Approaches

• What did Wundt do?

  Opened first lab in Leipzig in 1879. Used introspection to study consciousness. Wundt was the first person to truly separate psychology from philosophy. He wanted to study the mind in a more structured and scientific way.
• What is introspection?


  A method where subjects were trained to systematically analyse their own thoughts and feelings in relation to a stimulus, using a standardised procedure and in a controlled environment, in order to gain insight into how mental processes work.
• What are the limitations of introspection?

  Subjective/open to bias, impossible to validate, unfalsifiable
• How did introspection make psychology more scientific?

  He used standardised procedures in a controlled environment. Used a reductionist approach.
• What features make something a science?


  Objectivity, Control, Replicability, Falsifiability (Hypothesis testing), Generalisability
• Define 'replicable'


  If a research procedure can be repeated accurately (the the same way as the original)
• Define 'Standardised'


  If the same thing is done/said to each participant throughout a research procedure
• Define 'Controlled'


  If other variables are removed or kept constant during a research procedure so that they don't affect the results
• Define 'Generalisable'


  If the results of a research procedure can be applied generally, not just to the people who took part
• Define 'Reductionism'


  The belief that human behaviour can be explained by breaking it down into simpler component parts' (as followed by most scientific psychologists)
• Define demand characteristics


  These are features of a piece of research which allow the participants to work out its aim and/or hypotheses. Participants may then change their behaviour (either to match what they think the researcher wants or to deliberately undermine it). This reduces the internal validity of a study.
• What are the assumptions of the behaviourist approach?

  All behaviour is learnt, Animals and humans learn in the same way, We are born a blank slate, The mind is irrelevant
• Our behaviour is controlled by forces in the environment, and can only be changed by changing the environment' describes which key assumption of the behaviourist approach?

  Environmental determinism
• The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation (rather than intuition or inference) is an important part of behaviourism. What is this view called?

  Empiricism
• How would you describe the research methods used by the behaviourist approach?

  Use experimental method, with animals as subjects, looking for quantifiable behaviour
• Who proposed classical conditioning as a way of learning?

  Pavlov
• How was Classical conditioning first identified?

  Pavlov's dogs study - salivating at the sound of a bell that indicated food was coming
• Describe the process of classical conditioning (you don't have to use an example).

  Unconditioned Stimulus causes the Unconditioned Response (usually a pre existing reflex, but can be a previously learnt behaviour), Neutral Stimulus causes No response, US + NS lead to UR (repeated pairing of these means eventually the NS becomes associated with the US, co that it comes to elicit the response), The NS has now become the Conditioned Stimulus and elicits the Conditioned Response
• What is generalisation in Classical conditioning?

  When similar (but slightly different) stimuli to the original CS produce the same response
• Name one piece of evidence to demonstrate that classical conditioning can be used to create a phobia in humans?

  Watson and Rayner (1920)
• What is extinction in classical conditioning?


  Where the CR stops being produced by the CS
• What is the name of the process where classical conditioning is used in a hierarchy to help treat phobias? Repeated exposure to the CS (up a hierarchy of exposure) weakens the association to between the CS and the UCS, so it stops eliciting the CR.

  Systematic desensitisation
• "If a study or theory can be used in the real world" is a definition for which key evaluation term?

  (useful) application
• Describe Skinner's research into operant conditioning as a way of learning?

  Designed a 'Skinner Box', a small chamber which allowed him to do operant conditioning on rats and pigeons using reinforcements and punishments. For example, rats might be rewarded with a food pellet for pressing a lever. Skinner could then measure the frequency of the lever pressing behaviour to see if the positive reinforcement had increased its frequency.
• How would you explain the difference between classical and operant conditioning?

  Classical conditioning is learning by association, operant conditioning is learning by consequences. CC is for reflex behaviour, OC is for voluntary behaviour. CC only for existing behaviour, OC can create new behaviour
• List the four types of outcome which are key to explaining operant conditioning.

  positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment
• State the relationship between reinforcement and behaviour in operant conditioning. State the relationship between punishment and behaviour in operant conditioning.

  Reinforcement increases the frequency of a behaviour. Punishment decreases the frequency of a behaviour
• Outline positive reinforcement in operant conditioning.

  Behaviour is more likely to be repeated as a result of the addition of a pleasant stimulus
• Outline negative reinforcement in operant conditioning.

  Behaviour is more likely to be repeated as a result of removing a negative stimulus
• Outline negative punishment in operant conditioning.

  Behaviour is less likely to be repeated as a result of removing of a pleasant stimulus
• Outline positive punishment in operant conditioning.


  Behaviour is less likely to be repeated as a result of addition of an unpleasant stimulus
• What element of psychopathology (mental illness) can we explain with the behaviourist approach?

  Phobias
• The view that 'free will is an illusion, and that our behaviour is governed by internal or external forces over which we have no control' is called ___________

  Determinism
• What is a strength of the behaviourist approach? (points only, no e.g./ev needed)

  Lots of experimental evidence -> scientific credibility. Highly scientific and objective, therefore conclusions are more likely to be valid. Useful applications - e.g. to treatment of phobias and modification of problematic behaviour (e.g. dealing with criminal offending)
• What are the problems with the behaviourist approach? (points only, no examples/evidence needed)


  Generalising from animal studies, Ethical issues associated with animal research, Reductionist & Deterministic
• Which side of the nature nurture debate is the behaviourist approach on?

  nurture
• Psychologists who subscribe to the behaviourist approach are known as empiricists. Why?


  Empiricism = the theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses. Behaviourism only focused on things that we could observe with our own senses (i.e. behaviour), so it was a more empirical approach than e.g. Wundt. Empirical approaches are usually more scientific.
• What is the learning approach developed by Bandura called?

  social learning theory
• What are the assumptions of Social Learning theory?

  The same as the behaviourist approach + addition of the importance observational learning, through role models and imitation
• Describe the key idea behind SLT.

  We learn a lot of behaviour through imitating role models using cognitive mediational processes.