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Flashcards by Kizzy Leverton, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Kizzy Leverton
over 8 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| who was Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)? | - He believed that all aspects of nature, including the human mind could be studied scientifically - He studied aspects of behaviour that could be strictly controlled under experimental conditions (e.g. reaction time/perception) - he claimed that with sufficient training, mental processes such as memory could be observed systematically as they occured using introspection - gain insight into nature of mental processes |
| what is introspection? | - "looking into" - process by which a person gains knowledge about his or her own mental and emotional states as a result of the examination or observation of their conscious thoughts and feelings |
| what is Empiricism? | - the belief that all knowledge is derived from sensory experience. it is generally characterized by the use of the scientific method in psychology - all behaviour seen as being "caused" and that if behavour is determined then it should be possible to "predict" how human beings would behave in different conditions. |
| what is the scientific method in psychology? | - refers to use of investigative methods that are > objective - preconceived ideas/biases do not influence collection of data > systematic - carried out in orderly way > replicable - if not replicable then cannot be accepted as universally true |
| what is the scientific cycle? | > objective, systematic and replicable observation > building, refining or falsifying > development of a scientific theory > testing (repeats) |
| what is a criticism of Wundt's approach? | - relied on "nonobservable responses - although p's could report on their conscious experiences, the processes themselves (e.g. memory, perception) were considered to be unobservable constructions - lack of reliability - not reliably reproducible by other researchers in labs |
| what are some of the strengths of the scientific approach to psychology? | - Reliance on objective and systematic methods of observation - rely on belief in determinism - establish causes of behaviour through use of methods that are empirical/replicable |
| what are some of the limitations of the scientific approach? | - experiments done in artificial environment so it tells us little about behaviours in natural environments - many behaviours unobservable so cannot be measured with any degree of accuracy |
| what is the behaviourist approach to psychology? | - focuses on observable events (stimuli and responses) and conditions in which learning would be most likely to occur - believed that most of human behaviour can be explained in terms of a basic form known as conditioning which involves the formations of learned associations between stimuli in the environment and an organisms responses. |
| what are the two different types of conditioning? | - classical conditioning - operant conditioning |
| what is classical conditioning? | - when a neutral stimulus is consistently paired with an unconditioned stimulus so that it eventually takes on the properties of this stimulus and is able to produce a controlled response |
| what is operant conditioning? | - learning through reinforcement or punishment. If a behaviour is followed by a desirable consequence then that behaviour is more likely to occur again in the future. |
| who was Ivan Pavlov? | - discovered the process of classical conditioning (1927) - investigated salivary reflex in dogs - animals not only salivated when food was placed in their mouths but also to stimulus that coincided with food - ringing a bell shortly before presenting food to a hungry animal will eventually mean that the bell on its own will be sufficient to produce the response of salivation |
| other important features of classical conditioning... | - timing - if NS occurs after UCS or the time interval between the two is too great then conditioning does not take place - extinction - after a few presentations of the CS in absense of the UCS it loses ability to produce the CR > but if they are paired together again the link between them is made more quickly - stimulus generalisation - once an animal has been conditioned they will also respond to other stimulus similar to other stimuli similar to CS |
| what is a "skinner box" | - a special cage developed in order to investigate operant conditioning in rats. the rat moves around the cage and when it accidentally presses the lever, a food pellet falls into the cage. The rat begins pressing the lever in order to obtain food. if the food pellets stop the rat presses the lever a few more times and then abandons it (extinction) |
| what is positive reinforcement? | - occurs when behaviour produces a consequence that is satisfying or pleasant for the organism - e.g food to a hungry animal or praise given to a child |
| what is a negative reinforcement? | - unpleasant consequence following a behaviour - behaviour less likely to occur again in future |
| what are the strengths of classical conditioning? | - led to development of treatments for anxiety associated with some phobias (systematic desensitisation) |
| what are the limitations of classical conditioning? | - individual differences - different species face different challenges to survive so have different capabilities to learn through classical conditioning |
| what did seligman (1970) propose? | - proposed the concept of preparedness - animals are prepared to learn associations that are significant in terms of their survival need - relationships between the CS and UCS tend to be more difficult to establish for some species compared to others |
| what are the strengths of operant conditioning? | - reliance on experimental method - uses controlled conditions - skinner box - by manipulating the consequences of behaviour (IV) he was able to accurately measure the effects on the rats behaviour (DV) allowing him to establish cause and effect and the future frequency of behaviours occurence |
| what are the limitations of operant conditioning? | - involved animal studies - can tell us little about human behaviour - argued that unlike animals, humans have free will rather than having their behaviour determined by P/N reinforcements |
| why is conditioning a limited perspective on behaviour? | - by treating human beings as a product of their conditioning alone means we ignore the evidence for the role of other factors in shaping behaviour |
| what is social learning theory? | - behaviour could be acquired not only through direct experience but also by observing one's own behaviour and the behaviour of others - reinforcement can also serve an informative function for individual - during the process of learning people perform responses/observe different consequences of their own/others behaviour |
| what is meant by modelling in social learning theory? | - for SLT to take place someone must carry out the attitude or behaviour to be learned (model) - live model - parent/teacher/peer group etc - symbolic model - someone portrayed in media etc - they provide examples of behaviour that is observed by an individual and can be reproduced (imitation) |
