Approaches in Psychology

Question 1

what is introspection

Answer 1

an attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thought, images and sensations

Question 2

what is science

Answer 2

acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation to discover general laws

Question 3

general law?

Answer 3

description of an observed phenomenon

Question 4

who opened the first psychological lab

Answer 4

1879 Wilhelm Wundt, tried to analyse the nature of the human consciousness and made the first to attempt a study under controlled conditions(introspection)

Question 5

Wundt’s standardised procedures

Answer 5

recorded experiences of stimuli such as objects or sounds. eg played a ticking metronome and asked ppt to report their thoughts, images and sensations

Question 6

structuralism

Answer 6

isolating the structure of consciousness ( breaking down into basic components)

Question 7

psychology in 17-19th century

Answer 7

roots from philosophy would be defined as experimental philosophy

Question 8

Wilhelm Wundt (1879)

Answer 8

opened first psychological lab in Germany and psychology emerges as it own discipline

Question 9

1900s Sigmund Freud

Answer 9

Freud emphasises the influence of the unconscious mind(psychodynamic approach), also makes psycho analysis which shows physical problems can be caused by mental problems

Question 10

1913 JB Watson

Answer 10

With BF skinner form the behaviourist approach

Question 11

1950s Rogers and Maslow

Answer 11

form the humanistic approach(third force), believe human behaviour is determined by outside factors. self determination & free will important

Question 12

1950s

Answer 12

Introduction of digital age gives psychologists a metaphor for human mind and cognitive approach is formed, introduces study of mental process

Question 13

1960s

Answer 13

Bandura comes up with social learning theory, cognitive factor in learning bridge between behaviourism and cognitive approach

Question 14

1980s

Answer 14

Biological approach develops with increase in scientifically knowledge

Question 15

eve of 21st century

Answer 15

cognitive neuroscience emerges as distinct discipline bringing together cognitive neuroscience & biological approach

Question 16

What was wrong with introspection

Answer 16

subjective data so general laws where difficult to make, believed that objective psychology should only look at things that can be observed

Question 17

biological approach further

Answer 17

Advancement in technology has caused sophisticated techniques such as fmri and EEG to be developed to study the brain, genetic testing also allowed us to understand the relationship between genes and behaviour

Question 18

Evaluation

Question 19

Scientific(Wundt)

Answer 19

+ systematic and well controlled
all done in a lab so to limit extraneous variables
procedures, instructions standardised so everyone received same information.
Wundt can be considered a father of scientific approaches like the behaviourist approach

Question 20

Subjective data

Answer 20

-unscientific
ppt had to self report their mental process
which is very much influenced by personal perspective
some ppt may have hidden their thoughts
hard to create laws of behaviour from this

Question 21

Modern psychology

Answer 21

+ claims to be scientific
aims as a natural science
different approach rely on scientific methods to investigate theories in a controlled and unbiased way
psychology has established itself as a a scientific discipline

Question 22

Subjective data

Answer 22

-not all approaches use objective methods
humanistic approach rejects scientific methods and focuses on individual experience
the subject of the study’s(humans) are active ppt in research responding potentially to demand characteristics
scientific approach to study of human thought and experience is not always desirable or possible

Question 23

what is the behaviourist approach

Answer 23

way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is visible

Question 24

what is classical conditioning

Answer 24

learning by association when two stimuli are paired and uncondition stimilus and neutral stimulus eventually produce same response of a unconditioned stimulus

Question 25

What is operant conditioning

Answer 25

learning in which behaviour is maintained by consequence of behaviour being rewarded or punished

Question 26

Pavlovs classical conditioning

Answer 26

learning through association (1927) taught a dog to salivate at the sound of a bell. Dog associated bell with food and salivate every time it heard the sound neutral stimulus can cause a learned response though association

Question 27

Skinners operant conditioning

Answer 27

B.F skinner(1953) positive reinforcement; rewarding someone for doing a certain behaviour negative reinforcement; avoiding something unpleasant for a positive outcome(lever leads to avoidance of electric shock) punishment; an unpleasant consequence for behaviour (decreases chance of a behaviour happening)

Question 28

Evaluation

Question 29

well controlled research(behaviourist approach)

Answer 29

+based on well controlled research measurement of observable behaviour breaking down behaviour into stimulus response units and removing any other extraneous variables able to show how reinforcement influenced a rats behaviour scientific credability

Question 30

counter point

Answer 30

too simplified ignored things like the cognitive approach/mental process

Question 31

Real world application

Answer 31

+ can be applied to real world situations and problems used in schools to build up students to act in a certain way increases value of the approach because of its widespread use

Question 32

Environmental determinism

Answer 32

- sees all behaviour as conditioned by past experiences ignores any influence of free with and therefore machine reductionism i takes place ignores the influence of conscious decision making process on behaviour

Question 33

what is the social learning theory

Answer 33

way of explaining behaviour includes direct/ indirect reinforcement and combines it with cognitive factors

Question 34

imitation

Answer 34

copying others behaviour

Question 35

identification

Answer 35

observer associates themselves with the role model they want to be like

Question 36

modelling

Answer 36

imitation form the role models behaviour

Question 37

vicarious reinforcement

Answer 37

not directly experience but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour

Question 38

meditational processes

Answer 38

cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response

Question 39

vicarious reinforcement explained

Answer 39

imiation occurs when behaviour is seen to be rewarded rather than punished

Question 40

mediational processes role

Answer 40

1.attention- noticing the behaviours 2.retention- behaviour is remembered 3.motor reproduction- ability of observer to perform the behaviour 4.will to perform behaviour determined if the behaviour was rewarded or punished

