Origin and approaches of psychology Flashcards
Who is Wundt and what did he do?
Wilhelm Wundt was the first man to open a lab dedicated to psychological enquiries in (Germany, leipzig).
He separated psychology from its broader philosophical roots.
What is introspection?
A process that involves looking inward to one’s own thoughts and emotions.
Subjective data was gathered by Wundt to analyse the nature of human consciousness.
What was Wundt’s aim?
Aim was to analyse the nature of human consciousness.
His main objectives was to try and develop theories about mental processes such as language and perception.
Describe the emergence of psychology as a science.
The value of introspection was questioned by the behaviourist John B Watson. Because introspection produced subjective data it is very difficult to establish general laws.
Watson and Skinner proposed that tue scientific psychology should only study phenomena that can be observed objectively. For this reason behaviourists focused on behaviours that can be observed and used carefully controlled experiments.
Give a strength of Wundt’s work.
Some of his methods were systematic and well-controlled. All introspections were recorded in well controlled environment of the lab ensuring that extraneous variables were not a factor.
Procedures and instructions were all standardised.
Suggests that Wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner to later scientific approaches.
Give a limitation of Wundt’s work.
Other aspects of Wundt’s research would be considered unscientific.
Wundt relied on participants to self-report their mental processes this produced subjective data.
It is difficult to establish general laws on this.
This suggests that Wundt’s attempt to study the mind were flawed and would not meet the criteria for scientific enquiry.
What is the behaviourist approach?
Only interested in studying behaviour that can be observed and measured.
Try to maintain more control and objectivity within their research and they rely on lab studies.
What are the 2 important forms of learning?
Classical conditioning.
Operant conditioning.
Who demonstrated classical conditioning and what is it?
Is learning through association and was first demonstrated by Pavlov
Who demonstrated operant conditioning and what is it?
Is learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by it’s consequences and was first demonstrated by B F Skinner.
What was Pavlov’s research?
Showed how dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell (stimulus) if the sound was repeatedly present at the same time as they were given food (another stimulus). Gradually Pavlov’s dogs learned to associate the sound of the bell with the food and would produce the salivation response .
Pavlov was able to show how a neutral stimulus can come to elicit a new learned response
What was Skinner’s research?
He conducted experiments on rats and pigeons he placed them in what he called a ‘Skinner box’. Every time a rat would activate a certain trigger a food pellet would be revealed however if they pressed the other lever it would trigger an electric shock on them via the metal tray they are standing on . It was observed that the animal avoided to press the lever that would trigger the punishment but instead continued activating the lever that revealed the food pellet..
What is positive reinforcement?
Receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed.
What is negative reinforcement?
When a human or animal avoids something unpleasant but the outcome is a positive experience.
What is punishment?
An unpleasant consequence of a behaviour.
Give a strength of the behaviourist approach
It is based on well-controlled research.
They carried out their experiments in well-controlled lab environments. By breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus response units all other extraneous variables were removed.
So skinner was able to clearly able to demonstrate how reinforcement influenced an animals behaviour.
This suggests that the behaviourist experiments have scientific credibility .
Give a counterpoint of the behaviourist approach.
Behaviourists may have oversimplified the learning process.
May have ignored the important influence of human thought on learning.
This suggests that learning is more complex that observable behaviour alone and that private mental processes are also essential.
Real-world application of the behaviourist approach….
The principles of conditioning have been applied to real world behaviours and problems.
Operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been used successfully in institutions such as prisons and psychiatric wards.
Classical conditioning has been applied to the treatment of phobias.
This increases the value of the approach because it has widespread application.
Environmental determinism of the behaviourist approach…
It sees all behaviour as conditioned by past conditioning experiences. This ignores any possible influence that free will may have on our behaviour.
This is an extreme position and ignores the influence of conscious decision-making processes on behaviour.
What are the ethical issues of the behaviourist approach…
Animals were housed in harsh cramp conditions and deliberately kept below their natural weight so they were always hungry.
What is the social learning theory?
Proposed a different way in which people learn through observation and imitation of others.
SLT suggested that learning occurs directly (through classical and operant conditioning) bu also indirectly.
What is imitation?
Copying the behaviour of others.
What is identification?
When an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model.
What is modelling?
Role model’s perspective- the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour that may be imitated by an observer.
What is meant by vicarious reinforcement?
When an individual observes another person perform a behaviour and experience the consequence perceived as desirable by the observer.
What are the meditational processes?
Attention
Retention
Motor reproduction
Motivation
What is meant by attention?
The extent to which we notice certain behaviours.
What is meant by retention?
How well the behaviour is remembered.
What is meant by motor reproduction?
The ability of the observer to perform the behaviour.
What is meant by motivation?
The will to perform the behaviour, often determined by the consequence of the behaviour.
What is Bandura’s research?
Bandura recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave in an aggressive way towards a bobo doll.
When these children were later observed playing with various toys including a Bobo doll they behaved much more aggressively towards the doll.
Give a strength of the social learning theory.
It recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning.
Neither classical or operant conditioning conditioning can offer an adequate account of learning on their own .
Give a counterpoint of SLT.
SLT has been criticised for making too little reference to the influence of biological factors on social learning.
Recent research suggests that observational learning of the kind of Bandura was talking about may be the result of mirror neurones in the brain which allow us to empathise and imitate other people.
This suggests that biological influences on SLT were under emphasised with SLT.
Give a limitation of SLT.
Limitation is that the evidence that was gathered were gathered through lab studies.
Lab studies are often criticised for their contrived nature where participants may respond to demand characteristics.
It has been suggested that because the main purpose of the doll was to strike it the children were simply behaving in the way that they thought was expected.
Real world application of SLT.
SLT principles have been applied to a range of real world behaviours.
Being able to explain cultural differences in behaviour.
SLT principles such as modelling and imitation can account for how children learn from others around them.
This can help us understand how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies and how children come to understand their gender roles.
What is reciprocal determinism?
Bandura emphasised reciprocal determinism in the sense that we are not merely influenced by our external environment but we also exert an influence upon it through the behaviours we choose to perform. This suggests that we have some free will in the way we behave.
What is the cognitive approach?
Argues that internal mental processes should be studied scientifically.
The cognitive approach has investigated those areas of human behaviour that were neglected by behaviourists such as memory perception and thinking.
What is schema?
A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. They are developed form experience.
