approaches

• what is the biological approach an explanation for

  how we think, feel and behave as being due to internal factors within the body, such our that genes, hormones, neural mechanisms (part of your brain) and evolution, compared to our experiences in our environment, as proposed by the behaviourist
• What are the two methods of investigating the genetic basis of behaviour?

  twin studies

  Adoption studies
• what are somebasic assumptions

  evolutionary psychology considers have a bodies have adapted due to ancestors, needing to adapt to their environment (natural selection)

  Psychologist study the brain,nervous system, Hormones other neural mechanisms to explain the effects on behaviour.

  It's sits on the nature side of the nature/nurture debate
• Why do we use twin studies?

  to confirm a concordance rate, which refers to the extent to which a pair of twins share, similar traits or characteristics ie There should be 100% concordance rates between

  -MZ monozygotic (identical 100% genes shared) if a particular characteristic/ trait is a genetic one.

  -DZ twins, dizygotic, non identical share, 50% of genes , Will show a lower concordance rates.
• Why do we use adoption studies?

  they are used to untangle the effect of genes and the environment that an individual lives in. the Studies include individuals that have been adopted and raised in a different environment to the biological environment. If the behaviour shown by the individual is more like their biological parents it will be considered genetic, but if their behaviour is more like an adoptive family, then it would indicate an environmental influence.
• What is a genotype?


  the actual set of genes an individual has or is made up of. Genes are made up of DNA, which are given at time of fertilisation by parents
• What is a phenotype?


  The physically observable featured or observed traits in an individual. How the genes have interacted with the environment
• What is evolution?


  The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations
• What is natural selection?

  Charles darwin proposed natural selection and that animals with particular traits that proposed them with an advantage are more likely to survive and reproduce thereby passing on thier adaptive traits to their offspring. these behaviours will be passed on and become more widespread in the population
• what are some strengths of the biological approach?

  - A scientific approach suggesting we can find cause and effect relationships of both physiology and behaviour through investigation with right controls

  -Use of machines to investigate the symptoms. For example, PET scan or EEG uses accurate and precise measurement. This reduces any incorrect research bias

  -impact of biology on behaviour can lead to treatment such as drug therapy. This allows a person to return to work and pay taxes having a positive effect on the economy.
• What are limitations of the biological approach?

  -this approach is reductionist by stating that all human behaviour can be explained through biological processes and we are therefore not unique as individuals. biological approach ignores the role of the environment ECT

  -de humanising to present humans as biological machines

  -it is a deterministic approach as it believes that we are determined by a physiological, genetic or evolutionary make up therefore failing to recognise free will

  -research may focus on rare conditions that have little impact on their everyday lives of most people
• evaluate wundts contribution to the development of psychology

  wundt established psychology as a science using the scientific method (eval lab studies) his approach became known as structuralism to study the structure of the human mind, by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements- looking for causes
• What is introspection?


  Wundt used introspection to investigate the human mind.

  means 'looking into'

  ppts asked to reflect on own cognitive processes and describe them
• Evaluate introspection as a method of data collection

  - self reporting

  -relies on non-observable responses , can comment of conscious experiences not unconscious - all possible causes not considered.

  -used today to gain access to cognitive processes and information from individuals about their opinions and emotions.
• What is the scientific method?

  wundt introduced a scientific approach based on 2 assumptions:

  -all behaviour is seen as being caused (determined)

  -if behaviour is determined then it should be possible to predict how humans would behave in different conditions (predictability)

  the scientific method was used to explore these assumptions
• what does the scientific method say investigations must be?

  -Objective

  -Systematic

  -replicable
• What are the evaluation of the scientific approach to psychology?

  causes of behaviour can be established through the use of methods that are empirical and reliable

  Much of the subject matter of psychology is unobservable, therefore cannot be measured with any degree of accuracy
• what is the emergence of pyschology as a science

  Wundt showed thatempirical methodscould be applied to mental processes. However, Watson and Skinner criticised the subjective nature of the personal observations which made it difficult to make generalisations from the research. Watson and Skinner emphasised the importance of rigorous scientific processes and carefully controlled laboratory experiments, which many psychologists still rely on today.Cognitive psychologists believe that internal mental thoughts are an important area of study and they attempt to make inferences based on human behaviour, where they draw conclusions about cognitive processes based on human behaviour in scientific laboratory investigations.The biological approach makes use of sophisticated technology, including brain scanning techniques, like fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) and PET (positron emission tomography) scans, to understand the structure and function of the human brain. The cycle of scientific investigation is perpetuated by psychologists testing their concepts, making objective observations which can be replicated and then refining their theories according to the findings, before testing once again.
• What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

  1. we are born as a blank state a 'tabula rasa' everything we become is shaped by the process of learning from our environment

  2.Extreme nurture end of nature, nurture debate

  3.Argues that an order for psychology to be scientific. It should focus on observable behaviour which can be objectively measured rather than on things like cognitive processes which can only be inferred.

