psychology approaches
behaviourist approach
social learning theory
the cognitive approach
the biological approach
assumptions
only interested in recording observable behaviour
reject introspection and mental processes as they are 'not relevent'
behaviourists prefer lab studies in order to control and objectify subjects of their research
they believe that all behaviour is learned and that the process of learning is the same in all species so animal studies can transfer across
they only believe in two forms of learning, classical conditioning and operant conditioning
classical conditioning vs. operant conditioning
pavlov showed that dogs could be conditioned to drool at the sound of a bell via classical conditioning and the bell being rung every-time that the dog was given food
skinner showed that rats/pidgeons could be conditioned to press a button to recieve food by using negative reinforcement which is different to classical conditioning
he also showed that the button could be pressed to stop a negative stimulus such as an electric shock in this case.
assumptions
all behaviour is learnt through the observation and imitation of others
SLT says that learning occurs through classical and operant conditioning indirectly and directly
vicarious reinforcement is the process of learning a behaviour via the observation of consequences of behaviour
mediational processes
attention-the extent to which we notice certain behaviours
retention-how well the behaviour is remembered
motor reproduction-the ability of the observer to perform the behaviour
motivation-the will to perform the behaviour, which is often determined by wether the behaviour is rewarded or punished
identification, when people (particularly children) imitate people they identify with.
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approaches
belief that mental internal processes should be studied unlike behaviourist approach
processing is done through the role of schema which is the beliefs and expectations learnt over time for example sitting on a chair
theoretical and computer models, theoretical models are abstract computer models are concrete
babies are born with a simple schema for suckling for example but as we grow up we get more complicated schema
each model is used to explain certain mental processes, for example the information processing approach suggests that info flows through the system in stages.