Approaches psychology

Approaches psychology

Introduction as psychology as a science 

The scientific method- Wilhelm Wundt

Wundt decided that psychology needed to be studied scientifically. 

The method he used was introspection: 

This required individuals to examine their own thoughts and feelings, in order to try and establish the experience of consciousness

He used introspection to develop his theory of strucuralism 

Structuralism was the idea that our mental processes can be broken down into basic elements such as sensations, images, and affections. 

Behaviourism

This is the idea that all behaviour is a result of learning and experience. Behaviourists believe that all individuals are blank slates, they support the nurture side in the nature- nurture debate. 

Pavlov- classical conditioning

Pavlov developed the theory of classical conditioning. 

This theory states that our behaviour is a result of association. 

Unconditioned stimuli produce unconditioned responses 

After repeated acts of pairing the neutral stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus, the two stimului become associated with one another and the neutral stimulus is viewed as predicting the unconditioned stimulus and will therefore start to elicit the unconditioned response

The neutral stimulus then becomes the conditioned stimulus and the response it produces becomes the conditioned response. 

Skinner- operant conditioning

Skinner was another key player in the behaviourist approach

He elaborated on the idea of conditioning and stated that we spontaneously produce different behaviours, these behaviours have consequences, and these consequences are what guide how we behave in the future. 

There are two mechanisms in play in operant conditioning. Punishment and reinforcement. 

Social learning theory

This theory is still a learning theory, however it states that we are not only guided by the consequences of our own behaviour, but also guided by the behaviour we observe from others.

Outline of the theory 

First social learning begins by the individual observing a model, this can be a live model (in person), or a symbolic model (in books/ movies). An individual is more likely to imitate the behaviour if they identify with the model. 

For learning to be successful, these steps have to occur after the modelled behaviour: 

Attention, retention, reproduction, motivation- influenced by self-efficacy and rewards/ punishments.

These are known as internal mediational processes. 

The individual then must form a mental represenation of the ebhaviour and it's consequences (positive or negative) 

Bandura and Walters showed that children were more likely to imitate the behaviour if the consequences were positive- this is known as vicarious reinforcement

The cognitive approach- background information

The cognitive approach came about as the 'cognitive revolution' as a result of the dismissal of behaviourism due to its disregard for internal processes. 

Behaviourism looked at the mind as a black box, which they had no interest in studying and simply looked at the input (the individuals experience) and the output (the individuals behaviour) and saw no in between, they left no role for thoughts and feelings

It considers the role of the 'mind' which is an abstract term which is responsible for our thinking and cognitive processes such as memory. 

It is often linked with the physical organ being the brain- but the two words are not interchangeable.

Main outline

The cognitive approach looks at memory, attention, perception and problem solving. 

The approach uses theoretical models which often utlise diagrams to explain cognitiev processes such as memory. 

The emergence of computers seriously helped cognitive psychologists explain their theories, using computer models to represent cognitive processes. 

An important basis of the cognitive approach includes mental representations, this is that we can mentally represent sensory information from the outside world. 

A schema is a mental representation that helps categorise and organise information. 

The integration of neuroscience into the cognitive approach has further developed our undertsanding. It has meant that we can 'see' internal processing rather than just infer.