PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 2 Flashcards
(40 cards)
The first worldwide accepted approach was behaviourism, outline this.
There are three assumptions behaviourism makes:
1) All behaviour is learnt (exception of inborn reflexes)
2) Animals and humans learn in the same way
3) Behaviourism is observable, quantifiable behaviour
Outline Pavlov’s classical conditioning. (behaviourism)
Pavlov was studying dogs salivation however during his studies he found that dogs would end up salivating before there was any food, the direction of his studies changed and outlined classical conditioning.
He eventually ended up ringing a bell before giving the dogs food and then he would ring a bell and give no food, the dogs still salivated. The food is the UCS and salivation is the UCR. The bell had become the CS and salivation the CR.
This process of learning can be applied to human development.
Outline the several principles of classical conditioning. (behaviourism)
Generalisation - stimuli similar to CS produces the CR
Discrimination - when stimuli similar to CS does not produce the CR
Extinction - when the CR isn’t produced after the CS
Spontaneous recovery - when a previously extinct CR is produced in response to the CS
High order conditioning - when a new CS produces the CR because the animal associates it with the original CS
Outline Skinner’s operant conditioning. (behaviourism)
Skinner studies how animals can learn from consequences of their own actions.
Consequences involve either:
Positive reinforcement where something desirable is obtained or negative reinforcement where something undesirable is removed.
Skinner used a ‘Skinner Box’ which he placed one rat inside at a time. Each box had a variety of different stimuli including a speaker, lights an electric floor and a food dispenser connected to a lever. The time taken for the rats to learn that pressing the lever was recorded. He found that rats would initially run around the cage until accidentally pressing the lever then it was rewarded the food. The more it was put into the box, the quicker they got at learning about the lever. The rat had learnt that when it pressed the leaver there was a reward in return.
Evaluate conditioning as a theory. (behaviourism)
Classical
:) - Research into classical conditioning has lead to the development of treatment of phobias, systematic desensitisation works by eliminating the learned anxious response (CR) that is associated with the feared object (CS). This process has been proven to work on many different phobias such as arachnophobia
:( - It is difficult to say that conditioning works the same for every animal as some animals find it harder to form associations with certain stimuli. Thus Seligman proposed preparedness, this means that animals are prepared to associate aspects that will help their survival such as the smell of meat with food, but are less ready to associate random items such as a bell with a tree.
Operant
:) - Skinner used a strong experimental method which allowed him to control the conditions in which it was setup in. The ‘Skinners Box’ in particular is a good example of this in practice where the consequence was manipulated to see the effects on the rats behaviour. All of this allowed him to draw a strong cause and effect relationship.
:( - Critics have pointed out that he has relied strongly on the fact he can extrapolate his findings from rats onto humans. We are very different to rats and specifically we have free will, it can be argued that we do not have our behaviour determined by positive and negative reinforcement.
Outline social learning theory.
Albert Bandura agreed with the behaviourists that much of our behaviour is learned from experience. However, his social learning theory (SLT) proposed a different way in which people learn: through observation and imitation of others within a social context, thus social learning. SLT suggested that learning occurs directly, through classical and operant conditioning, but also indirectlv.
Outline vicarious reinforcement. (SLT)
For indirect learning to take place an individual observes the behaviour of others. The learner may imitate this behaviour but, in general, imitation only occurs if the behaviour is seen to be rewarded (reinforced) rather than punished, i.e. vicarious reinforcement occurs. Thus, the learner observes a behaviour but most importantly observes the consequences of a behaviour.
Outline the mediational processes. (SLT)
These are mental factors that mediate the learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired. Four mental or mediational processes in learning were identified by Bandura:
- Attention - the extent to which we notice certain behaviours.
- Retention - how well the behaviour is remembered.
- Motor reproduction - the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour.
- Motivation - the will to perform the behaviour, which is often determined by whether the behaviour was rewarded or punished.
The first two of these relate to the learning of behaviour and the last two to the performance of behaviour. Unlike traditional behaviourism, the learning and performance of behaviour need not occur together. Observed behaviours may be stored by the observer and reproduced at a later time.
Outline identification and modelling (SLT)
Identification - When an observer associates themselves with a role model and wants to be like the role model.
Modelling - From the observer’s perspective, modelling is imitating the behaviour of a role model. From the role model’s perspective, modelling is the precise demonstration of a specific behaviour that may be imitated by an observer.
