Approaches Flashcards
Who is Wundt?
“The father of psychology” who opened the first psychology lab
What did Wundt pioneer?
Pioneered introspection, the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind
What was Wundts study?
Participants were given the same standardised instructions and a stimuli was presented to them in the same order
Participants were given a metronome and they would report their thoughts, images and sensations which were recorded
What did Wundt’s study of introspection lead to?
Led to identifying the structure of consciousness by breaking it up into the basic structures :
- Thoughts
- Images
- Sensations
What did Watson 1913 argue?
Introspection was subjective in that it is influenced by a personal perspective
What did Skinner 1953 argue?
Brought the language and rigour of the natural sciences into psychology
What is a strength of Wundt’s research?
Wundt’s work is scientific - Recorded in a controlled lab environment, Standardised his procedures
What is a limitation of Wundt’s research?
Subjective - Relied on self reporting private mental processes, cant be generalised
What are the key assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
- Observable behaviour is all that needs to be studied
- Use of controlled lab studies
What did Pavlov Research?
Classical conditioning - learning by association
What did Sinner research?
Operant conditioning - Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences
What was Pavlov’s procedure?
UCS –> UCR
food -> Salivation
NS –> No response
bell –> No response
NS + UCS
bell + food
CS –> CR
bell –> Salivation
What was Skinners procedure?
Rats placed in specially designed cages
When a rat activated a lever it was rewarded with a food pellet
A desirable consequence led to behaviour being repeated
If pulling the lever meant an animal wasn’t shocked the behaviour would also be repeated
What are the three types of consequences of behaviour identified by Skinner?
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
What is positive reinforcement as identified by Skinner?
Recieving a reward when behaviour is performed
What is negative reinforcement as identified by Skinner?
Avoiding something unpleasant when a behaviour is performed
What is punishment as identified by Skinner?
An unpleasant consequence of behaviour
What are some strengths of the behaviourist approach?
Uses well controlled research
Real world application - Tokon economy
What are some limitations of the behaviourist approach?
Oversimplifies learning and ignores important influences on behaviour
Environmental determinism - sees behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned and ignores any influence that free will may have on behaviour
Ignores cognitive aspects
Nature v Nurture - ignores biology
What are the key assumptions of the social learning theory?
Behaviour is learned from experiences through imitation and observations of others
What did Bandura argue?
Children observe other peoples behaviour and take note of its consequences - behaviour that is seen to be rewarded is more likely to be copied (vicarious reinforcements)
What are the four mediational processes in the SLT?
Attention - Behaviour is noticed
Retention - Behaviour is remembered
Motor reproduction - Being able to do it
Motivation - Will to perform the behaviour
What is important in the SLT?
Identification with role models is important
What was Bandura’s procedure?
Children watched two conditions
- Adult behaving aggressively towards a Bobo doll
- Adult behaving non aggressively towards a Bobo doll
