Topic 5: Approaches in Psychology Flashcards
What is Cartesian dualism and who suggested it?
Cartesian dualism - idea that the body and mind are independent from each other. Suggested by Descartes.
Who opened the first laboratory dedicated to psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt.
What is introspection?
Introspection - studying the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into thoughts, images and sensations
What is structuralism?
Structuralism - isolation of thoughts, images and sensations
Give a strength of Wundt’s work.
He used scientific methods like lab experiments and standardised procedures.
Give a limitation of Wundt’s work.
He relied on self-reports, which may not be accurate, so his research can’t be considered fully scientific.
Give three assumptions of the behaviourist approach.
- all behaviour comes from the environment
- lab experiments are the best way to investigate behaviour
- animal learning is similar to human learning
What is classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning - when two stimuli are paired together, the neutral stimulus will eventually elicit the same response as the unconditioned stimulus
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
A stimulus which naturally elicits a specific response without the response being taught.
What is a neutral stimulus?
A stimulus which elicits no response.
What is a conditioned stimulus?
A stimulus which was originally neutral, but has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus and now elicits the same response as the unconditioned stimulus.
How did Pavlov investigate classical conditioning with dogs?
UCS was food, producing the UCR of salivation. He paired the food with a bell, the NS, which became a CS as the dogs associated the bell with food.
What is operant conditioning?
Operant conditioning - a form of learning in which behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences
What is positive reinforcement?
Receipt of a reward for performing the desired behaviour. This increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.
What is negative reinforcement?
Removal of an unpleasant experience for performing the desired behaviour. This increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.
What is punishment?
Receipt of an unpleasant experience for not performing the desired behaviour. This decreases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated.
How did Skinner investigate operant conditioning with rats?
He put the rats in cages called Skinner boxes which had levers. In one variant, when the rats pressed the lever they received food, and in another, where the bars gave electric shocks, pressing the lever alleviated the shocks.
Give two strengths of the behaviourist approach.
- more scientific credibility
- can be applied to real life situations
Give three limitations of the behaviourist approach.
- disregards mental processes
- ethical issues involved with experimenting on animals
- disregards free will
Define imitation.
Copying the behaviour of others.
Define vicarious reinforcement.
When the learner watches someone else’s behaviour being reinforced, leading them to imitate the behaviour.
Define identification.
When the learner associates themselves with and wants to be like a role model.
What makes people more likely to become role models?
If they are seen to possess similar characteristics to the learner or if they are attractive and of high status.
What is modelling (SLT)?
Imitating the behaviour of a role model or (from the role model’s perspective) the demonstration of a specific behaviour to an observer who may/may not imitate the behaviour.
Define mediational processes.
Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response.
In social learning theory, what is attention?
The extent to which we notice certain behaviours.
In social learning theory, what is retention?
How well the behaviour is remembered.
In social learning theory, what is motor reproduction?
The ability of the observer to perform the behaviour.
In social learning theory, what is motivation?
The will to perform the behaviour, often influenced by whether it was rewarded or punished.
Give three strengths of social learning theory.
- emphasises the importance of cognitive factors in learning
- helps explain cultural differences in behaviour
- less determinist than the behaviourist approach
Give two limitations of social learning theory.
- over-reliance on lab studies
- underestimates influence of biological factors
Define cognitive approach.
An approach to psychology focused on how internal mental processes affect behaviour.
What is a computer model?
An analogy comparing the operation of a computer CPU to the internal mental processes in the human brain. A computer is programmed to see if instructions produce a similar output to in humans.
What is a theoretical model?
Similar to a computer model, but instead of being concrete, it is an abstract flow chart representation of the steps of a specific mental process.
What is a schema?
A schema is a mental framework - a collection of basic knowledge about a concept or object built from previous experience with the world.
What are schemas used for?
- processing environmental information
- predicting the future
- reducing the amount of mental energy used to respond to situations
What are the negative aspects of schemas?
- can lead to inaccurate recall (bad for eyewitness testimony)
- negative schemas can lead to poor mental health (e.g. clinical depression)
What is cognitive neuroscience?
A field integrating principles from both cognitive psychology and neuroscience which aims to identify and examine the structures and processes in the brain that are linked to internal mental processes.
How did cognitive neuroscience emerge?
With the development of brain scanning techniques PET and fMRI as these made it possible for scientists to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes.
How has cognitive neuroscience been applied to the real world?
- establishing the neurological basis of mental disorders like OCD
- development of ‘brain fingerprinting’, mind-mapping techniques which use computer-generated models to ‘read’ the brain
Give three strengths of the cognitive approach.
