Approaches Flashcards
(200 cards)
1
Q
What did Wundt do in the development of psychology?
A
he established the first lab dedictaed to psychology in Germany = controlled research
separated psych from philosophy so he is known as ‘father of psych’
came up with introspection and structuralism
his work paved the way for later controlled research and the study of mental processes = cognitive psych
2
Q
what is introspection?
A
the process of a person looking into their own mental experiences and reporting their own conscious experience
3
Q
What is structuralism?
A
breaking down mental processes into simple components like the senses
4
Q
What was wundt’s study for introspection?
A
highly trained assistants given a stimulus - ticking metronome
they would reflect on experience - thoughts, feelings, senses
this was standardised
5
Q
What is the behaviourist approach?
A
a way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning
6
Q
who rejected introspection in the behaviourist approach?
A
watson
7
Q
why did watson reject introspection?
A
it involved too many vague and immeasurable concepts
8
Q
What do behaviourists assume about learning?
A
learning takes place due to stimulus-response reactions
occurs due to classical conditioning or operant conditioning
it occurs the same way in all species - humans and animals are comparable
not concerned about internal mental processes
humans are born as blank slates
9
Q
What do behaviourists assume about behaviour?
A
only behaviour that is obsvered and measured should be studied - mental processes are not important
behaviour should be studied in a scientific way
10
Q
What does the behaviourist approach say we are born as?
A
a blank state - all behaviour is learned
11
Q
Who researched classical conditioning?
A
pavlov
12
Q
what was pavlov’s dog study?
A
conditioned dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell if that sound was presented with food repeatedly
13
Q
What are the 2 parts of the learning approach?
A
the behaviourist approach
socail learning theory
14
Q
What was the unconditioned stimulus in pavlovs study?
A
the food
15
Q
what was the unconditioned response in pavlovs study?
A
salivation
16
Q
What was rhe neurtal stimulus and conditioned stimulus in pavlovs study?
A
the bell
17
Q
who researched operant conditioning?
A
skinner
18
Q
in the behaviourist approach is the learning an active or passive process?
A
passive
19
Q
What was skinner’s box study?
A
placed a hungry rat in a box - skinner box
press a lever = food
or press a lever = stops electric shocks
rats learned to press the lever for these consequences and would repeat the action
20
Q
What is the scientific credibility of the behaviourist approach?
A
it was able to bring the methods of natural sciences into psychology
focuses on the measurement of obsvervale behaviour in a highly controlled lab setting
emphasised the importance of replication and objectivity
21
Q
What is the real-life application of the behaviourist approach?
A
the token economy in institutions = rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privilages
it is a way of maintaing phobias, addictions and OCD = developed therapies and research
22
Q
What does environmental determinism mean in the behaviourist approach?
A
behaviour is determined by the environment
we do not have free will and no conscious insight of our behaviours
23
Q
How is the behaviourist approach oversimplified?
A
it reduces the behaviour to simple components so it may have ignored on important influence on learning
it ignored thoughts and mind-processing
learning is more complex
24
Q
What are the strengths of Wundt’s research?
A
used controlled and standardised methods - replicable
psychology wouldn’t be where it is = recognised it as a science
helped develop lab experiments = prac app
helped develop the cognitive app = focus on measuring mental processes that are not directly observable through introspection
25
What are the issues with Wundt's reseach?
introspection = subjective, not replicable, not reliable
qualatative data = self-report methods, bias, cannot verify results,
other psychologists have contributed more to origins of psycholgy such as Pavlov = behaviourist methods are more reliable
26
Who proposed the social learning theory?
Bandura
27
What does the social learning theory assume about learning?
it takes place in a social context
occurs via observation of a model and the rewatds/punishment they recieve
other people act as models - characteristics increase the likelihood of imitation
learning and performance are not the same - mediational factors produce behaviour
28
What is imitation?
copying the behaviour of others
29
What is identification?
when an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like the model
30
What is modelling?
the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour that may be imitated by an observer
31
What is vicarious reinforcement?
reinforcemtn is not directly experinced but is obsvered being given to someone else
32
What characteristics of a model increase the likelihood of imitation and identification?
same sex
fame
status
33
What are mediational factors?
mental factors that mediate in the learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired
34
What are the 4 mediating factors?
