Approaches A01 Flashcards
What is psychology?
The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those functions affecting behaviour in a given context
What is science?
A means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation. The aim is to discover general laws.
What is introspection?
The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts images and sensations
Who is Wilhelm Wundt and what did he do?
-opened first lab for psychology in Germany 1879
-the beginning of scientific psychology
-study the structure of the mind by breaking down behaviours into basic elements
-marked the separation of modern scientific psychology from its philosophical roots
Wundt and Introspection
-objective was to document and describe the nature of human consciousness
-recorded experiences of stimuli
-told people to speak their mind/thoughts
The emergency of psychology as a science
-Watson proposed that a truly scientific psychology should restrict itself only to studying things that could be observed and measured :The behaviourist approach
-Behaviourists focused on a scientific process involving lab experiment with control, validity.
Strengths of Wundt
-Some of Wundt’s methods were scientific. For example he used a controlled environment (lab) reducing extraneous variables,
he used standardised procedures so all pps were tested the same way. For this reason Wundt’s research can be considered a forerunner to the later scientific approaches in psychology
Limitation of Wundt
-Other elements were not scientific. Wundt relied on pps self reporting their private mental processes. eg pps may not share true thoughts as they are embarrassing, social desirability bias without Wundt realising. Such data is subjective. Therefore Wundt’s early efforts’ to study the mind would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry limiting [psychology value as a science
Evaluating the emergency of psychology as a science
✔ Modern psychology can claim to be scientific
-same aims as a natural science
-learning cognitive/biological approaches rely on scientific methods
-suggests that the subject has established itself as a scientific discipline
x Not all approaches use scientific methods
- humanistic approach rejects scientific methods
-psychodynamic approach uses case studies which are unrepresentative
What is the psychodynamic approach?
-Sigmund Freud put forward
-describes the mind and direct human behaviour and experience
Assumptions of the psychodynamic approach
-the unconscious mind is thought to drive behaviour
-instincts are thought to motivate behaviour
-early childhood experiences are extremely important in making us who we are
The role of the unconscious
-Iceberg model
Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious
-Freud argued that the part of the mind that we knows about and are aware of is the conscious mind
-Most of our mind is made up of unconscious part that we are unaware of but everyday action is thought to be controlled by the unconscious mind
Structure of personality
Freud described as the ‘tripartite system’
-all three parts demand gratification
-early experiences are thought to be vital in shaping our personality and this affects how someone behaves
The ID-Pleasure principle
-Primitive part of our personality present from birth
-drives instincts and urges gets what it wants
-demand instant gratification and selfish
The EGO-Reality principle
-Tames the id
-Develops between 18 months and 3 years
-mediator between the id and the superego
-reduces the conflict between demands of the id and the superego
-use defence mechanisms
The SUPEREGO- Morality principle
-Develops between 3 and 6 years formed at end of phallic stage#
-represents the moral standards of our same sex parents
-internalised sense of right and wrong
direct opposite to the id
What are defence mechanisms?
-they distort reality to reduce anxiety
Repression- blocking of unpleasant memory eg forgetting trauma of someone dying
Denial-Refusal to accept reality eg if your fired from work but still go
Displacement- redirecting of emotions onto other objects or people eg slamming door
-unconscious strategies that the ego uses to manage the conflict between the id and the superego
The psychosexual stages
-according to Freud children pass through 5 stages of psychosexual of developments child must go through
1.Oral
2.Anal
3.Phallic
4.Latency
5.Gential
Oral stage
0-1 years
-focus of pleasure is the mouth, mothers breast is the object of desire
-oral fixation: smoking ,biting nails
Anal stage
1-3 years
-focus of pleasure is the anus.
-child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces
-anal retentive: perfectionist, obsessive
-anal expulsive: thoughtless, messy
Phallic stage
3-5 years
-focus of pleasure is the genital area
-child experiences Oedipus or Electra
-phallic personality: narcisstic, reckless, possibly homosexual
What is the Oedipus complex?
-Boy has sexual desires about mother so wants to get rid of dad
-boy fears dad would find out and castrate them
-boy resolves problem by imitating, copying and joining in masculine dad type behaviours
-called identification and repressing feelings for mum
What is Electra complex?
-Girl has sexual desires for dad but realises she doesn’t have a penis
-girl represses her desire for father and substitutes the wish for a penis with the wish for a baby
-girl represses feelings and identifies with the mother to take on female gender role
Latency stage
-earlier conflicts are repressed
-6 years to puberty
