Unit 7 - Approaches Flashcards
What are the 6 types of approaches
behaviourist cognitive social learning theory biological psychodynamic humanistic
What were the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
all behaviours are learnt from our environment
animals and humans learn the same way
What is classical conditioning?
learning through assumption
What is the study for classical conditioning?
Pavlov’s dog
What happened in Pavlov’s dog study?
first, dog was presented with food, they saliviated. The food was unconditional stimulus and salivation was the unconditioned response.Then a bell was rung (neutral stimulus) before giving the food. After a few pairings the dog salivated when the bell was rung even if there was no food.Bell had became the conditioned stimulus and salivation was the conditioned response
What did Pavlov show?
that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if the sound was repeatedly presented at the same time they were given food
What is operant conditioning?
learning by consequences
What study showed operant conditioning?
Skinner’s box
What did Skinner suggest?
animals and humans learn from the consequences of their actions
What is positive reinforcement?
receiving a reward
What is negative reinforcement?
occurs when performing an action which stops something unpleasant happening
What is punishment?
unpleasant consequence
Describe the process of the Skinner Box
hungry rat placed in a cage. Every time he pushed lever food would be in food dispenser (positive reinforcement). The rats quickly learnt to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box. Next, the box had an electric current, when lever pushed the current would stop (negative reinforcement)
What are the strengths of the behaviourist approach?
applications - increased understanding of causes of phobias and attachment
supported - by classical and operant conditioning, classical lead to learning through association
laboratory - scientific replicable, high control of extraneous variable
What are the weaknesses of the behaviourist approach?
experiments were tested out on animals - we are different cognitive and physiological, humans have different social norms and moral values, these have different effects on the environment and we might behave differently. Theories might apply to animals more.
s that we are unable to draw
conclusions about human behaviour.
- studies done on animals means its hard to draw conclusions about humans
- humans do have free will which means are behaviour isnt determined by classical or operant conditioning.
determinist - Skinner believes that free will is an illusion
What did Bandura argue/ what is the social learning theory about ?
we learn through observation and imitations of other’s behaviour
What is the study which supports the social learning theory?
Bobo doll study
What was the procedure for the Bobo doll study?
3 groups : each 12 girls and 12 boys, children
1st : shown model hitting doll with hammer
2nd : shown model non-aggressive behaviour
3rd : (control group) were not shown a model
individually children then taken into room with the doll and objects e.g pencil and gun
What were the results of the Bobo doll study?
group 1 were most aggressive, they imitated the behaviour. Boys more physically violent than girls. No difference in verbal aggression
What did Bandura and Walters do?
repeated experiment, all were exposed to aggressive model
group 1 - the model was praised
group 2 - mode punished
group 3 - no consequences
What were the results of Bandura and Walters study?
group 1 were most aggressive, then 3 and then 2.
What was the conclusion for Bandura and Walters study?
shows imitation is most likely to occur when model is positively reinforced
What were the strengths of the Bobo doll study?
application - influence of media, James Bulger’s murder kids watched Child’s Play 3
What were the weaknesses of the Bobo doll study?
laboratory setting - not externally valid, demand characteristics, children were young
does not explain why boys are more aggressive than girls - biological factors play a role
What were the strengths of the cognitive approach?
applications - causes of depression and treatment, therapy.
What were the weaknesses of the cognitive approach?
does not account genetic factors involved with mental disorders e.g schizophrenia.
reductionist - doesn’t take emotions and motivation into account which influence processing information and memory
What are the assumptions of the biological approach?
thinking and behaviour is mainly determined by biological factors
What was the study which carried out research out on humans for the behaviourist approach?
Little Albert
Who did the Little Albert study?
Watson and Rayner
What is the method for the Little Albert study?
- participant was a 11 month boy
- he showed no fear of white fluffy objects such as rabbits and rats
- researchers tried to a conditioned response to these objects
- a white rat was placed in front Albert
- as he reached out for it, a metal bar was struck loudly behind his head
- this was repeated twice at first, then 5 more times a week later
What were the results of the Little Albert study?