Attention
Retention
reproduction (imitation)
motivation
35
What two mediating factors are part of learning?
attention and retention
36
What two mediating factors are part of performance?
reproduction and motivation
37
What is attention mediating factor?
someone can only reproduce behaviour accurately if they notice the model's behaviour
38
What is retention mediating factor?
to imitate (model) the behaviour it be remembered and transferred into the LTM, this enables the behaviour to be retrieved
39
What is reproduction in the mediating factors?
the observer must process the physical capabilities required to reproduce the modelled behaviour
refered to as 'motor reproduction'
40
What is motivation mediating factor?
the motivation to carry out the imitation is determined by whether the behaviour is rewarded or punished
41
What study supports the social learning theory?
Bandura's bobo doll
42
What was bandura's bobo doll study?
72 nursery school children, 3 conditions:
1. saw an adult hitting, punching and kicking a bobo doll
2. saw an adult playing non-aggressively with a bobo doll
3. control saw nothing
those in 1 was aggressive
imitation was more likely if adult was the same sex
43
What was bandura and Watson's study for vicarious reinforcement?
saw adult behaving aggressively towards bobo doll
1. saw adult model being rewarded
2. saw adult model being punished
3. control - no consequence
group 1 children showed a lot more aggression
44
What is patterson et al study on role models?
role models are important in the development of anti-social behaviour
parents are most important role models
found that very aggressive children were raised in homes of high aggression
45
What is the scientific crediblity of the social learning approach?
it used experimental and standardiesed methods in lab settings
46
What are the practical applications of the social learning theory?
patterson
parents are trained to model appropriate behaviour to their children and reward good behaviour = aggression drops
has wider academic credibility for the important role parents play in modelling
47
How does the social learning theory account for cultural differences in behaviour?
behaviours are learnt due to our social context
in some cultures, aggression is not valued and rarely displayed
different behaviours emerged over time from culture to culture
48
What are the issues with the social learning theory?
ignored bio factors
mediating cognitive factors are hard to measure
over-relaince on lab studies
49
What was found on a biological factor influencing aggression?
boys were more aggressive due to higher levels of testosterone
50
How is the social learning theory different from behaviourism?
learner has an active role in learning
theres a difference between acquisition and performance
behaviours can become fixed
reinforcement is an indirect process
SLT only involves the measurement of natural behaviour - uses humans
51
What does bandura call fixed behaviours?
internalised
52
How does a behaviour become fixed?
if they have been imitated and reinforced enough
53
What are all the assumptions of the cognitive approach?
the mind actively processes information that comes in through different senses
cognitive processes mediate between stimulus and response
processing is similar to a computer
mental processes can be studied objectively and scientifically
the use of schema in short-cut processing of info
54
What are internal mental processes?
private operations of the mind like attention and memory that mediate between stimulus and response
55
What is inference?
the process where cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
56
how can cognitive psychologists study cognitive processes?
experiments
cognitive neuropsychology
cognitive neuroscience
computer cognitive science
57
What is computer cognitive science?
developing computer models to model human processing
58
What is a schema?
packages of ideas and information developed through experience
59
What is the function of a shcema?
enables us to process info quicky and facilitate a short-cut to processing
60
What do schema's prevent?
from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
61
What are issues with the use of schemas?
they can distort our interpretation of snesory info and cause preceptual errors = inaccuracy in EWT
can bias recall
negative schemas may have a negative impact on mental health
62
What is the information processing approach?
information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrevial
63
What practical application do computer models have in psych?
useful in the development of 'thinking machines' or artificial intelligence
64
What is cognitive neuroscience?