- real-world application (artificial intelligence, treating mental disorders e.g. depression)
- scientific and objective methods
- less determinist than the behaviourist and biological approaches
What is hard determinism?
The theory that behaviour is largely out of our control.
What is soft determinism?
The theory that while external factors can affect behaviour, free will also plays a role.
Give two limitations of the cognitive approach.
- machine reductionism ignores influence of emotions and motivations on behaviour
- studies often lack mundane realism because they rely on inferences and artificial stimuli
Define biological approach.
An approach to psychology that emphasises the influence of biological factors on behaviour.
Define concordance rate.
The extent to which twins/close family members share characteristics - studied by biological psychologists to determine the genetic basis of behaviour.
Define neurochemistry.
How chemicals in the brain regulate psychological functioning.
How is neurochemistry linked to behaviour?
Behaviour relies on chemical transmission in the brain using neurotransmitters, and it has been suggested that an imbalance of neurotransmitters can cause mental illness.
Define genotype.
The genes an individual possesses.
Define phenotype.
The characteristics of an individual, determined by both their genotype and their environment.
Define natural selection.
A process where genetically determined behaviour that enhances an individual’s chance of survival will be passed on to future generations (as the individual is more likely to reproduce). This eventually leads over millions of years to evolution - where almost the whole population will share that characteristic.
Give two strengths of the biological approach.
- scientific methods of investigation
- real-life application
How do drugs treating clinical depression work?
They increase levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin at the synapse.
Give three limitations of the biological approach.
- claims causes where there are only correlations
- determinist view of behaviour
- can’t separate nature from nurture
Who developed the psychodynamic approach?
Sigmund Freud.
Define psychodynamic approach.
An approach to psychology focusing on mostly unconscious forces/dynamics and their influence on human behaviour and experience.
What is the unconscious mind?
A section of the mind containing biological drives, instincts and repressed memories that can’t be accessed by us but affect our behaviour.
What is the preconscious mind?
A section just under the conscious mind containing thoughts and memories which can be accessed but aren’t currently in conscious awareness.
What did Freud think about the structure of personality?
He thought that personality consists of three parts - the id, ego and superego.
What is the id?
A section of our personality present from birth which operates on the pleasure principle and is entirely selfish.
What is the superego?
A section of our personality present from 5 years which operates on the morality principle and represents the moral standards of the same-sex parent, becoming an internalised sense of right and wrong.
What is the ego?
A section of our principle present from 2 years which operates on the reality principle and acts as a mediator between the id and the superego.
What are defense mechanisms in the psychodynamic approach?
Unconscious strategies used by the ego to avoid conflict between the id and the superego. The three identified by Freud are denial, displacement and repression.
What is repression (defence mechanism)?
Forcing a distressing memory out of the unconscious mind.
What is denial (defence mechanism)?
Refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality.
What is displacement (defence mechanism)?
Transferring feelings from the true source of a distressing emotion onto a (usually weaker) substitute target.
What are psychosexual stages?
The five stages Freud thought children developed through which can influence adulthood behaviour. (oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital)
What is the first psychosexual stage from 0-1 years and what happens if conflict is unresolved?
Oral stage:
- pleasure is focused on the mouth
- if conflict is unresolved (e.g. the baby isn’t properly weaned) it leads to an oral fixation - expressed through smoking, biting nails etc.
What is the second psychosexual stage from 1-3 years and what happens if conflict is unresolved?
Anal stage:
- pleasure focuses on the anus
- can lead to an anal retentive personality, expressed through perfectionism and obsession
- can lead to an anal expulsive personality, expressed through thoughtlessness and untidiness
What is the third psychosexual stage from 3-6 years and what happens if conflict is unresolved?
Phallic stage:
- pleasure focuses on the genitals
- child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex
- leads to a phallic personality, expressed through narcissism, recklessness and potentially homosexuality
What is the Oedipus complex?
- boys in the phallic stage develop incestuous feelings for their mother
- they fear their father as their romantic rival and fear he will castrate them
- they repress these feelings and identify with their father, developing a male gender identity in the process
What is the Electra complex?
- girls in the phallic stage also desire their mother
- they experience penis envy, transferring their desire onto their father
- eventually this desire is replaced by that for a baby and they identify with their mother, developing a female gender identity in the process
What is the fourth psychosexual stage, from 6 years to the onset of puberty?
The latency stage, where earlier conflicts in the first three stages are repressed.
What is the fifth psychosexual stage, starting at puberty?
The genital stage, where sexual desires become conscious.
