Criminal Psychology Flashcards
(26 cards)
operant conditioning
behaviour shaped by rewards or consequences
positive reinforcement
receiving something pleasant to reward behaviour e.g praise card for completing work
negative reinforcement
the avoidance of something unpleasant so we do it again
positive punishment
receiving something unpleasant for a behaviour
negative punishment
removing something pleasant so we do not repeat the behaviour again
primary reinforcer
a reinforcer that satisfies a biological need
secondary reinforcer
a reinforcer of no survival value
strengths & weaknesses: operant conditioning
s: real life applications, children misbehave at home or school, teachers & parents can benefit
w: not generalisable to humans, used a mouse, different behaviours
observational learning
learning new behaviours through watching and modelling a new role model
vicarious reinforcement
motivation to model behaviours of others who are rewarded for behaviour
modelling
learning a new behaviour through paying attention to a role model
social learning theory
behaviour is learnt through the observation and limitation of role models
bandura, ross & ross (1961)
aim: to see if children would imitate an aggressive role model
procedure: 36 girls & 36 boys from stanford uni nursery, observation, allocated to conditions rated by obs
results: children who observed aggressive role model displayed more aggression
strengths & weaknesses: bandura
s: standardised procedure, can be replicated, reliable
w: children were but in a strange situation, could display demand characteristics, invalid
stages: ARRMI
attention, retention, reproduction, motivation, identification
effects of punishment on recidivism
prison: most serious cases for criminal behaviour, given society chooses to remove freedom
community service: tasked with completing work within the community e.g litter picking
restorative justice: offender meets up victim(s) or those harmed by the crime e.g burglar meets residents
eysenck personality types
extroversion: outgoing, sensation seeking, sociable introversion: reserved, calm, quiet
high neuroticism: reactive in stressful situations, over emotional low: emotionally unaffected
psychoticism: cole, lack empathy, aggressive
strengthen and weaknesses: eysenck
s: supported theory, prisoners scored higher than control, valid
w: personality types are self - reported, leading to bias, lack reliability
token economy:
strategy designed to reduce anti social behaviour, increase pro social in prison
secondary reinforcers, can be used for rewards e,g TV, phone calls
strength and weaknesses of token economy
s: limited evidence showing success, pro social behaviour increased when used, valid
w: they have limited applicability, don’t translate well to real life , potentially limiting long term effectiveness
anger management
look for sources of anger to work through (cognitive prep), dealing with negative emotions (skills acquisition), then roleplay to test new skills (application)
strength and weakness of anger management
s: evidence to support, dowden et al found high risk offenders less likely to reoffend, valid
w: can’t be applied to all criminals as not all crime is linked to violence, ungeneralisable
charlton (2000)
aim:to investigate the effects of TV on children’s behaviour
procedure: natural experiment taking advantage on before & after nature of TV being introduced on St helena
results: 5 declines in pro social behaviour. no change in anti social
conclusion: TV had little influence on children’s behaviour
strengths and weakness: charlton
s: natural experiment, conducted at home and school, decreases demand characteristics, valid
w: findings limited to particular community, ungeneralisable
