Approaches
Origins of Psychology
Social Learning Theory
Humanistic Approach
Biological Approach
Behaviourism
Psychodynamic Approach
Cognitive Approach
Introspection
Science
His approach was to study the structure of the human mind, by breaking down behaviours into their basic elements, hence his approach became known as structuralism
In 1873, Wilhelm Wundt published the first book on psychology 'Principles of Physiological Psychology' and in 1879, opened the first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany
He is often considered the father of psychology
AO3
Wundt established psychology as a science using scientific method - his ideas would lead to multiple different psychological perspectives
The process by which a person gains knowledge about their own mental and emotional states as a result of observation or examination of their conscious thoughts and feelings
Introspection wasn't entirely scientific
The behaviourist approach was made and the emergence of psychology as a science began with highly controlled lab experiments
3 major features
The scientific method refers to investigative methods that are objective, empirically tested and replicable
The aim is to uncover general laws
Allows for theories to be developed to explain human behaviour that can be tested and modified
The means of acquiring knowledge through systematic and objective investigation
Objectivity - basing findings on fact that have been measured
Replicability - the ability to repeat a study and achieve the same findings
Empirical methods - phenomenon that can be observed and measured methodically
Can still be seen today
Relies primarily on non-observable responses and although ppts can report conscious experiences, they are unable to comment on unconscious factors relating to their behaviour
Produced subjective data so it was difficult to establish general principles
Meant that introspective experimental results aren't reliably reproduced by other researchers
Early behaviourists were achieving reliably reproducible results, discovering explanatory principles that could be generalised
AO3
Once cause is established, treatments can be developed
Knowledge acquired is accurate and produces facts due to the use of objective and controlled studies
Allows the causes of behaviour to be established and theories developed which can then be tested and modified
There are certain areas of human behaviour that cannot be observed and cannot be measured using scientific methods
Focuses on being objective and conducting research in strictly controlled environments
Tells us little about how people behave in natural environments
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Assumptions
AO3
History
Became the dominant approach in psychology
Only interested in behaviour that can be observed
Emerged at the start of the 20th century
Big use of lab experiments
Learning is the same in all species
Learn through 2 processes
We acquire behaviour from the stimuli around us
All humans are born a blank slate
Behaviour is learnt from experiences a person has
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Learning through association, when 2 stimuli are repeatedly paired together
Pavlov's Research (1901)
Pavlov used an apparatus to measure the amount of saliva produced when a dog ate
The flow of saliva occurred naturally when food was placed in the dog's mouth (involuntary reflex response)
Found that dogs can be conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell if the sound was repeatedly presented at the same time as the food
Before conditioning
During conditioning
After conditioning
Bell (neutral stimulus) causes no salivation
Bell (neutral stimulus) + Food (unconditioned stimulus) causes salivation (unconditioned response)
Bell (conditioned stimulus) causes salivation (conditioned response)
Reinforcement
Skinner Box
Behaviour is learnt by consequences through both reinforcement and punishment
Positive - getting a reward when a certain behaviour is performed
Negative - avoiding something unpleasant
A consequence of behaviour that increases the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated
Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
From this, a food pellet would drop into the box
The box contained a lever on the side and as the rat moved about the box, it would accidentally knock the lever
The rats quickly learnt to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box
A rat was placed in a box
The consequence of receiving food, if they pressed the lever, ensured that they would repeat the action
As the rat moved about the box, it would accidentally knock the lever, so the electric current would be switched off
The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever after a few times of being put in the box
Placed a rat in the Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current
The consequences of avoiding the electric current ensured that they would repeat the action again and again
Mechanistic View of Behaviour
Free Will vs Determinism
Real-life Application
Ethical Issues
Scientific Credibility
Use of strict, controlled lab studies adds reliability and credibility to the approach
Applies to broad aspects of everyday behaviour can can be used in classrooms, prisoner and psychiatric hospitals
