Psychological perspectives

Question 1

name two perspectives in psychology

Answer 1

• the behaviourist perspective
• the psychodynamic perspective

Question 2

what are the principles of the behaviourist perspectives

Answer 2

• all people are born tabula rasa (blank slates)
• all behaviours are learned from the environment

Question 3

what are the three concepts of the behaviourist perspective

Answer 3

• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning
• social learning theory

Question 4

describe classical conditioning

Answer 4

learning by association

Question 5

apply classical conditioning to a real life example

Answer 5

treating alcohol addiction (aversion therapy)
- patients are given an emetic drug, they will begin to experience nausea
- patients then given a drink smelling strongly of alcohol, they will immediately begin vomiting

Question 6

how is aversion therapy an example of classical conditioning

Answer 6

it works by pairing together a stimulus that causes deviant behaviour with some form of unpleasant stimulus. the two stimuli become associated with one another after appearing frequently together

Question 7

how did Pavlov discover classical conditioning

Answer 7

• whilst testing the salivary glands on his dogs, Pavlov discovered that after continuous testing with food Pavlovs dogs would salivate even before viewing any food (all they had to do was see a food bowl or hear Pavlovs footsteps)
• Pavlov used neutral stimuli such as lights, bells, and a metronome then he gave his dogs some food
• the dogs began to salivate the way they would if they had seen the food whenever presented with the stimulus
• pavlov discovered ‘classical conditioning’

Question 8

what is operant conditioning

Answer 8

learning from the consequences of our behaviour

Question 9

name 4 types of operant conditioning

Answer 9

• positive reinforcement
• negative reinforcement
• positive punishment
• negative punishment

Question 10

define positive reinforcement

Answer 10

introduction of a desirable or pleasant stimulus after a behaviour

Question 11

define negative reinforcement

Answer 11

an undesirable stimulus is removed to encourage the behaviour

Question 12

define positive punishment

Answer 12

an undesirable stimulus is introduced to discourage behaviour

Question 13

define negative punishment

Answer 13

a desirable stimulus is removed to discourage behaviour

Question 14

what type of operant conditioning is taking medicine for a headache and why

Answer 14

• negative reinforcement
• an undesirable stimulus (pain) is removed, so when another headache occurs medicine will continue to be taken

Question 15

define social learning theory

Answer 15

learning through observing and imitating the behaviour of others

Question 16

name three strengths of the behaviourist perspective