Approaches
,Approaches
The emergence of psychology as a science
Wundt’s lab was the 1st lab, where he documented and studied the nature of human
consciousness, this is introspection
Outline and evaluate the behaviourist approach in psychology
AO1
studied observed behaviour that can be measured
Watson rejected introspection as it was too vague
behaviourists believed like darwin that basic processes of learning are the same in all
species so they used animals as experimental subjects
identified two forms of learning
classical is learning through associations, shown with pavlov's dogs that were
conditioned to salivate as the dog associated the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus)
with food (unconditioned stimulus) to produce a conditioned response
Operant learning is where humans operate on their environment
positive reinforcement is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed,
like praise
negative reinforcement is when you perform desired behaviour so you can avoid
unpleasant consequence
Skinner’s box: every time the rat pulled the lever, it was given food led to rat repeating
the behaviour
AO3
Behaviorism has scientific credibility, able to bring the language and methods of
normal sciences into psychology by focusing on observable behaviour in highly
controlled lab settings, emphasising the importance of scientific processes such as
objectivity and replication, behaviourism was influential in the development of
psychology as a scientific discipline giving it credibility and status. However, this
approach is reductionist as it ignores internal mental processes that influence
behaviour, like thoughts and memory.
The behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as environmentally determined by past
experiences that have been conditioned, Skinner suggested that everything we do is
the sum total of our reinforcement history. This ignores any possible influence that
free will may have on behaviour as he suggests that free will is an illusion. When
something happens we impose a sense of having made the decision but according to
skinner our past conditioning history determined the outcome. However, many take
an interactionist view saying that behaviour is environmentally influenced and free
will plays a role.
Many critics have questioned the ethics of conducting investigations with animals,
like skinner box and pavlov’s dogs. Animals were exposed to stressful and aversive
conditions, which may also have affected how they reacted to the experimental
situation, plus animals and humans are completely different, so you can’t generalise
animal findings to humans. However, evolution supports that many basic learning is
similar across al species and that they share biological mechanisms, also by
following strict ethical guidelines this could minimise harm and ensure animals are
okay.
, Outline and evaluate the social learning theory approach
AO1
Bandura agrees that behaviour is learned through experience, but his social learning
theory proposed its through observation and imitation
imitation only occurs when behaviour seen is rewarded rather than punished ie.
vicarious reinforcement
learner observes and sees the consequences of a behaviour
Slt is the bridge between learning theory and the cognitive approach as it focuses on
mental factors, there is 4 mental or mediational processes in learning
1. attention
2. retention
3. motor reproduction
4. motivation
people are more likely to imitate the behaviour of role models, this is called modelling
AO3
There is research support as Bandura recorded behaviour of young children who
watched an adult behave in an aggressive way towards a bobo doll. The adult hit it
with a hammer and shouted at it, children then played with the bobo doll and behaved
more aggressively towards it than those who had observed a non aggressive adult.
However, this is not the same as real world aggression so the results may not
generalise to everyday situations.
Many of Bandura's ideas were developed through observation of young children’s
behaviour in lab settings. Lab studies are often criticised for demand characteristics.
It has been suggested that in the bobo doll study, because the main purpose is to
strike it, the children were simply behaving in a way that was expected. However, lab
studies do allow for high control and allow researchers to identify casual
relationships, giving it scientific validity.
Slt has the advantage of explaining cultural differences in behaviour. Slt principles
can account for how children learn from other individuals around them as well as
through the media and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through
societies, This is useful in understanding a range of behaviours such as how children
come to understand their gender role. However, slt may be too reductionist in
explaining cultural behaviour as its also influenced by biological factors like
hormones and genetics, not everyone exposed to the same cultural models develops
identical behaviours, internal factors plays a role.
Describe and evaluate the cognitive approach in psychology
AO1
argues that internal mental processes should be studied
one way to study internal processes is through theoretical models,
information processing approach model suggests that info flows through the system
in stages that include input, storage and retrieval like the multi store model
Computer models suggests computer and the mind are similar in the way info is
processed, like the concept of central processing unit (brain), coding and stores that
hold info.
