Attachment 16 markers
✏️Origins of psychology
Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology lab, intending to describe the nature of human
consciousness in a controlled and scientific environment. He introduced introspection, which was
the first attempt to study the mind. Participants were given standardised stimuli and they would
report their thoughts to the stimuli. Introspection allowed scientists to work out the structure of the
consciousness. This was the beginning of scientific psychology.
In the 1900s, psychologists argued that introspection is subjective and depends on personal belief.
The behaviourist approach said that only scientific psychology should be measured and observed.
Skinner brought elements of natural sciences into psychology. Behaviourists in the 1930s focused on
scientific and controlled lab studies. The cognitive approach followed in the 1950s with mental
processes being studied, and predictions about memory. The 1980s brought the biological approach,
which was introduced with advances in technology like the creation of brain scanning techniques.
A strength is that there are aspects of Wundt's work that are scientific. Wundt recorded
introspection in a controlled lab environment. Wundt recorded the introspections in a controlled lab
and did standardised procedures so all participants had the same experience. This means that
Wundt's research can be considered scientific.
A limitation is that some aspects of Wundt's research are subjective. Wundt relied on participants
self-reporting their thoughts and mental processes. This could be subjective, and the participant
might have hidden some of their thoughts. This makes it hard to establish meaningful laws of
behaviour. Wundt's early efforts to study the mind were naïve and therefore wouldn’t meet the
criteria of scientific enquiry.
A strength is that research into modern psychology can claim to be scientific. Psychology has the
same aim as natural sciences which is to describe and understand behaviour. The different
approaches all use scientific methods which are controlled and unbiased. Throughout the 20th
century psychology established itself as a scientific principle.
A limitation of psychology is that some approaches use subjective data. The humanistic approach
doesn't create any laws of behaviour. The psychodynamic approach uses case studies with
unrepresentative samples. Psychologists who study humans would be active participants and so
respond to demand characteristics. A scientific approach to the study of humans is not completely
possible.
, ✏️Learning approaches: The behaviourist
approach
The behaviourist approach is only concerned with studying behaviour that can be observed and
measured. It isn't concerned with mental processes. Introspection was rejected by behaviourists
because the concepts were too vague and hard to measure. The behaviourists focused on controlled
lab studies. They said that the processes that humans go through, animals must also go through.
Because of this, they often replaced humans with animals for experiments.
Pavlov's research said that classical conditioning was used, which involved learning by association.
Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate when a bell rings. Before the conditioning, the unconditioned
stimulus was the food, and the unconditioned response was salivation, with the neutral stimulus
being the bell. During conditioning, Pavlov would ring the bell and present the food at the same
time, conditioning the dogs to associate the two together. After conditioning, the bell became a
conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response was salivation. This study showed how a neutral
stimulus can produce a learned, conditioned response.
Skinner carried out research on rats and pigeons, which demonstrated operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning is when your behaviours are shaped through consequences. Skinner put rats
and pigeons into specially designed boxes, called Skinner boxes. The rat would have to press a lever,
and the pigeon would peck a disk. This would cause the animal to be rewarded with a food pellet.
The desirable consequence would lead to the behaviour being repeated. If when they press a lever
they are avoiding an electric shock then the behaviour would also be repeated. Positive
reinforcement is when they are receiving a reward when the behaviour is performed. Negative
reinforcement is when they are avoiding something unpleasant when behaviour is performed.
Punishment is the unpleasant consequence of behaviour. Both positive and negative reinforcement
increase the likely hood of an event happening, whilst punishment decreases the likelihood of the
event.
A strength of the behaviourist approach is that the research is well-controlled. The approach focuses
on observable behaviour within controlled lab settings. Behaviourists have broken behaviour into
stimulus-response units and studied cause-and-effect relationships. This suggests that the
behaviourist approach has a lot of scientific credibility.
However, a counterpoint is that the approach might oversimplify how people learn, and ignore
important influences on behaviour, such as thoughts. Other approaches such as the social learning
theory and the cognitive approach, tend to incorporate mental processes.
Another strength is that the behaviourist laws of learning have real-world applications. The
principles of conditioning can be applied to many different real-world behaviours and problems.
Token economy systems reward good behaviour in exchange for rewards which is an example of
operant conditioning. This is sometimes used in prisons and psych wards. This increases the value of
the behaviourist approach because it has a wide range of applications.
A limitation is that behaviourism is a form of environmental determinism. The approach sees all
behaviour as determined by past experiences and ignores any room for free will. Skinner said that
free will was an illusion, and when something happens we might think we decided to do something,
but it was our past conditioning. This ignores any conscious choices and decisions on behaviour.
