Author: Warner, Samantha

Origins:
Wundt: opened first lab for psychological study. Used introspection to break down conscious awareness into basic structures. He used controlled methods so his techniques are recognised as scientific. All introspections were recorded in strictly controlled conditioning e.g. standardised instructions—allowed procedures to be replicated (reliable).
Emergence of psychology as a science: behaviourists such as Watson questioned introspection and thought mental processes were too subjective and shouldn’t be studied. Behaviourist approach was born in the 20th century and used scientific methods to study observable and measurable behaviour. Behaviourists bought scientific rigour into psychological study using things such as lab studies. Following the cognitive revolution, the cognitive approach aimed to study mental processes more scientifically by making inferences. The biological approach took advantage of technology advancing and began using scans e.g. fMRI

Behaviourist approach:
Main assumptions: born as blank slates i.e. all behaviour is learned, uses scientific methods and only studies behaviour which is observable and measurable
Classical conditioning: Pavlov classically conditioned dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell. He used food as an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and salivation was the unconditioned response (UCR). A bell was the neutral stimulus (NS) as it produced no response. He repeatedly presented the UCS and NS together at the same time. The dog associated the NS and the UCS so the bell (NS) now becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS) as it now produces the response of salivation (not the conditioned response CR) on its own.
Operant conditioning:
Positive reinforcement—receiving a reward for good behaviour
Negative reinforcement—avoiding undesirable things for good behaviour
Punishment—receiving undesirable consequences for bad behaviour
Skinner’s boxes—Skinner placed rats and pigeons in a box, they learned to press a lever to receive food pellets (positive reinforcement) or press a lever to avoid electric shocks (negative reinforcement)

Social Learning theory (SLT):
Main assumptions: All behaviour is learned, uses scientific methods, we learn through observation and imitation of other as well as through classical and operant conditioning
Vicarious reinforcement: Learning from the consequences of others behaviour—more likely to copy their behaviour if you see them get rewarded, less likely if they are punished
Mediational processes: Attention—paying attention to behaviour of someone else. Retention—remembering important bits of the behaviour for a reason. Motor reproduction—your own knowledge of your capabilities. Motivation—how likely you are to repeat the behaviour
Identification: people identify with role models. More likely to choose role models based on similarity to you, attractiveness and status. After identification take place we then watch them model behaviour and we imitate them
Bandura’s Bobo dolls: Showed children footage of adults playing with a Bobo doll. Children who watched an aggressive adult, played more aggressively with the dolls themselves

Biological approach:
Main assumptions: Behaviour is innate and passed down through genes,
The genetic basis of behaviour:
Twin studies: monozygotic (MZ) twins = identical, dizygotic (DZ) = unidentical. Concordance rates are used to see if there is a genetic basis of behaviour, if MZ have higher concordance rates than DZ then a genetic link is suggested
Adoption studies: used to see if the adoptee has more similarities with their biological family or their adopted family. Links to biological parents shows genetic basis
Genotype—the particular set of genes that a person possesses e.g. eye colour,
Phenotype— the physical, behavioural and psychological expression of your genes, can be influenced by both biology and environment e.g. contact lenses, hair dye, diet. MZ twins may look different based on exercise, diet etc. so share genotype but he way their genes are expressed are different
Evolutionary basis of behaviour:—Darwin put forward the theory of natural selection. The idea hat genes which aid survival are passed down through generations. Those who are more likely to survive are more likely to procreate and pass on genes—works similarly to farmers selected best traits in animals to breed but happens naturally

Humanistic approach:
Main assumptions: looks entirely at the individual and believes humans and self-determining
Free will—very different from all deterministic approaches. States individuals have control over their own behaviour and choose their own thoughts and actions because humans are essentially self-determining
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: each level of the hierarchy must be met to ensure we can reach the top f the hierarchy—self-actualisation. We cannot reach this without fulfilling our safety, physiological, esteem etc needs
Self-actualisation—innate tendency to reach your full potential, personal growth is essential part of being human but there are barriers to achieving this
Self, ideal self and congruence: your concept of self (who you believe you are now) and your ideal self (who you wish to be) need to have congruence for healthy development i.e. need to be similar if not the same. If they are not you cannot reach self-actualisation and incongruence may lead to a negative view of the world or yourself. Rogers developed client-centred therapy to help people cope with everyday living.
Conditions of worth: placed on you by parents, love only given with conditions (not unconditional) e.g. I’ll love you If you get an A. This can cause negative consequences in adulthood. Client-centred therapy would aim to provide clients with unconditional positive regard they failed to receive as children

Cognitive approach:
Main assumptions: humans are information processors, look at what lies between stimulus and response, argues that internal mental processes should be scientifically studied
Inference: psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
Schema: A mental framework of beliefs and explanations based on experience—get more sophisticated with age. Help us to process information quickly and stop us from getting overwhelmed by environmental stimuli. Schema may however distort our interpretation of events leading to errors
Theoretical and computer models: theoretical models are abstract whereas computer models are concrete. Information processing approach is an example of a theoretical model—states information passes through the cognitive system in a series of stages; we input, store and retrieve information. An example is the multi-store model of memory. Computer model compares human thought processes to a computer, we encode, information, transform it into decisions, and output behaviour
Cognitive neuroscience: the scientific study of biological structures that underpin cognitive processes. Mapping brain areas to specific cognitive functions has a long history in psychology. Broca’s area is in the frontal lobe, damage to this area may impair speech production. Brain scans are now used e.g. fMRI, PET scans.

Psychodynamic approach:
Main assumptions: behaviour is determined by the unconscious
The role of the unconscious: The conscious mind is the bit we are aware of. The preconscious is accessible but not in use. The unconscious is the largest part—the part we are unaware of. Repressed memories are sent here accessed through dreams or slips of the tongue
Structure of personality: Id is the pleasure principle, act on impulse to get what we want. Ego is the reality complex, balances out the other two. Superego is the morality complex deals with right and wrong
Psychosexual stages: Oral Anal Latency Phallic Genital. All stages must be passed through for successful development. A conflict must be resolved in each stage to avoid fixation and negative consequences into adulthood
Oedipus complex: Happens in the phallic stage. Little boys fancy their Mom and fear their father and have castration anxiety. Eventually identify with father and internalise his behaviours.
Electra complex: Also happens in the phallic stage. Little girls fancy their Dad, have penis envy and blame their Mom for not having one. Eventually Identify with Mother, replace penis envy for a desire to have a baby and internalise her behaviours.
Little Hans: Case study done by Freud. He feared horses but Freud said he was displacing his fear of his father and castration onto the horse
Defence mechanisms: Repression—Push negative events into your unconscious to stop thinking about them. Denial—force yourself to believe things didn’t happen. Displacement—take your anger of one thing out on something else.