Humans are seen as passive with little or no conscious thoughts to their behaviour
Too deterministic - humans have no choice
Extrapolation of data
Bandura (1961) - Bobo Doll Study
Role of Mediational Processes
Vicarious Reinforcement
Identification
Assumptions
AO3
Things take place within the organism that mediate between stimuli and response
Behaviour is learnt through observation and imitation
Process of observational learning takes place as an individual identifies with a role model
Agrees with behaviourists that humans learn from experiences
Learn in two ways
Direct - through CC and OC
Indirectly through vicarious reinforcement
Learning through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour
The human hasn't directly experienced the behaviour but can learn by imitating what they see
Pre-tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing the children and judging their aggressive behaviour on four 5-point rating scales
Laboratory experiment
The children were then split into 3 experiment groups
Tested 72 children (36 boys and 36 girls)
Results
A study to investigate if aggression can be acquired by observation and imitation
24 - aggressive role model
24 - non-aggressive role model
24 - control group, no model
Children that observed the aggressive model imitated more aggressive responses than the other 2 groups
Boys imitated more physical aggression than girls
Children learn social behaviour through the process of observation learning
Used as a control group and not exposed to a model
Watched an adult behaving non-aggressively who played quietly, ignoring the bobo doll
Model attacked the bobo doll in a distinctive manner
Watched an adult behave aggressively towards a bob doll
Focuses on how mental processes are involved in learning
These outline what is needed in order for a behaviour to be learnt
We follow a process to learn through observations
The use of mental processes
Attenton - the extent to which a person pays attention to others' behaviour
Retention - they memorise the behaviour they have observed
Motor reproduction - the ability to carry out the behaviour
Motivation - given a reason (rewards + punishment)
Particularly seen in children
This is known as modelling
When we associate ourselves with a role model and want to be like them
You may become a model if you have
Similar characteristics
High status
Attractive
Demand Characteristics
Biological Factors
More comprehensive
Takes thought processes into account and acknowledges the role they play in deciding if behaviour is to be imitated or not
It has been suggested that the main purpose of the Bobo doll is to strike it, the children were simply behaving how they thought was expected
The research may tell us little about how children actually learn aggression
Lab studies are often criticised for their artificial nature where ppts may respond to demand characteristis
One finding was that boys were often more aggressive than girls in the Bobo doll study
Differences in testosterone could explain this
Bandura makes little reference to the impact of biology
This important influence isn't accounted for in SLT
Defense mechanisms
Psychosexual stages
Causes of behaviour
Oedipus complex
Assumptions
AO3
Freud
The emergence of society required us to bring our animal impulses under control
Believed out personality contained several parts that are continually at war with each other
We are animals, driven by basic biological motives
The conflict arises between these parts is what drives behaviour
Personality has 3 components
Childhood experience determine adult personality; development in childhood occurs through the psychosexual stages
The large part of mental processes occur at an unconscious level and determines behaviour
The typical research method is case studies of individuals
Ego
Id
Superego
Sometimes uses defence mechanisms to prevent harm to itself
A result of a compromise between 3 parts of the psyche
Ego - reality
Superego - morality
Id - instincts
Made up of selfish, aggressive instincts that demand immediate gratification
Develops first at birth
Entirely unconscious
The reality check that balances the demands of other elements
Develops second from ages 2-4
The moralistic part of our personality which represents the ideal self
Develops third from ages 4-5
Denial
Regression
Displacement
Repression
Sublimation
The person forgets the event
Reverting to an earlier stage of development
Pushing an event or emotion out of consciousness
Redirecting desires onto a safe object
The channeling of unwanted impulses into something useful
Each has a conflict that has to be resolved to move onto the next stage
If the child gets stuck in a stage (fixation), they will carry this with them into adulthood and affect their psyche
Five stages of psychosexual development
Almost all children become fixated
Latency stage
Genital stage
Phallic stage (3-5 years)
Anal stage (1-3 years)
Oral stage (0-1 years)
Focus of pleasure is the mouth, mother's breast is the object of desire
Oral fixation, smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical
Focus on pleasure is the anus, child gains pleasure from withholding and expelling faeces
Anal-retentive-perfectionist, obsessive, anal expulsive-thoughts, messy
Focus of pleasure is the genital area, child experiences the Oedipus or Electra complex
