Approaches in psychology

what is the unconscious mind?

mind which we are not aware of it can be described as the vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts that influence our behaviour and contain disturbing memories that are repressed or forgotten

what is the preconscious mind?

thoughts that may become conscious at some points e.g. dreams and slips of tongues

what is the conscious mind?

what we are aware of and described as 'merely the tip of the iceberg'

what are the features of the Id?

• pleasure principle

• present at birth

• demands instant gratification

what does a dominant Id lead to?

criminal behaviour, lack of self control, highly impulsive

what are the features of the Ego?

• reality principle

• reduces conflict between superego and id

• develops at 2 years

• employs defence mechanisms

what are features of the superego?

• morality principle

• develops at 4/5 years

• reflects morals and same sex parent

• morals, ideals and standards

what does a dominant superego lead to?

• highly anxious

• judgemental

• critical

what is the function of the Ego Defence Mechanisms (EDMs)?

prevent the ego from being overwhelmed by temporary threats and trauma

why is long term usage of EDMs undesirable?

involve reality distortion which is psychologically unhealthy and undesirable

what are the three EDMs?

• repression

• denial

• displacement

what is repression?

forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind

what is denial?

refusing to acknowledge some aspect of reality

what is displacement?

transferring feelings from true source of distressing emotion onto a substitute target

what are characteristics of being fixated at oral stage?

sucking thumb, smoking, drinking, sarcastic, critical

what are characteristics of being fixated at the Anal stage?

anal expulsive= messy and wasteful

anal retentive= excessively tidy

what are characteristics of being in phallic stage?

narcissistic, reckless, possible homosexual

what are characteristics of being in genital stage?

difficulty forming heterosexual relationship

explain the oedipus complex

• father is rival to son

• castration anxiety

• identifies with father

what is electra complex?

• mother is rival to daughter

• penis envy

• sees herself and mother as powerless as already castrated

• converts to envy to desire for baby

• identifies with mother, adopts female role

what is the Little Hans case study about?

5 year old boy who developed a phobia of horses after seeing one collapse on the street. Freud states that his horse phobia is a displacement of his repressed fear of his father that his father would castrate him.

The white horse with blinkers and noseband, Freud says reflects the father's pale skin, glasses and moustache

• But Freud only met Hans twice and most of the information he got was through the father who was a fan

• Hans also saw a horse collapse and die so that may be where his fear originates

explain explanatory power as a evaluation point for psychodynamic approach

• Huge influence on psychology and Western contemporary thought

• alongside, behaviourism, has remained a dominant force in explaining lots of phenomenas including personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development, gender

• Also significant in drawing attention to connection between experiences in childhood such as our relationship with our parents and later development

e.g. John Bowlby - Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory

explain practical application as a evaluation point for psychodynamic approach

• Freud formed psychoanalysis which employed range of techniques e.g. hypnosis and ream analysis influencing modern day psychotherapies

• Freudian therapists claim success with many patients suffering mild neuroses because it led to catharsis  which is releasing repressed emotions leading to relief

• Psychoanalysis inappropriate for mores serious mental disorders e.g. schizophrenia as it exacerbates symptoms

explain case study as a evaluation point for psychodynamic approach

• Freud's observations were detailed but critics say it's impossible to make universal claims about human nature on a small number of psychologically abnormal individuals

• Subjective as e.g. Little Hans, no other researcher would of got the same conclusions

• lacks scientific rigour

explain psychic determinism as a evaluation point for psychodynamic approach

• Freud believed no such thing as an accident and everything even small slips of tongue in driven by unconscious forces and has deeper meaning

• All behaviour is determined by unconscious conflicts rooted in childhood so any free will we have is an illusion

explain untestable concepts as a evaluation point for psychodynamic approach

• Karl Popper argued that the approach doesn't meet scientific criterion of falsification as it's not open to empirical testing and the possibility of being disproved