the scientific study of brain structures that influence cognitive processes
65
What did Broca find on the frontal lobe?
damage to an area of the frontal lobe could permenently impair speech production - known as broca's area
66
What did Tulving find on different brain areas and memory?
different types of LTM were likely located on opposite sides of the pre-frontal lobe
67
What are some applications of cognitive neuroscience?
court-cases
origins of mental disorders
brain imaging techs - fMRI and PET scans
68
how has cognitive neuroscience been useful in courts?
when people feel guilty, several brain regions are active and they can scan brains to see if people are lying
69
What is the advantage of models in psych?
can use scientific procedures and test theories
helps us understand mental processes
development of AI and robots
70
What are the strengths of the cognitive approach?
can understand mental processes that are not directly observable by using models
soft determinism
scientific and controlled = emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enable biology and psych to come together
prac apps = CBT, cognitive interviews, brain imaging
71
What is soft determinism?
a flexible approach - we have free will but not complete free will, there is still another factor in control
72
What does the cognitive approach ignore?
biology and the influence of genes
induvidual and personality differences
the influence of human characteristics - emotion and motivation
73
What are the issues with the cognitive approach?
mechanistic reductionism = ignores a lot of factors, computer models are highly simplistic, ignores motivation and emotio influences internal mental processes eg, Anxiety on memory
inference is not objecttive - low internal validity, internal mental processes cannot be directly measured
74
What is the biological approach?
it emphasises the influence of genes, biological structures and neurochemistry on behaviour
75
what are the practical applications of the bio approach?
helped in the development of brain scanning
psychoactive drugs to treat mental disorders
76
What are genes?
they make up chromosomes and consist of DNA codes for the physical and psychological features of an organism
77
what is neurochemistry?
relates to the chemicals in the brain that regulate psychological functioning
78
what is a genotype?
the particular set of genes a person possesses
79
What is a phenotype?
the way genes are expressed through physical, behavioural and psychological characteristics
80
What is evolution?
the changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations
81
What does the bio approach assume about genetics?
our genetic make-up and genetic inheritance strongly influence human behaviour
82
What two assumptions does the bio approach make about neurochemistry?
understanding of brain structures and functions explain both behaviour and thought
chemical processes in the brain are responsible for psychological functioning - inbalances can cause disorders
83
What does the bio approach assume about evolution?
humans have evolved biologically and we have adapted certain characteristics that have aided survival
84
Why are twin studies used in the bio approach?
used to determine the likelihood that certain traits have a genetic basis by comparing concordance rates
85
What are concordance rates?
the likelihood to which if one twin has a condition, the other also has it
86
How much DNA do each type of twin share?
Mono = 100%
Di = 50% - same as regular siblings
87
What other type of factor can influence characteristics of an organism?
environmental
88
who developed natural selection?
charles darwin
89
What is natural selection?
any genetically determined behaviour that enhances an induvidual's survival will continue in future generations
90
What behaviours do we have due to evolution and their use?
memory - advantages for hunting
attachment - Bowlby, safety
relationships - sexual jealousy = prevents infidelity
phobias - avoid dangers
91
What are neurotransmitters?
brain chemicals that communitcate info throughout our body and brain
92
What are neurons?
nerve cells that transmit signals electrically and chemically, allows communication in the nervous system
93
What is an excitatory NT?
makes the adjacent nerve cell more likely to fire
94
What is an Inhibatory NT?
makes the adjacent nerve cell less likely to fire
95
What is summation?
the exicitatory and inhibtory influences on the post-synaptic neuron are summed
96
How do you calculate the net potential?
sum of excit NT - sum of inhib NT = net potential
97
What are the strengths of the bio approach?
uses scientific methods -scanning techs are highly accurate and reliable
use of family and twin studies for measuring the role of genes = Nesdadt OCD
real-life applications = development of psychoactive drugs
98
What are the issues with the bio approach?
deterministic view - no free will
cannot separate nature from nurture
conclusions cannot be made = assumptions are made
99
What is the issue of the bio approach in terms of the legal system?
offenders are legally and morally responsible for their behaviour = the appoarch diminishes the extent that we can be held responsible
100
Why cant nature and nurture be separted in twin and family studies?
