Origins of Pyschology and Approaches Flashcards
What is psychology?
The scientific study of the human mind and its functions. Functions which effect behaviours.
What is introspection?
Involves breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations.
Wundt (1879)
- He invented the first method of studying psychology and referred to the process as introspection
- Wundt used introspection as a controlled method of collecting thoughts and feelings
- People were given stimuli sin controlled conditions and asked to explain the mental processes
- Process was standardised to make it fair and replicable
Hunter et al (2003)
- Hunter studied happiness in teenagers using the outdated method of introspection
- They got participants to recall their thoughts and feeling whenever a buzzer/bell sounded
- It was a method of getting participants to describe their inner mental processes and report on them
- They found that teenagers were generally unhappy, however were more positive when focused on a task
Psychology as a science
- Robert Watson said that introspection was not scientific enough. We cannot see thoughts and feelings. Watson and Skinner believed that in order for something to be scientific it should be visible
- They believed behaviour should be objective and measurable
Behaviourist approach
- Behaviourists rejected introspection as its too vague
- The assumption of behaviourists is that all behaviour is learnt. It should be visible, measurable and objective
- Behaviourists counted the basic form of leaving ‘conditioning ‘- Classical and operant conditioning
What is classical conditioning?
Pavlov described how behaviour is learnt through associations
He believed that we firm associations with unlearned (unconditioned) stimuli, in order to form new behaviours (conditioned responses)
What is operant conditioning?
Skinner said Behaviour is learnt through positive and negative reinforcement
We learn from early ages, which behaviours are rewarded and which are punished
What was Pavlov’s aim?
Pavlov was looking at salvation in dogs in response to being fed
What was Skinner’s aim?
To see if there’s positive and negative reinforcement in a rat
Pavlov’s method
- Pavlov used a bell as his neutral stimulus
- Whenever he gave food to the dog, he also rang a bell
- After repeating this procedure, he tried the bell on its own
Skinner’s method
Positive: placed a hungry rat in the box which contained a lever on the side as the rat moved it would knock the lever, so a food pallets would drop (rat learns to go for the lever)
Negative: placed a rat in a box and unpleasantly shocking it with electricity. As it moved it would knock a lever and turn off the electricity (rat learns to not go for the lever)
Pavlov findings
Pavlov discovered that any object or event which the dogs learnt to associate with food would trigger the same response
Skinner findings
Positive: the ra clearance to go for the lever so they get food
Negative: the rat learns to go for the lever to ensure they didn’t get electric shock
What is positive reinforcement?
Occurs when a desirable event or stimulus is present as a consequence of a behaviour and the behaviour increases