Phallic personality, narcissistic, reckless, possible homosexual
Early conflicts are suppressed
Sexual desires become conscious alongside the onset of puberty
Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships
Describes a boy's feelings of desire for his mother and jealousy and anger towards his father
A boy feels like he is in competition with his father for possession of his mother
A sense of rivalry with the parent of the same sex
He views his father as a rival for her attentions and affections
A desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex
The Id wants to eliminate the father but the ego knows that the father is much stronger
Castration anxiety - so the boy identifies with his father
It takes both nature and nurture into account
The case study method
Explanatory Power
Untestable concepts
Significant in drawing on experiences from our childhood
Remained dominant during 20th century, along with behaviourism and has been used to explain a wide range of behaviours, including moral development, gender and forensics
It has had a huge impact on psychology
Used in modern day approaches
Paved the way
Treatment
Produced a therapy called psycho-analysis
Viewing out nurture as more important
Not interactionist approach as they aren't split equally
Basic biological drives to do things
His interpretations are highly subjective
Although detailed and thought out, they can't be universally true for all behaviour and humans
An idiographic appraoch but was used to create nomothetic laws
Based on intensive study of single individuals
No experiments, just talking to people
Such as mind being split into 3 parts, role of unconscious
Assumptions cannot be scientifically measured and no element of falsifiability
Self-Actualisation
Maslow
Carl Rogers
Assumptions
Conditions of Worth
Origins and history
AO3
Termed the 'third force', it aimed to replace the two main approaches - behaviourism and psychoanalysis
Less deterministic and artificial approach
Developed in America in the early 1950s
Concerned with human experiences, uniqueness, meaning, freedom and choice
Free will
Holism
Every individual is unique
The scientific method
We are all different and there is no point trying to generalise to groups as there are so many differences within each group
This way of viewing people is idiographic
Difficult to prove but not an issue to humanists
The approach acknowledges that we have constraints on our free will but maintains that if we want to do something, we have the ability to choose to do it
Have the ultimate ability to choose what we do and we are in control of our behaviour
If we consider only one part, we might miss what is actually affecting them
There is no point in looking at just one aspect of an individual
Humanists don't agree with focusing just on childhood but rather the whole life
Humanism doesn't consider itself a science
Argues that science is too objective when humans are subjective
The scientific method isn't a good way to measure behaviour
Basic needs to higher level psychological needs
All 4 levels must be met before an individual can work towards self-actualisation
Desire to grow and develop to achieve our full potential
Emphasises uniquely human motivational factors - higher level needs are a later evolutionary development
Motivated by needs beyond those of biological survival
The achievement of our full potential
The ultimate feeling of well-being and satisfaction, theorists argue it is a drive we all have, but we don't all achieve it
Research (Sheffield et al, 1995) has shown that there is a positive correlation between an individual's level of self-actualisation and their psychological health
The state of self-actualisation isn't permanent and if all the 5 needs don't remain, then an individual can move out of the state until all needs have been met
The real self - the person you actually are
The ideal self - the self you wish to be
Incongruent
Self-concept - the self you feel you are
Congruent
There is only a little overlap
Self-actualisation will be difficult
Self-image is different to ideal self
Self-image is similar to the ideal self
There is more overlap
Self-actualisation is possible
Ig given without conditions (unconditional positive regard) then people will develop a healthy sense of self-worth
Children who receive negative regard, such as criticism, develop low self-esteem
Humans have a basic need to feel valued
To avoid this, the parents should blame the behaviour not the child
Untestable Concepts
Culture Bias
Holistic
Practical Application
The therapy is beneficial due to acknowledging that individuals have free will and have the ability to improve themselves
However, Roger's client-centred approach isn't suitable for treating serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression
Client-centred therapy has had a major impact on counselling psychology
Unique by adopting holism and focusing on individual's subjective experiences as a whole, as a method of investigating behaviour
A refreshing alternative
Self-actualisation cannot be objectively measured
Congruence may be up to personal judgement
Lack of empirical evidence and no possibility of systematically observing and measuring the processes which it describes
The idea of self-actualisation can be viewed as attitudes of Western culture