Co-V = they experience similar environments
DZ twins share the same amount of DNA to normal siblings = however, DZ twins have higher concordance rates
101
What was Nesdat's study on OCD in twins?
found concordance rates for OCD in twins
MZ = 68%
DZ = 31%
102
Who came up with the psychodynamic approach?
sigmund freud
103
What is the psychodynamic approach?
it describes the different forces which are unconscious that operate on the mind and direct human behaviour and experience
104
What are the assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?
our behaviour, thoughts and feelings are determined by unconscious forces - not aware
we have a 3 part personality comprimised of the ID, ego and superego
humans progress through psychosexual stages during the development of the psyche
childgood experiences have significant importance in determining personality
defence mechs are used to protect the conscious self from trauma and conflict
105
What are the 3 structures of the mind?
unconscious, preconscious and conscious
106
What is your unconscious?
the storehouse of biological drives and instincts that influence behaviour and personality, contains disturbing memories that have been repressed or forgotten
107
What is the preconscious?
its under the surface of the conscious mind, contains thoughts and ideas which we may become aware of through our dreams or slips of the tongue
108
What are the 3 structures of personality?
ID, Ego and superego
109
What is the ID?
the primitive part of personality, operates on the pleasure principle, it is a mass of unconscious drives and instincts since birth
responsible for selfish/bad behaviour
110
What is the ego?
works on the reality principle, it mediates between the ID and superego using defence mechanisms, develops at 2yrs old
111
What is the superego?
internalised sense of right and wrong, works on the morality principle, represents moral standards of child's same sex parent and punishes ego for wrong doing
112
What are the 5 psychosexual stages?
oral stage
anal stage
phallic stage
latency stage
genital stage
113
When does the superego develop?
the phallic stage
114
What is the oral stage?
0-1yrs = pleasure derived in the mouth
115
What is the conflict for the oral stage?
weaning = the child must become less dependent on the CG for food and transition to other foods, if its not handled sensitively the child will become fixated
116
What are the results of fixation in the oral stage?
biting nails
smoking
sucking a thumb
117
What does fixation mean?
where the child becomes 'stuck' and carries behaviours and conflicts associated with the stage they are in into adult life
118
What is anal stage?
1-3yrs = pleasure derived in the anus
119
What are the conflict for the anal stage?
toilet training = enables them to gain control and idependence, if its not handled sensitively, the child can become fixated
120
What are the results of fixation for the anal stage?
anally retentive personality
anally expulsive personality
121
What is the phallic stage?
3-6yrs = pleasure derived in the genital area
122
What are the conflicts in the phallic stage?
oedipus and electra complex = must be resolved by identification with same sex parent
123
What are the resultss of fixation in the phallic stage?
overly dependent on a mother (girls) or father figure (boys)
gender identity confusion
124
What is the latency stage?
6-11yrs = early conflicts become repressed
125
When do children experince the oedipus/electra complex?
phallic stage
126
What is the genital stage?
13yrs+ = sexual desires become conscious
127
What is the fixation for the genital stage?
diffuculty forming heterosexual relationships
128
What are conflicts?
each stage is marked by a conflict which must be resolved to progress to the next stage and avoid fixation
129
What is the oedipus complex?
boys lust for their mums and and want to harm their fathers, they have a fear that their dad will castrate them
130
What is the electra complex?
girls have incestuous desires for their father and experience penis envy, they see their mother as a threat
over time, this desire becomes a desire for a baby
131
What are defence mechanisms?
unconscious methods that prevent us from being overwhelmed by temporary threats or traumas
132
What is an issue with defence mechanisms?
they distort reality so are not psychologically healthy in the long-term
133
What is repression?
forcing a distressing memory out of the mind
134
What is denial?
refusal to acknowlegde some aspect of reality despite proof
135
What is displacement?
transferring feelings from a true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target
136
What is the case study of little hans?
