Study Notes on Psychological Approaches and Behaviorism

Starter Activity: Matching Psychological Approaches

  • Psychodynamic Approach

    • Focuses on inner conflicts of the mind.

    • Behavior is determined by the unconscious mind and the structure of personality.

    • Emphasizes the influence that childhood experiences have on later life.

  • Behaviorist Approach

    • All behaviors are learned from the environment, assuming both humans and animals learn in the same way.

  • Humanistic Approach

    • People are self-determining.

    • Individuals have choices about the way they think and act.

  • Biological Approach

    • Thinking and behavior are strongly determined by biological factors including the structure of the nervous system.

    • This approach is influenced by genetic and evolutionary factors.

  • Social Learning Theory

    • Behavior is learned through observation and imitation of others' behavior.

  • Cognitive Approach

    • Information received from senses is processed by the brain, influencing how individuals behave.

The Learning Approach: Behaviorism

Background to Behaviorism

  • The behaviorist approach emerged at the beginning of the 20th century.

  • It became the dominant approach in psychology for much of that century.

  • Credited for developing psychology as a scientific discipline.

Key Term: Classical Conditioning

  • Learning by Association

    • Involves forming an association between a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus, leading to a conditioned response.

    • Example: Pavlov's dogs, where dogs learned to associate the sound of a bell with food.

Key Term: Operant Conditioning

  • Involves learning through the consequences of behavior, where actions are reinforced or punished, leading to increases or decreases in those behaviors.

Objectives of Behaviorism

  • Only interested in studying observable and measurable behavior.

  • Not concerned with investigating mental processes or internal thoughts.

Historical Context

  • Early behaviorists like John B. Watson (1913) rejected introspection due to its vague nature.

  • Strived for objectivity in research by utilizing lab experiments as the preferred method for gathering data.