approaches in psychology (mocks)

Question 1

what are the biological approaches assumptions

Answer 1

1. everything psychological is at first biological
2. behavior is the result of nature
3. behavior is influenced by genetics, hormones, neurochemistry, brain structure and evolution
4. the mind lives in the brain and therefore all thought, feeling and behaviors have a physical bases

Question 2

define phenotype

Answer 2

the characteristics of an individual determined by both genes and the environment

Question 3

define genotype

Answer 3

the particular set of genes that a person processes

Question 4

what are influence of genes (genotype and phenotype) - biological approach

Answer 4

genes are passed from one generation to the next - carry information in the form of DNA
genotypes - a person genetic makeup
phenotype- is the expression of their genes in observable characteristics
some behaviors are more heritability level than others
Monozygotic twins - 100% same DNA and a increased concordance rate of developing schizophrenia.
Genes indirectly influence behavior through aspects of our biology eg. neurotransmitters

Question 5

define concordance rate

Answer 5

the probability that a pair of individuals will both have a certain characteristic

Question 6

biological approach - evolution and behavior

Answer 6

natural selection ensures that characteristics with an evolutionary advantage are passed onto the next generation whilst others don’t. (change genetic makeup)
natural and sexual selection evolve genes - nature = survival and sexual = reproduction
survival of the fittest describes how those best adapted to their environment are most likely to survive - allow unsuccessful genes to die out

Question 7

the influence of biological structures

Answer 7

structure of organs, central nervous system, peripheral system and the endocrine system determine our behavior.
nervous system transmit message through neurons - control behaviors such as eating/ breathing
different lobes are linked with different general behaviors

Question 8

the brain lobes and their roles

Answer 8

frontal lobe - behavior, emotions and impulses, memory and attention, problem solving, planning and organizing
parietal lobe - which way is up and sensory information
occipital lobe - receiving and processing visual information
temporal lobe - recognizing and processing sound, understanding speech and parts of memory
brain stem - breathing, heart rate, swallowing, blood pressure
cerebellum - balance, movement and coordination

Question 9

Phineas cage

Answer 9

demonstrates how the effect of damage to the brain
loss ability to inhibit antisocial behavior after an iron bar through his head and destroyed a large proportion of his frontal lobe
also shows the influence of a biological structure on behavior

Question 10

the influence of neurochemistry

Answer 10

role of chemicals in determining behavior
in the synapse neurotransmitters are sent between the neurons
imbalance in neurotransmitters = atypical behavior
eg. low serotonin, high dopamine = schizophrenia
other chemicals = hormones that are produced in the glands and released into the bloodstream

Question 11

psychodynamic approach assumptions - Freud

Answer 11

1. people are born with basic instincts and needs
2. our behavior/ feelings are rooted in childhood experiences
3. all behavior is determined
4. personality/psyche has a discernible structure
5. personality us develop through the psychosexual stage through infancy and adolescence
   6 conflict in the psyche are mediated with defense mechanisms
6. study human behavior by analyzing dreams, irrational behavior and what patients say in therapy

Question 12

the role of the unconscious

Answer 12

the unconscious takes up a larger proportion of the human mind that we cant accesses and the conscious is only the tip of the iceberg
traumatic events from childhood are repressed into the unconscious mind and hidden from the consciousness - can be explored through psychoanalysis as memories are never lost

Question 13

the structure of the personality

Answer 13

ID = erotic energy, governed by pleasure principle, what instant gratification, part of the personality that is present at birth. - located in the unconscious

EGO = governed by reality principle, task to tame ID and balance the superego, no present at birth and develops to control the others during anal stage of development

SUPEREGO= governed by morality principle, inner voice telling us when we cross a boundary, internalized parent that develops at around 5 year old

Question 14

defence mechanisms

Answer 14

repression - internal - occurs when a traumatic or distressing memory is forced out of the conscious awareness and into the unconscious

denial - external - refusal to accept the truth or reality of a situation, acting as though nothing happened

displacement - is when the feelings towards a target individual cannot be expressed directly and are therefore transferred onto someone/something else

Question 15

psychosexual stages

Answer 15

Old Age Pensioners Love Guineans
oral :0-2 - mouth
anal: 2-3 - anus
phallic: 3-6 - gentiles 
latent: 6- puberty - hidden
genital: puberty+ - heterosexual relationships

Question 16

oral - psychosexual stage

Answer 16

infant experiences pleasure through their mouth - sucking and biting
oral fixation - engage in behaviors like smoking, nail biting etc.

