APPROACH KEY POINTS
Origins Of Psychology Wundt: 'father of psychology', set
up first psychology lab in Leipzig Germany,
advocated the use of introspection:
systematic analysis of ones own conscious
experience
emergence of psychology as a
science: Watson argued that
introspection was unscientific and a
truly scientific psychology should
restrict itself to studying
observable, Water + Skinner
brought the language , methods
and rigour of the natural sciences
into psychology
Learning approaches: Behaviourism basic assumptions: behaviour is
learnt, focuses on observable
+measurable behaviour,
nomothetic
classical conditioning: learning
through association, extinction- CS
now longer produces CR,
spontaneous recovery- CS + UCS
paired again response more quickly
Pavlov’s research: dog + food + bell
operant conditioning: learning
through consequences
types of reinforcement: positive-
reward for certain behaviour
unpleasant
Skinners research: rats responded
to levers and electric shocks
AO3 *
scientific credibility uses language +
methods of natural sciences
real life application to token
economy systems which is used in
education and hospitals
deterministic as it ignores influence
of free will on behaviour
Learning approaches: social basic assumption: learning takes
learning theory place within a social context
imitation: copying behaviour of a
model
identification: attachment to a
model with characteristics they
observer desires
modelling: observing + imitating
the behaviour of a model
, vicarious reinforcement: learning
indirectly
what distinguishes it from
behaviourism is that observation +
performance do not need to occur
together the observer can
internalise the behaviour +
reproduce later
the role of mediational process:
they come between stimulus and
response , attention, retention,
assessment of our ability and
motivation
Banduras research: children ages
2.5 to 6 yrs, 3 groups:
reinforcement- rewarded with
sweets, punishment and control,
boys more aggressive and
reinforcement group had higher
aggression
AO3 *
less determinist than the
behaviourist approach: Bandura
emphasised reciprocal determinism
over-reliance on evidence from lab
studies with contrived nature so we
cannot generalise
underestimates the influence of
biological factors e.g. in Banduras
experiment testosterone may
have been a confounding variable
which systematically affected the
results
Cognitive approach basic assumptions: behaviour is
influenced by unconscious +
conscious thoughts, mind and body
is separate, use controlled research
the study of internal mental
processes: use inference as direct
observation sis not possible
the role of schema: they are mental
processes about our knowledge
and understanding, enable us to
process lots of info quickly but they
may lead to distortion + perceptual
errors
the use of theoretical and
computer models: information
processing approach- storage input
and retrieval, computer analogy-
similar to computer in terms of
APPROACH KEY POINTS
Origins Of Psychology Wundt: 'father of psychology', set
up first psychology lab in Leipzig Germany,
advocated the use of introspection:
systematic analysis of ones own conscious
experience
emergence of psychology as a
science: Watson argued that
introspection was unscientific and a
truly scientific psychology should
restrict itself to studying
observable, Water + Skinner
brought the language , methods
and rigour of the natural sciences
into psychology
Learning approaches: Behaviourism basic assumptions: behaviour is
learnt, focuses on observable
+measurable behaviour,
nomothetic
classical conditioning: learning
through association, extinction- CS
now longer produces CR,
spontaneous recovery- CS + UCS
paired again response more quickly
Pavlov’s research: dog + food + bell
operant conditioning: learning
through consequences
types of reinforcement: positive-
reward for certain behaviour
unpleasant
Skinners research: rats responded
to levers and electric shocks
AO3 *
scientific credibility uses language +
methods of natural sciences
real life application to token
economy systems which is used in
education and hospitals
deterministic as it ignores influence
of free will on behaviour
Learning approaches: social basic assumption: learning takes
learning theory place within a social context
imitation: copying behaviour of a
model
identification: attachment to a
model with characteristics they
observer desires
modelling: observing + imitating
the behaviour of a model
, vicarious reinforcement: learning
indirectly
what distinguishes it from
behaviourism is that observation +
performance do not need to occur
together the observer can
internalise the behaviour +
reproduce later
the role of mediational process:
they come between stimulus and
response , attention, retention,
assessment of our ability and
motivation
Banduras research: children ages
2.5 to 6 yrs, 3 groups:
reinforcement- rewarded with
sweets, punishment and control,
boys more aggressive and
reinforcement group had higher
aggression
AO3 *
less determinist than the
behaviourist approach: Bandura
emphasised reciprocal determinism
over-reliance on evidence from lab
studies with contrived nature so we
cannot generalise
underestimates the influence of
biological factors e.g. in Banduras
experiment testosterone may
have been a confounding variable
which systematically affected the
results
Cognitive approach basic assumptions: behaviour is
influenced by unconscious +
conscious thoughts, mind and body
is separate, use controlled research
the study of internal mental
processes: use inference as direct
observation sis not possible
the role of schema: they are mental
processes about our knowledge
and understanding, enable us to
process lots of info quickly but they
may lead to distortion + perceptual
errors
the use of theoretical and
computer models: information
processing approach- storage input
and retrieval, computer analogy-
similar to computer in terms of
