Learning approaches

what are the main assumptions of social learning theory? (3 points)

1) behaviour is learnt from experience.

2) people learn through observation and imitation of others.

3)behaviour can ALSO be learnt vicariously through observing others being reinforced or punished.

SLT) What are the 4 processes of acquiring a new behaviour? (ARMM)

Attention - whether we notice the behaviour

Retention - how well we remember the behaviour

Motor reproduction - the ability of the observer to replicate the behaviour

Motivation - the desire to replicate the behaviour

SLT) What is a key factor in the motivation of acquiring a new behaviour?

Whether the behaviour was rewarded or punished

define immitation

coping the behaviour of others

What is vicarious reinforcement

reinforcement which is not directly received but occurs through someone else being positively/ negatively reinforced OR punished

Define modelling from the observers perspective

imitating (copying) the behaviour of a role model

What is modelling from the model's perspective?

behaving in a way that can be imitated by the observer

What is identification?

when an observer associates themselves with a role model due to either shared characteristics OR they're an authority figure.

SLT) What was the aim of Bandura's bobo doll study?

To investigate the impact of vicarious reinforcement on imitation

SLT) Describe the method of Bandura's bobo doll study

66 nursery kids, split into 3 groups.

3 conditions

Condition 1: adult beat bobo doll, was rewarded.

Condition 2: adult beat bobo doll, was punished.

Condition 3: Adult beat bobo doll, nothing happened (control group)

Each time after the adult had beaten the doll they left the kid alone in the room.

SLT) What were the findings of the bobo doll study?

Group 1 kids showed the most aggression towards the doll.

Group 2 kids showed no aggression.

Group 3 showed little to no aggression.

SLT) What was the conclusion of the bobo doll study?

children who saw the adult being positively reinforced for aggression were more likely to behave aggressively towards the doll themselves

What is a positive evaluation of Social learning theory (hint - thought processes)

Social learning theory takes thought process into account and acknowledges that they play a role in deciding if a behaviour is to be imitated or not. SLT provides a compressive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of mediational processes

Give a negative evaluation point of SLT L.R.T.BF

Bandura makes little reference to the impact of biological factors. Boys were found to be more aggressive towards the doll than girls. This may be due to higher levels in testosterone (hormone linked to aggression) than girls.

Give a positive evaluation of slt (explains ..)

The approach successfully explains imitation of some behaviours, such as smoking.

What are the main assumptions of the behaviourist approach? (4 points)

1) All behaviour is learnt.

2) Labs are the only way to maintain objectivity and control.

3) Humans and animals have the same basic learning processes so animals can substitute for humans in experiments.

4) Not interested in internal mental processes as they can't be observed.

What are the two types of conditioning?

operant and classical

What is operant conditioning

learning through consequences

What is classical conditioning?

Learning through association

What are the three operant conditioning techniques?

Positive reinforcement

Negative reinforcement

Punishment

What is positive reinforcement

when a behaviour is met with a desirable consequence. = MORE LIKELY to repeat. E.g given a sweet for doing your flashcards!

What is punishment?

An unpleasant consequence of behaviour. = LESS LIKELY to repeat. E.g getting smacked for swearing

What is negative reinforcement?

when a behaviour is rewarded with the removal of a negative state. MORE LIKELY to repeat. E.g mum stops nagging bc i did the dishwasher.

Describe skinner's rat experiement

A rat was put into a box with a lever and a button. When the rat pushed the button it was given an electric shock from the floor. When it pulled the lever it was given a treat and let free. After a few goes in the box the rat learnt to associate the button with a punishment (shock) and the lever with positive reinforcement (a treat)

What kind of conditioning was skinner's experiment?

Operant conditioning

What did pavlovs dog experiment achieve?

Pavlov used classical conditioning to train a dog to salivate when a bell was rung. He did this by training the dog to associate a bell with food.

Describe Pavlov's dog experiment.

Step1: Dog was shown an unconditioned stimulus, resulting in an unconditioned response (salivating).

step2: A bell was rang (neutral stimulus) and the dog gave a neutral response.

step3: The neural stimulus (bell) was rang followed by a unconditioned stimulus (food) and the dog salivated as the result of an unconditioned response.

Step4: The bell was rang causing the dog to salivate.

What is a positive evaluation of behaviourism? RWA

Real world application: Behaviourism can be used to explain human behaviour and used to teach kids how to behave in schools.

what is a negative evaluation of behaviourism? R

Reductionist. The behaviourist approach reduces complex human emotions to simple stimuli and responses, ignoring internal thoughts and feelings.

