APPROACHES Flashcards
define psychology
the scientific study of the humans minds and functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context
what did wilhelm wunt do?
created the first empirical research by breaking down behaviours into basic elements.
he called this approach structuralism
define wilhelm wundts ‘introspection’
his first attempt to study the structure of the human mind, he asked participants to reflect their own thoughts in detail and describe them
strength of wilhelms wundts ‘introspection’
the high control
controlled extraneous variables
controlled environment. therefore, research can be considered a forerunner into later approaches in psychology
weakness of wilhelms wundts ‘introspection’
relies on pps to self report their mental processes. produces subjective data
therefore
wouldn’t meet scientific criteria as its difficult to establish laws of behaviour
define a ‘science’
a thing that discovers general laws that allow us to predict outcomes
uses systematic and objective measures
5 steps to achieve conclusion
1- ask a question
2- state a hypothesis
3. conduct experiment
4. analyse results
5. come to conclusion
psychology goals
hint* DEPC
D- description, what occurred?
E- explain, why did it occur?
P- predict, identify conditions
C- change, psychology knowledge to prevent unwanted behaviour
define ‘the behaviourist approach’
a way of explaining behaviour in terms of whats observable and in terms of learning
name 4 assumptions of the behaviourist approach
- everyones born as a blank state
- everything we learn is through conditioning
- focus on observable behaviour that can be scientifically measured
- animals have same principals of learning
whats classical conditioning
learning that occurs when 2 stimuli become associated together
define operant conditioning
behaviour learnt through consequences of our behaviour through reinforcement and punishment
name the 3 types of operant conditioning
positive reinforcement- more likely to behave this way to gain reward
negative reinforcement- more likely to display behaviour to avoid negative consequence
punishment- behaviour less likely to occur to avoid punishment
what was pavlovs dog study
- unconditioned stimuli was the dog food, caused drool
- a bell was then introduced as neutral stimuli, associated w food
- by the end, the dog was conditioned to drool when hearing the bell due to the association with the food
what does pavlovs dog experiment an example of
classical conditioning
what was skinners box study
every time the rat presses the lever its rewarded with food.
therefore the rat is positively reinforced to press the lever as it receives the reward and continues this behaviour
what does skinners box study show
operant conditioning
who created the ‘little albert’ study
watson and rayner
explain watsons and rayners study with little albert
showed phobias could be learned.
little albert associated the loud sound with a rat that was placed with him
this then spread to rabbits and cotton wool.
supports the idea that behaviour can be learnt through association
define the social learning theory
way of explaining behaviour that occurs through observation and imitation of others behaviour
2 assumptions of the social learning theory
- all behaviour is learnt through experience
- behaviour is more likely to occur when a role model performes the behaviour
name the 4 mediational processes
ARMM
- attention- seeing behaviour
- retention- remembering it
- motor reproduction- ability
- motivation- reason to perform behaviour
define the identification within social learning theory
role models, more likely to imitate the role models. this is called modelling
2 ways of modelling
1. observer imitates
2. produces behaviour
role model doesnt need to be present
whats vicarious reinforcement
when the frequency of certain behaviors increases as a result of observing others rewarded for the same behaviors