Outline Bandura’s study. (SLT)
He had a large sample of toddlers half female half male and setup a lab experiment. The experiment consisted of two conditions, in the first condition half the toddlers observed an aggressive model playing in a room ie. hitting a bobo doll and the second condition had the other half observing a non-aggressive model playing. There was a third condition in which no observation was taken place, this was the control group. The children were then put in their groups into the same room and observed for 20 minutes.
He found that children who had observed aggressive models tended to act with much more physical and verbal aggressive behaviour when compared to the non-aggressive group who showed nearly no aggressive behaviour.
This study provided evidence for social learning theory.
Evaluate SLT.
:) - There are many real world applications that research into SLT has bought for example Akers suggested that the probability of someone engaging in criminal activity increases when they are exposed to models that do this around them. This is an application that can benefit society as we now know to keep children away from parents with criminal records or general antisocial behaviour.
:) - There has been research done which supports identification. Greater identification results in a learner learning more as it is easier for them to visualise them self in the place of the model. Fox found evidence for this using computer generated virtual humans engaging in exercise and had participants watch these CGI humans, some of which looked similar to participants and some didn’t. The participants were then observed for the next 24 hours and found that the participants who’s models looked similar tended to do exercise them self.
:( - Social learning theory is too reductionist as it only states that it only looks at the nurture side of the nature nurture debate. We know now that we must take a wholistic approach and take parts from both side of the argument as there is strong evidence that proves genes play a significant part in our behaviour and thus SLT needs to take a more wholistic approach in explaining human behaviour.
Outline the cognitive approach.
Cognitive psychology looks at how we interpret the world, whilst the behavioural approach studies observable behaviour the cognitive approach does quite the opposite by looking at the internal workings of the mind. Cognitive psychologists try to explain behaviour by looking at our perception, language, attention and memory. They use scientific methods to construct experiments and is a fairly reductionist approach as they explain the mind by comparing it to a computer.
There are several principles to the cognitive approach, these are:
- Our mental systems have a limited capacity
- A control mechanism oversees all mental processes
- There is a two way flow of information
Outline what schemas are. (cognitive approach)
Schemas are a mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. They help us to interpret organise all the information and experiences that we know, the schema for a human face for example is that it has two eyes, a nose and a mouth. When information is consistent with a schema then the schema is assimilated and strengthened. However if it is not consistent with a schema then the schema is accommodated and it changes based on the new information.
There are three types of schemas:
Role
Event
Self
Outline cognitive neuroscience. (cognitive approach)
Cognitive neuroscience is a rapidly advancing field of psychology that has become more popular after the last decade because of advances in computer technology. It is a much more scientific and detailed way of physically studying the brain without doing post morterm’s or autopsies. The use of non-invasive scans such as fMRI or EEG’s has allowed psychologists to see how the brains behaviour works in hand with human behaviour.
Outline the theoretical and computer models (cognitive approach)
Cognitive psychologists use both theoretical and computer models to help them understand internal mental processes. Theoretical models are abstract whereas computer models are concrete things.
One important theoretical model is the information processing approach (suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval, as in the multi-store model.)
This is based on the way that computers function but a computer model would involve actually programming a computer to see if such instructions produce a similar output to humans. If they do then we can suggest that similar process are going on in the human mind. Such computational models of the mind have proved useful in the development of artificial intelligence.
Evaluate the cognitive approach
:) - Research done into the cognitive approach has allowed for real life applications to surface because of it. The cognitive approach so psychopathology has been used to explain how much of a dysfunctional brain is due to faulty thinking processes and thus this lead to the therapy known as cognitive behavioural therapy which helps patients with OCD and depression.
:) - The cognitive approaches emphasis on scientific methods is definitely a strength of it as it allows for rigorous testing and thus detailed conclusions that are based off of cause and effect relationships rather than introspection and assumptions.
:( - The approach has been criticised for being too reductionist when comparing the brain to a computer system, it is hard to say that our brain revolves around a simple input, process and output model when we have many things that a computer doesn’t such as free will, emotions and motivational factors.
:( - Many studies done in cognitive psychology are done in a lab and although as stated earlier this can be seen as a huge benefit, it can also be looked at from a different perspective. It makes the studies very unrealistic and thus the reactions or the way humans behave in these studies may not represent real life.
What are neurons and outline the three main ones.
Neurons are specialised cells designed for the transmission of information throughout the body, there are three types:
Sensory neurons, these carry impulses from receptors to the spinal cord/brain.
