Approaches in Psychology

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What are behaviourists interested in studying?
Interested in studying behaviour which can be observed and measured. Doesn't focus on the mental processes of the mind.
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How did behaviourists conduct research? Why did they choose this method?
They conducted lab experiments as they wanted to maintain more control and objectivity in terms of their research.
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Why did behaviourists replace humans with animals in lab experiments?
As they believed that basic processes which governed learning was the same in all species.
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What are the two forms of learning in behaviourism?
Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning.
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What is classical conditioning?
Learning trough association.
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Who conducted an experiment to demonstrate classical conditioning?
Ivan Pavlov during the 1890's
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Explain Pavlov's experiment.
Pavlov was able to see that by ringing a bell and showing food to the dog at the same time, the dog would learn to associate the noise and the sight of food together. Therefore they would eventually begin to salivate at the
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Who conducted an experiment to demonstrate operant conditioning?
BF Skinner in 1953
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What is operant conditioning?
The idea that learning is an active process whereby animals and humans operate on their environment.
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Within operant conditioning, what are the three types of consequences for behaviour?
Positive reinforcement (receiving a reward for a certain behaviour) Negative reinforcement (Avoiding something unpleasant, e.g. handing homework on time to avoid detention), and Punishment (unpleasant consequence for behaviour e.g. detention)
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What will positive and negative reinforcement increase?
The likelihood of that behaviour being repeated.
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What will punishment increase?
The likelihood of that behaviour not being repeated.
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Give an example where classical conditioning has been applied in a real life situation?
Treatment of phobias.
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What is a behaviourists view on behaviour?
Animals and humans are seen as passive and machine-like responders to the environment, with little/ no conscious into their behaviour.
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What are some issues with experimental procedures in behaviourism?
Ethical issues- Animals were exposed to stressful and aversive conditions which may have affected how they reacted in the experimental situation.
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What is the social learning theory?
That individuals learn through observation and imitation of others, within a social context. SLT suggests learning ocurs directly and indirectly through classical/operant conditioning.
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What is vicarious reinforcement?
Repeating behaviours which individuals see by observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour.
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What are the four mental processes in learning?
1. Attention- How much we notice certain behaviour. 2. Retention- How well the behaviour is remembered. 3. Motor reproduction- Observer's ability to perform behaviour. 4. Motivation- The will to perform the behaviour.
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What is modelling?
When people are more likely to imitate the behaviour of people who they class as role models.
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Describe the Bandura et al experiment and when was it?
(1961) The children who watched an adult be aggressive to a bobo doll, were more likely to be aggressive when face to face with the doll, than a child who observed a non-aggressive adult with the doll.
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What does the cognitive approach focus on?
It focuses on how our mental processes (thoughts, perceptions, attention) affect our behaviour.
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What is the information processing approach?
The idea that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include: input, storage, retrieval.
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In the cognitive approach, what do psychologists compare the human mind to? and why?
They compare it to a computer model. This is because the brain and a computer have similarities in the way information is processed.
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What is a schema?
Schema are 'packages' of ideas and information developed through experience.
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What sort of schema are babies born with?
Simple motor schema, which is the act of sucking and grasping.
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When we get older, what happens to our schema?
It becomes more detailed and sophisticated.
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What is cognitive neuroscience?
The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes.
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Which scans have scientists been able to use in order to observe the brain?
fMRI and PET scans.
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Why has the brain and computer analogy been criticised by many?
Machine reductionism ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system, and how this could affect how we process information.
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What is a negative aspect of cognitive experiments?
Cognitive psychology can be referred to as being too theoretical and abstract. As well as the fact that it uses artificial stimuli, meaning it will not represent everyday real-life experiences
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What do biological psychologists think?
They believe that everything psychological is at first biological, so to understand human behaviour, we must look to biological structures and processes within the body.
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What do biological psychologists believe about the mind?
They believe that the mind lives in the brain - meaning that thoughts, feelings and behaviour ultimately have a physical basis.
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What do behaviour geneticists study?
They study whether behavioural characteristics are inherited in the same way as physical characteristics.
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What are twin studies used to investigate?
They are used to investigate the likelihood of certain traits having a genetic basis by comparing the concordance rates between twins.
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What is a concordance rate?
The extent to which two individuals share the same characteristic.
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What are identical twins known as?
Monozygotic twins
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What are non-identical twins known as?
Dizygotic twins
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What percentage concordance rate do identical twins share? What percentage do non-identical twins share?
Identical = 100% Non-identical = 50%
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What is a genotype?
The genetic make-up of an individual (genes, DNA etc)
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What is a phenotype?
The characteristics of an individual determined both by genes and the environment.
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Describe evolution and natural selection.
Natural selection is when an organism experiences a mutation, causing them to have a characteristic which allows them to survive better in their environment. Meaning they will breed and pass the mutation on, evolving the whole species for survival.
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Give an example of an advantage of the biological approach?
The biological approach has been able to develop psychoactive drugs which assist individuals with mental illnesses (such as depression) meaning they can live a normal life, rather than remain in hospital.
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What is a limitation of the biological approach?
The biological approach claims to discover causes, where only an association exists (e.g. headache is caused by the lack of paracetamol, as paracetamol is effective at reducing symptoms of a headache. However lack of paracetamol is not the cause)
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Name the advantages of the behaviourist approach
1. Scientific credibility 2.Real-life application
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Name the disadvantages of the behaviourist approach
1. Mechanistic view on behaviour 2. Environmental determinism (ignores idea of free will on behaviour.) 3. Ethical and practical issues in animal experiments.
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Name the advantages of the social learning theory
1. Explains cultural differences in behaviour 2. The importance of cognitive factors in learning.
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Name the disadvantages of the social learning theory
1. Over-reliance on evidence from lab studies 2.Underestimates the influence of biological factors
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Name the advantages of the cognitive approach
1. Scientific and objective methods 2. Real-life application
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Name the disadvantages of the cognitive approach
1. Machine reductionisim 2. Application to everyday life
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How did behaviourists conduct research? Why did they choose this method?

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They conducted lab experiments as they wanted to maintain more control and objectivity in terms of their research.

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Why did behaviourists replace humans with animals in lab experiments?

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Card 4

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What are the two forms of learning in behaviourism?

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What is classical conditioning?

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