PSYCHOLOGY TOPIC 1: APPROACHES
Behaviourist Approach:
Stimulus: anything, internal or external, that brings about a response
Response: any reaction in the presence of a stimulus
Reinforcement: the process by which a response is strengthened
Positive Reinforcement: involves a reward for the behaviour
Negative Reinforcement: Involves the removal of or escaping unpleasant
consequences
Positive Punishment: Receiving something unpleasant
Negative Punishment: Removing something desirable
Behaviour: A result of a stimulus in the environment
Innate: Something you are born with
Punishment: Decreases behaviour you don’t want
Social Learning Theory:
Live Model: People who are present in our environment
Symbolic Model: People who are present in the media
Identification: When an individual adopts an attitude or behaviour in line with their
role model
Imitation: Using something/someone as a model and copying their behaviour
Mediational Processes: The internal mental processes that exist between
environmental stimuli and the response made by an individual to those stimuli
Modelling: A form of learning where individuals learn a particular behaviour by
observing another individual performing that behaviour
Social Learning Theory: Learning through observing others and imitating
behaviours that are rewarded
Vicarious Reinforcement: Learning that is not a result of direct reinforcement of
behaviour but through observing someone else being reinforced for that behaviour
Cognitive Approach:
Cognitive Approach: Focuses on how mental processes affect behaviour
Internal Mental Processes: “Private” operations of the mind such as perception and
attention that mediate between stimulus and response
Schema: A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive
processing. They are developed from experience
Inference: The process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the
way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
Cognitive Neuroscience: The scientific study of biological structures that underpin
cognitive processes
The Biological Approach:
Genotype: The actual set of genes an individual has or is made up of
, Phenotype: An individual’s anatomical features or observed traits
Heterozygous: The genotype consists of two different genes e.g. Bb
Homozygous: The genotype consists of two genes that are the same e.g. BB
Evolution: The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over
successive generations
The Principle of Diversity: The variety within a species
The Principle of Interaction: How this variety of species adapt and fit in with the
environment
The Principle of Differential Amplification: Those who adapt to their environment
will reproduce and those that don’t will die out
Behaviourist Approach:
Stimulus: anything, internal or external, that brings about a response
Response: any reaction in the presence of a stimulus
Reinforcement: the process by which a response is strengthened
Positive Reinforcement: involves a reward for the behaviour
Negative Reinforcement: Involves the removal of or escaping unpleasant
consequences
Positive Punishment: Receiving something unpleasant
Negative Punishment: Removing something desirable
Behaviour: A result of a stimulus in the environment
Innate: Something you are born with
Punishment: Decreases behaviour you don’t want
Social Learning Theory:
Live Model: People who are present in our environment
Symbolic Model: People who are present in the media
Identification: When an individual adopts an attitude or behaviour in line with their
role model
Imitation: Using something/someone as a model and copying their behaviour
Mediational Processes: The internal mental processes that exist between
environmental stimuli and the response made by an individual to those stimuli
Modelling: A form of learning where individuals learn a particular behaviour by
observing another individual performing that behaviour
Social Learning Theory: Learning through observing others and imitating
behaviours that are rewarded
Vicarious Reinforcement: Learning that is not a result of direct reinforcement of
behaviour but through observing someone else being reinforced for that behaviour
Cognitive Approach:
Cognitive Approach: Focuses on how mental processes affect behaviour
Internal Mental Processes: “Private” operations of the mind such as perception and
attention that mediate between stimulus and response
Schema: A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive
processing. They are developed from experience
Inference: The process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the
way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
Cognitive Neuroscience: The scientific study of biological structures that underpin
cognitive processes
The Biological Approach:
Genotype: The actual set of genes an individual has or is made up of
, Phenotype: An individual’s anatomical features or observed traits
Heterozygous: The genotype consists of two different genes e.g. Bb
Homozygous: The genotype consists of two genes that are the same e.g. BB
Evolution: The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over
successive generations
The Principle of Diversity: The variety within a species
The Principle of Interaction: How this variety of species adapt and fit in with the
environment
The Principle of Differential Amplification: Those who adapt to their environment
will reproduce and those that don’t will die out