• Many of Freud's concepts occurred at unconscious level so impossible to test so has status of pseudoscience

explain practical application as a evaluation point for psychodynamic approach

• psychoanalysis is forerunner to many modern day therapies

• freudian therapists claim it helped with mild neuroses

• but Eysenck (1952) found that patients with psychoanalysis about ½ recovered in 2 years but 2/3 patients without recovered any treatment

explain psychic determinism as a evaluation point for psychodynamic approach

• Freud believed that there was ‘no such thing as an accident’

• random ‘slips of the tongue’ were driven by unconscious conflicts rooted in childhood so had a deep symbolic meaning

• any free will we think we have is an illusion

what are the main points in psychodynamic approach?

• role of the unconscious

• the structure of personality

• psychosexual stages

• Oedipus Complex

• Little Hans

what are the main evaluation points for psychodynamic approach?

• explanatory power

• case study method

• untestable concepts

• practical application

• psychic determinism

what are the assumptions in the behaviourist approach?

• only studies behaviour which can be observed and measured

• not concerned with mental processes of the mind

• tried to be maintain control and objectivity within research so uses lab experiments

• basic processes which govern learning are the same in all species

what are the main points in behaviourist approach?

• classical conditioning

• operant conditioning

whose research is classical conditioning based on?

• Ivan Pavlov

what type of learning is classical conditioning?

• learning through association

what is the steps of classical conditioning?

• neutral stimulus = no conditioned response

• unconditioned stimulus = unconditioned response

• unconditioned stimulus + neutral stimulus = unconditioned response

• neutral stimulus = conditioned response

what was the neutral stimulus in Pavlov’s research?

• bell

what was the unconditioned stimulus in Pavlov’s research?

• food

what was the unconditioned response in Pavlov’s research?

• salivation

what species did Pavlov conduct his research on?

• dogs

whose research is operant conditioning based on?

• BF Skinner

how is learning described in operant conditioning?

• active process whereby animals and humans operate on their environment

what are the 3 consequences in operant conditioning?

• positive reinforcement

• negative reinforcement

• punishment

what is positive reinforcement?

• receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is portrayed

what is negative reinforcement?

• avoiding something unpleasant when a certain behaviour is portrayed

what is punishment?

• unpleasant consequence of a behaviour

what increases the chance a behaviour would be repeated?

• positive and negative reinforcement

what decreases the chance a behaviour would be repeated?

• punishment

what is the Skinner Box?

• highly controlled box where Skinner conducted experiments with rats and sometimes pigeons

how did Skinner use the Skinner box with animals?

• every time rat activated the lever it was rewarded with a food pellet, from then on it would repeat behaviour

• every time rat activated the lever it would avoid unpleasant stimulus e.g. electric shock

how is operant conditioning related to gambling?

• Skinner discovered that if rat was rewarded every time it would become satiated, so conditioned behaviour would become extinct

• revealed a variable ratio schedule would prolong behaviour, prevent extinction

• in gambling the fruit machine is unpredictable so prevents the gambling behaviour from being extinct

how is operant conditioning related to gaming?

• David Wong (2008) used Skinnerian principles to explain addiction to game in his ‘5 creepy ways in which video games are trying to get you addicted’

• his argument is that video game environment is similar to the Skinner box, providing reinforcements and rewards based on certain behaviour

• use of joystick is analogous to behaviour exhibited by rat

• e.g. pac man central character navigates it way literally munching on food pellets

what are the evaluation points for Behaviourism approach?

