father of psychology
Wundt
Wundt’s theory of introspection
means ‘looking into’
the examination of ones thoughts
subject would be presented with a problem to solve or something to memorise and would then be asked to report back their inner experience
problems with introspection
reports may be deliberately distorted or you may present to have positive thoughts
a delay between conscious experience and reporting the existence meaning some things may be forgotten
cannot be replicated so less reliability
stimulus
anything internal or external that brings about a response
responce
any reaction in the presence of a stimulus
reinforcement
the process by which a response is strengthened
classical conditioning
the process of learning through association
operant conditioning
the process of learning through reward and punsihmemnt
assumptions of behaviourism
primarily concerned with observable behaviour as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotions
little difference between the learning that takes place humans and that in other animals
psychology is a science
when born out mind is a blank slate
behaviour is the result of stimulus-response
all behaviour is learnt from the environment
research that supports classical conditioning
Watson and Rayner 1920- Little Albert
what happened in the Little Albert study
Watson and Rayner presented Little Albert with a white rat and he had no dear
Watson then presented the rat with a loud bang that startled Little Albert and made him cry
after the continuous association of the white rat and loud noises- Little Albert was classically conditioned to experience fear at the sign of the rat
Albert hence generalised the other stimulus that were similar to the rat including a fur coat and some cotton wool
research that supports operant conditioning
Skinner and the Skinner box
Thorondikes 1898 law of effect
behaviour that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated
behaviour followed by unpleasant consequences is less likely to be repeated
Positive reinforcement
Giving a reward for a task- behaviour is more likely to be repeated
Positive reinforcement in Skinner box
giving the rat food when it presses the lever when the green light shows
negative reinforcement
thing something negative away- behaviour is more likely to be repeated
Positive punishment
weakens behaviour boy giving an undesirable consequence
negative punishment
taking something positive away- behaviour is less likely to be repeated
reward
positive reinforcement
relief
negative reinforcement
punishment
positive punishment
penalty
negative punishment
Extinction
forgetting of learned responses over time when rewards and punishments were removed
continuous reinforcements in skinner box
the rat got food pellet every time it pressed the lever
partial/random reinforcement in Skinner box
the rat was randomly rewarded when it pushed the level but not for every push
no reinforcement in skinner box
rat was nor rewarded for pressing the lever
research by Pavlov
classical conditioning is learned through association
where an association is formed between stimuli creating a learned response
strengths of behaviourism
very scientific
research is highly influential and leads to other theories
replicable
produces qualitative data so easy to analyse
real world application
strong counter dynamics to the extreme ideas of eugenics and the death penalty
limitations of behaviourism
many forms of learning cannot be explained by classical and operant conditioning
ignores important mental processes involved in learning
reductionist- only takes into account of nurture and rules out any influence of anything else
deterministic so ignores the existence of free will
lack of ecological validity
ethical issues with animals
much data has been obtained from animals so cannot be applied to human
SLT
social learning theory
assumptions of social learning theory
combines principles of both cognitive and behaviourist approach
sees people as active manipulators of their own environment rather than passive receivers
behaviour learned through observation of role models
observational learning can take place without any reinforcement
Vicarious reinforcement
Meditational processes
behaviour is learning in interpersonal situations
behaviour can be learned through (SLT)
observation and imitation
role models
people, especially children, are much more likely to imitate behaviour of whom they identify with- role models
role models must be
similar to observer
attractive
higher status than the observer
Mediational process
behaviour ca be stored and acted upon at a later time, mediational processes determine whether a behaviour that is observed will actions be imitated
4 mediational processes
attention
retention
reproduction
motivation
evidence of SLT
Bandura
Bandura’s research A procedure
recorded the behaviour of children aged 3-5
in a room was an adult with a child surrounded bu many toys including a Bobo Doll
after 1 minute the adult began to beat up the Bobo Doll (kicking punching and hitting) this lasted for 10 minutes until the adult leaves
children were later observed
Bandura’s research A findings
children observed to be copying the adults behaviour- showing lots of aggression towards the Bobo Doll as the adult had
every child who observed an aggressive adult acted aggressively
boys were more physically aggressive
children who didn’t observed an aggressive adult weren’t aggressive
children who had observed am adult as the same sex as them were more likely to imitate the adult
Bandura’s research B procedure
together with Richard Walters
showed videos to children were adults behaved aggressively towards the Bobo doll
one group saw the adult being praised for their behaviour
a second group saw the adult be punished for showing aggression towards the Bobo Doll
a control group saw the aggression with no consequence
Bandura’s research B findings
when given their own Bobo Doll to play with:
first group showed much more aggression followed by the control group and then the second
strength of SLT
more comprehensive full explanation of human behaviour
less reductionist
more holistic
less deterministic
can explain cultural differences
limitations of SLT
demand characteristics
biological challenges such as hormones increasing aggression
Cognitive approach assumptions
we should study internal mental processes
