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A-level Psychology > Chapter 4 - Approaches Of Psychology > Flashcards

Chapter 4 - Approaches Of Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

What was Wundt’s approach to Psychology called?

A

Structuralism which is a form of introspection.

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2
Q

What is structuralism?

A

When you isolate the structure of consciousness and use scientific methods to study the structure of sensation and perception.

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3
Q

What does “introspection” mean

A

Introspection simply means ‘looking into’

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4
Q

How is introspection used?

A

Participants are asked to reflect on their own cognitive processes and describe them.

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5
Q

What are the 4 goals of Psychology?

A

1) Description - tells us ‘what’ occurred
2) Explanation - tells us ‘why’ a behaviour occurred
3) Prediction - Identifies conditions under which a future behaviour is likely to occur
4) Change - Applies psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behaviour and to bring about desired change

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6
Q

What are the 5 assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

A

1) Behaviourism is concerned with observable behaviour, as opposed to internal events such as thinking.
2) When born, our mind is a blank state
3) There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and other animals.
4) Behaviour is a result of a stimulus
5) All behaviour is learnt from the environment

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7
Q

Who founded the behaviourist approach?

A

J.B Watson

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8
Q

What are 3 key concepts to the behaviourist approach?

A
  • Stimulus
  • Response
  • Reinforcement
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9
Q

What is a stimulus?

A

Anything that brings about a response

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10
Q

What is a response?

A

Any reaction in response to a stimulus

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11
Q

What is a reinforcement?

A

The process by which a response is strengthened.

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12
Q

What is the unconditioned stimulus?

A

The stimulus that naturally produces the reflex response.

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13
Q

What is the conditioned stimulus?

A

The stimulus which, after repeated pairings with the unconditioned stimulus, produces the response.

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14
Q

What is the unconditioned response?

A

The innate reflexive response to a stimulus that has not been conditioned

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15
Q

What is the conditional response

A

The response that occurs after exposure to the conditioned stimulus.

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16
Q

What is a directional hypothesis?

A

Where a hypothesis states that the results go in one direction.

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17
Q

What is a non-directional hypothesis?

A

Where a hypothesis does not state a direction of the results but says that one factor affects another.

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18
Q

What was Bandura’s experiment attempting to show?

A

The experiment was attempting to show the social learning theory.

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19
Q

What scientist performed experiments on dogs to investigate classic conditioning?

A

Ivan Pavlov.

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20
Q

Briefly describe what operant conditioning is

A

A theory which claims that all behaviour is learnt as a result of consequences in our environment (positive and negative).

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21
Q

Who founded operant conditioning?

A

BF skinner

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22
Q

How is operant conditioning used to shape behaviour?

A

It uses consequences, such as gaining rewards or receiving punishment to modify behaviour.

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23
Q

Who founded the social learning theory?

A

Albert Bandura

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24
Q

What is modelling?

A

Modelling is when you learn through the observation of other people (models) which may lead to copying of the behaviour but only if behaviour is seen to be rewarded

