Approaches

• Wundts lab


  • In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt opened the first ever lab dedicated to psychology in Germany
  • His work marked the beginning of the scientific psychology separating it from its philosophical roots
  • His work focused on reading the mind and study human consciousness under controlled conditions
  • His most famous work was known as introspection
• Introspection

  • Introspection is a psychological method to analyse someones thoughts and feelings internally, this was done as there were no brain scans or computers at the time and thus they used this technique of presenting a stimuli and asking how they felt after seeing it.
  • He and his co workers recorded their experiences of various stimuli they were presented with such as different objects and sounds. They would divide there observations into 3 categories including thoughts, images and sensations.
• Evaluation of introspection

  + Structuralism: The stimuli presented to him and his coworkers were always presented in the same order and the same instructions to each person.

  + Methods were systematic and well controlled in a lab. No extraneous variables. High internal validity. Standardised instructions.

  • Subjective data: Wundt relied on participants self reporting there mental processes. Participants may have hidden some thoughts. This shows that his early efforts to study the mind were flawed and would not meet the criteria of scientific enquiry.
• Behaviourist approach

  Only interested in observable behaviour that can be measured and ignores mental processes in the brain. They study observable behaviour in lab where it can be precisely controlled and measured All behaviour is learnt
• Classical conditioning

  Learning through association
• Operant conditioning

  Learning through rewards/punishments
• Pavlovs dogs

  Pavlov revealed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell. The dog associated the bell with food.

  US UCR NS NCR

  Before: Food = salivation , Bell = no salivation

  CS UC UCR

  During: Bell + food = salivation

  CS CR

  After: Bell = salivation

  
• Skinners rats

  Skinner (1953) said all behaviour is learnt by consequences through

  reinforcement.

  Positive reinforcement: Rat pulls lever and gets food. Increases behaviour.

  Negative reinforcement: Electric shock through floor. Rat then pulls lever and the electric shocks stop. Increases behaviour.

  Punishment: Rat pulls lever and gets an electric shock. Decreases behaviour.

  
• Positives of behaviourist approach

  + Well controlled research: Behaviourists focused on the measurement of observable behaviour within highly controlled lab settings. By breaking down behaviour into basic stimulus, all extraneous variables were removed allowing for cause/effect relationships to be created

  + Applied to real life: Operant conditioning has been used successfully in loads of different scenarios such as parenting and institutions like prison. E.g token economy systems
• Downsides to the behaviourist approach

  • Ethical issues: Animals were kept in small, harsh and cramped conditions. Animals were starved to make sure they were always hungry. They were also exposed to stressful conditions such as the electric shocks.
  • The behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as conditioned by past experiences. Skinner said everything we do is a total of our reinforcement history. Skinner believes everything we choose to do is based on out past conditioned experiences. This ignores any possibility on free will. Ignores cognitive approach.
• Social learning approach

  Assumes that all behaviour is learnt through observation and imitation. This takes place as an individual identifies and mirrors a role model. Agrees with behavioursits that humans learn from experiences.
• Vicarious reinforcement

  Learning through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour. Therefore they hadnt directly experienced the behaviour but can learn by copying what they see.
• Mediational response

  1. Attention: The extent to which we notice behaviour
  2. Retention: How well the behaviour is remembered
  3. Motor reproduction: The ability of the observer to do that behaviour
  4. Motivation: The will to perform the behaviour which is often determined whether behaviour was rewarded or punished.

  
• Identification (SLT)

  When we associate ourselves with a role model and want to be like the role model also known as modelling.
• The bobo doll study (1961) procedure

  • Bandura wanted to show that the expression of aggression was learnt.
  • There were 36 boys and 36 girls from a nursery school in California. They were from the ages 3-5.
  • It was a lab study and an independent group study.
  • There were 2 conditions: A aggressive one and a non aggressive one
  • In the aggressive condition the child would watch an adult punch, kick and shout at the doll
  • In the non aggressive condition the child would watch the adult play with the doll
  • The adult then leaves and the child is left alone with the doll
• Bodo doll study (1961) results

  • All children in the aggressive condition reproduced many physical and verbal acts observed.
  • Children in the non aggressive condition played nicely with the doll.
  • Boys were more physically aggressive but girls were more verbally aggressive
  • Greater impact if the adult was the same gender as the child. Greater difference in boys
  • Children acquire aggressive responses as a result of watching others.
• Advantages of the social learning theory

  • Can be applied to real world behaviour. Useful to explain cultural differences. Can explain how cultural norms are transmitted. If it was biological there would be no differences
  • Research proof: Bodo doll study, done in lab. High internal validity
  • Recognises the importance of cognitive factors in learning. Humans store behaviour of others and use this to make judgements. Observing others we form an idea of how new behaviours are performed.
• Disadvantages of social learning theory

  • Criticised for making to little reference to biological factors. Research has been produced that shows observational learning may be the result of mirror neurones in the brain which helps us imitate others.
  • The children in the bodo doll study may have been responding to demand characteristics. The children were simply behaving in a way that they thought was expected of them.
• The cognitive approach

  Focuses on internal mental processes. They use research to develop models of how people process information.

