Approaches Flashcards
(40 cards)
Describe the role of Wilhelm Wundt in the development of psychology
- described as the Father of Psychology
- he pioneered the method of introspection which marked the separation of modern scientific psychology from its philosophical roots
- established the first psychology lab in Leipzig in 1879
Describe the method of introspection
- the first systematic experimental attempt at studying the mind by breaking up the conscious awareness into basic structures like thoughts, images, and sensations
- the same standardized instructions were given to all
Describe the assumptions of the behavioral approach
- only interested in behavior that is observable and measurable
- ignored mental processes + therefore rejected introspection as it involved too many vague concepts
- behaviorists try and maintain control and objectivity and so tend to rely on lab experiments
- identified two forms of learning: operant + classical conditioning
Describe Classical conditioning
- learning through association
- UCS –> UCR
- NS –> NR
- UCS + NS –> UCR
- CS –> CR
- Pavlov first demonstarted this through experimentation with dogs
Describe operant conditioning
- a form of learning shaped through consequence
- possible consequences include positive + negative reinforcemnt and punishment
- positive reinforcemnt = a reward is given when a behaviour is performed in order for this behaviour to be repeated
- negative reinforcement = performing a behaviour to avoid an unpleasant conseqeunce
- punishment = an unpleasant consequence
Behavioral approach strengths
(+) brought science(the lang + methods) into psychology - used lab experiments - beforehand it was about introspection - not scientific - gives psychology greater credibility + status
(+) practical application - treatment of phobias (systematic dessenstisation + floooding) and token economy in prisons
Behavioral weaknesses
(-) animal studies - ethical issues firstly but also - caused panic in aniamals which could’ve affected the results - also it raises questions of can the findings be applied as humans are much more complex than pigeons and rats - limits validity
(-) deterministic - every response is controlled by the past - no room for free will
Describe the asssumptions of social learning theory
- Bandura agreed with behaviourists that much of our behaviour is learned but he also said that we learn through imitation + observation
Describe Vicarious reinforcement
-describes individuals observing behaviour but only imitating the behaviour if it’s seen being rewarded rather than being punished
What is the role of mediational processes?
- SLT focuses on how mental factors are involved in learning
- mediational processes in intervene in the learning process that determines whether a new response is acquired
- these processes are :
- attention
- retention
- motivation
- ,motor reproduction
What is meant by identification?
- people are much more likely to imitate people whom they identify with i.e. role models
- role models are people who possess similar characterisrtics and/or are attractive + have high status
Strengths of SLT
(+) SLT provides a more comprehensive explanation of behaviour compared to just operant + classical conditioning - these explanations don’t consider mental factors HOWEVER
SLT underestimates biological influence - 1 consistent finding in Bobo doll experiment was that boys were more aggressive but this could’ve been explained by testosterone
(+) SLT can explain cultural diffs so its not subject to culture bias (imposed etic) - can account for how children learn from people around them
Weaknesses of SLT
(-) over -reliant on lab studies - lab studies are often critisized for pps possibly responding to demand characteristics - the children in bandura’s studies may have just acted in a way they thought they should so this research may acc tell us little about how children learn aggressive behaviour
(-) Bandura made little reference to biological factors - but 1 consistent finding in the BOBO doll studies was that boys were more aggressive - could be explained by the larger quantity of testosterone in males compared to females
What are the assumptions of the biological approach?
- sugggests that all things psychological are first biological
- so to understand human behaviour we must look to biological structures and processes
- from a biological POV the mind lives in the brain so all thoughts and processes have a phyisical basis
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Describe the genetic basis of behaviour
- Behaviour geneticists study whether behaviour characteristics,like intelligence, are inherited like physical characteristics
- Twin studies are used to determine this by comparing concordance rates between pairs of twins
- concordance rates measure the extent to which both twins share the same characteristic
- for e.g if MZ twins have higher concordance rates than DZ twins for a particular trait then it suggests a genetic basis as MZ twins share 100% DNA and DZ twins share 50%
What is meant by genotype and phenotype?
- A person’s genotype is their actual gentic makeup
- A person’s phenotype is how the genes are expressed
- The expressiosn of genes is inevitably infleunced by the environment
- Thats why even MZ twins will look slightly different due to factors such as diet etc
- So, many biological psyhcologists accept that much of human behaviour depends on an interaction between genes and environment
Desribe Evolution and behaviour
- Charles Darwin proposed the theory of natural selection to explain evolution
- the main principle of this theory is that any gentically determined behaviour that provides a survival advanatge will continue in future generations
- this can happen artificially too (selective breeding) - farmers
biological strength - methods
(+) based on scientific methods -used methods such as fMRIs and MRIs and twin studies -all relatively objective - reliable data HOWEVER with twin studies, they have an important confounding variable- DZ twins grew up same time and normal siblings grew up diff times but both sets share 50% DNA - so diffs between their concordance rates would be due to nurture and not nature (as DZ often had higher rates)
- real life app - increased understanding of brain processes has helped develop drugs for some mental illnesses like schizophrenia - has revolutionised treatment
biological strengths - real life applications
- real life app - increased understanding of brain processes has helped develop drugs for some mental illnesses like schizophrenia - has revolutionised treatment
biological weaknesses
(-) determinstic - everything controlled by our genes - implications for legal system - criminals held account as its believed that they should be solely responsible but if a “criminal gene” is discovered - implies it’s not their choices - complicates the legal system’s principles
Describe the assumptions of the cognitive approach
- this approach argues that internal mental processes can and should be studied scientifically
- bc of this this approach has studied processes like memory, attachment and perception
- but as these processes are private, cognitive psychologists have to make inferences
Describe the role of the schema
- Schema are packages of information
- they act as a mental framework for incoming information
- as babies we posses simple motor schema for innate behaviours like sucking and grasping
- as we get older our schema becomes sophisticated and detailed
- our schema allows us to make mental short-cuts as they allow us to process a lot of info at once but this can lead to perceptual errors
The cognitive approach uses models to understand cognitive processing; explain how
- cognitive psychologists use theoretical models to study internal processes
- a type of theoretical model is the info processing approach which suggests that info flows through a sequence of stages inc. input storage and retrieval - like the MSM
- they also use computer models - compares human mind to computers
- such models helped in development of thinking machines and AI
Describe the emergence of cognitive neuroscience
- this a fusion of the cognitive approach with biology
- it is the scientific study of brain structures and their influence on mental processes
- due to advancements in technology, neuroscientists can make use of brain imaging techniques such as fMRIs and PET scans
- using such techniques, it is now known that episodic and semantic memories are stored in opposites sides of the pre-frontal cortex
