Approaches

• what was psychology originally seen as?

  Branch of philosophy known as experimental philosophy
• what did Descartes say?

  Descartes, a philosopher, suggested that the mind and body are independent from each other.
• what did John Locke say?

  Locke proposed empiricism, the idea that all experience can be obtained through the senses, and that human beings inherit neither knowledge nor instincts.
• what did Charles Darwin say?


  central to Darwins evolutionary theory is the notion that all human and animal behaviour has changed over successive generations, so that the individuals with stronger, more adaptive genes survive and reproduce - 'survival of the fittest
• who made psychology be seen as scientific?

  -Wilhelm Wundt

  -opened the first psychological lab in Leipzig to study the mind using introspection
• what is the behaviorist approach?

  -emphasised the role of reinforcement through learning

  -Watson and Skinner
• what is introspection?


  the first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking up conscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images and sensations

  -a process that involves looking inward to examine ones own thoughts and emotions
• what is a strength of introspection?

  -under controlled conditions - repeatable

  -some understanding of inside the mind
• what is a limitation of introspection?

  -relies on students being honest

  -cannot look into the mind
• who was Wundt?

  the 'father of experimental psychology' and the founder of the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig in Germany
• what is the behaviourist approach?


  a way of explaining the human mind through what is observable and emphasises the importance of the role of learning in human behaviour
• what are assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

  -assuming animals and humans learn the same way

  -assuming the mind (thoughts and emotions) are not important in understanding behaviour

  -assuming nearly all behaviour is learnt through experience

  -assuming observable behaviour is enough
• what is classical conditioning?

  -learning through association

  -making an association between 2 stimuli

  -Pavlovs dog experiment
• how does classical conditioning occur?

  -one stimulus is a reflex response (SR unit)

  -the other is a neutral stimulus that produces no response

  -the two stimuli are paired and presented several times before removing the stimulus which causes the reflex response, leaving the other stimulus to now produce a conditioned response
• what was Pavlov's dog experiment?

  Before conditioning:

  -food (unconditioned stimulus) -> salivation (unconditioned response)

  -bell (neutral stimulus) -> no salvation (no conditioned response)

  During conditioning:

  -bell + food -> salivation (unconditioned response)

  After conditioning:

  -bell (conditioned stimulus) -> salivation (conditioned response)
• what was the little Albert study?

  Watson ad Raynor

  -Little Albert was a 10 month old infant who at fist showed no fear and was a bold child. The only stimulus that appeared to upset Albert was loud noises which made him cry

  -The researcher conditioned Albert to be afraid of rats by pairing it with a loud noise

  -In a very short length of time, Albert showed extreme fear towards rats and would cry whenever he saw them
• what is operant conditioning?

  learning through the consequences of our actions (or reinforcement)

  -skinners rat
• what is reinforcement?


  a consequence that increases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated
• what is positive reinforcement?


  a reward given when a certain behaviour is performed
• what is negative reinforcement?


  occurs when an individual increases a behaviour due to avoidance of the negative consequences
• what is punishment?


  an unpleasant consequence that reduces the likelihood of the preceded behaviour occurring again
• what was Skinners study?

  -Skinner developed a special cage (called a Skinner box) in order to investigate operant conditioning

  -the rat moves around the cage, and when he accidentally presses the lever, a food pellet (the reinforcer) falls into the cage

  -all the rats begin pressing the lever in order to obtain food

  -If the food pellet stops, the rat presses the lever a few more times then abandons it (extinction)

  -later he added an electric floor that would electrocute the rats if they did not press the lever in a certain amount of time showing negative reinforcement
• what are strengths of the behaviourist approach?

  -real life application

  -scientific credibility - Pavlovs dog, Little Albert
• what are limitations of the behaviourist approach?

  -issues with using animals in research - Skinners research

  -lack of free will

  -mechanistic view of behaviour
• why is behaviourism a determinist approach?

  it believes all behaviour is controlled by learning and people play no part in choosing their own actions
• who developed the behaviourist approach?

  -started in America in 1900 by John Watson

  -thought that introspection was unscientific and so set out to establish general principles of behaviour in a scientific way
• what is social learning theory?

  -learning through observation and imitation. this is indirect as you are watching what happens as a result of someone else's behaviour (modelling)

  -Bandura

  -1960s
• who developed Social learning theory?

  Albert Bandura in the 1960s

  -agreed with behaviourists that much of behaviour is learnt through experience
• how is social learning theory different to operant conditioning?

  SLT is not just about learning, it involves cognitive processes such as observing, paying attention, remembering, choice of role models and ultimately imitating behaviour
• what are the assumptions of social learning theory?

  -learning can occur through vicarious reinforcement

  -mediation also processes are involved between stimulus and response

  -people learn through observation and imitation not just through conditioning

  -role models have an important influence on behaviour
• what is vicarious reinforcement?


  learning through other peoples positive and negative reinforcement
• what is modelling?


  doing something in the same way as another person
• what is identification?


  similar characteristics that help people identify with other people
• what are mediational processes?

  mental processes, thoughts

  -attention

  -retention

  -motor reproduction

  -motivation
• what is attention?


  the extent to which we notice certain behaviours
• what is retention?


  how well the behaviour is remembered
• what is motor reproduction?


  the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour
• what is motivation?


  the will to perform the behaviour, which is often determined by whether the behaviour was rewarded or punished
• what is punishment?


  an unpleasant consequence that reduces the likelihood of the proceeded behaviour occurring again
• what is negative reinforcement?

  individual increases a behaviour to avoid negative outcomes