psychology approaches Flashcards
(87 cards)
what approach did Wundt use?
structuralist and reductionist
what method did Wundt use?
introspection
what is introspection?
analysing your own thoughts internally, pts asked to describe their experiences when presented with a set of stimuli and their reactions were recorded
what are the problems with introspection
doesn’t explain how the mind works
what was Griffiths study using introspection
investigated people who gambled regularly with those who did not. proposed that the thought process of gamblers would be more irrational than non gamblers. pts were told to think aloud when playing the fruit machine game. as expected, gamblers thoughts were more irrational
evaluate Wundts methods (strengths)
+ - methods are still used in useful ways in more recent research. a study was done into teenagers response to a beep, where they had to say their thoughts out loud, when focused on a challenging task, teenagers were more upbeat, this could improve their quality of life
+ - his work paved the way for later controlled research and was very influential in psychology as a science , helping it to be recognised as a science
evaluate Wundts methods (weaknesses)
- we have little knowledge of the causes and processes underlying our behaviour (eg - people may not be aware of their own stereotypical thinking) causing introspection reports to be inaccurate. furthermore, pts might have thoughts they consider as undesirable and therefore lie.
- studies unobservable mental processes so his theories are unfalsifiable. this means that its difficult to test the ideas scientifically so cannot be falseifiable
whats the behaviourist approach
argues that psychologist must focus on observerable events rather than internal events, as it is more objectively measured
how does behaviourist approach believe learning occurs
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
what is classical conditioning
learning by association
how discovered classical conditioning
Pavlov
what did pavolov find with his dogs
noticed dogs didn’t only salivate when food was placed in their mouth, but also salivated in reaction to stimuli that was present at the same time as food
what happens before classical conditioning
unconditioned stimulus (food) > unconditioned response (saliva)
a tone was established that didn’t make them salivate
tone= neutral stimulus
what happens during classical conditioning
presented tone with food
unconditioned stimulus (food) + neutral stimulus (tone) > unconditioned response (saliva)
what happens after classical conditioning
conditioned stimulus (tone) > conditioned response (saliva)
what is operant conditioning
learning by consequence of behaviour
whos idea is this
skinners
how does learning happen in operant conditioning
through reinforcement
what are the types of reinforcement
positive
negative
what is positive reinforcement
occurs when behaviour produces a consequence that is pleasurable and therefore increases likelihood of a response occurring because it involves a reward for the behaviour
what is negative reinforcement
increases likelihood of a response happening because it involves the removal of unpleasant consequences - doing something to stop a bad thing happening
what was skinners box investigation
rat moves around the box and accidentally presses a lever to receive food, which is a reward. this is positive reinforcement. another version of the box delivers an electric shock through the box, the rat learns to press the lever to stop it. this is negative reinforcement
evaluate behaviourist approach (strengths)
+ - concepts have real life application. classical conditioning has led to the treatment of various phobias, fear and relaxation being response and conditioned response
+ - operant conditioning has led to token economy system being successfully used in institutions (eg - prisons), reward appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges
+ - increased scientist credibility of psychology by using lab experiments and focusing on observable behaviour within highly controlled settings
evaluate behaviourist approach (weakness)
- most research is carried out on animals so cannot be generalised to humans
- reductionist, reduces complex human behaviour down to only learning through rewards and associations
- deterministic - our past experineces will produce behaviour , this does not allow any free will we may have over our behaviour