Give two strengths of the psychodynamic approach.
- real-world application
- power to explain various behaviours (e.g. connection between childhood experiences and later development)
Give a limitation of the psychodynamic approach.
Most concepts cannot be empirically tested (they are subjective and abstract) so are not falsifiable (suggesting it is a pseudoscience) and cannot be used to make universal claims about human behaviour.
Which psychologists pioneered the humanistic approach?
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
What does the humanistic approach focus on?
Trying to understand behaviour by looking at subjective experience and each person’s capacity for self-determination, as well as focusing on the healthy growth of people, rather than on illness.
What is self-actualisation?
The process of personal growth and realising your full potential.
What is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
A group of needs that Maslow thought must be met before reaching self-actualisation, arranged in order of importance.
Physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem, and then self-actualisation.
What is congruence?
Alignment between one’s perceived self and ideal self.
What did Rogers believe about congruence?
Rogers believed that congruence was essential for achieving self-actualisation, personal development and well-being.
What are conditions of worth and how do they make it harder to achieve congruence?
Conditions of worth are expectations from others that one must meet to earn their love or approval. They can make it harder to achieve congruence because they mean the ideal self is unrealistic.
Who developed client-centred therapy?
Carl Rogers.
What is client-centred therapy?
A type of counselling therapy which emphasises the importance of the present and future over the past and aims to help the client achieve congruence. Instead of telling the client what to do, the therapist offers unconditional positive regard and support on the client’s journey.
What is the Q-sort?
A self-assessment procedure for measuring congruence developed by Rogers.
Give two strengths of the humanistic approach.
- Not reductionist
- Therapists are positive and use qualitative data to understand their clients
Give two limitations of the humanistic approach.
- Concepts like congruence are difficult to test
- Cultural bias
What is the order of approaches in the Nature-Nurture debate, from Nature to Nurture?
Biological approach
Psychodynamic approach
Cognitive approach
Humanistic approach
Social learning theory
Behaviourist approach
Where does the biological approach sit on the nature-nurture debate and why?
The biological approach is on the nature side, because the focus is on the influence of heredity, hormones and chemicals on behaviour, although the interaction of these factors with the environment is also acknowledged.
Where does the psychodynamic approach sit on the nature-nurture debate and why?
The psychodynamic approach is to the nature side because Freud believed that basic instinctive drives such as sex and aggression drive behaviour, but the relationship with parents and individual progression through the psychosexual stages are also seen as important influences on development.
Where does the cognitive approach sit on the nature-nurture debate and why?
The cognitive approach takes an interactionist stance (in the middle). While information processing abilities are innate, they are constantly refined by experience.
Where does the humanistic approach sit on the nature-nurture debate and why?
The humanistic approach is more on the nurture side, because while the influence of basic physiological needs is accepted in Maslow’s hierarchy, the focus is on the person’s experience of their social environment.
Where does social learning theory sit on the nature-nurture debate and why?
Social learning theory is more on the nurture side, because the focus is on learning through experiences like imitation and vicarious reinforcement, but not fully nurture as cognition is accounted for through mediational processes.
Where does the behaviourist approach sit on the nature-nurture debate and why?
The behaviourist approach is on the nurture side, because it focuses fully on learning through environmental experiences like classical and operant conditioning and doesn’t acknowledge cognitive or biological factors.
Define holism.
The act of studying a whole system rather than breaking it up into its constituent parts.
Define reductionism.
The act of studying a system by breaking it up into its constituent parts.
What is the order of approaches from most holistic to most reductionist?
Humanistic approach
Psychodynamic approach
Social learning theory
Cognitive approach
Behaviourist approach
Biological approach
Is the humanistic approach holistic or reductionist and why?
The humanistic approach is holistic as all aspects of the individual are studied using qualitative methods.
Is the psychodynamic approach holistic or reductionist and why?
The psychodynamic approach is mostly reductionist as behaviour is reduced to biological instincts and sexual drives. However, the tripartite structure of personality means that it is viewed as more holistic than most other approaches.
Is social learning theory holistic or reductionist and why?
Social learning theory is mostly reductionist as behaviour is reduced to environmental processes like imitation and modelling. However, SLT is viewed as less reductionist than the cognitive, behaviourist and biological approaches due to the emphasis on the interaction between these environmental influences and cognitive mediational processes.
Is the cognitive approach holistic or reductionist and why?
The cognitive approach is machine reductionist, as people are presented as similar to computers and the influence of emotion on behaviour is largely disregarded.
Is the behaviourist approach holistic or reductionist and why?
