Approaches In Psychology Flashcards
(104 cards)
Wilhelm Wundt helped move psychology from its philosophical roots to becoming…
Research and experiment based
What did Wilhelm Wundt open?
Experimental institute at the University of Leipzeg in Germany in 1879
What was Wundst aim, first task and what is the definition for it
To scientifically study mental processes
Introspection
The systematic analysis of our conscious experience of a stimulus
How is the experience analysed?(Give some examples)
It is done while focusing on…
What and who did it pave the path for
Definition of objective
-Experience is analysed in terms of its component parts(sensations, images, emotions)
-It is done while focusing on an everyday object such as a ticking metronome
-Paved the path for controlled research and more objective study of mental processes+Cognitive psychologists
-Objective-unnaffected by personal opinions/bias
What are the 3 main ways Wundt contributed to psychology as a science, give the definition and explain it
-USE OF CONTROLLED CONDITIONS (ensuring no factors apart from those you want to study, affects participants)
No other noises apart from the ticking metronome, controlled distractions
-STANDARDISATION(using the same procedure for all people)
All participants have the same experience-ticking metronome
-REPLICABILITY
It’s reproducible and repeatable as it is done using a standardised procedure
6 MARKER What was Wilhelm Wundt’s input into Psychology
-Helped move Psychology from philosophical roots to…
-Opened experimental institute…
-Aim is to…
-First task is introspection which is…
-Experience is analysed in terms of…for example…
-Done while focusing on…
-Paved the path for…
What is the order of approaches in the emergence of psychology as a science
Psychodynamic approach Freud
Behaviourist approach Watson And Skinner
Humanist approach
Cognitive approach
Biological approach
Explain all the approaches and it’s contribution to psychology as a science
PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH (FREUD)
-Studied abnormal behaviour and focused on unconscious thoughts
-Clinical evidence to support/refute theory
-Adopted a form of empiricism which is where knowledge is gained from sensory experience(rather than relying on self report)
BEHAVIOURIST APPROACH (WATSON, SKINNER)
-Wanted control: ability to manipulate factors/variable in an experiment
-Experiments in controlled settings
-Objective ways of gathering data on observable behaviour
HUMANISTIC APPROACH
- Wanted psychology to br less scientific than other fields
-Also focused on empiricism
COGNITIVE APPROACH
-Operationalisation make behaviour, characteristics and mental processes measurable numerically
-Study mental processes under controlled conditions
BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
-Measuring physiological processes within the body and brain and the impact of this on behaviour(neurotransmitter)
-Cause and effect relationship (Doing X leads to Y)
When you’re certain x leads to y strong, cause and effect relationship
When you’re not certain x leads to y, weak cause and effect relationship
What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach
-All behaviour is learned from experience from our environment
-Genetics do not bave any influence kn behaviour as you are born as a ‘tabula rasa’ (blank slate)
-Useful to study animals to understand behaviour as the same processes produce conditioning for both humans and other animals
Define classic conditioning and operant conditioning
Classic conditioning: learn by making associations
Operant conditioning: learn from consequences
Define unconditioned stimulus
An event to which we have a natural, reflex response
Classical conditioning
How do you learn through association
Two stimuli are paired to produce the same response
Explain the steps before conditioning, during conditioning and after conditioning
BEFORE CONDITIONING
Unconditioned stimulus-> unconditioned response
DURING CONDITIONING
(Pairing) Neutral stimulus + Unconditioned stimulus
AFTER CONDITIONING
Conditioned stimulus -> Condititoned response
What are the 2 key studies for the behaviourist approach
Pavlov’s dog
Skinner’s box
Explain the key study for the theory of classical conditioning: Pavlov’s Dog
When Pavlov presented dogs with food, the dogs responded by salivating
After, Pavlov repeated pairing the bell and food, when he presented the food, he rang a bell at the same time
After, when he rang the bell, the dogs would salivate in response
Pavlov showed that through the learning of an association between two stimulus, a conditioned response can be produced
Define Positive Reinforcement and give an example
Recieveing a pleasant consequence in response to performing a desired behaviour. This increases the likelihood of the desired behaviour
Students fo homework -> praised by teacher -> increases the likelihood of students doing homework