  Inference - making a logical conclusion based on evidence
• Schema

  This is how we organise and interpret information. They are small packages of information that are made of past experiences we have encountered. We have a schema for everything we do. Shortcuts to interpreting the huge amount of information we encounter day to day
• Advantages/disadvantages of schemas

  + Help us predict what will happen in our world based on our own experiences. They also help us to process vast amounts of information rapidly and prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

  • Schemas can disort our interpretation of sensory information. Schema leads to perceptual errors or inacctrate EWT. Can cause biased recall. Can have negative impact on mental health by negative schema.
• Cognitive neuroscience

  Allows us to study the brain in much more detail through brain scans. We can see brain structure and brain activity. This is done by PET scans and FMRI scans. We can use this is to look at brain damage, neurological disorders, memory processes, EWT.

  This approach compares the human mind to a computer. Cognitive processes select, code, store and retrieve information.
• Advantages to cognitive approach

  • They use involved the use of lab studies to produce reliable objective data. The emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enabled the two fields the two fields of biology and cognitive psychology to come together to ensure the scientific basis of the study
  • Made an important contribution in the field of AI and the development of robots. Also made treatments to depression and and improved EWT
• Drawbacks to the cognitive approach

  Reductionism ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system, and how this may affect our ability to process information. Research has found that human memory may be affected by emotional factors such as the influence of anxiety on EWT
• The biological approach

  Focuses on ways which our biological make up influences thoughts and behaviour. They also argue that the mind and the brain are the same and that genes have evolved to adapt to the environment. Finally they believe that human characteristics are due to genetic makeup
• Neurochemical basis of behaviour

  Chemical transmitters in the brain such as neurotransmitters can cause behaviour. An imbalance of neurochemicals have been shown to be a possible cause of psychological disorders.
• Genetic basis of behaviour

  Behaviour geneticists study whether behaviourist characteristics such as intelligence, personality, mental disorders etc are inherited in the same way as physical characteristics such as weight and eye colour.
• Twin studies

  Used to determine likelihood that certain traits have a genetic basis by comparing concordance rates between pairs of twins. Concordance rates are the extent to which both twins share the same characteristics. It is the porbability that the individuals share a certain behaviour trait.
• Genotype and phenotype


  Monozygotic twins - Identical (Share 100% of genes)

  Dizygotic twins - Non identical (Share 50% of genes)

  
  

  Monozygotic twins should show higher concordance rates

  
  

  A persons genotype is there actual genetic makeup

  A persons phenotype is the way that genes are physically expressed
• Darwin Charles theory

  Natural selection. The main principle is that any genetically determined behaviour that enhances an individuals survival and reproduction will continue in future generations. An organisms ability to survive depends on how well its characteristics allow it to exploit the opportunities available in its environment and avoid or deal with threats present.
• Advantages to the biological theory

  • The biological approach makes use of a range of precise and highly scientific methods. These include FMRI, EEG, drug trials and twin studies. Modern technology such as brain scans
  • Increased understanding of biochemical processes in the brain has led to the development of psychoactive drugs. Sufferers are able to manage there condition and can live a relatively normal life.
• Drawbacks to the biological theory

  • The biological approach is determinist in the sense that human behaviour are governed by internal biological factors over which we have no control of. Removes the element of free will.
  • The biological approach argues that any similarities in the way twins look or behave must be genetic. However there is an important confounding variable. They are exposed to similar environment conditions.
• Psychodynamic approach

  Assumes that conflicts in early childhood play a key role in affecting future behaviour
• Role of the unconscious

  Freud suggested there are 3 divisions to the mind:

  Conscious mind - Part of the mind that the individual is aware of which is used to form conscious thoughts.

  Preconscious mind - Sits just below the conscious mind. Includes thoughts and ideas which he many become aware of during dreams or slips of the tongue

  Unconscious mind - A vast storehouse of biological drives and instincts. May contain threatening and disturbing memories being locked away.

  
• Structure of personality

  Id- operates the pleasure principle. Gets what it wants. Instinctive part of our personality. Present at birth and seeks only self indulgent. Like a spoiled child

  Ego - Works on the reality principle. Meditator between the two parts. Develops around the age of two and its role is to reduce the conflict between the id and superego. Like the responsible adult

  Superego - Formed at five years old. Internalised sense of right and wrong. Punishes the ego through guilt. Like a disapproving teacher
• 3 defence mechanisms

  • Denial - Refusing to acknowledge some aspects of reality
  • Repression - Forcing a distressing memory out of the conscious mind
  • Displacement - Transferring feelings from a true source of distressing emotion into a substitute target
• Psychosexual stages

  Freud claimed that child development occurred in 5 stages. Each stage is marked by a different conflict that the child must resolve before moving on to the next stage. Unresolved conflict leads to a fixation where the child becomes stuck and carries certain behaviours and conflicts associated with that stage to adult life.

  
• Advantages of the psychodynamic approach

  • Even though it is a bizarre theory it has been used to explain a wide range of personality development, abnormal behaviour, moral development and gender. It is also significant in drawing attention to the connection between experiences in childhood.
  • Freud also brought a new form of therapy: Psychoanalysis. This employs a range of techniques designed to access the unconscious such as hypnosis and dream analysis.
• Drawbacks of the psychodynamic approach

  • This approach doesn't meet the scientific requirement of falsification. The id and the Oedipus complex are said to occur at an unconscious level making it difficult if not impossible to test.
  • Freud belived there was no such thing as an accident. Everything including the slip of the tongue is driven by unconscious forces and has a deep symbolic meaning. This dismisses free will.
• Humanistic approach

  Believes in free will. We are active agents who have the ability to determine our own development