What is a negative evaluation of behaviourism (clue: L.E.V)

Behaviourism lacks ecological validity. Both pavlov and skinner not only used animals but labs too, labs are not a realistic portrayal of the world.

What is a negative evaluation of behaviourism (clue: O.I.P)

Behaviourism overlooks internal processes. Some behaviours are innate such as suckling which babies are born knowing how to do.

PdA: What is the conscious?

A small amount of mental activity which we are aware of.

PdA: What is the preconscious?

Thoughts and memories we aren't aware of but could access if we wanted to.

what is the role of the unconscious?

Contains drives and instincts, as well as repressed memories. Most of our mind. Freud thought dreams were the royal road to the unconscious.

PdA: what is the id?

The unconscious, selfish drive. Driven by the pleasure principle.

PdA: when does the id develop?

It is there from birth

PdA: What is the ego?

Developed as a result of control from others. The ego balances the needs of the id and superego.

PdA: what is the ego based/works on?

Works on the morality principle.

PdA: When does the ego develop?

around age 2

Pda: What is the super ego?

Our conscious, the internalised voice of our parents. Punishes bad behaviour through guilt.

PdA: what is the superego based/works on?

Works on the morality principle

PdA: when and how does the superego develop?

It develops as a result of parental discipline at around age 5.

What are the main assumptions of the psychodynamic approach?

• Assumes a triparte personality structure. (id, ego, superego)

• The mind id mostly unconcious

• All children undergo the same stages of psychosexual development

• The ego uses defence mechanisms to protect itself from unpleasant thoughts.

In which order are the psychosexual stages of development?

• oral age 0-1

• anal ages 1-3

• phallic age 3-5

• latency age 6-11

• genital 12+

Pda: what is the oral stage?

infant seeks pleasure through their mouth, e.g biting. Focus = mouth.

PdA: what is the possible fixation from the oral stage?

Overly dominant or trusting. Can result in smoking.

PdA: what is the anal stage?

child becomes aware of the reality principle, imposed by parents and must become potty trained to control their bowels. Pleasure is gained from withholding or expelling faeces. Focus = anus

PdA: what is a possible fixation from the anal stage?

Obsessiveness.

PdA: what is the phallic stage?

Child goes through the oedipus complex where infant boys must overcome their sexual desire for their mothers by identifying with their fathers. Focus = gential

PdA: what is a potential fixation from the phallic stage?

Vanity or inferiority and envy

PdA: what is the latency stage?

sexual energy previously driving other stages now becomes latent so the individual can focus on the world around them and form friendships. Focus = hidden

PdA: what is the genital stage?

The final stage of development culminates with the psychosexual energy taking residence in the genitals to be directed towards the formation of adult relationships.

PdA: what is the outcome of the genital stage?

Well adjusted, mature, able to love and have sexual instincts directed towards heterosexual relationships

Give two negative evaluations of the psychodynamic approach. U.C + CS

1. Untestable concepts- many of Freud’s concepts were unconscious, making them essentially impossible to test. Popper claimed the PdA to be pseudoscience.

2. Un generalisable case studies. Freud used small case studies, such as hans, who was very psychologically abnormal, this means we cannot generalise to wider populations .

What is a positive of the PdA - Hint - Application

One positive of the psychodynamic approach its its real world applications. Alongside the theoretical implications Freud also introduced psychoanalysis - a new form of therapy. Leading to the development of many others later on.

Give one positive evaluation of the PdA. (influence)

The PdA has had a huge influence on psychology. It has been used to explain many phenomena such as personality development, abnormal behaviour and moral development.

what are the main assumptions of the cognitive approach?

• Mental processes of the mind should be studied.

• They can be studied using scientific inference

• The mind is like a computer

• Models should be used to demonstrate the function of mental processes.

What is an internal mental process?

These are operations that occur during thinking. They are not visible so need to be inferred through observation and measurement of human behaviour.

What are THE internal mental processes? P.A.L.M

• Perception

• Attention

• Language

• Memory

What is perception?

Turning visual information into a useable form.

what is attention?

choosing what to think about

What is memory?

Storing information for later.

What is language?

Constructing sentences to communicate with people.

What do psychologists mean by the term inference?

The act of drawing conclusions from evidence and using reasoning to assume how something works.

What is a schema?

A mental structure representing an aspect of the world.

CA: What is a theoretical model?