Question 41

identification

Answer 41

people(mostly children) imitate people they identify with (role model) process of imitation is called modelling they have similar characteristics to the observer and/ or are attractive or higher status can be influenced by media

Question 42

Evaluation

Question 43

cognitive factors

Answer 43

+ recognises strength of cognitive factors of learning classical/operant conditioning doesn't explain how we learn on our own more comprehensive explainational of human learning by recognising role of mediational processes

Question 44

Contrived lab studies

Answer 44

- all evidence done from lab studies children studied on may respond to demand characteristics, eg bobo doll experiement children hit the doll because thats what they thought they were expected to do instead of copying ogthers tells us little about how children learn

Question 45

real world application

Answer 45

+ applied to real world behaviour difficult to explain to cultural difference in behaviour explains how children learn form other around them and the media which also helps explain social norms in societies increases validity of the study as it can account for real world behaviour

Question 46

Banduras research

Answer 46

(1961) recorded behaviour of children who watched an adult behave aggressively to a doll then observed children play with the same doll in which was aggressively used the kids that saw the aggressive behaviour acted in a more aggressive way than a non-aggressive adult

Question 47

what is the cognitive approach

Answer 47

based on mental processes and how they affect behaviour

Question 48

internal mental process

Answer 48

private operations of the mind such as perception and attention

Question 49

schema

Answer 49

mental framework and beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing

Question 50

interference

Answer 50

cognitive psychologist draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on basis of observed behaviour

Question 51

cognitive neuroscience

Answer 51

using biological structures to underpin mental processes

Question 52

what is the mean process behind the cognitive approach

Answer 52

The idea that mental process lead to behaviours, we cannot observe them but cognitive psychologists infer on what is happening on the basis of behaviour

Question 53

what kind of schema do babies have

Answer 53

simple motor schema how to grasp move, cry

Question 54

how does schema develop

Answer 54

different experiences in life build our understanding, schema may distort our interpretations of sensory information leading to perceptual errors

Question 55

Theoretical model

Answer 55

an important theoretical model is the information processing approach, information flows through cognitive system through sequences of stages (multi store memory model) based on the function of a computer

Question 56

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 56

study of influence of brain structures on mental process with increases in technology we have been able to see how biological structures affect neurological processes

Question 57

how does a damaged frontal lobe affect someone

Answer 57

speech impairment

Question 58

what did Buckner and Peterson discover

Answer 58

different types of LTM may be located on opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex

Question 59

OCD area in the brain?

Answer 59

parahippocamal gyrus which is meant to deal with negative and unpleasant emotion

Question 60

evaluation

Question 61

scientific methods positive and negative

Answer 61

+ objective and uses scientific methods rigorous methods that use lab studies to produce reliable and objective data biological and cognitive psychology come together to enhance understanding credible on a scientific basis -inference done which is unscientific the tasks may be artificial so the results cannot be generalised so it lacks external validity

Question 62

Real world application

Answer 62

+ practical application has made a important contribution to field of AI and development of sentient machines also applied to the treatment of diseases which improves reliability and provides support for the value of the study

Question 63

Machine reductionism

Answer 63

- based on machine reductionism there are similarities between the human mind and robots or but the study takes it very far ignores the influence of human emotion, motivation and free will to act in certain ways eg memory is affected by emotional factors eg anxiety machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the study

Question 64

neurochemistry

Answer 64

chemicals in brain that regulate psychological function

Question 65

neurochemical basis of behaviour

Answer 65

neurotransmitters transmits messages through the brain imbalance in these chemicals causes a mental health disorder eg serotonin OCD

Question 66

genotype and phenotype

Answer 66

genotype is genetic makeup whilst phenotype is the physical, behavioural and psychological characteristics in twin studies the phenotypes are different due to environmet

Question 67

Evolution and behaviour

Answer 67

Charles Darwin proposed the idea of natural selection, characteristics that were beneficial for survival were passed on until the whole population has the characteristic Possessor of the characteristic is more likely so survive and reproduce

Question 68

application of evolution to humans

Answer 68

memory- has provided a survival advantage attachment- attachment to primary care giver is adaptive mental disorder- have genetic basis so it is argued that they must have an adaptative advantage

Question 69

Twin studies application

Answer 69

researcher discovered genetic basis of depression compare concordance rates of identical twins(monozygotic) same genes to non identical twins(dizygotic) 50% shared concordance rates is the likely hood that a trait found in one twin will be present in another rates were MZ-49% DZ-17% normal siblings-9%

Question 70

Evaluation

Question 71

real world application

Answer 71

+ real world application understanding of neurochemical processes in the brain increased and drugs created to combat them eg SSRIs which stop the reuptake of serotonin the neural synapses for OCD People are better able to manage or even get rid of their conditions

Question 72

scientific methods

Answer 72

+ precise and highly objective scientific methods fMRIs and EEGs, able to measure physiological and neural processes that are no open to bias biological approach is based on objective and reliable data

Question 73

Biological determinism

Answer 73

-determinist the idea that we are controlled by internal genes that we have no control over despite this a persons genotype is mainly influenced by their environment some identical twins who have the same genes look the same too simplistic of a view and ignores the factors of environment

Question 74

central nervous system

Answer 74

brain spinal cord origin of all complex commands

Question 75

peripheral nervous system

Answer 75

Sends information to CNS from environment transmits messages from CNS to muscles and glands in the body

Question 76

somatic nervous system

Answer 76

transmits information from rectopr cells from sensory organs to the CNS gets messages from CNS to contract muscles

Question 77

Autonomic nervous syste