Approaches Flashcards
biological approach
what are the key assumptions?
to understand human behaviuour we must look at biological structures and processes within the body
biological approach
what are genes?
made up of DNA and codes our physical and psychological features
inherited from parents
biological approach
what is the diff between genotype and phenotype?
geno- a persons actual genetic make-up
pheno- the way genes are expressed in the environment ( physical characteristics and traits)
biological approach
How are twin studies beneficial?
If e.g SCZ is genetic would expect all MZ twins to be concordant but not same with DZ (share 100% DNA vs 50%)
this suggests that genes don’t have such a crucial role in the trait and the trait must be mainly the result of the environment
biological approach
what is neurochemistry?
chemicals in the brain that regulate physiological functioning
biological approach
what is evolution psychology?
- our parents inherit their genes from their parents, who inherit from their parents, who inherit from their parents and so on until the begining of time
- so our genes we have inheritted are the ones that helped our distant ancestors to reproduce and pass on their genes
biological approach
what is natural selection?
where the genetic materials that are passed to future gens are selected by nature
biological approach
why are animal studies used with psychologists who take a bio approach?
we share a lot of our genetic makeup with other animals so we can learn about our behaviour by studying them
what are the assumptions of behaviourism?
- emphasises the role of environmental factors in influencing behaviour
- learn through operant + classical conditioning
- only concerned with measurable and observable behaviours
- internal mental processes cannot be measured or observed= mind is a blank slate
what are the main features of behaviourism?
- try to maintain control by using lab experiments etc
- often use animals and extrapolate findings to humans
what is classical conditioning?
learning through association
* first demonstarted by pavlov with dogs
* he found that presenting dogs with a bell before giving them food- dogs learn to associate bell with food and end up responding to the two in the same way
what are the steps to classical conditioning?
before conditioning:
food ( UCS) –> salvation ( UCR)
bell ( NS) –> no salvation ( No CR)
during conditioning:
bell+food –> salvation
after conditioning:
bell ( CS) –> salvation ( CR)
behaviourism
what is the importance of timing in classical conditioning?
precise timing of the NS-UCS paring is important in determining whether the NS becomes effective
what is operant conditioning?
skinner- animals/ humans
* learn through consequences, whether we perform an action again depends on the consequences
what are the consequnces of behaviour?
reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated
* positive- adding something pleasant (receiving a reward)
* negative- removing something unpleasant ( avoiding spiders= removal of anxiety= more likely to occur again)
punishment decreases the likelihood
* positive- adding something unpleasant as a consequence
* negative- taking away something pleasant
what was skinners research in explaining operant conditioning (positive reinforcement) ?
- hungry rats inside a cage would move around= accidentally press down on leaver= rewarded with a food pallet ( positive reinforcement)
- through this the rat learns every time it presses leaver they will get rewarded with food likelihood of behaviour has been increased
- negative- shown when the rat learnt to press down on the leaver to avoid the unpleasant consequence of an electric shock
what are the main assumptions of the social learning theory?
bandura- agrees with behaviourists that we learn through experiences within environment
* the two conditioning alone cannot explain- we also learn through observing and imitating others
internal mental functions should be considered when explaining behaviour
SLT
what is vicarious reinforcement?
learning through observing models performing behaviours- through this we learn HOW to perform the behaviours and are able to see the consequences
* if behaviour is rewarded= more likely to imitate
* punished= less likely to imitate
SLT
who is a role model?
a person whom the observer identifies with, this person usually has high status, is attractive or is similar to the observer e.g in terms of age or gender
SLT
what is identification?
a process where an observer desires to be associated with a particular person or group because the person/group possess certain desirable characteristics
SLT
What is modeling from the perspective of a model and the observer?
observer- imitating the behaviour of a role model
model- the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour that may then be imitated by the observer
SLT
what is the role of cognitive mediators/mediational processes?
there are cognitive processes involved in learning- these factors mediate/intervene with the learning process to determine the outcome e.g whether a behaviour is learned or not
SLT- whether behaviour is learnt
what are the first two mediational processes?
- attention- observer must have paid attention to the models actions
- retention- the observer must remember the models action by creating a mental representation of the action
SLT- whether behaviour is actually imitated by observer
what are the last two mediational processes?
- motor reproduction- the ability of the observer to physically perform the behaviour
- motivation- the reason for the observer to imitate, reward or punishment, for their behaviour
SLT
what was Banduras research aim into vicarious reinforcement?
- controlled experiment aiming to investigate if social behaviours can be acquired by observation and reinforcement (VR)
SLT
what was the procedure used?
- independent groups design used 36 girls + 36boys aged 3-6 years old
- they watched a female or male model
- the IV= type of model ( aggressive, non-aggressive or no model at all ( control) be aggressive to bobo doll
- all condtions were then put in a room with aggressive and non aggressive toys and were observed through a one-way mirror ( 5 second intervals
- other variation- children either saw models aggression get rewarded or punished or no specific consequence ( control)
SLT
what was found in the different conditions of banduras research?
- children in aggressive condition made more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control
- in the variation of model behaviour being rewarded or punished- those who were in the reward and control condition imitated more aggressive behaviours of model then the punishement condition children
SLT
what were the conclusions of banduras bobo doll study?
children learn aggression through observing and imitating
however boys were more likely to imitate the same-sex models than girls- evidence for girls imitating is not strong
what are the main assumptions of the coognitive approach?
- internal mental processes can AND should be studied scientifically
- although they cannot be directly measured we can scientifically measure them (memory, perception etc) indirectly through inferences
- the mind and brain are two seperate things
cognitive approach
what are infernces?
measuring external behaviours and assuming what internal mental processes are behind them