A visual representation of internal mental processes.

CA: what are theoretical models used for?

They are used to help simplify and study complex processes so we can make inferences about them.

CA: How are theoretical models represented? And what is an example of a theoretical model?

They are normally diagrams or flow charts that show how information is passed between the different systems that manipulate it. An example would be the multi store model of memory is often presented as a flow chart.

CA: what is a computer model? And how does this help us explain different mental processes?

Computer models involve the human mind being compared to a computer. Computer models suggest there are similarities in the way a computer and a human brain process information. This helps to explain and make inferences about different mental processes.

CA: what is the computer analogy?

• cognitive psychologists often compare the human mind to a computer

• It compares how we take information in from our senses (input) store or change it (process it) and the behave a certain way (output).

• in the computer analogy, hardware would be the brain and software the internal mental processes.

CA: what is cognitive neuroscience?

The scientific study of the influence of the brain structures of our mental processes.

CA: what are the non-invasive brain scans used by cognitive psychologists?

• fMRI

• EEG

• PET

CA: what are some of the findings of cognitive neuroscience?

Brain scans have highlighted the distinction between different types of long term memory (LTM).

• The hippocampus is associated with episodic memory.

• The temporal lobe is associated with semantic memory.

• The cerebellum and motor cortex are associated with procedural memory.

Brain imaging techniques have also found links between mental disorders (like OCD) and the parahippocampal gyrus.

what is a strength of the cognitive approach? clue: cbt

+ Real world application. The cognitive approach explains mental illness as a result of dysfunctional thinking. As a result the approach has led to the development of therapies such as CBT.

what is a evaluation of the cognitive approach? clue: Sc.A

+ Can be considered a scientific approach. The approach often relies on actual research evidence and brain scans link mental processes to brain structures.

What is a negative evaluation of the cognitive approach? R

One negative of the CA is it can be seen as reductionist. Although there are similariestes between us and compiters (input, output and storage systems) the CA fails to acknowlege how human emotions and motivation also play into how we behave.

What is a negative evaluation of the cognitive approach? A.T

Some experiments lack ecological validity, due to artificial tasks, such as number memorisation.

Give 2 positive evaluations of the cognitive approach. Rwa + Sc

1. Real world application- The CA explains mental illness as being caused by dysfunctional thinking and as a result has led to therapies such as CBT.

2. Can be considered scientific- Relies on actual research evidence and brain scans have linked mental processes to brain structures.

What are the 4 main assumptions of the Humanistic Approach

1. Human are self determining and have free will.

2. Humans are affected by external and internal influences.

3. Humans are active agents who determine their own development.

4. Psychologists should study subjective experiences rather than try to establish general laws (a person centred approach).

What is maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Maslow’s hierarchy illustrates deficiency of needs that motivate people’s behaviour. To achieve the goal of self actualisation one must first meet all other deficiency needs first. The current need in the sequence must be met to allow for progression to the next stage of hierarchy.

what order do the hierarchy of needs go in?

(bottom up)

1. physiological

2. safety

3. love/ belonging

4. esteem

5. self actualisation

According to Maslow what are physiological needs?

Food, sex, sleep

What is meant by safety needs?

Security of body, employment, health and property

what is the love/ belonging category of Maslow’s hierarchy?

friendship, family, sexual intimacy

Define the esteem section of Maslow’s hierarchy.

Self esteem, confidence, respect, strength, freedom, recognition.

What is self actualisation?

Everyone has an innate desire to achieve their full potential. All 4 lower levels of the hierarchy must be met before they can work towards self actualisation. Humanistic psychologists regard personal growth as an essential part of being human. Not everyone will achieve this goal as other psychological barriers may prevent this self actualisation.

What is personal growth?

The developing and changing of a person to become fulfilled, satisfied and goal orientated.

What is Carl Rogers’ Theory of the self?

Carl rogers’ believed that to achieve personal growth we must have a congruence between our ideal and perceived self.

FAILURE to achieve congruence was believed to result in low self esteem and therefore failure to self actualise.

Client Centred Therapy (C.C.T) was believed to help reverse this.

Explain what Client Centred Therapy (C.C.T) is.

What are the main assumptions of the biological approach?

• everything psychological is first biological.

• The approach investigates how biological structures and processes within the body impact behaviour.

• Much of human behaviour has a physiological cause which may be genetically or environmentally altered.

• Psychologists should study the brain, nervous system and other biological systems (e.g hormones) acting on the brain.