The behaviourist approach is environmentally reductionist because behaviour is broken down into stimulus and response units.
Is the biological approach holistic or reductionist and why?
The biological approach is biologically reductionist because behaviour is broken down into the influence of genetics or neurochemistry.
Which approach believes in free will?
The humanistic approach.
Which approaches are soft deterministic?
The cognitive approach and social learning theory.
Which approaches are hard deterministic?
The psychodynamic, behaviourist and biological approaches.
Where does the cognitive approach sit on the free will vs determinism debate and why?
The cognitive approach is based on soft determinism, as behaviours are chosen by the person, but their choice is limited by what they know and have experienced.
Where does social learning theory sit on the free will vs determinism debate and why?
Social learning theory is based on reciprocal determinism (as suggested by Bandura), where behaviour is determined by the environment but can also influence the environment.
Where does the psychodynamic approach sit on the free will vs determinism debate and why?
The psychodynamic approach is based on psychic determinism, as Freud saw behaviour as uncontrollable and determined completely by unconscious forces.
Where does the biological approach sit on the free will vs determinism debate and why?
The biological approach is based on biological determinism, as it is believed that behaviour is determined completely by genetic or neural influences.
Where does the behaviourist approach sit on the free will vs determinism debate and why?
The behaviourist approach is based on environmental determinism, as it is believed that behaviour is determined completely by external influences such as conditioning.
Define idiographic.
An approach focusing more on individual cases to understand individual behaviour.
Define nomothetic.
An approach focused on establishing general laws of behaviour.
Is the behaviourist approach idiographic or nomothetic?
The behaviourist approach is nomothetic.
Is social learning theory idiographic or nomothetic?
Social learning theory is nomothetic.
Is the cognitive approach idiographic or nomothetic?
The cognitive approach is mostly nomothetic, but often uses data from case studies.
Is the biological approach idiographic or nomothetic?
The biological approach is mostly nomothetic, but often uses data from case studies.
Is the psychodynamic approach idiographic or nomothetic?
The psychodynamic approach is mostly idiographic, but Freud did generalise data from case studies to create general laws, such as Little Hans (the Oedipus complex).
Is the humanistic approach idiographic or nomothetic?
The humanistic approach is idiographic.
What are the views of the behaviourist approach on development?
Learning is continuous and can happen at any age through classical or operant conditioning.
What are the views of social learning theory on development?
Learning is continuous and can happen at any age through vicarious reinforcement, imitation and modelling.
What are the views of the biological approach on development?
The biological approach uses the principle of maturation, where genetically determined changes in a child’s physiological status influence psychological and behavioural characteristics.
What are the views of the cognitive approach on development?
Children start with basic schemas which become more complex as they age and intellectually develop.
What are the views of the psychodynamic approach on development?
The psychodynamic approach has the most coherent theory of development, where children go through a series of psychosexual stages starting at specific stages, but Freud thought there was little development past the genital stage in puberty.
What are the views of the humanistic approach on development?
The development of the self is ongoing throughout life and to some extent affected by the person’s relationship with their parents.
How does the behaviourist approach explain and treat abnormal behaviour?
Explanation:
- results from maladaptive learning, where inappropriate or destructive behaviours have been reinforced
Treatment:
- focused on counterconditioning
- e.g. systematic desensitisation is used to treat phobias
How does social learning theory explain and treat abnormal behaviour?
Explanation:
- uses principles of modelling and observational learning
- e.g. aggression learned from dysfunctional role models
Treatment:
- little specific application
How does the biological approach explain and treat abnormal behaviour?
Explanation:
- results from genetics or neural factors
- e.g. low levels of serotonin causes depression
Treatment:
- drugs are used to regulate chemical imbalances in the brain
How does the cognitive approach explain and treat abnormal behaviour?
Explanation:
- results from faulty thinking/information processing
- e.g. depression is caused by negative schemas
Treatment:
- attempts to identify and eradicate faulty schemas
- e.g. CBT is used to treat depression
How does the psychodynamic approach explain and treat abnormal behaviour?
Explanation:
- results from unconscious conflict, childhood traumas or overuse of defense mechanisms
Treatment:
- Psychoanalysis aims to bring unconscious factors into conscious awareness
How does the humanistic approach explain and treat abnormal behaviour?
Explanation:
- uses Rogers’ philosophy of congruence to explain abnormal behaviour as a result of incongruence between the ideal self and the perceived self
Treatment:
- client-centred therapy (developed by Rogers) aims to improve congruence and stimulate personal growth by providing unconditional positive regard and allowing the client to direct their development
