Approaches

• who is wundt

  Wundt wrote one of the first books of psychology, helping to establish psychology as an independent branch of science.
• What did wundt do 


  Wundt studied the human mind through introspection. This involves analysing thoughts and feelings internally when presented with a set stimulus. Reactions are recorded and conclusions are inferred from observable behavior to make judgements on mental processes.
• what is a structuralist approach 


  this is where the human mind is broken down into behaviours like perception and sensation
• strength of introspection - viewed as a forerunner to cognitive approach

  One strength of introspection is that it is viewed as a forerunner to the cognitive approach as it also focuses on mental processes. Wundt was the first to apply empirical methods to internal mental processes which have been developed by cognitive psychologists and is now a scientific method. in being scientific, psychologists are able to test concepts and advance the field of psychology.
• limitation of introspection - subjective 


  One limitation of introspection is that it requires inferences to be drawn on unobservable matter, thus making it subjective. Wundt was unable to replicate his findings therefore making the results unreliable.
• Limitation of introspection - largely descriptive 


  One limitation of Wundt's introspection is that it is largely descriptive and fails to explain how the mind works. Wundt did not establish a cause for particular thought processes. This would be useful, as changing causal events could potentially improve thinking processes.
• Limitation of introspection - contributes less to psychology than other researchers

  One limitation of wundt's introspection is that it contributes less to psychology than other researchers such as ivan pavlov. Pavlov was able to establish cause and effect in highly controlled conditions when exploring salivation in dogs. This has been replicated to and been shown to be reliable. It has also been generalised to a wide variety of scenarios such as phobias. Pavlov's research is more beneficial to the scientific nature of psychological research, thus limiting the contributuon of wundts work.
• What are the key assumptions of the behaviourist approach

  • All behaviour is learnt
  • we are born a blank slate ( tabula rasa)
  • our behaviour is shaped by the environment
  • We have no free will
  • Study behaviour scientifically
  • study observable behaviour
  • Animals can be used because they are similar to humans
• What is classical conditioning

  This is learning through stimulus response associations
• Who researched classical conditioning

  Pavlov
• Pavlov's dogs

  Before conditioning: Food (ucs) = salvation (ucr)

  During conditioning : Bell (ns) + food (ucs) = salivation (ucr)

  After conditioning : Bell (cs) = salivation (cr)
• What is generalisation

  This is when a similar stimulus produces the same conditioned responses
• What is discrimination

  This is when a similar stimulus doesn't produce the same conditioned response
• What is operant conditioning

  This is learning as a result of a consequence
• What is positive reinforcement

  This is when something desirable is given to you to make behaviours more likely to happen in the future
• What is negative reinforcement 


  This is when something unwanted is taken away to make a behaviour more likely to happen in the future
• What is punishment 


  This is when something unwanted is given to you making behaviour less likely to happen in the future
• Skinner's rats 


  Positive reinforcement - every time rats would press the lever they would receive a food pellet therefore making it more likely to happen

  Negative reinforcement - rats would experience electric shocks through an electric current in their cage that only stopped when they pressed the lever. Therefore making this behaviour more likely to occur in the future.
• Strength of behaviourist approach - uses scientific methods 


  One strength of the behaviourist approach is that it uses scientific methods, raising the status of psychology as a research field. This is because both classical and operant conditioning focus on observable behaviours, allowing researchers to support or refute the claims they made. This is a strength because it allows us to replicate the research to establish reliable findings, which in turn allows us to make predictions about human and animal behaviour.
• Strength of behaviourist approach - real world applications 


  One strength o fthe behaviourist approach is that it has real world appliaction. For example operant conditioning has been used within psychiatric wards and schools as token economies. For instance, patients within psychiatric wards and students at school are given rewards in return for good behaviour. this therefore reinforced the behaviour to be repeated again in the future.
• Limitation of behaviourist approach - reductionist 


  One limitation of the behaviourist approach is that it is a reductionist. This is because it reduces complex human behaviour down to simple stimulus response associations. This approach may be too simplistic as it neglects the whole person.
• Limitation of behaviourist approach - uses non human participants 


  One limitation of the behaviourist approach is that it uses non human participants and it may not be possible to extrapolate from animals to humans. This is because humans are very different to animals. For example we have a conscious insight into our behaviour which could cause us to behave differently to animals.
• limitation of using animals - unethical 


  One limitation of using animals is that it could be seen as unethical. This is because the animals do not consent to participate and the research could have negative effects on the animals. This may mean that people won't trust the research made
• What is social learning theory

  • They agreed with behaviourists that there is a stimulus response link but believed that 'something' happens in between
  • The 'something' in between is mediational cognitive processes
• What are mediational cognitive processes 


  These are the cognitive processes that occur between stimulus and response

  • Attention
  • Retention
  • Reproduction
  • Motivation
• What is imitation


  This is an individual's attempt at copying a certain behaviour
• What is modelling 


  This is a demonstration of behaviour that will later be imitated
• What is identification 


  Characteristics that an individual feels are similar between them and the role model

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
• What is vicarious reinforcement 


  This is a type of indirect reinforcement where someone imitates a behaviour because they have seen a role model be rewarded for it.
• Research to support SLT - Bandura's bobo doll

  One strength of social learning theory is that it has research to support for example Bandura's bobo doll study. This is a study of aggression where children watch an adult go into a room and beat up the bobo doll. Later on kids imitate the adults by beating up the doll exactly how the adults did. The closest imitation was those of the same gender as the role model.
• strength of SLT - real world applications 


  One strength of social learning theory is that it had real world applications. For example, it can be used in advertising. This is where celebrities who act as role models, model certain things on TV to encourage other people to imitate this behaviour.
• Strength of SLT - Uses scientific methods


  One strength of SLT is that it uses scientific methods which raises the status of psychology. This is because Bandura's bobo doll study used controlled observations which means that the study can be replicated to establish reliable results allowing the researchers to support or refute their claims.
• Limitation of Bandura's bobo doll - could have displayed demand characteristics 


  One limitation of Bandura's bobo doll study is that the doll is designed to be hit and when the children watched the adults hit the doll they probably thought that was what they were supposed to do. They might have seen it as instructional. This is therefore an example of demand characteristics rather than imitation. This means that the study has low ecological validity because it doesn't reflect learning of aggression in the real world.
• Limitation of Bandura's research - reductionist 


  One limitation of Bandura's research is that it is a reductionist. This is because it fails to consider biological factors. For example, boys were found to be more aggressive than girls but SLT fails to consider hormones or testosterone as potential factors for this.
• What are the assumptions of the biological approach

  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Anatomy of brain
  • Neurotransmitters
• Evolution 


  Behaviour is passed on through the process of natural selection. This is where species that are better adapted to the environment survive and then pass on these characteristics to future offspring.
• Genetics 


  This is the idea that certain behaviours can be passed down and inherited from biological parents.
• What is a genotype 


  This is the genetic makeup of an individual. This is hereditary information that has been passed down by biological parents.
• What is a phenotype 


  This is the interaction between the genotype and the environment.
• Neuroanatomy 


  This is when particular actions/behaviours can be pinpointed to certain areas of the brain.

  Different brain scanning techniques allow us to observe which areas of the brain are involved in which behaviour.