- when Little Albert was shown a rat, he would start to cry
- this also extended to other fluffy objects
What are the weaknesses for the Little Albert study?
unethical
not everyone goes on to develop a fear or phobia after a negative experience
lab study - lacks ecological validity
What are the strengths for the Little Albert study?
supports Pavlov’s idea of classical conditioning
What does the social learning theory do?
expands on behaviourist theories
What does the social learning theory state?
people can learn by conditioning but also people learn a lot from role models
What are the 4 stages in the mediational process?
modelling
imitation
identification
vicarious reinforcement
What is modelling?
observing and imitating another person
What is vicarious reinforcement?
watching someone else get rewarded for a behaviour influences someone in whether they should imitate behaviour
What does positive or negative reinforcement make happen?
makes the behaviour more likely to happen in the future
What is the cognitive process for learning?
1) attention
2) retention
3) reproduction
4) motivation
Explain step 1 in cognitive process for learning
attention - once you notice your role model, you have to pay your full attention and attend to their behaviour
Explain step 2 in cognitive process for learning
retention - not only do you have to pay attention at the time, but you need to remember what you observed to be able to model it
Explain step 3 in cognitive process for learning
reproduction - have to judge whether you have the ability to reproduce behaviour
Explain step 4 in cognitive process for learning
motivation - you evaluate the direct or indirect results of imitating the behaviour. If the results in good reward more likely to do it
What is the weakness of SLT?
reductionist - explains through very basic cause-and-effect mechanisms
What does the cognitive approach look at?
how we interpret the world
What are the principles of the cognitive approach?
- mental systems have a limited capacity
- a control mechanism oversees all mental processes
- there is a two-way flow of information
What are the similarities between the brain and a computer?
- brain is described as the processor, it has data input into it and output from it
- some parts of the brain form networks
- some parts can work sequentially, one process must finish before another starts
- and they can work in parallel
What does sequentially mean?
info travels along just one path
What is the human and computer systems route?
data input
processing
data output
What are the disadvantages of using computer models ?
- humans are often influenced by emotional and motivational factors
- humans have unlimited and unreliable memory, whereas computer have a limited but reliable memory
- humans also have free will
What is a schema?
contains all the information you know about an object, action or concept
it also helps you organise and interpret information and experiences
What are the 3 types of schemas?
role schemas
event schemas
self schemas
What are role schemas?
these are ideas about the behaviour which is expected from someone in a certain role, setting or situation
What are event schemas?
also called scripts
they contain information about what happens in a situation
What are self schemas?
these contain information about ourselves based on physical characteristics and personality, as well as beliefs and values
What are some problems with schemas?
- schemas can stop people from learning new info
for example prejudice and stereotypes can be an outcome of schemas, which may be bias. This means we may be more likely to pay attention to information we can easily assimilate, and ignore info that would involve changing our schemas to accomodate
Who investigated schemas?
Bartlett
What was the method for Bartlett’s study?
- English participants were asked to read a Native American Tale called ‘The War of the Ghosts’
- it was an unfamiliar story, full of strange names, ideas and objects
- participants were asked to recall the story after different lengths of time
What was the results for Bartlett’s study?
- all of the participants changed the story to fit their own schemas
- details became more English culture
- as the length of time increased the amount of information decreased more
What was the conclusion for Bartlett’s study?
people use their own schemas to help interpret and remember the world around them
What is cognitive neuroscience?
is an approach in psychology which maps human behaviour to brain function
What are the methods which cognitive neuroscience use?
- lesion studies
- electrophysiology
- neuroimaging
What are lesion studies?
looking at people with brain damage to see how behaviour is affected
What is electrophysiology?
using electric and magnetic fields to measure brain activity and brain waves
What is neuroimaging?
pinpointing areas of the brain which are active when a task is performed
What are the strengths of the cognitive approach?
- it considers mental processes which are often overlooked in the other approaches
- it has had a big influence on the development of therapies e.g cognitive behaviour therapy
What are the weaknesses of the cognitive approach?
- research is often carried out in artificial situations and the role of emotional and influence from other people is often ignored
- cognitive psychology fails to take individual differences into account by assuming that all of us process stuff in the exact same way
What are the 3 things which are involved in the cognitive approach?
- computer model
- schemas
- cognitive neuroscience
What are the 3 assumptions of the biological approach?
- human behaviour can be explained by looking at biological stuff e.g hormones, genetics, evolution and nervous system
- we can explain all behaviour using biological causes, unwanted behaviour could be modified or removed using biological treatments
- experimental research conducted using animals can inform us about human behaviour and biological influences, because we share a lot of biological similarities
How are genetics used to explain behaviour?
genes are important in the development of the brain, and therefore has a role in behaviour
What is Darwin’s theory of evolution?
suggests over time, individuals are better adapted to their environment through having better genes as more likely to survive to reproduce and pass on their useful genes
What is genotype?
is the genes a person has
What is phenotype?
is the characteristics their genes produce
How can genetics can explain psychological traits?
