approaches

• Wilhelm Wundt

  • father of psychology 
  • set up the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Germany 1870s
  • psychology emerges as a distinct discipline in its own right
• introspection

  • looking into
  • a systematic method is used to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into the basic structure of thoughts, images and sensations
  • Wundt trained his students to think introspectively and present them with stimulus and they reported back their thoughts and feelings
• weakness of introspection

  • watson criticised introspection for focusing on unobservable mental processes
  • introspection is subjective suggesting Wundt was let down by his use of introspection
  • results of early experiments were not reliably reproducible
  • there is no way to objectively verify the accuracy of introspection
• major features of a science

  • objectivity
  • falsification
  • scientific theory
  • testing
• strengths of scientific method

  • empirical evidence
  • found by reasoning and observation
  • reliable at finding the truth
  • scientists are impartial
  • cautious (theories are backed up)
• weaknesses of the scientific method

  • nothing has full knowledge of the world
  • senses can decieve us as science only provides us with an incomplete picture
  • never completely unbiased (free from error)
  • theories sometimes have to be interpreted (data)
• assumptions of the behaviourist approach

  • all born a blank slate (tabula rasa)
  • suggests psychology should restrict itself to studying observable behaviours that can be measured objectively
  • does not study observable mental processes
• classical conditioning

  • learning by association
  • occurs when 2 stimuli are repeatedly paired together - an unconditioned stimulus and a new neutral stimulus. the neutral stimulus eventually produces the same response that was first produced
• steps of conditioning (4)

  1. unconditioned stimulus produces an unconditioned response
  2. neutral stimulus produces no response
  3. neutral stimulus + uncondioned stimulus produced an uncondioned response (over time)
  4. conditioned stimulus produces the conditioned response
• steps of conditioning (food and salvation example)

  1. food causes salivation
  2. bell causes no salivation
  3. bell + food produces salivation (over time)
  4. bell produces salivation
• operant conditioning

  learning through consequences (skinner)
• positive reinforcement

  add pleasant stimulus to increase/maintain behaviour
• negative reinforcement

  remove aversive stimulus to increase/maintain behaviour
• positive punishment

  add aversive stimulus to decrease behaviour
• negative punishment

  remove pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior
• schedules of reinforcement

  a consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated 

  • effective in maintaining the behaviour and avoiding extinction
• behaviourist approach A03 (environmental determinism)

  • the behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as determined by conditional past experience
  • skinner suggested that everything we do is sum total of our reinforcement history, ignoring any possible influence free will has on behaviour
  • also suggested that any sense of free will is an illusion. when something happens we respond according to our past experiences 
  • in addition, there are other important determinants of behaviour, including our inherited gene potential that the behaviourist approach fails to address
• behaviourist approach A03 (token economies in prison, real-world application)

  • the principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real-world behaviours and problems
  • for instance, operant conditioning is the basis of token economy systems that have been used successfully in institutions (prisons)
  • these work by rewarding behaviours with tokens that can then be exchanged for privileges 
  • treatments such as these have the advantage of requiring less effort from the client because the client doesn't have to think about their problem
• behaviourist approach A03 (mechanistic view of behaviour)

  • from a behaviourist perspective, animals are seen as passive with little to no conscious insight into their behaviour
  • other approaches in psychology, such as social learning theory and cognitive approach have emphasised the importance of mental events during learning 
  • these processes which mediate between stimuli and response suggest that people may play a more active role in their own learning
  • this means that learning theory may apply less to human than animal behaviour
• behaviourist approach A03 (scientific credibility)

  • behaviourism was able to bring the language and methods into psychology
  • this was done by focusing on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings
  • by emphasising the importance of scientific processes such as objectivity and replication
  • behaviourism was influential in the development of psychology as a scientific discipline giving it greater credibility and status
• assumptions of the learning approach

  • agreed with behaviourist that our behaviour is due to experience
  • SLT proposes people learn through observation an imitation of others within a social context
  • SLT suggested that learning occurs directly (classical/operant conditioning) + indirectly
• vicarious reinforcement

  indirect learning takes place when an individual observes the behaviour of others. the learner may imitate this behaviour but imitation only occurs if behaviour is seen to be rewarded. thus, the learner observes a behaviour but most importantly observes the consequences of the behaviour
• what are the 4 mental processes in learning identified by Bandura

