Chapter 4: Approaches in Psychology Flashcards
define psychology.
psychology is the study of the mind, behaviour and experience.
what is wundt’s involvement in the origin of psychology?
wundt established the first psychology lab in 1879.
what was wundts aim of his experiment?
to describe the nature of human consciousness in a carefully controlled and scientific environment - a lab.
what is introspection?
introspection was the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations.
what standardised procedures did wundt use?
the same standardised instructions were given to all participants and the stimuli were always presented in the same order.
what is the significance of wundt’s work?
wundt’s work marked the separation of modern scientific psychology from its broader philosophical roots.
in what other ways was psychology able to emerge as a science?
using the learning approach in the 1900s. this focused on behaviourism and social learning theory. controlled lab studies were used to study behaviours.
using the cognitive approach in the 1950s. this used scientific methods to study mental processes.
using the biological approach in the 1990s. this introduced technological advances.
what are the key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
behaviourists are not concerned with investigating mental processes of the mind.
behaviourists rejected introspection as it involved too many concepts that were vague and difficult to measure.
following darwin’s research, behaviourists suggested that the basic processes that govern learning are the same in all species. therefore in behaviourist research, animals could replace humans as experimental subjects.
what two conditions were used in the behaviourist approach?
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
explain the use of classical conditioning in the behaviourist approach.
pavlov’s dogs. the bell, food and salivation. UCR, UCS, NS etc.
what was the conclusion from Pavlov’s research?
his research revealed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell, if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time as they were given food.
gradually pavlov’s dogs learned to associate the sound of the bell with the food and would produce the salivation response every time they heard the bell.
explain the use of operant conditioning in the behaviourist approach.
where behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences.
skinners research.
explain skinners research.
rats were placed in specially designed cages, also known as skinner boxes. an electric grid on the floor, 2 lights, a pellet dispenser and a lever.
when a rat activated a lever, it was rewarded with a food pellet. a desirable consequence led to the behaviour being repeated; positive reinforcement.
skinner also showed negative reinforcement where if the rat did not pull on the lever they would be given an electric shock. the rats continued to push the lever to avoid the unpleasant stimulus.
what are the key assumptions of social learning theory (SLT)?
bandura agreed with the behaviourist approach that learning occurs through experience. but he also proposed that learning takes place in a social context through observation and imitation of others’ behaviour; learning occurs indirectly.
what is vicarious reinforcement?
children and adults observe other people’s behaviour and take note of its consequences. observers may imitate this behaviour but will only imitate if the behaviour is seen to be rewarded rather than punished.
define mediational processes.
cognitive factors that influence learning.
explain the four mediational processes in learning.
- attention- whether we notice certain behaviours.
- retention- how well the behaviour is remembered.
- motor reproduction- the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour.
- motivation- the will to perform the behaviour.
the first two relate to the learning of the behaviour.
the last two relate to the performance of the behaviour.
what is identification in social learning theory?
children are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people whom they identify with, their role models.
such role models are similar to the observer, tend to be attractive and have high status.
explain bandura et al. (1961) study on social learning theory. include procedure and findings.
procedure:
bandura carried out an experiment involving children who observed aggressive or non-aggressive adult models and were tested for imitative learning in the absence of the model.
half the children were exposed to adult models interacting aggressively with a life-sized Bobo doll and the other half were exposed to the non-aggressive model.
the aggressive model displayed distinctive physically aggressive acts towards the doll, e.g striking it with a mallet or verbal aggression.
after exposure to the model, they were taken to a room, where amongst other toys, there was a Bobo doll.
findings:
children who observed the aggressive role model reproduced a great deal of physically and verbally aggressive behaviour resembling that of the role model. children who observed the non-aggressive model exhibited virtually no aggression toward the Bobo doll.
what are the key assumptions of the cognitive approach?
the cognitive approach argues that internal mental processes can and should be studied scientifically.
the cognitive approach investigated the neglected areas of human behaviour by behaviourists, such as memory, perception and thinking.
these processes are ‘private’ and cannot be observed, so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences about what is going on inside people’s minds on the basis of their behaviour.