- faulty genes are known to cause some diseases that have psychological effects e.g Huntington’s
- studies done to show how some people more likely to develop things like mental illness or addictions
- twin studies and adoption studies
What are psychological traits?
like gender behaviour, intelligence, personality and sexual orientation
What are the 2 studies which have looked at genetic basis of mental illnesses?
twin studies
adoption studies
What is the share of genes for identical twins and non-identical twins?
100 % identical
50% non-identical
Who did the study into twin studies?
Gottesman
What was the method of the twin studies?
meta-analysis of 40 twin studies
What was the results of the twin studies?
- having an identical twin with schizophrenia gave you a 48% chance of developing the condition
- reduced to 17% in non-identical twins
What was the conclusion of the twin studies?
schizophrenia has a strong genetic basis
What were the strengths of the twin studies?
high ecological validity - meta-analysis carried out on field studies
What were the weaknesses of the twin studies?
another factor must be involved - because 100% of identical twins genes are shared, it is expected that both twins would suffer but they don’t
Who did the study into adoption studies?
Heston
What was the method of the adoption studies?
- 47 adopted children whose biological mothers had schizophrenia were studied.
- the control group consisted of 50 adopted children whose mother didn’t suffer from schizophrenia
- the children were followed up as adults and were interviewed and given intelligence and personality tests
What was the results of the adoption studies?
- of the experimental group, 5 of the 47 became schizophrenia, compared to 0 in the control group
- another 4 from the experimental group were classified as borderline schizophrenia
What was the conclusion of the adoption studies?
the study supports the view that schizophrenia has a genetic basis
What were the strengths of the adoption studies?
interview is a good way of getting data in naturalistic way
What were the weaknesses of the adoption studies?
- social desirability bias - interview data is unreliable
- the adopted children whose mothers didn’t suffer from any conditions might have not shown any symptoms of schizophrenia yet
What do biological psychologists believe?
that behaviour is determined by brain structure
What is involved in the biological approach?
brain scans
neurochemistry
What do brain scans do?
help examine patterns of brain activity and anatomy
What are the 5 brain scans used?
PET scan MRI scans CAT scans Functional MRI scans SQUID magnetometry
What are PET scans?
show which parts of the brain are active during different tasks.
What are MRI scans?
detect small tumours and provide detailed information about structure
What are CAT scans?
detect damaged parts of the brain, tumours and blood clots. Brain structure is shown but not function
What are functional MRI scans?
provide structural and functional information
What are SQUID magnetometry?
produces accurate images of brain activity by measuring the magnetic fields generated when neurons are activated.
What is the study which supports there’s evidence from MRI scans to show changes in brain structure?
Maguire et al - A study of taxi driver’s brains
What is the method for the Maguire study?
- natural experiment
- MRI scans from 16 licensed male London taxi drivers were compared to a control group who had never driven taxis
- all of participants were in good general health, and had an average age of 44
- all of the taxi drivers had been working for at least 18 months
What are the results for the Maguire study?
- the average size of the hippocampus was significantly larger in the taxi driver group
- the increase in size was relative to the length of time the taxi driver had been working
What is the conclusion for the Maguire study?
the hippocampus is responsible for storing spatial representation of the environment
What are the strengths of the Maguire study?
applications - could help people with brain injuries with rehabilitation
good level of control, could be replicated which increases reliability
What are the weaknesses of the Maguire study?
sample size was small - can only be generalized to male taxi drivers in London, also cant be generalized to other brain structures
What are the 3 areas brain structures have been investigated?
aggression
memory
psychopathology
What was the study for aggression and brain structures?
Brad and Mountcastle - found that lesioning (damage) areas of the brains of cats led to changes in levels of aggression.
suggests hypothalamus and amygdala are involved in aggression
What was the study for memory and brain structures?
Milner - found that HM was unable to use his long term memory effectively, suggesting that the hypothalamus has an important role here
What was the study for psychology and brain structures?
Szeszko - found differences in the prefrontal cortex when comparing people with and without schizophrenia, suggesting a relationship between them
What is neurochemistry?
all about the nervous system and neurotransmitters
What can too little or too much of a particular neurotransmitter cause?
psychological disorders e.g schizophrenia
What are the strengths of the biological approach?
