Approaches Flashcards
(10 cards)
ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY AO1
- Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology lab to ‘describe the nature of human consciousness’
- Introspection
- Use of standardised procedures in order to achieve his results, scientific method
ORIGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY A03
✔ = Introspections were recorded in a lab environment, with standardised procedures. Forerunner to future scientific procedures
✘ = Subjectivity of ‘introspection’ - relies on self-reporting
EMERGENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE AO1
1900s = Early behaviourism, psychology should only study behaviour that can be observed and measured
1950s = Skinner brought the language and rigour of science into psychology
ALSO 1950s = Rise of Cognitive Approach due to the computer revolution. Likens the human mind to a computer.
1980s = Biological Approach due to advances like fMRIs, EEGs and genetic research
EMERGENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE AO3
✔ = Learning, cognitive and biological approaches all use scientific methods, helps establish psychology as a science
✘ = Some approaches use subjective data, such as humanism which doesn’t form general laws of behaviour, and psychodynamic which uses case studies with unrepresentative samples.
LEARNING APPROACHES - THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH AO1
- Focus on observable behaviour, rejects introspection
- Controlled lab studies
- Suggested that learning processes are the same across all species, so allows animal studies
- CLASSICAL CONDITIONING - this is Pavlov girl, you know this
- OPERANT CONDITIONING - Skinner? you ALSO know this one. Positive = gets a food pellet, negative = avoids a shock plate
LEARNING APPROACHES - THE BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH AO3
✔ = High controls, limiting of confounding variables, high scientific credibility
✘ = May oversimplify learning and ignore vital influences, such as mental processes (social learning and cognitive). Learning is more complex than just what we can observe
✔ = Real-world application - token economy systems inspired by Skinner’s research used in prisons and psych wards. Widespread application and use
✘ = Environmental determinism - Free will is not recognised by behaviouralists, and sees all behaviour as being determined by past experienced. Ignores the influence of conscious decision-making, extreme position
LEARNING APPROACHES - SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY AO1
- Bandura agreed that learning occurs through experience, but proposed that we learn in a social context, from observation and imitation from others’ behaviour
- Behaviour is observed, and consequences for that behaviour are noted. If a behaviour is seen to be rewarded, then it is more likely to be copied (vicarious reinforcement).
- MEDIATIONAL PROCESSES =
Attention - Whether behaviour is noticed
Retention - Whether behaviour is remembered
Motor Reproduction - Being able to do it
Motivation - The will to perform the behaviour - Unlike behaviourism, learning and performance don’t have to occur together
- BANDURA ET AL:
- Children watched either an adult behaving aggressively towards a bobo doll or non-aggressively. In a further study, they saw an adult who was rewarded, punished, or faced no consequence.
- Children who observed aggression were more likely to act aggressively towards the doll
- Children who saw the aggression being rewarded were also more likely to act aggressively
- Children are likely to model observed behaviour, especially if that behaviour was vicariously reinforced
LEARNING APPROACHES - SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY AO3
✔ = Emphasizes role of cognitive factors - More thorough explanation than behavioural approach because it also accounts for the mediational processes
✘ = However, it still doesn’t cover the biological factors - recent research suggests that observational learning is controlled by mirror neurons in the brain that let us empathise and mimic others
✔ = Reliance on lab studies - issues of generalisability to real-world and demand characteristics. Plus, the whole point of a bobo doll is to hit it, so they may have thought that was what was expected
✔ = Real-world application - Can explain how cultural norms, such as gender role, are learned via the people around them and the media
THE COGNITIVE APPROACH AO1
- Contrasts with behaviourism, argues that internal mental processes should be studied
- Role of inferences, since mental processes are private and cannot be observed.
- Schema - packets of information that form our understanding of the world. Babies are born with very basic motor schema which are developed with experience over the years, becoming more sophisticated and detailed.
- Use of theoretical models such as the Multi-Store Model, as well as computer models
- Emergence of cognitive neuroscience - Study of the inflyuences of brain structyres on mental processes
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