• scientific credibility

• real-life application

• mechanistic view of behaviour

• environmental determinism

• ethical and practical issues in animal experiments

explain scientific credibility as a evaluation point for the behaviourist approach

• brings language and methods of natural science into psychology by focussing on observable behaviour in highly controlled lab settings

• emphasises importance of objectivity and replication

• highly influential in development of psychology as a scientific discipline, giving greater credibility and science

explain real-life application as a evaluation point for the behaviourist approach

• operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems and has been successful in prisons and psychiatric wards

• these work by rewarding appropriate behaviour with tokens that can be exchanged for privileges

• classical conditioning has been applied to phobias

• these treatments are good cause less effort from patients because patients don’t have to think about their problems, good for those who lack insight

explain mechanistic view of behaviour as an evaluation point for the behaviourist approach

• animals are seen as passive and machine like-responders to the environment, with little conscious insight into their behaviour

• other approach e.g SLT and cognitive learning theory emphasise the importance of mental events in learning

• suggests that people play a more active role in their learning

• means that this theory may apply less to humans than animals

explain environmental determinism as a evaluation point for the behaviourist approach

• behaviourism sees all behaviour as determined by past experiences that have been conditioned

• Skinner says that everything we do is the sum of our reinforcement history

• ignores possible influence that free will has on our behaviour

• Skinner suggests that free will is an illusion

• Skinner says that we impose a sense of having made a decision, but our past conditioning history determines the outcome

explain ethical and practical issues in animal experiments a evaluation point for the behaviourist approach

• critics question the ethics of conducting such investigations

• animals are exposed to stressful and aversive conditions

• this may affect how they reacted to the experimental condition

what are the main points in SLT?

• vicarious reinforcement

• the role of meditational processes

• identification

• Bandura et al (1961) (abt Bobo Dolls)

what are some assumptions of social learning theory?

• Bandura agreed with behaviourists

• But proposed different way in which people learn through observation and imitations of others within a social context

• SLT suggests learning occurs directly but also indirectly

what is vicarious reinforcement?

• individual observers the behaviour of others which is rewarded rather than punished

• thus the learner observers the behaviour but more importantly the consequence of a behaviour

why is SLT described as a bridge between learning theory and cognitive approach?

• focuses on how mental factors are involved in learning

• these mental factors mediate (intervene) in learning process to determine whether a new response is acquired

what are the 4 meditational processes?

1. attention (extent of which we notice certain behaviours)

2. retention (how well the behaviour is remembered)

3. motor reproduction (ability of the observer to perform the behaviour)

4. motivation (will to perform the behaviour, determined by whether behaviour is punished or rewarded)

what do attention and retention relate to?

• learning of behaviour

what do motor reproduction and motivation relate to?

• performance of the behaviour

what is modelling?

• people imitating the behaviour of people whith whom they identify with, role models

what is the Bandura at al (1961) study?

• recorded the behaviour of young children who watched an adult behave in a n aggressive way towards a Bobo doll

• the adult hit the dolls with a hammer and shouted abuse at it

• when these children were later observed playing with various toys, including a Bobo doll, they behaved much more aggressively towards the doll and other toys than those who had observed a non-aggressive adult

what is the Bandura and Walters (1963) study?

• showed videos to children where an adult behaved aggressively towards the Bobo doll

• one group saw the adult praised for their behaviour

• second group saw the adult being punished for their aggression towards the doll by being told off

• the third, control group saw the aggression without any consequence

• when given their own Bobo doll the first group showed much more aggression, followed by the third group, and then the second group

why did Bandura’s Bobo doll experiments have implications for the media, specifically are people influenced by violence and aggression they see on television?

• In 1990, following death of James Bulger, a toddler, who was murdered by 2, 10-year olds

• it was argued in many Uk newspaper that child killers were inspired by horror films Child’s Play 3 and there were calls for rules on such ‘video nasties’ to be tightened

• However, researcher dispute the link e.g. Guy Cumberbatch (2001) argues that supposed ‘video nasties’ are more likely to frighten children than make them aggressive, argues that more explained by social deprivation, child abuse and early exposure to violence in the home

what are the evaluation points for social learning theory?