| what are the key determinants of whether a behaviour is imitated? | -- characteristics of model - observers perceived ability to perform that behaviour - the observed consequences of that behaviour |
| what is identification? | - the extent to which an individual relates with the model and feels that they are similar to that person - identification with a model means that the individual is more likely to imitate their behaviour meaning that SLT is more likely to be effective |
| what is vicarious reinforcement? | - Bandura / Walters (1963) - individuals learn about likely consequences of an action and then adjust their subsequent behaviour accordingly - suggests that individuals do not need to experience rewards or punishments directly in order to learn |
| what is the role mediational processes? | - in order for SLT to take place the observer must form mental representations of the behaviour displayed by the model and the probable consequences of that behaviour in terms of expectancies of future outcomes |
| what was the procedure of Banduras study (1961)? | - children observed aggressive or non aggressive adult models and were tested for imitative learning in the absence of the model - half exposed to adult models acting aggressively towards a bobo doll - striking it with mallet/verbal aggression - other half exposed to non aggressive behaviour - following observation children were shown toys they were not allowed to play with and then taken to a room where among other toys was a bobo doll - |
| what were the results of this study? | - children who observed aggressive model showed physical/ verbally aggressive behaviour resembling that of the model - 1/3 of the children repeated models verbal responses - children who observed non aggressive model exhibited virtually no aggression towards bobo doll - in a follow up to this study they found that children who saw the model being rewarded for aggressive acts were more likely to show a high level of aggression in their own play |
| what are the strengths of SLT? | - explains how behaviour may be learnt in the absence of any direct reinforcement - can account for differences in aggressive and non-aggressive behaviour both between and within each individual. People learn that aggression is rewarded in some situations and not others and context-dependent learning takes place which explains differences within individuals (account for differences in aggression between cultures) |
| what are the limitations of SLT? | - lack ecological validity - conducted in an artificial laboratory - difficult to generalise the findings into real world situations. - lack external validity - involved punching a bobo doll which is not real and we cannot say for certain children may behave similarly towards real people who can respond back - Demand characteristics - some children reported feeling like they were expected to behave aggressively towards the bobo doll - aggression observed may only be short-term and limited to the laboratory environment. |
| what is the cognitive approach? | - focuses on how people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret information studying processes like perception, memory, thinking and problem solving - looks at internal mental processes in order to understand behaviour |
| what is the role of computer models in the cognitive approach? (the process of using computer analogies as a representation of human cognition) | - the development of computers/computer programming led to a focus in the way sensory memory is "coded" as it passes through the system. |
| what are the role of schemas in the cognitive approach? | - a cognitive framework that helps to organise and interpret information in the brain - help an individual to make sense of information - however they cause us to exclude anything that does not conform to our established ideas of the world - help us fill the gaps in the absence of information - |
| the emergence of cognitive neuroscience... | - neuroscientists are now able to study the brain giving them detailed info about the brain structures involved in different kinds of processing - PET scans and fMRI helps psychologists to understand how the brain supports different cognitive actvities and emotions by showing what parts of the brain become active in specific circumstances |
| what are the strengths of the cognitive approach? | - Cognitive psychology is very scientific, based mainly on laboratory experiments. This means that it's conclusions are more likely to be reliable, because large amounts of data will be collected and compared. - high in internal validity, as they will attempt to control all extraneous variables so that only the IV can affect the DV. - It has had many useful applications to the real world, for example in therapy, or in analysing witness statements in court. - Computer models can be built to test ideas that we could not do on humans. These are ethically much better than using either humans or animals. |
| what are the limitations of the cognitive approach? | - Reductionist. It ignores possible causes for our behaviour that could have come from, for example, our social environment or our biology. - low in ecological validity - create unusual situations for participants. This may lead participants to behave strangely, producing behaviour that is not representative of normal life. This means we cannot be completely confident about generalising the findings. - ignores individual differences. It treats us as all working in the same way and ignores the factors what might make us all unique. |
| what is the biological approach? | - views humans as biological organisms - genetic basis of behaviour showing how characteristics can be passed from generation to generation through genes - chemical changes in NS and hormones - evolution |
| what is heredity? | - passing of characteristic from one generation to the next through genes and is the reason offspring take after their parents in terms of psychological characteristics |
| what is the genotype? | - the genetic makeup of an individual the genetic code that is written in the DNA of an individuals cells |
| what is the phenotype? | - the physical appearance that results from the genotype - observable characteristics of an individual that is a consequence of the interaction of the genotype with the envionment |
| what are hormones? | - chemicals produced by the endocrine glands such as the pituitary gland which together make up the endocrine system - hormones secreted directly into bloodstream by endocrine glands where they travel to target cells and exert their influence by stimulating receptors on the surface or inside cells - the presence of a hormone causes a physiological reaction in the cell |
| what is evolution? | refers to the change over successive generations of the genetic make up of a particular population - the central proposition of an evolutionary perspective is that the genotype of the population is changeable rather than fixed and that this change is likely to be caused by the process of natural selection |
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