Approaches Flashcards
(71 cards)
Who was the first psychologists?
Wilhelm Wundt
What is objectivity?
The absence of bias in research
What is empiricism?
All knowledge is based on/ comes from experience and therefore can be observed
What is introspection?
Participants are trained to report conscious experiences as objectively as possible, then asked to focus on a sensory object (metronome) ppts would report their experience of the object by breaking their thoughts into seperate elements; ppts would focus inwards and report sensations,felling and images.
Evaluate Wundt’s approach:
+ His work was highly scientific because of the controlled experiments HOWEVER they were not fully scientific as they suffer from demand characteristics
+ He was first to argue that behaviours are determined so they have a cause that can be studied objectively
- Wundt’s use of inference to identify mental states has been criticised
What is classical conditioning?
Known as associative learning, an unconditioned response can be triggered by a neutral stimulus through repeated pairing until the neutral stimulus alone produces the conditioned response
What was the procedure of Pavlov’s research?
Pavlov paired the neutral stimulus (a metronome) with the unconditioned stimulus (food, which triggered salivation,an unconditioned response) over several trials. The neutral stimulus was presented just before the unconditioned stimulus.
What were Pavlov’s findings?
He observed that dogs began to salivate (CR) in response to the neutral stimulus (metronome) even when food was not presented, this indicated that dogs associated the metronome with the food
What was the procedure of Skinner’s experiment?
Animals without prior training were placed into ‘Skinner boxes’. Skinner then observed how animals learned to operate the levers to receive a reward (food) or avoid punishment.
There were two conditions:
1. Testing PR- Food was released when the level was pulled down, so the rats learned to pull the lever down
2. Testing NR- An electric shock was constantly running, to turn it off for a moment the rats had to pull the lever down, so the rats learned to pull the lever down.
What were the findings of Skinner’s experiment?
Skinner demonstrated that behaviour is
influenced by the consequence that follow
What are the differences between classical and operant conditioning?
C= Involuntary
O= Voluntary
What are the strengths of behaviourist approach?
- They are scientific because it studies objective observable stimulus-response mechanisms with standardised procedure
- Practical applications in counter-conditioning treatments e.g. token economy in prisons
What are the limitations of behaviourist approach?
- Pavlov’s and Skinner’s use of animal subjects mean the findings cannot be generalised to humans
- Reductionist approach, many human behaviours are too complex to describe as the result of reinforcement
What is the Social Learning theory?
Agreed with behaviourism principles but argued understanding requires recognising learning as a cognitive process which occurs in a social context.
Observing others serves as a template for our actions
What is vicarious reinforcement and vicarious punishment?
VR- Witnessing someone being rewarded for a behaviour and becoming more likely to mimic it
VP- Witnessing someone being punished for a behaviour and becoming less likely to mimic it
What are the four mediational processes?
Attention, retention, motivation and motor reproduction
What was the procedure of Bandura’s research?
Children were split into two conditions:
1. Children watched an adult model act aggressively towards the Bobo doll
2. Children watched the adult model act non-aggressively
What were the findings of Bandura’s research?
Children who witnessed the aggressive model were more likely to act aggressively themselves. This happened more often when the children identified with the model e.g. boys were more likely to imitate if their model was male
What happened in Bandura’s 1965 variation of the Bobo doll study?
Tested vicarious reinforcement
Children witnessed an adult acting aggressively and then either them getting rewarded or punished.
Found- Children who watched punishment were significantly less aggressive compared to the other kids
What are the strengths of SLT?
Lab experiment with high levels of control, even the children had their pre-existing aggression levels tested
Less reductionist approach then behaviourism, more detailed understanding of human behaviour (acknowledges the role of consciousness)
What are the limitations of SLT?
- Lab study so lacks ecological validity, aggression studied in the lab may not translate to real-world scenarios
- Research on SLT relies on inferences as you cannot objectively observe processes such as identification, vicarious reinforcement etc.
What does the cognitive approach’s defining characteristics?
- The study of internal mental processes are how information is used in the mind, conscious and unconscious thought
What is the role of the schema?
Schema- Information packets, collection of connected basic knowledge about concepts or objects built from previous experiences. They work as mental shortcuts, we use them to quickly understand and navigate the world
How do schemas help us?
-Processing environmental information, allowing us to engage with the environment without being overwhelmed
-Predicting the future based on previous experiences