Question 17

anal - psychosexual stage

Answer 17

child become aware of reality principle imposed by parents. - ego develops
undergo potty training - control bowel movement
anal fixation: anal fixation = obsessive perfectionist or anal expulsive: messy and thoughtless
- caused by potty training being to strict or relax

Question 18

phallic - psychosexual stage

Answer 18

Oedipus complex - infant boys have to overcome their unconscious sexual desire to their mother by identify with their fathers - superego develops - fear of losing their penis
Electra complex for girls
phallic fixation/ personality - manifest itself in reckless and narcissistic behavior

Question 19

latent - psychosexual stage

Answer 19

sexual energy from pervious stages now because latent - this allows the individual to be able to focus on the world around them and forming relationships
no fixation

Question 20

genital - psychosexual stage

Answer 20

psychosexual energy is taking residence in the genitals and is directed towards forming adult relationships
genital fixation - led to individual struggling to form heterosexual relationships

Question 21

operant conditioning - learning approach

Answer 21

skinner suggests that behavior is the result of learning through the consequences of our actions
- experiment on rats where if they pressed a lever they would receive food (positive reinforcement) or the lever would stop an electric shock (negative reinforcement) leading to them repeating the behavior
positive reinforcement = desirable consequence after the behavior
negative reinforcement = removal of an adverse consequence
punishment = behavior is followed by an unpleasant consequence

Question 22

social learning theory - assumptions

Answer 22

1. behavior should be studied using scientific methods
2. all behavior is learnt directly learnt from the environment through observation
3. human imitate the behavior of their role models
4. mediational processes intervene between observation and imitation

Question 23

imitation and identification - social learning theory

Answer 23

if a role model models a behavior an individual will imitate the behavior to be able to identify with them.
This is identification - involves associating with qualities, characteristics and views of a role model to become more like them.
if the observed behavior is rewarded imitation is more likely - bandura - vicarious reinforcement

Question 24

mediational processes

Answer 24

observational learning could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work.
this lack of imitation is because of mediational processes
- attention = the extent the behavior is noticed
- retention = how well the behavior is remembered
- reproduction = does the observer have the ability to retreat the behavior
- motivation = the desire to preform the behavior

Question 25

bandura

Answer 25

bobo doll experiment
3- 6 year old placed in 3 group - aggression model, unaggressive model and control model
children deliberately frustrated and left with a range of toy that varied from aggressive to nonaggressive and the bobo doll
aggressive model children were more aggressive to the toy
boys imitated same sex model more than girls
girls imitated male physical aggression and women verbal aggression

Question 26

Wundt in the development in psychology

Answer 26

father of psychology - first person to call themselves a psychologist
first book on psychology and academic journal
established the first scientific laboratory for psychology
stated to apply empirical methods and adopted features of the scientific methods by controlling extraneous variables, using standard instructions, made notes of procedures and replicated test for reliability

Question 27

structuralism

Answer 27

is understanding components of the mind by splitting it up into components
Wundt wanted to understand the components of the human consciousness and studying the structure of the brain
adopted a reductionist view to do this

Question 28

introspection

Answer 28

1st systematic experiment to study the mind by breaking up the conscious awareness into basic structures - way of studying the brain - to look into
process involved systematically examining one’s own thoughts and emotions
trained himself and his PHD students to observe their inner mental processes in response to controlled stimuli

Question 29

strength of Wundt - scientific

Answer 29

methods were systematic and well-controlled
introspections were recorded in well controlled environment of a lab leading to EVs being able to be controlled
procedures and instructions are standardized - participant get same information and tested the same
therefore Wundt was the forerunner to later approaches in psychology such as the behaviorists approach

Question 30

limitation of Wundt - subjective data

Answer 30

data collected is now considered unscientific
as he relied on participants to self report their mental processes
subjective data and some participant may have hid some of their thoughts
difficult to establish meaningful law of behavior from this data
therefore, Wundt early efforts to study the brain and do not meet todays scientific standards