- approach provides evidence to support or disprove a theory - its a scientific approach
- biological treatments
What are the weaknesses of the biological approach
- approach doesn’t take into account the influence of people’s environment, family, childhood experiences or social situation
- using a biological explanation for negative behaviour can lead to individual avoiding taking personal or social responsibility for their behaviour
What are the assumptions of the the psychodynamic approach?
- behaviour can be explained by inner conflicts in the mind
- Freud highlights the role of the unconscious mind, the structure of personality and how childhood experiences affect later life.
- Freud believes that the unconscious mind determines most of our behaviour
What are the 3 parts of our personality that Freud found?
ID
ego
superego
What is the ID in personality?
is the biological part (instincts and drives) of personality. Present at birth. ID is motivated by the pleasure principle
What is the ego in personality?
develops 1-3 years
motivated by the reality principle
control conflict between the ID and superego by using defense mechanisms
What is the superego in personality?
develops 3-5 years
motivated by the morality principle
punished the ego with guilt
What are the 3 parts of the mind?
conscious
preconscious
unconscious
What is the conscious part of the brain?
- part we are aware of and can access without any effort
- contains part of the ego
What is the preconscious part of the brain?
- part of the mind that we cannot access without effort
- contains the ego and some of the superego.
What is the unconscious part of the brain?
- this part of the mind cannot be accessed without the help of a trained psychoanalyst
- contains the superego and the Id
What are 3 types of defence mechanisms?
repression
displacement
denial
What is repression?
is used by the ego to keep disturbing memories out of the conscious mind and in the unconscious mind where they cannot be accessed
What are 3 types of defence mechanisms?
repression
displacement
denial
What is repression?
is used by the ego to keep disturbing memories out of the conscious mind and in the unconscious mind where they cannot be accessed
What is displacement?
an impulse might be redirected to a more acceptable one
What is the oral stage in the psychosexual development?
0-1 yrs
source of pleasure : mouth - sucking etc
outcome : if forced feed or deprived could lead to oral activities like smoking and depression
What is the anal stage in the psychosexual development?
1-3 yrs
source of pleasure : anus
outcome : if toilet training is too harsh could lead to obsessiveness or tidiness
What is the oral stage in the psychosexual development?
0-1 yrs
source of pleasure : mouth - sucking etc
outcome : if
What is the anal stage in the psychosexual development?
1-3 yrs
source of pleasure : anus
outcome : if toilet training is too harsh or
What is the phallic stage in the psychosexual development?
3-5 yrs
source of pleasure : penis or clitoris
outcome : If abnormal family set-up leading to unusual relationship with mother/father then fixation could lead to Vanity, self-obsession or envy
What is the latent stage in the psychosexual development?
5- puberty
source of pleasure : sexual drives are repressed
outcome : Fixation does not happen in this stage
What is the genital stage in the psychosexual development?
puberty-death
source of pleasure : genitals, pleasure from sex or masturbating
outcome : Fixation at this stage should occur in a mentally healthy adult
What are the assumptions of the humanistic approach?
- everyone has their own unique way of perceiving and understanding the world
- aims to understands people subjectivity rather than objectivity
- people have free will and take personal responsibility
What is introspection?
the process by which a person gains knowledge about his or her own mental and emotional states as a result of examination or observation of their unconscious thoughts and feelings
What is the scientific method?
Refers to the use of investigate methods that are objective, systematic and replicable and the creation and testing of hypothesis
Who came up with introspection?
Wundt
What is empiricism?
the belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience. It is generally characterised by the use of scientific method in psychology
What is modelling?
learning through observation of another individuals behaviour
What is imitation?
the action of using someone or something as a model and copying their behaviour
What is identification?
refers to the extent to which an individual relates to the person they are watching
What are the limitations of the scientific approach?
- artificial lab settings - lack ecological validity
- subject matter is unobservable - means
that we cannot know much about the causes of, and processes underlying, our behaviour and
attitudes
What are the strengths of the scientific approach?
no bias due to the replication
What are the limitations of introspection?
not accurate - so cant cannot tell us much about the causes of, and processes underlying, our behaviour and attitudes.
What are the limitations of social learning theory?
-
What are the strengths of social learning theory?
- can be applied to criminal behaviour - as if people see other people commit crime they are more likely to commit crime due to them getting an expectation of positive consequences for their own criminal behaviour. This knowledge can be used to reduce crime.