Humanism may be more readily accepted in the West
Cognitive Models
Role of Schemas
Assumptions
Theoretical and Computer Models
Mental Processes
Cognitive Neuroscience
According to the cog. approach, the black box represents our brain, to understand internal mental processes, we look in the black box
AO3
Perception
Language
Emotions
Thought
Memory
Internal mental processes can be studied in an objective, scientific way
Humans actively process information from the environment through the senses
Focus on internal mental processes
The mind operates in the same way as a computer
Cognitive psychologists use the results of their research to develop models of how people process information
They infer mental processes and make predictions of behaviour
Inference - reaching a logical conclusion based on evidence
Behave according to our schemas
Shortcuts to interpreting that huge amount of info we encounter day to day
We have a schema for everything we do
All have individual schemas
Small packages of info that are made up of past experiences we have encountered
Influence how we see the world and our surroundings
Human mind is compared to a computer as cognitive processes select, code, store and retrieve information
Humans are viewed as information processors
Can get detailed info on
Done by PET scans and fMRI scans
Can now study the brain in more detail
Brain structure
Brain activity for processing info
Easily combined with other approaches - CBT
Takes into account the internal thought-processes that affect our behaviour
A viable approach which has been used to create MSM, supported by other experiments
Depends largely on controlled experiments to observe human behaviour which may lack ecological validity
Doesn't take into account genetic factors
How do we know that the person's brain hasn't always been like that therefore can't draw cause and effect
Reductionist to an extent, case studies are taken into account
Genetic Basis of Behaviour
Influence of Biological Structures
Different Research Methods
Evolution
We must look at biological structures such as genes, neurochemistry and the nervous system
AO3
Twin studies
Using animals to investigate brain function by damaging specific areas of an animal's brain
Scanning techniques (MRI)
Detailed case studies of people suffering from brain damage
Method to measure brain activity (EEG)
Electroencephalography (EEG) is the recording of electrical activity along the scalp
Magnetic resonance imaging is a medical imaging technique used to investigate the anatomy and physiology of the body
Using MZ and DZ to look for differences or similarities
H.M or Clive Wearing
Genetics - the genetic makeup of organism and how genes influence physical and behavioural characteristic
Heredity - traits, characteristics and behavioural tendencies inherited from one's parents or ancestors
The DNA on each chromosome carries information called genes which make up who we are
They look at twin studies and concordance rates
Behaviour geneticists - study if behavioural characteristics are inherited
Genotype is the set of the genes in our DNA responsible for a particular trait, it's our genetic makeup
Monozygotic twins - they develop from one egg and one sperm and share 100% chromosomes
Dizygotic twins - 2 diff. eggs and 2 diff. sperms and share 50% chromosomes
Concordance rates - used in genetics, usually means the presence of the same trait in both members of a set of twins
Phenotype is the way the genes are expressed through physical, behavioural and psychological characteristics
Peripheral nervous system (PNS) - carries messages, around the body concerned with moving, breathing, eating
Brain
The central nervous system (CNS) - brain and spinal cord
Hormones
Responsible for higher order functions such as language and thought
The brain is split into different lobes - each responsible for all aspects of behaviour
These hormones then influence our behaviour depending on their task
They are chemicals produced by our glands which are secreted into our bloodstream
Fit organisms are more likely to survive
Characters favoured by evolution
Natural Selection
An organism's ability to survive depends on how well its characteristics allow it to
All about how well an organism is adapted to its environment
Exploit the opportunities available in its environment
Avoid or deal with the threats presented by its environment
The enviornment changes over time
They pass on their genes to the next generation
The genes for successful characteristics spread through the population
Consequently, they are more likely to mate and have offspring
What women want
What men want
Attracted to men who are reliable and unlikely to roam to other females
They want strong, viable offspring
Attracted to men who are able to defend and provide
To produce as many offspring as they can and seek to find healthy, fertile women
Signs of youth
Many empirical studies to support theories
Experiments - low ecology validity
Highly applicable to other areas
Too deterministic
Very scientific
Doesn't recognise cognitive processes
Follows scientific process
Brain scanning techniques
Lab studies
Adds validity
Link to scientific
Lab studies, don't know the brain isn't thinking of other things
Just because you have the gene doesn't mean you are that thing
No one has any choice