Define Punishment and give an example
Receiving an unpleasant consequence in response to demonstrating an undesired behaviour, this reduces the likelihood of the undesired behaviour
(Student does not do homework>gives detention>student less likely to not do homework)
Define Negative Reinforcement and give an example
The removal of an unpleasant experience in response to performing a desired behaviour, increases the frequency of the desired behaviour
(In detention until you finish homework)
Explain the key study of Skinner’s box that was used to investigate operant conditioning
Food pellets acted as positive reinforcement for pressing the level
Electric shocks can be used as punishment or negative reinforcement
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT- When the light turned on, the eats pulled the lever and relieved pellets, this increased the likelihood of them pulling the lever in the future whenever the lights were turned on
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
Rats received mild electric shocks from the electric grid, this continued until the rats pulled the lever where the shocks were temporarily disabled. This increased the likelihood of the rats pulling the lever in the future
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the behaviourist approach
Give the points
STRENGTHS Have many real life practical applications
Have research support from Pavlov and Skinner
WEAKNESSES Extrapolated from animals
Reductionist
One strength of operant conditioning is it has real life applications
One strength of operant conditioning is it has real life applications
The principles of operant conditioning such as positive reinforcement has helped to develop behaviour modification programmes that have been used to chnage behaviour in the real world. For example Token economy is used in institutions like prison to encourage positive behaviour. For example, If a prisoner shows a desirable behaviour such as cleaning their cell, they will receive a token, after collecting a certain number of tokens, they can exchange if for rewards they like for example snacks in long term, their behaviour will be chnages so they will exhibit rehabilitated habitats upon release. This demonstrates the utility of the Behaviourist approach concepts not operant conditioning.
One strength of the behaviourist approach is there is research support from Pavlov and Skinner
One strength of the behaviourist approach is there is research support from Pavlov and Skinner.
Pavlov found that following repeated ‘pairings’ of Bell and food (NS + CS), led to dogs being conditioned to salivate when he rang the bell without any food being present. This shows that though building an association between the bell and the food(NS + UCS) led to the learning of a CR which in this case is salivation. Proves that learning occurs through forming associations.
Skinner found that rays could be conditioned to learn through rewards. He found that when rats were given food pellet when lever was puller when lights were on, they were more likely to pull the lever in the future when the lights were on. This shows that reinforcing a behaviour increases the likelihood of this behaviour. Proves that learning occurs through consequences. This increases the validity that learning occurs through consequences.
One weakness of the behaviourist approach is the evidence it relies on…
One weakness of the behaviourist approach is the evidence it relies on lacks validity as it is based of animals. For example the principles of classical conditioning I’d based on Pavlovs research done on dogs and operant conditioning is based on Skinner’s research done on rats. This is a weakness because psychologists argue humans are physically and cognitively more complex than animals e.g despite being punished for a behaviour, humans might still do the undesired behaviour if the benefits outweigh costs. So results cannot be extrapolated to humans. As the supporting evidence cannot be applied to humans, this undermines the validity of the behaviourist approach.
One weakness of the behaviourist approach is that it can be considered reductionist.
One weakness of the behaviourist approach is that it can be considered reductionist. This is because the BA oversimplified complex behaviour such as learning down to ‘stimulus - response’ associations or consequences. Therefore, it disregards other factors which may influence behaviour like genes/hormones for example, inheriting a faulty version of the 5HTT gene leads to the development and expression of OCD. Since human behaviour is best understood in a holistic way, taking into account both environmental and biological factors, behaviourist approach is invalid as it fails to do this. Therefore, since the behaviourist approach is reductionist, it leads to over simplistic and incomplete explanations for very complex behaviours. This reduces the validity of the BA.