,Approaches
The emergence of psychology as a science
Wundt’s lab was the 1st lab, where he documented and studied the nature of human
consciousness, this is introspection
Outline and evaluate the behaviourist approach in psychology
AO1
studied observed behaviour that can be measured
Watson rejected introspection as it was too vague
behaviourists believed like darwin that basic processes of learning are the same in all
species so they used animals as experimental subjects
identified two forms of learning
classical is learning through associations, shown with pavlov's dogs that were
conditioned to salivate as the dog associated the sound of a bell (neutral stimulus)
with food (unconditioned stimulus) to produce a conditioned response
Operant learning is where humans operate on their environment
positive reinforcement is receiving a reward when a certain behaviour is performed,
like praise
negative reinforcement is when you perform desired behaviour so you can avoid
unpleasant consequence
Skinner’s box: every time the rat pulled the lever, it was given food led to rat repeating
the behaviour
AO3
Behaviorism has scientific credibility, able to bring the language and methods of
normal sciences into psychology by focusing on observable behaviour in highly
controlled lab settings, emphasising the importance of scientific processes such as
objectivity and replication, behaviourism was influential in the development of
psychology as a scientific discipline giving it credibility and status. However, this
approach is reductionist as it ignores internal mental processes that influence
behaviour, like thoughts and memory.
The behaviourist approach sees all behaviour as environmentally determined by past
experiences that have been conditioned, Skinner suggested that everything we do is
the sum total of our reinforcement history. This ignores any possible influence that
free will may have on behaviour as he suggests that free will is an illusion. When
something happens we impose a sense of having made the decision but according to
skinner our past conditioning history determined the outcome. However, many take
an interactionist view saying that behaviour is environmentally influenced and free
will plays a role.
Many critics have questioned the ethics of conducting investigations with animals,
like skinner box and pavlov’s dogs. Animals were exposed to stressful and aversive
conditions, which may also have affected how they reacted to the experimental
situation, plus animals and humans are completely different, so you can’t generalise
animal findings to humans. However, evolution supports that many basic learning is
similar across al species and that they share biological mechanisms, also by
following strict ethical guidelines this could minimise harm and ensure animals are
okay.
, Outline and evaluate the social learning theory approach
AO1
Bandura agrees that behaviour is learned through experience, but his social learning
theory proposed its through observation and imitation
imitation only occurs when behaviour seen is rewarded rather than punished ie.
vicarious reinforcement
learner observes and sees the consequences of a behaviour
Slt is the bridge between learning theory and the cognitive approach as it focuses on
mental factors, there is 4 mental or mediational processes in learning
1. attention
2. retention
3. motor reproduction
4. motivation
people are more likely to imitate the behaviour of role models, this is called modelling
AO3
There is research support as Bandura recorded behaviour of young children who
watched an adult behave in an aggressive way towards a bobo doll. The adult hit it
with a hammer and shouted at it, children then played with the bobo doll and behaved
more aggressively towards it than those who had observed a non aggressive adult.
However, this is not the same as real world aggression so the results may not
generalise to everyday situations.
Many of Bandura's ideas were developed through observation of young children’s
behaviour in lab settings. Lab studies are often criticised for demand characteristics.
It has been suggested that in the bobo doll study, because the main purpose is to
strike it, the children were simply behaving in a way that was expected. However, lab
studies do allow for high control and allow researchers to identify casual
relationships, giving it scientific validity.
Slt has the advantage of explaining cultural differences in behaviour. Slt principles
can account for how children learn from other individuals around them as well as
through the media and this can explain how cultural norms are transmitted through
societies, This is useful in understanding a range of behaviours such as how children
come to understand their gender role. However, slt may be too reductionist in
explaining cultural behaviour as its also influenced by biological factors like
hormones and genetics, not everyone exposed to the same cultural models develops
identical behaviours, internal factors plays a role.
Describe and evaluate the cognitive approach in psychology
AO1
argues that internal mental processes should be studied
one way to study internal processes is through theoretical models,
information processing approach model suggests that info flows through the system
in stages that include input, storage and retrieval like the multi store model
Computer models suggests computer and the mind are similar in the way info is
processed, like the concept of central processing unit (brain), coding and stores that
hold info.
