Approaches to Psychology AO1 Flashcards
(41 cards)
Who was the first person to study psychology using the scientific method?
Wundt
What is introspection?
Observing mental processes by reflecting on their own cognitive processes
Describe Griffiths’ experiment and its findings.
- Investigated the thought processes of regular gamblers and non-gamblers using introspection
- Asked to think aloud
- The study found that gamblers used more irrational verbalisation
What are 3 assumptions of the behaviourist approach?
- Humans are born a blank slate
- Behaviour is a result of our experiences and interactions
- Animals and humans have the same learning mechanisms
What is classical conditioning?
Learning by associating a UCS with a CR
What are 4 factors of classical conditioning?
- Timing
- Extinction (breaking an association)
- Spontaneous recovery (CR returns in the future)
- Generalisation (when a stimulus similar to the CS also elicits a response)
What is operant conditioning?
Behaviours are learnt through reinforcement and punishment
Describe the Little Albert experiment.
Watson and Rayner
- 9 month old baby was shown a white rat (NS)
- A loud bang (CS) was sounded along with the rat (UCS)
- The baby associated the rat (CS) with fear (CR)
Describe Skinner’s rats experiment.
- Rat in a box
- Lever in the box
- Rat pushes lever to receive food
- The rat learns that pushing the lever results in food (positive reinforcement)
What is the social learning theory?
Learning through observation and imitation
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Learning by observing someone else be reinforced for a behaviour
What is a mediational processes?
Internal mental processes that exist between environmental stimuli and response
What are 2 assumptions of the social learning theory?
- Human learning is explained by observation
- Cognitive factors play an important role in learning
What are the 2 types of modelling?
- Live: happens in front of you
- Symbolic: happens in the media
Name 4 mediational processes and explain them.
- Attention: the extent to which we notice a behaviour
- Retention: how well a behaviour is remembered
- Reproduction: the ability to perform a behaviour
- Motivation: whether the reward of a behaviour is worth it
Describe the Bobo doll experiment and its findings.
Bandura
- 3 groups of children
- 24 kids in each group
- The first group observed aggression, the second group observed non-aggression, (final group was a control group)
- They found that the first group acted aggressively towards the bobo doll
- Link between gender of role-model and likelihood of imitation (identification)
What is the information processing model?
Input > Mediational process > Output
What are two assumptions of the cognitive approach?
- The brain works like a computer
- Mental processes can be studied scientifically
What are schemas?
Mental framework based on previous experiences that determine our view on things
What are theoretical models?
Models that are used to scientifically test cognitive functions
Describe and explain the rat-man experiment.
Bugelski and Alampay
- 2 groups
- One group was shown animal images and the other group was shown images of people
- They were shown the rat-man drawing
- The animal group was more likely to see the rat
- The people group was more likely to see the man
- Therefore, this is evidence for schemas
What is a PET scan?
Positron emission tomography scan, a radio tracer is absorbed which allows a machine to detect energy and measure metabolic changes
What is an MRI?
Magnetic resonance imaging, powerful magnetic field and radio frequency pulses using a computer to produce images
What is an fMRI?
Functional magnetic resonance imaging, measures brain activity through changes in blood flow. It can measure tiny metabolic changes