Relay neurons allow sensory and motor neurons to communicate with each other, located in the brain and spinal cord.
Motor neurons from synapses with muscles and when an impulse travels down the motor neuron it causes the muscle to contract.
Outline synaptic transmission.
Action potential is the electrical signal that travels down the neuron to the axon ready to be passed on.
When the action potential reaches the synaptic vessels it causes them to release neurotransmitters, this is known as exocytosis.
The neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic junction and binds to receptor sites on the post synaptic knob. Once these sites are activated it produces either an excitatory or an inhibitory effect on the post synaptic knob.
This whole process takes a fraction of a second and is ended when the neurotransmitters are reabsorbed by the reuptake site.
As stated before based on the neurotransmitter released it can cause either an excitatory or an inhibitory effect. Excitatory neurotransmitters such as noradrenaline make it more likely for an excitatory signal to be sent to the post synaptic knob. This results in an excitatory post synaptic potential meaning the knob is more likely to fire.
The inhibitory neurotransmitters such as serotonin obviously have the opposite effect causing an inhibitatory post synaptic potential.
Outline the fight or flight response.
When a person experiences a life stressful situation the body responds with what is known as the fight or flight response. It is an evolutionary adaptive survival mechanism enabling us to react quickly to certain stimuli.This response is activated too often to non life threatening situations such as exam stress.
It works by as follows, when faced with a stressful situation the amygdala is activated a signal is then sent to the hypothalamus which uses the sympathetic nervous system to communicate with the rest of the body.
It’s response to acute stress takes the sympathomedullary pathway (SAM). When the SNS is triggered it sends a signal to the adrenal medulla which releases adrenaline into the blood. The adrenaline causes the heart to beat faster allowing for more blood into the brain. After a while the parasympathetic nervous system is triggered causing the stress response to be dampened down.
After 20 minutes if the stress is continued, it is then known as chronic stress and the response is different. Instead of the sympathomedullary pathway it takes the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal system (HPA).
The hypothalamus releases the chemical corticotrophin releasing hormone into the blood stream, this arrives at the pituitary gland causing it to release adrenocorticotrophic hormone. This is then targeted at the adrenal gland, specifically the adrenal cortex, causing the release of cortisol which gives a quick burst of energy and higher pain thresholds. However it can lower both the immune system and impair cognitive performance.
Evaluate the fight or flight response.
:( - Research suggests that females have a different behavioural response to stress, known as tend and befriend. This is due to women’s role as a PCG, they are thus more likely to protect themselves and their children through nurturing behaviours and forming alliances with other women. This suggests that therefore women may have evolved differently saying that the fight or flight response can not be applied to both genders.
:( - The flight part of fight or flight could be detrimental to the safety of women’s offspring. Research conducted with rats found that women may release oxytocin which inhibits flight. This hormone has been shown to increase relaxation. This research further shows evidence for the fight or flight not being able to be applied to women.
:( - The fight or flight response is an evolutionary survival technique however modern day life can trigger this too frequently in inappropriate situations. This can be detrimental to out health and cause coronary heart disease. Furthermore too much cortisol can result in us being more prone to illness. Therefore the very process that is designed to save our lives could in fact cause illness.
:( - Research suggests that there are other responses before fight or flight. He said that humans are more interested in avoiding confrontation rather than fleeing it. This is known as the freeze response where by people are hyper vigilant and alert to any danger. The freezing focuses attention and helps people find new information in order to deal with the threat. This limits the value of insight psychologists have in accurately explaining response to stress.
Name the four definitions of abnormality.
Deviation from social norms
Failure to function adequately
Statistical infrequency
Deviation from ideal mental health.
Define deviation from social norms.
Deviation from Social Norms - Standards of acceptable behaviour are set by a social group and anything that deviates from this behaviour is deemed abnormal. In the past being homosexual was seen as deviant from social norms, campaigners have now changed the social perception and have made it normal. This proves that this explanation is subject to change.
Define failure to function adequately.
Failure to Function Adequately - This is where people are not able to cope with everyday demands such as eating in public. It interferes with everyday life and the individual judges when their behaviour becomes abnormal.
Define deviation from ideal mental health.
Deviation from Ideal Mental Health - Physical illness being defined as the absence of signs of physical healthiness. This definition says we should look at mental illness in the same way, there are 6 categories that if are not there then this would suggest mental illness. They are: Self Attitudes, Self Actualisation (max potential), Integration, Autonomy, Reality and Mastery of Environment.
