Approaches

• Psychology = "The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes and how these are affected by internal and external factors" (IB definition)
• Science = "The pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world, following a systematic methodology based on evidence"
• Features of science


  • Universal paradigm
  • Theory construction
  • Hypothesis testing
  • Deduction
  • Falsification
  • Replicability
  • Objectivity
  • Empirical method
• Introspection


  A means of learning about one's own currently ongoing mental states or processes. Introspective knowledge is often held to be more immediate or direct than sensory knowledge
• Conditions of introspection


  • Mentality condition
  • First-person condition
  • Temporal proximity condition
• Structuralism


  Isolating conscious thoughts into basic structures of thoughts, processes and images
• Skinner disagreed with the subjective nature of introspection, in which the findings differed greatly from individual to individual, making it difficult to establish general laws and unifying principles of behaviour and cognition
• Radical behaviourism


  Private events could be measured and quantified in the same way as observable behaviour
• The laboratory experiment method of research allowed for the objective measurement of observable behaviour, providing reliable data through controlling and eliminating the effects of extraneous and confounding variables, by using highly controlled conditions
• The cognitive approach flourished as psychologists had a metaphor for the functions and workings of the mind i.e. the 'computer analogy'
• Bandura agreed with behaviourist principles (i.e. that behaviour is learnt through experience) but argued that these principles are better applied to a social context
• Advances in technology, particularly with brain scanning techniques in the 1970s, allowed psychologists to objectively observe and measure the biological basis of behaviour
• Behaviourism


  An approach to explaining behaviour which suggests that all behaviour is acquired and maintained through classical and operant conditioning
• From a behaviourist perspective, the basic laws governing learning are the same across both non-humans and humans. Therefore, non-human animals can replace humans in behaviourist experimental research
• Classical conditioning

  A type of learning which occurs through associations made between the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus
• Classical conditioning


  1. Before conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces the unconditioned response (UCR)

  2. During conditioning, the neutral stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with the UCS, producing an UCR

  3. After conditioning, the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response

  
• Pavlov's classical conditioning experiment

  • Before conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (food) produced an unconditioned response (salivation)
  • During conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus was repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus (a bell), to produce the same unconditioned response of salivation
  • An association was made between the unconditioned stimulus and the neutral stimulus
  • After conditioning, the neutral stimulus became the conditioned stimulus, producing the conditioned response of salivation

  
• Extinction


  When the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus, so the conditioned response becomes extinct/disappears
• Spontaneous recovery


  When the individual carries out the conditioned response some time after extinction has occurred
• Generalisation


  When slight changes in the conditioned stimulus still produces the same conditioned response
• Operant conditioning


  A type of learning where behaviour is acquired and maintained based on its consequences
• Reinforcement


  Increases the likelihood of the observed behaviour being repeated
• Punishment


  An unpleasant consequence of behaviour that decreases the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated
• Positive reinforcement


  Carrying out a behaviour to receive a reward
• Negative reinforcement


  Carrying out a behaviour to avoid negative consequences
• Skinner's Box experiment


  • Positive reinforcement was shown when the rats pressed down on a lever to receive food as a reward, and subsequently learnt to repeat this action to increase their rewards
  • Negative reinforcement was shown when the rat learnt to press down on the lever to avoid the unpleasant consequence of an electric shock
• An understanding of the role of classical conditioning in the acquisition and maintenance of a phobia of white rats in Little Albert (Watson and Rayner, 1920) would be particularly useful, including the extinction of Little Albert's phobia and generalisation of his phobia to other white, fluffy objects

  
• Being able to differentiate between classical and operant conditioning, as they involve different mechanisms and have been demonstrated in different scenarios
• Behaviourist approach


  • Makes use of highly scientific research methods, particularly the laboratory experiment
  • Strictly-controlled conditions reduce and control for the effects of confounding and extraneous variables, increasing the reliability and internal validity of the findings
  • Focuses on behaviour which is observable and can be measured, increasing the scientific credibility of psychology
• Token economies have been used as a way of dealing with offending behaviour, demonstrating the real-life applications of behaviourist principles
• Environmental determinism


  The behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as the product of past reinforcement contingencies, leaving no room for free will or conscious choices
• Much behaviourist research, at least by modern standards, would be viewed as unethical due to causing physical and psychological harm to participants
• Social learning theory


  Suggests that learning occurs both directly, through classical and operant conditioning, and indirectly, through vicarious reinforcement
• Stages of social learning theory

  • An observer identifies themselves with a desirable role model
  • The role model displays or models a specific behaviour
  • The observed behaviour is imitated by the observer
  • The likelihood that the observed behaviour will be imitated is increased if the role model is seen to be 'vicariously reinforced' or rewarded
• Role model


  A person with whom the observer identifies with. The role model is usually attractive, has high social status, is of a similar age and the same gender to the observer
• Identification


  The process by which an observer relates to/ associates themselves with a role model and aspires to become more like that role model
• Vicarious reinforcement


  A type of indirect learning which occurs when an observer sees their role model being rewarded for displaying a certain behaviour
• Mediational processes


  • Attention
  • Retention
  • Motor reproduction
  • Motivation
• Bandura's Bobo Doll Study found that the children who'd observed an aggressive role model behaved more aggressively themselves towards the Bobo doll compared to the non-aggressive role model control group
• Bandura's study may lack internal validity due to demand characteristics, and may not represent how children would be aggressive in day-to-day situations