✏️Origins of psychology
Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology lab, intending to describe the nature of human
consciousness in a controlled and scientific environment. He introduced introspection, which was
the first attempt to study the mind. Participants were given standardised stimuli and they would
report their thoughts to the stimuli. Introspection allowed scientists to work out the structure of the
consciousness. This was the beginning of scientific psychology.
In the 1900s, psychologists argued that introspection is subjective and depends on personal belief.
The behaviourist approach said that only scientific psychology should be measured and observed.
Skinner brought elements of natural sciences into psychology. Behaviourists in the 1930s focused on
scientific and controlled lab studies. The cognitive approach followed in the 1950s with mental
processes being studied, and predictions about memory. The 1980s brought the biological approach,
which was introduced with advances in technology like the creation of brain scanning techniques.
A strength is that there are aspects of Wundt's work that are scientific. Wundt recorded
introspection in a controlled lab environment. Wundt recorded the introspections in a controlled lab
and did standardised procedures so all participants had the same experience. This means that
Wundt's research can be considered scientific.
A limitation is that some aspects of Wundt's research are subjective. Wundt relied on participants
self-reporting their thoughts and mental processes. This could be subjective, and the participant
might have hidden some of their thoughts. This makes it hard to establish meaningful laws of
behaviour. Wundt's early efforts to study the mind were naïve and therefore wouldn’t meet the
criteria of scientific enquiry.
A strength is that research into modern psychology can claim to be scientific. Psychology has the
same aim as natural sciences which is to describe and understand behaviour. The different
approaches all use scientific methods which are controlled and unbiased. Throughout the 20th
century psychology established itself as a scientific principle.
A limitation of psychology is that some approaches use subjective data. The humanistic approach
doesn't create any laws of behaviour. The psychodynamic approach uses case studies with
unrepresentative samples. Psychologists who study humans would be active participants and so
respond to demand characteristics. A scientific approach to the study of humans is not completely
possible.
, ✏️Learning approaches: The behaviourist
approach
The behaviourist approach is only concerned with studying behaviour that can be observed and
measured. It isn't concerned with mental processes. Introspection was rejected by behaviourists
because the concepts were too vague and hard to measure. The behaviourists focused on controlled
lab studies. They said that the processes that humans go through, animals must also go through.
Because of this, they often replaced humans with animals for experiments.
Pavlov's research said that classical conditioning was used, which involved learning by association.
Pavlov conditioned dogs to salivate when a bell rings. Before the conditioning, the unconditioned
stimulus was the food, and the unconditioned response was salivation, with the neutral stimulus
being the bell. During conditioning, Pavlov would ring the bell and present the food at the same
time, conditioning the dogs to associate the two together. After conditioning, the bell became a
conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response was salivation. This study showed how a neutral
stimulus can produce a learned, conditioned response.
Skinner carried out research on rats and pigeons, which demonstrated operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning is when your behaviours are shaped through consequences. Skinner put rats
and pigeons into specially designed boxes, called Skinner boxes. The rat would have to press a lever,
and the pigeon would peck a disk. This would cause the animal to be rewarded with a food pellet.
The desirable consequence would lead to the behaviour being repeated. If when they press a lever
they are avoiding an electric shock then the behaviour would also be repeated. Positive
reinforcement is when they are receiving a reward when the behaviour is performed. Negative
reinforcement is when they are avoiding something unpleasant when behaviour is performed.
Punishment is the unpleasant consequence of behaviour. Both positive and negative reinforcement
increase the likely hood of an event happening, whilst punishment decreases the likelihood of the
event.
A strength of the behaviourist approach is that the research is well-controlled. The approach focuses
on observable behaviour within controlled lab settings. Behaviourists have broken behaviour into
stimulus-response units and studied cause-and-effect relationships. This suggests that the
behaviourist approach has a lot of scientific credibility.
However, a counterpoint is that the approach might oversimplify how people learn, and ignore
important influences on behaviour, such as thoughts. Other approaches such as the social learning
theory and the cognitive approach, tend to incorporate mental processes.
Another strength is that the behaviourist laws of learning have real-world applications. The
principles of conditioning can be applied to many different real-world behaviours and problems.
Token economy systems reward good behaviour in exchange for rewards which is an example of
operant conditioning. This is sometimes used in prisons and psych wards. This increases the value of
the behaviourist approach because it has a wide range of applications.
A limitation is that behaviourism is a form of environmental determinism. The approach sees all
behaviour as determined by past experiences and ignores any room for free will. Skinner said that
free will was an illusion, and when something happens we might think we decided to do something,
but it was our past conditioning. This ignores any conscious choices and decisions on behaviour.
