AS level AQA Approaches in psychology Behaviourism, classical and operant conditioning, social learning theory, cognitive approach and biological approach

1. APPROACHES IN
PSYCHOLOGY
• BEHAVIOURISM:
 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
 OPERANT CONDITIONING
• SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
• THE COGNITIVE APPROACH
• THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH

2. BEHAVIOURISM:
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• learning through association
• first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov
Dog conditioned to salivate to the sound of the bell if the sound
was repeatedly presented at the time as food
FOOD (UCS) -> SALIVATION (UCR) BELL (NS) -> NO SALIVA (NO CR)
BELL (NS) + FOOD (UCS) -> SALIVATION (UCR)
BELL (CS) -> SALIVATION (CR)

3. BEHAVIOURISM:
OPERANT CONDITIONING
• behaviour is shaped and maintained by its
consequences
• BF Skinner studied how animals can learn
from the consequences of their actions
3 types of
consequences of
behaviour
POSITIVE
REINFORCEMENT NEGATIVE
REINFORCEMENT
PUNISHMENT
receiving a reward
when we avoid
something
unpleasant
unpleasant
consequence
of behaviour
increase the likelihood the
behaviour will be repeated
decrease the
likelihood the
behaviour will be
repeated
Rat activated a lever –
rewarded with a food pellet
From then it performed the
behaviour much more often

4. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
• developed by Bandura
• people learn a lot from role models through
observations and imitations
Different processes:
a) Modelling – observing and imitating the behaviour
b) Identification – picking up the attractive qualities and
characteristics
c) Reinforcement – positive and negative reinforcement
makes the behaviour more likely to happen again in the
future
d) Vicarious reinforcement - reinforcement which is not
directly experienced but occurs through observing
someone else being reinforced for a behaviour
Mediational
processes
(cognitive factors that influence learning)
1) ATTENTION – noticing a certain behaviour
2) RETENTION – encoding
3) REPRODUCTION – ability to perform the
behaviour
4) MOTIVATION – evaluating the behaviour
If these are present IMITATION can
take place

5. SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
Bandura and Bobo Doll
- 72 children from Stanford University Nursery were matched on ratings of their
aggressive behaviour and were put into groups
- Once they’ve watched it they were put into the room with toys (e.g. Bobo doll)
- Aggression group imited much more aggressive behaviour than non aggression
group
control aggression non aggression
They were
doing nothing
They both were watching video clips
Role model was
hitting a doll with
hammers, mallet
Role model was
playing with a
doll and other
toys

6. THE COGNITIVE APPROACH
Cognitive – “mental processes” that
affect our behaviour e.g. thoughts,
perceptions, attention
Internal mental processes – private
operations of the mind that mediate
between stimulus and response
Two models
theoreticalcomputer
information processing
approach
mind is compared to a
computer
Information flows through the
cognitive system in a sequence
of stages as input, storage,
retrieval (as in the multi-store
model
computer human
via keyboard Data input through sense organs
computer processor Data processing brain
monitor Data output action
Differences:
- Emotional and
motivational factors
- Humans – unlimited but
unreliable memory,
computers – limited but
reliable memory
- Humans have free will

7. THE COGNITIVE APPROACH
Schema – a mental framework
of beliefs and expectations that
influence cognitive processing,
developed by experience
Example
Schema of a human face contains the
information that a face has two eyes, a
mouth and a nose
ROLE
ideas of behaviours
which are expected
from someone in a
certain role, setting
or situation
EVENT
information about
what happens in a
situation
SELF
information about
ourselves based on
physical characteristics
and personality, beliefs
and values, can affect
how you act
Example
Doctor is intelligent
Example
Going to a restaurant
– we read a menu, we
order a food
Example
Health-conscious
people are more likely
to eat well and
exercise regularly

8. THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
Human behaviour can be explained by:
o Hormones
o Genetics
o Evolution
o Nervous system
Mind lives in the brain, all mental
processes have a physical basis.
GENES
They make up chromosomes and consist of
DNA which codes for physical features as well
as psychological, they are transmitted from
parents to offspring (inherited)
Twin studies
- To determine the likelihood that certain traits have a
genetics basis
Monozygotic (identical) – share 100% of their genes
Dizygotic (non-identical) – share 50% of their genes
Gottesman (1991) meta-analysis of twin studies
MZ twin with schizophrenia gave a 48% chance of developing the
condition
DZ twin reduced the chance up to 17%
Schizophrenia has a strong genetic basis.
Genotype – particular set of genes that a
person possesses; actual genetic make-up.
Phenotype – characteristics of an individual
determined by both genes and the
environment.

9. THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
EVOLUTION
the changes in inherited
characteristics in a biological
population over successive
generations
Charles Darwin’s theory
Natural Selection
Over time individuals who are better adapted to
their environment through having better genes
are more likely to survive, reproduce and pass
on their useful genes. Those weaker, less well-
adapted will be eliminated. Through this process
early humans became better adapted to their
environments.

10. controls conscious
activities, e.g. running
controls unconscious
activities, e.g. digestion,
involuntary
made up of
neurons,
connects CNS
to the rest of
the body
origin of all complex
commands and
decisions
brain
spinal cord
THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
THE NERVOUS SYSTEM
a specialised network of cells in the human
body and is our primary internal
communication system, its main function is to
collect, process and respond to information in
the environment
The nervous
system
CNS PNS
ANS SNS
sympathetic parasympathetic
CNS -> organs
senses -> CNS
CNS -> skeletal muscles
gets the body
ready for action
calms the
body down
Fight or flight system Rest and digest system
Stimulus
Receptor
CNS
Effectors
Response
sensory
neuron
motor
neuron
relay neuron

11. Neuron in a resting state is negatively charged
compared to the outside.
When it is activated by a stimulus, the inside of the
cell becomes positively charged for a split of
second causing an action potential to occur.
This creates an electrical impulse.
THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
NEURONS
basic building blocks of the
nervous system, nerve cells that
process and transmit messages
through electrical and chemical
signals

12. THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
SYNAPTIC TRANSMISSION
Neurons are separated by a synapse.
- signals WITHIN neurons are
transmitted electrically,
- signals BETWEEN neurons are
transmitted chemically
Excitatory neurotransmitters INCREASE the
likelihood that an electrical impulse will be
triggered in the postsynaptic neuron whereas
inhibitory ones DECREASE it.postsynapt
ic neuron
presynaptic
neuron

13. THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH
THE ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
sends information as chemical signals
involving glands and hormones.
GLANDS
group of cells that are specialised to
secrete a useful substance
HORMONES
chemical messengers that circulate in the
bloodstream