Approaches in psychology Flashcards
(156 cards)
What is psychology known as?
The scientific study of the mind and behaviour
Name the 5 approaches in psychology?
Behavioural, cognitive, biological, psychodynamic and humanistic
What was William Wundt known as?
The farther of experimental psychology
In 1879 what did William Wundt do?
Opened the first institution for experimental psychology in Germany. He separated psychology from philosophy and focused on studying the mind in a more structures and scientific way
What method did Wundt develop?
Introspection
What is introspection?
Psychological method which involves analysing your own thoughts and feelings internally
Name 2 problems with introspection.
It doesn’t explain how the mind works, it relies on people describing their own thoughts and feelings, which isn’t objective and doesn’t provide data that can be used reliably
Wundt believed in reductionism, what is it?
Idea that things can be reduced to simple cause and effect processes
What are the 5 features that make something a science?
Objectivity, control, predictability, hypothesis testing and replication
What is one argument for psychology being a science?
Allport (1947) said psychology has the same aims as a science to predict, understand and control.
What is one argument against psychology being a science?
They use unreliable methods to study the data and it is hard to get a representative sample of the population for a study so findings can’t be generalised.
When did behaviourism start, and who developed it?
1900s by John Watson
What are the 3 assumptions made about behaviourism?
1)Nearly all behaviour is leant there’s only a couple of exceptions like inborn reflexes/instincts
2) Animals and humans learn in the same ways we learn by the same principles based on stimulus-response associations (rejection of internal mental processes)
3) The ‘mind’ is irrelevant
Who studies classical conditioning in dogs?
Ivan Pavlov (1900s)
Explain what Pavlov did.
Before conditioning: A certain stimulus like food is the UCS and triggers a natural reflex like salvation
During conditioning: UCS repeatedly presented with another stimulus like a bell (NS)which triggers salivation UCR
After conditioning: Overtime the bell presented by itself (CS) triggers salivation (CR)
Suggesting they had formed a temporal association
How can Pavlov’s experiment be related to human development?
Having its needs dealt with and gaining comfort naturally makes a baby happy, but being happy is an inborn reflex its not learnt. Comfort is an UCS that produces happiness which is an UCR, the babies mother will talk to it while she feeds it and changes its nappy so the mothers voice becomes the CS producing the CR of being happy
What are the 5 principles of classical conditioning?
Generalisation, discrimination, extinction, spontaneous recovery and higher order conditioning
What is the key idea behind classical conditioning?
Learning through association
In CC what is generalisation?
When stimuli similar to the original CS produce the CR
In CC what is discrimination?
When stimuli similar to the original CS don’t produce the CR, this can be achieved by withholding the UCS when the similar stimulus is used
In CC what is extinction?
When the CR isn’t produces as a result of the CS, this happens when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS following it
In CC what is spontaneous recovery?
When a previously extinct CR is produced in response to the CS, this happens when the CS is presented again after a period of time during which its not been used
In CC what is higher order conditioning?
When a new CS produces the CR as the animal associates it with the original CS. This can be achieved by consistently presenting the new CS before the original CS
Who investigated operant conditioning?
B.F Skinner