approaches in psychology (pmt)

empiricism

the belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience rather than being innate. Characterised by the use of the experimental scientific method in psychology.

what is the behavioral approach?

behaviorists believe all behaviour is learned through your environment (through classical and operant conditioning). [nurture]

what is the biological approach?

biological psychology theorises that behaviour is determined by genes, hormones, and neurochemistry. [nature]

compare and contrast the behavioral and biological approaches

• behaviourist = nurture

• biological = nature

• both are reductionist as they only focus on either environment or biology, rather than taking a holistic approach and considering psychodynamic examples.

• both have informed, effective treatment methods; classical conditioning has been applied to systematic desensitisation (helps people overcome phobias), and many medications have been developed to treat a range of mental illnesses.

schema

• mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing.

• schemas contain our understanding of an object, person or idea.

• schemas become increasingly complex during development as we gain more information abour each object/idea

approaches on the side of nature (vs nurture)

biological and psychodynamic

introspection

technique devised by Wundt so a person can gain knowledge about their own mental and emotional states as a result of the examination of their conscious thought and feelings

role of reinforcement behavior

things that strengthen and increase the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated in the future

conditions of worth

conditions imposed on an individual’s behavior and development that are considered necessary to earn positive regard from significant others

approaches on the side of nurture (vs nature)

behaviourist, humanist, social learning theory, psychodynamic

vicarious reinforcement

learning that is not the result of direct reinforcement, but rather through observing someone else being reinforced for that behavior

free will

the ability to act at one’s own discretion - choosing how to behave without being influenced by external forces

determinism

the belief that behaviour is determined by external or internal forces acting upon an individual that is out of their control

3 types of determinism

biological, environmental, psychic

approaches on the side of free will (vs determinism)

humanistic, social learning

approaches on the side of determinism (vs free will)

biological (genetic determinism), psychodynamic (psychic determinism), behaviourist (environmental determinsim)

soft determinism

view that there are constrains on behaviour, but within these limitations we are free to make our own choices

hard determinism

view that all behaviour is determined by factors out of our control

describe classical conditioning in Pavlov’s study

• Pavlov paired the ringing of a bell with the arrival of dog food.

• the ringing of a bell was a neural stimulus (it didn’t naturally produce salivation in the dogs), while the food was an unconditioned (innate) stimulus with naturally resulted in salivation.

• the pairing of these stimuli formed a conditioned response.

• the bell became a conditioned stimulus as it produced the conditioned response of salivation even in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus, food.

congruence

similarity between a person’s ideal self and their own self-image

incongruence

disparity between a person’s ideal self and their self'-image

emergence of cognitive neuroscience

area of psychology dedicated to the underlying neural bases of cognitive functions

self actualisation

• Rogers - achieving one’s true potential

• Maslow - ability to experience periods of extreme euphoria and creativity, and as result is the final stage of the hierarchy of needs

Freud’s psychosexual stages

• oral (0-1 yrs)

• anal (1-3 yrs)

• phallic (3-5 yrs)

• latent (6-12 yrs)

• genital (12+ yrs)

how Freud seperates the personality

ed, id, superego