Approaches

• Wundt believed that all aspects of nature, including the human mind, could be studied scientifically and so moved psychology from its philosophical roots to controlled, objective research. Wundt’s work paved the way for later controlled research and the study of mental processes.
• Wundt set up the first psychology lab in the 1870s. He aimed to study the structure of the mind by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements (structuralism). He only studied aspects of behaviour that could be strictly controlled under experimental conditions.
• Introspection is a systematic analysis of our own conscious experience of a stimulus.
• Wundt argued that, with training, mental processes such as memory and perception could be observed systematically as they occurred using introspection.
• In Wundt’s studies of perception participants would be presented with carefully controlled stimuli. They would be asked to provide a description of the inner processes they were experiencing. This made it possible to compare different participants’ reports in response to the same stimuli, and so establish general theories about other mental processes.
• Strengths of Wundt:

  • Controlled methods - all the introspections were recorded under strictly controlled conditions using the same stimulus. The same standardised instructions were used to make it more objective.
  • This allowed procedures to be replicated. This was significant as it marked the separation of the scientific psychology from its philosophical roots.
• Weaknesses of Wundt:

  • We have little knowledge of the causes of, and processes underlying our behaviour and attitudes.
  • The data was subjective in that it varied from person to person, so it was difficult to establish general principles. Introspective results were not reliably reproducible by other researchers, possibly because the processes (e.g. memory) were unobservable.
• Empiricism is the belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience. It is generally characterised by the use of the scientific method.
• Assumptions of the scientific approach

  1. All behaviour is caused (determined)
  2. If behaviour is determined, then it should be possible to predict how human beings would behave in different conditions.
• The scientific method refers to the use of investigative methods that are objective, systematic and reliable.
• Methods are objective when researchers do not let their preconceived ideas or biases influence the collection of their data
• Methods are systematic when observations and experiments are carried out in an orderly way. Measurements and recordings of empirical data are carried out accurately and with due consideration to the possible influence of other factors on the results obtained.
• Methods are reliable when observations can be repeated by other researchers to determine whether the same results are obtained. If the results are not replicable, then they are not reliable and cannot be accepted as being universally true.
• Strengths of the emergence of psychology as a science

  • The reliance on objective and systematic methods of observations means that knowledge acquired is more than just the passive acceptance of facts.
  • Cause and effect can be established using methods that are empirical and replicable.
  • Scientific knowledge is self-corrective as it can be refined or abandoned as needed.
• Weaknesses of the emergence of psychology as a science

  • The reliance on objectivity can create contrived situations that tell us little about how people act in natural environments.
  • Much of what is studied in psychology is unobservable and so can’t be measured with any degree of accuracy.
  • Not all psychologists share the view that all human behaviour can be explored using scientific methods.
• A stimulus is anything, internal or external, that brings about a response.
• A response is any reaction in the presence of a stimulus.
• A neutral stimulus is a stimulus which does not naturally produce a response.
• An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that produces a reflex action.
• An unconditioned response is an innate, reflex response.
• A conditional stimulus is the stimulus which produces the learned response after an association has taken place.
• A conditioned response is a learned response.
• Classical conditioning is learning by association. It occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired together (a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus).
• Explain how classical conditioning works.


  Initially there is a reflex where an unconditioned stimulus causes an unconditioned response. During conditioning, the neutral and unconditioned stimulus are paired together. After many pairings, the neutral stimulus produces a conditioned response.
• Pavlov is normally credited with discovering the process of classical conditioning. He conducted a study on the salivation response in dogs.
• Pavlov rang a bell just before feeding the dogs. This was repeated many times until eventually an association was formed between the bell and the food so the dogs salivated when the bell was rung.
• Reinforcement is a consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.
• Punishment is a consequence of behaviour that decreases the likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.
• A positive reinforcement increases the likelihood of a response occurring because it involves a reward for the behaviour.
• A negative reinforcement increases the likelihood of a response occurring because it involves the removal of, or escaping from, unpleasant consequences.
• Positive punishment is receiving something unpleasant which decreases the probability of the behaviour being repeated.
• Negative punishment is removing something desirable and decreases the probability of a behaviour being repeated.
• Skinner’s box is a box which contained a lever that rats could press to gain food or to stop an electric shock. In one conditioning, it also had an electric grid on the floor which caused a minor electric shock.
• Skinner’s study follows behaviourism as it used operant conditioning by giving a reward or stopping a punishment for carrying out certain behaviours. The study was scientific as each rat was placed in the same box each time and only observable behaviour of the rat pressing the lever was recorded.
• Strengths of classical and operant conditioning

  • Pavlov’s study of classical conditioning and Skinner’s studies of operant conditioning provide supporting evidence.
  • The principles of conditioning have been applied to a broad range of real world behaviours and problems.
  • Skinner relied on the experimental method, using controlled conditions (the Skinner box)
• Weakness of classical and operant conditioning

  • from a behaviourist‘s perspective, animals (including humans) are seen as passive and machine-like responders to the environment with little conscious insight into their behaviour. This ignores the evidence for the role of the other factors in shaping behaviour.
• Assumptions of social learning theory

  • behaviour is learned from experience
  • learning occurs through the observation of the behaviour
  • SLT sees people as active manipulators of their own environment
  • it is concerned with human rather than animal behaviour
• Social learning theory suggests that learning takes place in a social context. It occurs via observation of behaviour. Other people act as role models. The characteristics of the role models influence the likelihood of imitation. If the role model is rewarded for their behaviour, imitation is more likely and if they are punished, imitation us less likely (vicarious reinforcement).
• Mediational processes are cognitive processes that occur between stimulus and response that affect whether the learned behaviour is produced.
• Motivation is a mediational process that is the will or desire to perform the behaviour (usually linked to vicarious reinforcement).