  • attention
  • retention
  • motor reproduction
  • motivation
• attention

  the extent to which we notice certain behaviours. these behaviours must be observed to be imitated
• retention

  how well the behaviour is remembered by the observer
• motor reproduction

  the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour
• motivation

  the will to perform the behaviour, which is often determined by whether the behaviour is rewarded or punished
• identification

  People are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people with whom they identify (role models), known as modelling

  Role models are:

  • possess characteristics to the observer
  • attractive + high status
• Bandura (4 hypotheses)

  • children exposed to an aggressive adult model will show more aggressive behaviour
  • children exposed to non-aggressive adult models will show less aggressive behaviour
  • children will imitate same-sex models more than opposite-sex models
  • boys will imitate aggressive behaviour more than girls
• Bandura (procedure)

  sample - 36b + 36g aged 3-6 matched for similar aggression split into: control, aggressive + non-aggressive models

  1. 24 witnessed an adult model behaving aggressively towards toy the other 24 exposed to non-aggressive who played

  2. Aggression arousal - all children subjected to mild aggression where the experimenter tells child these are her best toys 

  3. child is in room for 20mins with aggressive then non-aggressive toys
• Bandura (findings + conclusion)

  • children who observed aggressive model made more aggressive imitations 
  • more non-aggressive behaviour by children who observed aggressive behaviour
  • aggressive girls more physically aggressive if model was male + verbally if female except punching of bobo
  • boys more likely to imitate same-sex model

  concluding = bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behaviour
• social learning theory A03 (biological determinism)

  • an issue with the SLT is that Bandura makes little difference to the impact of biological factors on social learning
  • one consistent finding in the Bobo doll experiments was that boys were more aggressive than girls regardless of the experimental situation
  • this may be explained by hormonal factor, such as differences in the level of testosterone - linked to aggression
  • thus, SLT fails to take into account the importance behavioural influence
• social learning theory A03 (cutural differences + media influence)

  • SLT has the advantage of being able to explain cultural differences in behaviour
  • social learning principles can account for how children learn from other individuals around them
  • it can also account for how children learn through the media, therefore it can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through particular societies
  • this has proved useful in understanding a range of behaviours such as how children come to understand their gender roles
• social learning theory A03 (models used in campaigns for positive change)

  • there is evidence to support the importance of identification
  • Andsager et al (2006) found that perceived similarity to a model in an anti-alcohol advertisement was positively related to the message's effectiveness
  • based upon findings such as these health campaigns now use models that are similar to the target audience to bring about greater identification therefore greater social learning
  • this suggests that research into SLT has a positive impact in the real world
• social learning theory A03 (Bandura's study lacks validity)

  • Bandura's research has been criticised for lacking validity 
  • or example, it has been suggested that the children were responding to demand characteristics
  • Noble (1975) reported that one child arriving at the lab to take part said 'look mummy there's the doll we have to hit'
  • this suggests that Bandura's research lacks internal validity
• assumptions of the cognitive approach

  • direct contrast to the behaviourist approach, the cognitive approach argues internal mental processes can + should be studied scientifically
  • cognitive approach investigates areas neglected by behaviourists (memory, perception, thinking)
  • studied indirectly by making inferences of what is going on inside minds based on behaviour
• the computer analogy

  these models use concepts of a central processing unit (brain)

  • recieve information in the form of an input
  • code this info process + store this and give an output
• the role of schema

  according to cognitive mental processes, are affected by schemas

  • schemas are packages of ideas and info that are developed through experience
  • they act as a framework for the interpretation of incoming info 
  • schemas are useful because we can take shortcuts however schemas only focus on what confirms to our pre-existing beliefs + ideas
• the emergence of neuroscience

  cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the influence of brain structure on mental processes

  • early brain mapping (Broca's Area) then Tulving et al 
• cognitive approach (highly controlled methods)

  • the cognitive approach has always employed highly controlled methods when studying mental processing
  • this has involved the use of lab experiments to produce reliable objective data
  • in addition, the emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enabled the 2 fields of biology + cognitive psychology have come together
  • this means that the study of the mind has established a credible scientific basis