4yrs old - little hans witnessed a harse collapsing = developed a phobia of horses and their large genitalia
Freud said that the horse was a symbol for his father - little hans had oediupus complex
137
How does the psychodynamic approach have explanatory power?
it brought attention to the connection between experiences and childhood
explains personality development, moral development and gender
138
What is the practical application of the psychodynamic approach?
psychotherapies and psychoanalysis = accesses the unconscious by hypnosis and dream analysis
can be inappropriate for serious mental disorders
139
what is the issue of the psychodynamic approach using case studies?
it is not generalisable and freud got the evidence from little hans's father who was aware of the oedipus complex - not reliable,bias
140
What is the issue Karl popper addressed on the psycodynamic approach?
that the approach is untestable as it does not meet scientific citerion of falsification
it is a pseudoscience - fake science
141
What does it mean that the psychodynamic approach is psychic deterministic?
claims everything is determined by unconscious forces which are out of our control and denys us free will
142
What is a strength of defence mechanisms explaining human behaviour?
evidence supports mechanisms like repression as adults forget traumatic child sexual abuse
143
What is the weakness with defence mechanisms explaining human behaviour?
Other factors may influence
Lack of testability
Subjective
144
What is the humanistic approach?
understanding behaviour in terms of subjective experience and each person's capacity for self-actualisation
145
What is free will?
the notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by bio factors or external forces
146
What does it mean that humans are active agents?
we have the ability to determine our own development
147
What needs to be in place for free will to work?
free will should be constrained by morals, laws, family values and others needs
148
Why did rogers and maslow reject scientific models?
humans are active agents and we are all unique and psych should be concerned with the study of subjective experience
149
What is the humanistic approach also reffered to as?
the person-centred approach
150
What does client-centred therapy refer to their patients as?
clients
151
What is self-actualisation?
the innate desired to grow psychologically and fufill one's potential
152
What is maslows hierachy of needs?
a model for understanding the motivations for human behaviour
153
What is the order of maslows hierachy of needs? (bottom to top)
physiological
safety
love and belonging
self esteem
self actualisation
154
What are the 4 lower needs of self actualisation called?
deficiency needs
155
How to induviduals acheive self-actualisation according to maslows hierachy of needs?
they must have their needs met in all the defiency needs, lower levels of the hierachy before they can move up a level and acheieve self-acc
156
What did Rogers say an induvidual needs for self growth?
an induvidual's concept of self must be incongruence with their ideal self
157
What are the 3 parts to self-concept?
self-image
ideal self
self-esteem
158
What is congruence?
the self-image and ideal self overlap and are in agreement
159
What is incongruence?
a greater gap between self image and ideal self, they do not overlapp and do not match
160
What therapy did rogers develop?
client-centred therapy
161
What did rogers suggest is a reason for incongruence?
a lack of unconditional positive regard as a child can have an affect in adulthood like low self-esteem
162
What is unconditional positive regard?
when a person is loved and accepted by significant others regardless of their behaviour as there are no conditions that they have to meet in order to be positively viewed
163
What is conditions of worth?
conditions that a person has from significant others that need to be met to be loved and accepted
164
What is an example of conditions of worth?
a parent setting a boundary on their love for their child
this is storing up psychological problems for the child in the future
165
What is client-centred therapy?
clients solved their own problems in constructive ways and work towards self acc
166
What characteristics should a good therapist have?
empathy
genuiueness
unconditional positive regard
acceptance and understanding
167
What are the aims of client-centred therapy?
increase feelings of self-worth
decrease iincongruence
aids in client becoming fully functioning
168
What application does the humanistic app have for depression?
depression - low self-esteem can be a result of a lack of positive self regard
169
What application does the humanistic app have for agression?
the induvidual is not fully functioning at a psychological level which blocks personal growth
170
What are the good things about the humanistic app?
