
- Parietal: Sensory information/spacial awareness and understanding time
- Occipital : Images to memory, processing visual info
- Temporal : Processing info through senses, memory storage, language [Wenicke]
Biological
Give the psychological example for Localisation of brain function
- Phineas Gage
- Damaged frontal lobe in mining accident
- Before he was well mannered capable and efficient.
- After he was aggressive and antisocial.
- Frontal lobe responsible for personality
Biological
Describe Evolutionary Influences
- Genes are passed on from one generation to another and are mixed from both parents (genetic diversity)
- Those that inherit behavioural patterns that are well suited to the environment will survive and pass on these traits.
- Suggested that the inherited structure of the human mind is the product of evolutionary processes.
Biological
Give the psychological example for Evolutionary Influences
- Phobia of the dark: Came from when we had predators who would take advantage of our poor night time vision.
- Now we simply full the darkness with what we fear
Psychodynamic
Describe the Tripartite model of personality
- ID: Pleasure principle or the demand to take care of needs immediately. Present from birth and is self serving.
- EGO: From age 2.Taking care of needs when appropriate or reality principle. Ego deals eith balancing ID and superego.
- SUPEREGO: Morality principle where children from age 4 learn to understand social standards as well as right and wrong.
Psychodynamic
Give the psychological example for the Triparitie model of personality
- Criminal Behaviour (Freud)
- Criminals lack a sense of morality and remorse
- Particularly true in psychopaths who seek pleasure and gratification
- Criminals are rules by their ID and the superego is suppressed.
Psychodynamic
Describe the unconscious mind
- Conscious: What we are currently aware of e.g perceptions and logical thoughts.
- Preconscious: What we could bring to the conscious if we thought about it
- Unconscious: Thoughts and feelings which are inaccessible to us, e.g trauma.
Psychodynamic
Give the psychological example for Unconscious mind
- Defense mechanisms
- A way of defending the ego from unconscious thoughts and feelings.
- E.g repression: pushing bad memories or experiences to the unconscious so we don’t think about them.
Psychodynamic
Describe Childhood experiences
- ORAL [0-1] : Development of the ID. Focus on the mouth [e.g biting]. Healthy Development is understanding we don’t have full control.
- ANAL [1-3] : Development of Ego and ID. Focus on the anus [potty training]. Healthy development results eith dealing with authority correctly.
- PHALLIC [3-6] : Development of superego. Focus on genitals.
- LATENCY [quiet stage]
- GENITAL [puberty to adolescence] : Adult personality set. Focus on genitals. Healthy Development is maturity and capable of love.
Psychodynamic
Give the psychological example for Childhood experiences.
- Oral Agressive: Fustration in the oral stage [not being given care quick enougj]. Leads to aggression and envy.
- Oral receptive: Over indulged [cared too quickly]. Leads to being optimistic and gullible.
Cognitive
Describe Internal mental processes
- What enables us to make sense of the world
- Perception: to interpret and make sense of what we see
- Attention: how we pay attention to things
- Memory: retaining and recalling
- Language: Using out knowledge of language to name and understand
Cognitive
Give the psychological example for Internal mental processes
- Criminal behaviour/minimalisation
- A cognitive distortion where the consequences of actions are underexaggerated
- Due to perception: e.g stealing is a minor issue to a major chain
Cognitive
Describe Schemas
- Schemas organise knowledge, guide behaviour, predict happenings and make sense of current experiences
- Helps us identify things we come across
- Schema for a dog could be 4 legs, furry, tail, etc.
Cognitive
Give the psychological example for Schemas
- Barlett’s war of the ghosts study
- Schemas can distort our memory
-British Participats memorised a native American tradition based story - Participants fitted the story into their western Schemas which distorted their recall [guns instead of bows, boat instead of canoe]
Cognitive
Describe the Computer Analogy
- Human mind is compared with a computer by cognitive psychologists
- Mind is hardware, cognitive processes are software
- Input= how we take in info
- Process= how we store info
- Output= recalling info when needed
Cognitive
Give the psychological example for the Computer analogy
- Multistore model of memory
stimulus -> SENSORY MEMORY -> attention -> SHORT TERM MEMORY -> elaborate rehearsal-> LONG TERM MEMORY
- Maintenance rehearsal keeps it in short term
- Retrieval is long term to short term.
- For the SHORT TERM MEMORY, average is 7 items [5-9] for approx 18-30 seconds.
Positive
Describe ‘ focus onthe good life’
- 3 desirable lives: the pleasant life, the meaningful life and the good life.
- The good life is the happiness that comes from our character strengths.
- Qualities that define the good life enrich our lives, make life worth living and foster a strong character
Postive
Give the psychological example for ‘Focus on the good life’
- 3 elements of the good life
- Positive connections to others: thank you note and demonstrate love
- Positive individual traits: courage and creativity
- Life regulation qualitites: Self control and independence
Positive
Describe ‘Acknowledgement of free will’
- We have the ability to choose, grow and respond actively to the events around us
- Happiness comes from acknowledging that we have free will
- We can control our own behaviour and we are responsible for it, meaning happiness is accessible to everyone
Positive
Describe the Authenticity of goodness and excellence
- Human goodness is as authentic as distress so should deserve equal attention, including when someone is having treatment
- Our view of psychology may be unbalanced, positive behaviours are just as authentic as negative ones.
