Approaches

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

1. attention
2. retention
3. reproduction
4. 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