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25
What are the 4 steps in Bandura’s social learning theory?
1) Observe 2) Identify 3) Reinforce 4) Copy
26
Briefly summarise Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment.
36 girls and 36 boys were split into 2 conditions. In the first condition, children observed aggressive adult models playing with a bobo doll aggressively. In the second condition, children observed non-aggressive models playing with less violent toys than the Bobo doll. In the third condition, the children’s behaviour was solely observed in a room with violent and non-violent toys.
27
What was Bandura’s study attempting to show?
The social learning theory.
28
What were Bandura’s findings from the Bobo doll experiment?
Aggressive behaviour is learnt through imitation of other people behaving aggressively.
29
What is the cognitive approach?
A theory which shows how our mental processes such as thoughts affect behaviour.
30
What is a schema?
A schema is a cognitive structure that serves for a person’s knowledge about people, places or objects.
31
What the 3 different types of schema?
- Role schemas - Event schemas - Self schemas
32
What is a role schema?
These are ideas about the behaviour which is expected from someone in a certain role or setting.
33
What is an event schema?
Ideas about what happens in a certain situation.
34
What are self schemas?
Ideas about ourselves based on physical and mental characteristics, as well as beliefs and values.
35
What is the biological approach?
An approach which combines psychology and biology to provide physiological explanations for human behaviour.
36
What are the assumptions of the biological approach? 3
- Investigates how biological structures and processes in the body impacts on behaviour. - Most human behaviour has a physiological cause - The mind lives in the brain
37
What is the biological term to describe identical twins?
Monozygotic twins
38
What is the biological term to describe non-identical twins?
Dizygotic twins
39
Why should identical twins have the same characteristic if it is genetic?
Because they have identical genes
40
What is selective breeding?
A method which involves selecting male and female animals for a specific trait to produce offspring with the desired characteristic
41
Define genotype.
The genetic make up of an individual
42
Define phenotype.
The physical characteristics which an individual has.
43
What is the psychodynamic approach?
An approach which describes the different forces, that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience.
44
Who founded the Psychodynamic approach?
Freud
45
What are the 4 assumptions of the psychodynamic approach.
- States that unconscious forces in our mind determine our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. - Our behaviour as adults is strongly influenced by our childhood experiences. - Abnormal behaviour is the result of mental conflict. - The mind can be divided into 3 levels of consciousness
46
What are the three factors which make up our unconscious mind?
- ID - Ego - Super-ego
47
Did the psychodynamic approach suggest the unconscious mind had the most influence on our personality.
Yes, the unconscious part of our mind apparently has more influence on our personality than our conscious mind.
48
4 points about the ID part of our unconscious mind.
- Primitive part of our personality - Operates on the pleasure principle (gets what it wants) - ID is a mass of unconscious drives and instincts - Only the ID is present at birth
49
5 points about the ego part of our unconscious mind.
- Develops around the age of 2 - Works on the reality principle - Makes the person aware of other people’s feelings - Reduces the conflict between the ID and super ego - Employs a number of defence mechanisms to reduce conflict between ID and super ego
50
3 points about the super ego part of our unconscious mind.
- Formed around 5 years old - Our internalised sense of right and wrong - Punishes the ego for wrongdoing through guilt
51
What would happen if an individual’s ego is too weak?
Their ID and superego would dominate their personality
52
What would happen to an individual if their ID was too strong.
They would be selfish and could become psychopathic
53
What would happen to an individual if their superego was too strong.
They would become anxious and obsessive.
54
Following Freud’s opinion, how do we become psychologically healthy?
By completing the 5 Psychosexual stages
55
What are the 5 psychosexual stages for the psychodynamic approach?
1) The oral stage 2) The anal stage 3) The phallic stage 4) The latency stage 5) The genital stage
56
What age will a successful individual be in the oral stage?
Birth-18 months
57
What age will a successful individual be in the anal stage?
18 months - 3 years
58
What age will a successful individual be in the phallic stage?
3-5 years
59
What age will a successful individual be in the latency stage?
5 - puberty
60
What age will a successful individual be in the genital stage?
Puberty - adulthood
61
What are the characteristics of the oral stage? 2
- Mouth is the main focus of pleasure | - The child enjoys tasting and sucking
62
What is the main characteristic of the anal stage?
- Defecation is the main source of pleasure
63
What are the characteristics of the phallic stage? 2
- Form of pleasure is the genital area | - Boy wants his mother as his ‘primary love object’ and wants the father out of the way
64
What are the characteristics of the latency stage? 2
- Sexual urges directed into sports and other hobbies | - Focus on developing same sex friendships
65
What are the characteristics of the genital stage?
- Focus on genitals | - Attempt to develop healthy adult relationships
66
What is the Oedipus complex?
When a boy wants his mother as his ‘primary love object’ and wants his father out of the way
67
What was Freud’s ‘little Hans’ study attempting to show?
Evidence for the psychosexual stages occurring.
68
Briefly describe Freud’s Little Han’s study.
A boy who had a phobia of horses was observed by his father and his dreams were noted by his father and then passed onto Freud.
69
What were the results of Freud’s study on Han’s and what did it suggest?
Han’s told his dad about a dream he where he was married to his mother and his dad was his grandfather. This suggested that the boy was in the phallic stage because his unconscious mind clearly wanted his mother as his primary love object.
70
What approach believes we have free will?
The humanistic approach is the only one which believes we have free will.
71
What approach was the little Albert study attempting to support?
The behaviourist approach
72
Briefly summarise the Little Albert study.
The participant was a young boy called Albert who had a fear of loud noises (UCR). The experimenters would produce a loud noise (UCS) when a white rat was shown to the child in an attempt to create a phobia of white rats (CR).
73
What were the results of the Little Albert experiment?
After many pairings between the white rat and a loud noise, Albert began to cry at the sight of a white rat.
74
What are the 3 assumptions of humanistic psychology?
- Every individual is unique - Believe in free will ( only approach to do so) - The scientific method is not appropriate to measure behaviour
75
Who was the main founder of humanistic psychology?
Maslow
76
What would we achieve if we reach our full potential?
Self-actualisation
77
What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
It is a 5 step triangle of requirements an individual needs to fulfil to reach their full potential (self-actualisation).
78
What is the first requirement in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
Physiological needs such as food and water.
79
What is the 2nd requirement in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
The Strive to feel safe physically and economically.
80
What is the 3rd requirement in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
Belongingness and love needs.
81
What is the 4th requirement in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
Esteem needs such as gaining respect from others
82
What is the final and 5th requirement to fulfil Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
Realising you’ve reached self-actualisation.
83
What is the self concept?
The way you see yourself
84
What is the ideal self?
The person you wish to be
85
What is the real self?
The person you actually are
86
What happens when your ideal, real and self concept don’t match up? (3)
- Anxiety - Depression - Lack of self-worth
87
What is ‘congruence’ another word for?
An agreement between.

A-level Psychology (4 decks)

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