non-reductionist
positive app supporting free will
holistic approach
171
How is the humanistic approach non-reductionist?
it rejects any attempt to break up behaviour into smaller components
may have more validity
172
How does the humanistic app support free will?
humans are self-determining and active agents
promotes a positive condition of human experiences
people are free to work towards their own development
173
How is the humanistic app a holistic approach?
it must consider the whole person's subjective experience
considers meaningful human behaviour within its real life context
174
What are the issues with the humanistic approach?
limited application
untestable concepts
cultural bias
175
why does the humanistic approach have limited application?
it has had limited impact within the discipline of psychology
it lacks sound-base evidence because its subjective
176
Why is the humanistic approach untestable?
contains vague ideas that are abstract and difficult to test
it is an anti-scientific app
problematic under exprt. conditions
177
How is the humanistic approach culturally biased?
induvidual freedom, autonomy and personal growth = associated with induvidualist cultures
collectivists emphasisies the needs of the group
178
What other role other than a short-cut to processing do schemas provide?
Enable us to make predictions based on our past experiences
179
Why do schemas distort perceptions?
Interpretation is influenced by expectations
180
What are real-life issues of schemas?
EWT - not accurate recall of events but what we expected to happen
Depression - develop negative schemas about ourselves, becks theory of depression
181
What does it mean that the SLT recognises a diff b/w acquisition and performance of behaviour?
it is possible to observe a behaviour, remeber the behaviour but never produce it
182
How is the social learning theory holistic?
acknowledges cognitive processes in learning behaviour
emphasises the role of self-efficacy
183
How does modelling therapy work based on SLT?
focus on teaching individuals new behaviors and skills by observing and imitating others, particularly those seen as positive role models
184
How is the behaviourist approach an example of hard determinism?
all behavior is determined by external environmental factors, primarily through conditioning and reinforcement, leaving no room for free will or internal conscious choice
185
how is the cognitive approach an example of soft determinism?
sees humans as being able to reason and make conscious decisions within the limits of what they know or their ‘cognitive system’
186
How does the cognitive approach support both nature and nurture?
internal mental processes like memory are innate
however it acknowledges the role of the environment and experience in shaping knowledge and schemas
187
how is the psychodynamic approach partly idiographic?
emphasizes the importance of individual, unique experiences, particularly early childhood experiences, in shaping personality and behavior.
188
how is the psychodynamic approach holistic?
it views human behavior as influenced by a complex interplay of conscious and unconscious factors, including early childhood experiences
189
How does the psychodynamic approach support nature and nurture?
both innate biological drives and environmental experiences shape personality
190
how does the humanistic approach support nature and nurture?
we have an innate drive for self-actualisation = nature
emphasizes the role of experiences and the environment in shaping an individual's perception and understanding of the world, = nurture
191
What 2 components of the mind did Wundt propose?
sensations and perceptions
192
What are the main features of introspection?
focus on being objective
relfection on sensations, feelings and images
breaking thoughts about an object down into its component parts
systematic reporting of an experience of an onject = use of a metronome
193
What are the 3 uses of schemas?
help predict what will happen in the future base on experiences
enables short cut processing for large amounts of info rapdily
prevents being overwheled from environmental stimuli
194
What are 3 examples of internal mental processes?
memory
problem solving
language
195
What is the iceburg theory of the mind by the psychodynamic app?
the conscious mind represents the tip of the iceburg
the preconscious is the part of the iceburg that is underwater but you can still just about see it
the unconscious is the part of the iceburg that is underwater and you cant see, it is the largest part
196
What is an anal-expulsive personality?
a person is messy and wasteful
197
What is an anal-retentive personality?
excessively organised and tidy
198
What psyhosexual stage do defence mechanisms develop?
latency
199
What are the 2 roles of the unconscious?
1. the driving, motivating force behind personality and behaviour
2. protects the conscious self from trauma and conflict
200
What is self esteem?
how muh you like and accept who you are