• the importance of cognitive factors in learning

• over-reliance on evidence from lab studies

• underestimates the influence of biological factors

• explains cultural differences in behaviour

• less determinist than the behaviourist approach

explain the importance of cognitive factors in SLT

• neither classical nor operant conditioning offers adequate account of learning on their own

• humans and animals store info about behaviour of others and use this to make judgements about when its appropriate to perform certain actions

• Bandura observes ‘ learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous if people had to rely solely on the effectors of their own actions to inform them what to do.’

• As such SLT provides more comprehensive explanation of human learning by recognising the role of meditational processes

explain the over-reliance on evidence from lab studies in SLT

• many of Bandura’s ideas were developed through observation of young children’s behaviour in a lab setting

• criticised as Nobel heard one child come out and say to their mother ‘look that’s the doll we had to hit’

• so criticised for demand characteristics

• so suggests that children thought their were expected to strike to doll

• so shows little about how children actually learn aggression in everyday life

explain underestimation of the influence of biological factors in SLT

• Bandura makes little references to impact of biological factors

• one consist find is that boys are more aggressive than girls

• this may be explained by hormonal factors e.g. testosterone

• this is important influence on behaviour which is not accounted for in SLT

explain the cultural difference in behaviour in SLT

• SLT explains cultural difference in behaviour

• social learning principles account for how children learn form individuals around them and the media

• this explains how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies

• proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours such as how children come to understand their gender role

explain how SLT is less determinist than behaviourist approach

• Bandura emphasises reciprocal determinism

• we are not merely influenced by out external environment

• but we also exert an influence upon it through the behaviours we choose to perform

• this element of choice suggest that there is some free will in the way we behave

what is the assumptions in the cognitive approach?

• internal mental processes should be studied scientifically

• studies ‘private’ processes and cannot be observed so psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences from behaviour

what are the main points of the cognitive approach?

• theoretical and computer models

• the role of schemas

• the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

what type of models do cognitive psychologists use?

• theoretical and computer models

what is one important theoretical model?

• information processing approach

• suggests that information flows though the cognitive system in sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval e.g. multi-store model

• based on way computers function

what would a computer model involve?

• actually programming a computer to see if such instructions produce a similar output to humans

what has computational models of the mind proved useful in the development of?

• ‘thinking machines’

• artificial intelligence

what is a schema?

• ‘packages’ of ideas and information developed through experience

• acts as mental framework for the interpretations of incoming information received by the cognitive system

why are schemas useful?

• enable us to process lots of information quickly

• mental short-cut which prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

why are schemas sometimes bad?

• schemas may distort our integration of sensory informaiton

• leading to perceptual errors

what is Bugelski and Alampay study (1962)?

what is cognitive neuroscience?

• scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes

In 1860s what did Paul Broca identify?

• damage to an area of frontal lobe (known as Broca’s area') could permanently impair speech production

what brain imaging techniques help scientists observe neurological basis of mental processes?

• fMRI and PET scans

what neurological basis has scanning techniques proved useful in establishing?

• link between parahippocampal gyrus and OCD

• plays a role in processing unpleasant emotions
  

what has computer-generated models been designed to do recently? What has this led to?

• ‘read’ the brain led to mind mapping techniques known as ‘brain fingerprinting’

what is an application of brain fingerprinting?

• analyse the Brian wave patterns of eyewitnesses to determine whether they are lying in court

what are the evaluation points of the cognitive approach?

• scientific and objective methods

• machine reductionism

• application to everyday life

• real life application

• less determinist than other approaches

explain scientific and objective methods as an evaluation point for the cognitive approach

• employs highly controlled methods to infer cognitive processes at work

• use of lamb to produce reliable, objective data

• emergence of neuroscience has enabled the 2 fields of cognitive psychology and biology to come together

• establishes credible scientific basis

explain machine reductionism as an evaluation point for the cognitive approach

• ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system e..g how this affects our ability to process information

• research has found that human memory may be affected by emotional factors e.g. the influence of anxiety on eyewitnesses