Key Approches Key Words Flashcards
(39 cards)
Psychology
The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context
Reductionism
The idea that human behaviour can be most effectively explained by breaking it down into constituent parts.
Subjective
Something based on or influenced by personal feelings, taste or opinions
Introspection
The examination or observation of ones own mental and emotional processes.
Structuralism
Any theory that aims to study the relationship among phenomena rather than the phenomena themselves and the systems formed by these relations.
Classical conditioning
Learning by association (pavlov’s dogs)
Positive reinforcement
A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it’s pleasurable.
Behaviourist approach
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.
Punishment
Any procedure that decreases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated because the overall experience is unpleasant.
Operant conditioning.
A form of learning in which behaviour is maintained and shaped by its consequences
Negative reinforcement
A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it leads to escape from an unpleasant situation and is experienced as rewarding
Social learning theory
A way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with a role of cognitive factors.
Vicarious reinforcement
Reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour.
Identification
A moderate type of conforming where we act in the same way with the group because we value it and want to be apart of it.
Mundane realism
Refers to how an experiment mirrors the real world
Mediation processes
Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response.
Modelling
From the observers perspective modelling is imitating the behaviour of a role model.
Imitation
Copying the behaviours of others
Empiricism
The theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses.
Neuron
The basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals.
Sensory Neuron
Carry messages from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system. Long dendrites, short axons.
Motor Nueron
Carries messages from the central nervous system to the effectors such as glands and muscles. Short dendrites and long axons.
Relay nueron
Carry messages from sensory neurons to motor neurons and other relay neurons. Short dendrites and short axons.
Synaptic transmission
The process in which neighbouring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the synapse.