Psychology Approaches

• Wundt


  Established the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879 to study the structure of the human mind
• Structuralism


  Wundt's approach of breaking down behaviours such as sensation and perception into their basic elements
• Introspection


  The process by which a person gains knowledge about his or her own mental and emotional states
• Wundt believed that with training, mental processes could be 'observed' systematically as they occurred using introspection
• Cognitive neuroscience brings together the cognitive and biological approaches and makes use of highly scientific techniques for studying the brain
• Behaviourist Approach


  Assumes humans are born as a 'Tabula Rasa' (blank slate) and all behaviour is learnt or conditioned through classical conditioning or operant conditioning. Only observable behaviours are studied.
• Classical Conditioning


  1. Learning through association

  2. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and unconditioned response (UCR)

  3. Neutral stimulus (NS) paired with UCS to become conditioned stimulus (CS) and conditioned response (CR)

  4. Extinction occurs when CS alone is presented without UCS
• Operant Conditioning


  Learning through rewards and punishments. Positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and punishment.
• Skinner's Research


  1. Hungry rat in Skinner box presses lever to receive food pellet (positive reinforcement)

  2. Lever press stops unpleasant noise (negative reinforcement)

  3. Lever press followed by electric shock (punishment)
• Reinforcement Schedules


  • Continuous Reinforcement: Every single response is rewarded
  • Partial / Variable: The response is not rewarded every time
• Social Learning Theory


  Assumes behaviour is learned from the environment (other people), not genetics. Involves observing and imitating successful role models, with vicarious reinforcement increasing the likelihood of imitation.
• Mediational Processes


  Attention, Retention, Reproduction, Motivation - cognitive factors involved in successful imitation
• Bandura's Research


  Children observed an aggressive or non-aggressive model interacting with a Bobo doll, then were rated on their own interactions with the doll. Children who observed the aggressive model showed more physical and verbal aggression.
• Children in the aggressive condition were rated significantly higher for physical and verbal aggression than the children in the two other groups. This shows how observation of the behaviour of others can lead to imitative learning.
• The cognitive approach developed in the 1960s as a response to the behaviourists' failure to acknowledge mental processes.
• Cognitive Approach


  • Cognitive psychologists believe that we must refer to thought processes in order to explain behaviour
  • Stimulus and response is appropriate but only if the thought processes that occur between the stimulus and response are acknowledged
  • Internal mental processes can be studied scientifically (e.g. using lab experiments and brain scanning techniques)
  • The mind works like a computer in that it has an input from our senses which it then processes and produces an output such as language or specific behaviours
• Schema


  Existing knowledge about an item
• Inference


  The process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
• Ways cognitive psychologists study internal mental processes

  1. Lab experiments on healthy individuals

  2. Carrying out experiments on brain damaged patients

  3. Using evidence from brain scans to observe brain activity

  4. Developing computer and theoretical models based on experimental findings
• Theoretical models


  Simplified, usually pictorial or verbal representations of a particular mental process
• Computer models


  The mind is compared to a computer, with an input, processing, and output
• Cognitive neuroscience


  The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes
• Biological Approach


  • Behaviour is affected by biological processes and the biological structures that govern them
  • Genetics: Behaviour is influenced by our genes and has evolved over time
  • Biological structures: The brain affects our behaviour
  • Neurochemistry: Biochemicals including hormones and neurotransmitters influence behaviour
• Genotype


  A person's actual genetic makeup
• Phenotype


  The physical appearance that results from the combination of genes and environment
• Evolution


  The changes that take place over time as individuals become adapted to their environment
• Behaviours and characteristics that increase the ability of an individual to survive and reproduce are known as adaptive behaviours or characteristics
• Biological structures and behaviour is an important focus for the biological perspective to map the relationship between various parts of the brain and their functions in relation to behaviour
• Neurotransmitters


  Neurochemicals that are released once a nerve impulse reaches the end of the neuron to transmit a nerve impulse across a synapse to another neuron and is involved in a range of behaviours
• Serotonin


  Responsible for a range of behaviours including sleep, memory, emotions and sexual behaviour and helps to maintain a stable mood
• Dopamine


  An excitatory neurotransmitter that is associated with our 'drive or motivation'
• A high level of dopamine is often associated with schizophrenia and OCD
• Adrenaline


  Involved in the fight-flight response and has effects such as raising heart rate and breathing rate
• The psychodynamic approach assumes that early childhood experiences are pivotal in making us the person we are
• The psychodynamic approach believes that the driving force behind our behaviour is the unconscious mind
• The psychodynamic approach argues that instincts or drives motivate our behaviour
• Id


  The unconscious, insatiable set of instincts (sex and aggression) which people are born with (innate). It seeks pleasure and is completely selfish and demands instant gratification of its needs
• Ego


  The conscious, rational part of the personality. It is in touch with reality, that arbitrates between the demands of the ID and the demands of the superego
• Superego


  The unconscious/preconscious, is the moral part concerned with the right and wrong. It acts to (internally) punish and reward us. The superego develops through the process of socialisation
• Defence mechanisms


  Mechanisms employed by the ego to balance the demands of the id and the superego and to protect itself from distress/ anxiety and allow the person to cope with life