AQA Psychology - Approaches in Psychology Revision Notes
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Course
Unit 3 PSYA3 - Topics in Psychology
Institution
AQA
A comprehensive and in-depth set of notes about the social influence topic of psychology. Written for the NEW 2015 spec for AQA Psychology. Suitable for paper 1 of both AS and A2 exams
AO1 - The Origins Of Psychology:
Ø Psychology consists of LOTS of THEORIES and FEW FACTS
Ø “The scientific study of the mind and behaviour”
Ø Different schools of thought are called APPROACHES; each approach is an
explanation for why we do what we do
AO1 – Wundt: Father Of Experimental Psychology:
Ø Wundt (1897) opened INSTITUTE OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY in Germany
Ø Using STRUCTURALIST AND REDUCTIONIST approaches, Wundt used methods such
as introspection to try and uncover what people were thinking and experiencing
AO1 - Introspection – Looking Into Your Mind
Ø Analysing your own thoughts and feelings internally
Ø Problems with Introspection:
o It doesn’t explain how the mind works
o Relies on people explaining their feelings and isn’t objective
o Doesn’t provide data that can be used RELIABLY
o Because people report on their own experiences it cannot be VERIFIED
O01- Wundt Believed In Reductionism
Ø REDUCTIONISM is the idea that things can be reduced to one simple cause-and-
effect processes
Ø Wundt came from a biological background, so believed the underlying structure of
human experience can be broken down into measurable smaller parts
Ø He used introspection to measure these parts
AO1- Is Psychology A Science?
Ø Several factors to make something a Science:
o Objectivity- Scientific observations should be recorded without bias and not
influenced by other factors, or any other people
o Control- Scientific observations should take place under controlled
conditions
o Predictability – Scientists should be able to use the results and knowledge
gained from experiments to predict the future
o Hypothesis Testing – theories generate predictions (hypotheses) which can
be tested to either strengthen the support for the theory, or else disprove it.
o Replication – Each experiment should be able to be replicated exactly so
people can have confidence in the results
AO2- For And Against Psychology As Being A Science
For:
Ø Allport (1947) said that psychology has the same aims as Science – to predict,
understand and control
,Against:
Ø There are also approaches in psychology which done use objective methods to
study behaviour. They are UNRELIABLE methods – e.g. Interview techniques can be
bias and interpreted differently by different researchers
Ø Hard to get REPRESENTATIVE sample of the population for a study, so findings cant
reliably be GENERALISED
Ø Psychological experiments are also open to extraneous variables such as demand
characteristics, which are hard to control.
- BEHAVIOURISM – CLASSICAL AND OPERANT CONDITIONING -
A01- Behaviorism Is Also Known As The ‘Learning Thoery’
Ø Behaviorism (‘Learning Theory’) started in America in the early 1900s mainly
through the ideas of JOHN WATSON
Ø Watson felt psychological research wasn’t SCIENTIFIC ENOUGH
Ø Wilhelm Wundt tried to study consciousness using INTROSPECTION. Involving
analysing your own experiences.
Ø Watson came up with assumptions on which to base a scientific approach to
psychology:
1. Nearly all behaviour is learnt.
o Only exceptions are inborn RELEXES (e.g. Blinking when dirt in eye) and
inborn INSTINCTS (e.g. running away from danger)
o However, evidence shows that GENETICS can influence psychological
features (e.g. development of schizophrenia can be linked to genetics)
o Behaviorism still claims, though, that learning, and not genetics is the
cause of the MAJORITY of behaviors, even if some vague genetic causes
can be found.
2. Animals and humans learn in the same ways.
o Although Humans are more complex than animals in what we can do,
the principle behind learning is the same.
o We learn to drive a car through the same principles a cat learns to use a
cat-flap
o Based on the idea that we can both form STIMULUS-RESPONSE
ASSOSIATIONS between stimuli and our actions
o However, although we may both use conditioning, humans can be said
to use other forms of learning as well such as social learning
3. The ‘mind’ is irrelevant
o We can’t directly observe and measure a person thinking so the only
way we can obtain measurable data is by studying behaviour.
o However, although cognitive abilities cannot be directly, scientifically
measured they may give more complete explanation of behaviour – as
shown by Social Learning Theory
, Ao1- Behaviorists Proposed Two Types Of Conditioning:
- CLASSICAL CONDITIONING -
o Early 1900’s IVAN PAVLOV was studying how dogs’ salivation helped them to
digest food, when he noticed that they would start to salivate even before being
given food
o He had realised that they had ASSOSIATED food with another stimulus such as
the door opening
Pavlov started to Experiment
Whenever Pavlov gave the dogs food he would ring a bell. After repeating this procedure
several times, Pavlov just rang the bell and did not give the dog food
Ø The bell alone CAUSED SALIVATION TO OCCUR
Ø When dogs see food they salivate, this is an automatic, unlearned response – a
reflex.
Ø Food = UNCONDITIONAL STIMULUS (UCS)
Ø Salivation = UNCONDITIONAL RESPONSE (UCR)
Ø Bell = CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS)
Ø Process of Salivation = CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR)
1) Before Conditioning:
A certain stimulus, e.g. food (UCS) -> Triggers -> Natural reflex e.g. salivation (Un-Conditional
Response)
Food = UCS
Salivation = UCR
2) During Conditioning:
UCS repeatedly presented with another stimulus e.g. bell (Neutral Stimulus) -> Triggers ->
Salivation (Un-Conditional Response)
Bell = NS
Food = UCS
Salivation = UCR
3) After Conditioning:
Over time the bell presented by itself (Conditioned Stimulus) -> Triggers -> Salivation
(Conditioned Response)
Bell BY ITSELF = CS
Salivation = CR
Relation to Humans:
1. A baby having its needs met and so feeling comfort will naturally make a baby feel
happy. It hasn’t learned to be happy. It is an INBORN REFLEX.
2. Comfort being an UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (UCS) produces Happiness - the
Unconditioned Response.
3. The baby’s mother speaks to the child while caring to it and creating comfort and so
happiness (Unconditioned Stimulus, UCS) is associated with mother’s voice (Conditioned
Stimulus, CS).
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