human minds are the same as computers
internal mental processes
hidden operations of a persons mind
person may not be aware of such processes as they happen in the ‘black box’ that mediates between stimulus and response
Inference
the mental process are' ‘hidden’ then the only way to study them is by looking at a persons response and inferring about the mental processes
inference and the Stroop test
people respond quicker when asked to read the word than say the colour
the brain readings words faster than recognises the colour
theoretical models
diagrams or models that psychologists create to explain internal mental processes
theoretical models examples
MSM
WMM
computational models
creating models that run on a computer (which we can see and compare the results to humans) If it is similar we can infer that is how our mind works
schema
a mental framework of beliefs and expectations that can influence cognitive processing. They are developed from experience
What did Bartlets’s ‘war of ghosts’ story show
Bartlett found that people struggled to recall the story completely
when people tried to recall is was changed to match the readers British schema
memories are reconstructed by our schemas
we could not understand it in its original form so we change it to something we can understand
cognitive neuroscience
involved mapping the internal mental processes to specific areas of the brain
done through scanning techniques such as fMRI
allows us to see what part of the brain we are using to think of something specific like a motorbike
cognitive neuroscience applications
if a person has a brain tumour it might impact their ability to move or speak and cognitive neuroscience would inform where the tumour could be located in the brain making it much quicker and safer for doctors to remove
artificial intelligence
strength of cognitive approach
has real life applications and is the dominant approach today
the experimental methods used are very scientific
limitations of cognitive approach
cognitive models over-simplified - not a complete explanation of human behaviour
data supporting cognitive theories can come from unrealistic tasks
assumptions of the biological type
physical processes inside your body are the cause of your behaviour
psychology should study systems inside of the body
genes
DNA- internal code for physical/psychological
neurochemistry
chemicals in your brain
nervous system
internal chemical system
endocrine system
internal hormone system
chromosomes
strands of condensed DNA on which can be found individual genes for every physical charachterisitc
human chromosomes number
23 pairs
Genes
units of DNA which code for one or more characteristics and inherited from a persons parents
twin studies
investigates the genetic bases of behaviour
zygote
a fertilised egg
identical twins
monozygotic (MZ)
non-identical twins
dizygotic (DZ)
monozygotic twins
one zygote- these twins are formed when a fertilised egg splits into 2 and forms 2 separate embryos
how much DNA do monozygotic twins share
100%
how much DNA does dizygotic twins share
averagely 50%
dizygotic twins
2 zygotes- these twins are formed when separate eggs become fertilised by different sperm cells
concordance rate
the extent to which a pair of twins share similar traits or characteristics e.g. the concordance rate of monozygotic twins both developing depression is 50% and dizygotic is 20%
family studies
look at the similarity of psychological characteristics, between family members
how much DNA do you share with mum and dad
50%
how much DNA do you share with siblings
50%
who are 2nd and 3rd degree relatives
aunties, uncles, grandparents
how much DNA do you share with 2nd and 3rd degree relatives
20%
what do biological parents have in common with their child that adoptive parents don’t
genes
adoption studies
adopted children are compared to their biological parents and adoptive parents to which has more influence- biology or environment
do adoption studies study twins
no
selective breeding
involves artificially selecting male and female animals for a particular trait- these animals are then put together to breed and produce offspring
genotype
set of genes an individual has or is made up of
phenotype
a persons observed traits- different from genotype due to environment
genotype + environment =
phenotype
evolution
the change in inherited characteristics in biological population over successive generations
what 2 main concepts did Charles Darwin emphasis in evolutionary theory
natural selection
sexual selection
natural selection
animals with particular traits that provide them an advantage in their environment and are more lieu to survive and reproduce thereby passing on their ‘adaptive trait’ to their offspring
sexual selection
males have an abundance of sperm and can reproduce with as many women as they want
females however are limited with the amount of eggs they have and the fact she has to carry the baby for 9 months and raise it till its 18
females will therefor be more selective of who fathers their children due to the investment they have to make
creator of psychodynamic approach
freud
assumptions of the psychodynamic approach
our behaviour and feelings are affected by unconscious motives
one behaviour and feelings as adults are determined by our childhood experiences - all behaviour has a cause
the iceberg theory suggests 3 components to the human mind
conscious
preconscious
unconscious
freud suggested most of the mind is
unconscious
what does the unconscious part of the mind determine
biological drives that determine our behaviour and personality
repressed memories
locked away in our unconscious and are the cause of mental health disorders
the preconscious
contains ideals we become aware of either through dreams or a Freudian slip
Freudian slip
when someone accidentally says something in their unconscious mind which can be a true desire
Freuds 3 ways of analysing the unconscious mind
dream analysis
free association
inkblot tests
dream analysis
freud argued one way to gain access to the unconscious mind is through dream analysis and that dreams allowed us to get rid of our nervous tension that had built up during the day and these desired are often represented by symbols
Free association
a way to gain access to the unconscious mind that involves giving a patient a word and to talk or write about what they associate without giving thought to it