  4.Rejected the idea of introspection

  5.Lab experiments are the best way to achieve this.
• What are the two main forms of learning in behaviourism?

  Classical conditioning- learning through association

  Operant conditioning and reinforcement
• How does classical conditioning work?

  The process occurs when an association is formed between a stimulus in the environment that already naturally produces a response, and a neutral stimulus, so that the neutral stimulus beings about the same response.

  Before conditioning: NS-bell, UCS- food, UCR-salivation

  during conditioning: bell+food consistently paired

  after conditioning: bell=conditioned stimuli salivating= conditioned response
• What is the evaluation of classical conditioning by Pavlov?


  Classical conditioning as an explanation for how we learn has led to successful treatment such as systematic desensitisation for phobias, with motivation patients have been able to face their fears successfully

  Fails to recognise, we learn through other ways, such as operantly and gaining rewards also a certain species learn in different ways, so it is not conclusive
• Define reinforcement


  anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated
• What is positive reinforcement?


  The likelihood of a behaviour happening again because a positive consequence / reward occurred.

  i.e. Giving a child sweets after they have cleaned their room.
• What is negative reinforcement?


  The likelihood of a behaviour happening again because a negative situation has been stopped, which is pleasant. Eg

  - taking aspirin to get rid of a headache.
• What is punishment?


  Anything that decreases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant when happen
• What is the evaluation of operant conditioning?

  evidence comes from lab studies which is good internal validity and control over extraneous variables

  Often uses animals within the studies, such as skinners famous experiment on rats so therefore evidence cannot be truly extrapolated to humans, but can allow experiments that could not be ethically undertaken on humans to be performed. This increases our understanding of the way we learn.
• What are the evaluations of the behaviourist approach?

  strength is that it can use his control, experimental conditions, often undertaken in a lab. It controls the fact of extraneous variables and increases the internal validity, making a scientific. But it often uses animals such as skinners rats and therefore this is a limitation as the findings cannot be extrapolated to humans due to different cognitive functions and physiology. But it does provide a strong counterargument to the nature side nature nurture debate. This is a strength as it allows us to see a variety of factors that may have an affect on behaviour.

  A further strength is that the approach has successfully treated conditions such as phobias as in systematic desensitisation
• What is the cognitive approach?


  focuses on how people store manipulate and interpret information, studying at processes, like perception, memory, thinking and problem-solving They believe it is necessary to look at internal mental processes to understand our behaviour, including:

  -The role of schema

  -The use of theoretical and computer, Models to explain and make interferences about mental processes

  -The emergence of cognitive neuroscience
• What is a schema?


  An informative mental framework that comes from prior experience that helps us to make decisions

  -take shortcuts in thinking and help predict situations

  -lead to faulty conclusions and inappropriate stereotypes and prejudice
• What is inference?


  intelligent guesses made on the observed evidence
• What is the role of a theoretical model?


  used to explain mental processes and make inferences about them such as memory ( MSM)
• What is the strength of the theoretical model?

  simplify difficult information such as the MSM, which uses a simple diagram to explain how memories are processed and stored in three different stores.
• What is the computer model?

  Brain processes information like a computer. It proposes, inputs, processes and outputs. Therefore information is received from the environment via the senses. This is process by the hard drive (brain) using a schema, then this leads to output or observable behaviour
• What is the emergence of neuroscience?

  the availability of scans to investigate the areas of the brain involved with cognitive functions such as memory has led to significant changes in our understanding. These allow for the collection of empirical scientific evidence. Examples of scans used for cognitive processes are the fMRI which measures increased blood flow due to increased activity using radio waves and magnetic fields.
• what are the evaluations of the cognitive approach?

  -strength is the use of lab experiments to gain scientific empirical evidence.

  -standardised procedure that can be repeated to test for consistency, increasing reliability. But may lead to demand characteristics (unnatural behaviour)

  -cognitive neuroscience scans are used which offers empirical evidence that cannot be affected by researcher bias.

  -considers both internal factors (thinking) and environmental factors so is more interactionist, than biological approach that only focuses on the internal factors such as hormones of genes.

  -The use of the computer model by the cognitive approach to explain human behaviour is machine reductionist, in reducing humans to behave like machines it ignores emotion and motivation (key factors involved in human behaviour.) It oversimplifies human behaviour, and may lead to inconclusive explanations.
• Why does social learning occur?

  Due to observing and imitating a role model
• What is the social learning theory?

  A behaviourist explanation for behaviour that includes a cognitive element

  Shows that we learn through modelling . Modelling involves learning through observation of other people, which may lead to imitation of the behaviour
• Define imitation


  Copying the behaviour of the model
• Define identification


  The individual adopts a behaviour because they want to be associated with a particular person or group, more likely to imitate someone that we identify with Eg same age, same-sex