Psychology discuss one contribution of the learning perspective to the scientific study of behaviour
Discuss One Contribution of the Learning Perspective to the Scientific Study of Behaviour The learning perspective was the first major perspective in psychology which tried to prove its theories in a scientific sense. As such behaviourist psychologists tried to use laboratory experiments to try and prove their theories like scientists and this was their contribution to the scientific study of behaviour as other perspectives followed in their wake. A good demonstration of how the learning perspective uses laboratory experiments in order to help prove its theories is how Pavlov's dog experiment was used to show classical conditioning. Classical conditioning is a form of learning that was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov. The typical procedure for inducing classical conditioning involves presentations of a neutral stimulus along with a stimulus of some significance. The neutral stimulus could be any event that does not result in an overt behavioral response from the organism under investigation. Pavlov referred to this as a conditioned stimulus (CS). Conversely, presentation of the significant stimulus necessarily evokes an innate, often reflexive, response. Pavlov called these the unconditioned stimulus (US) and unconditioned response (UR), respectively. If the CS and the US are repeatedly paired, eventually the two stimuli become associated and the organism begins to
The Basic Mechanisms of Homeostasis Overview of homeostasis The term homeostasis was first coined by Walter Cannon in 1929 to literally mean steady state. It describes the dynamic equilibrium by which internal constancy is maintained with
Mass media and communication .0 Introduction There are many diverse and conflicting views of the role of the mass media in society. This paper will discuss the two dominant schools of thought - the pluralist and Marxist theories of mass media. In each case three sociological studies will be used to examine the validity of the definition. The most prescient case studies will be evaluated and conclusions drawn with relation to mass media and communication in general. 2.0 Mass Media and Communication The term 'mass' is a reference to the large numbers of people to which traditional broadcasts are aimed. The spread of interpersonal media systems means that, "modern communication has become less mass in character"(Haralambos et al., 2000). However, the term is still relevant for many influential media systems . Therefore, mass media can be defined as: "The methods and organisations used by specialist social groups to convey messages to large, socially mixed and widely dispersed audiences" (Haralambos et al., 2000, p935) This definition assumes that communication passes from a single point to many other points. However, from the 1980s onwards, this was increasingly irrelevant in relation to the media. Technology has enabled interpersonal media communication to become steadily more prevalent. The definition also makes no reference to the audience's role in the communication.
Explain one psychological or social question from the cognitive perspective
Explain one psychological or social question from the cognitive perspective One psychological question, which may be explained using the cognitive approach is aggression. Aggression being the social question may be defined as any form of behavior directed towards the goal of harming or injuring another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment. The cognitive approach is concerned with how people acquire, store, transform, and use information. There are different types of aggression. The first being instrumental aggression and the second hostile aggression. Instrumental aggression is linked to the behaviorist explanation of aggression. Where as hostile aggression is connected with the cognitive explanation of aggressive behavior. A key concept in cognitive psychology which can be applied to the explanation of aggressive behavior is priming. According to the cognitive perspective priming is an phenomenon whereby a thought or memory increases the activation of associated thoughts or memories. When aggression is explained with priming it is assumed that aggression can be primed in an individual. Berkowitz and LePage (1967) conducted a study 'weapons effect' investigating the effect of priming on aggression. The study found that angered participants gave more shocks to their experimental partner when they were exposed to weapons than when they were not exposed to
Psychology Critical Analysis Questions
Critical Analysis Questions Psychology . (a) We use our memory every day all the time and we do not think about it. Our senses (eyes, ears etc.) are constantly taking in new information and this information comes into our sensory memory, where it is held for a fraction of second in its original sensory form (sound, image etc.). If we pay attention to this information, it is selected and a meaning is made out of it, for longer storage in short-term memory. We cannot attend to every sensation and we therefore select the most important ones. This is called selective attention. This means that we focus our attention on a limited aspect of all that we experience. Wilson (2002) concluded that our five senses take in an estimated of 11 000 000 bits of information per second, 40 of which we consciously process. We intuitively make use of all the other bits. When selected the information we want to focus on and made sense of, it is transferred into short-term memory. Short-term memory can only keep a small amount of information for a small amount of time before it is lost or stored in long-term memory. Experiments have shown that you can remember, for example a friend's phone number, better if you rehearse it. Then it improves the chances of the information being encoded into long-term memory. An example of this is the serial-position effect. If a list of 20 words slowly is
The effect and role of organization on memory and recall
PSYCHOLOGY PRACTICAL REPORT: THE ROLE AND EFFECT OF ORGANIZATION IN MEMORY AND RECALL Candidate Name : Tenzin Zomkey Subject : IB 2 Psychology HL Date of Submission : 5th Feb. 2009 CONTENTS Sr. No Title Page Contents 2 2 Abstract 3 3 Introduction 4 4 Method 5 5 Results 7 6 Discussion 9 7 References 0 9 Appendices 1 ABSTRACT This experiment was carried out in an attempt to test the role or effect of organization in memory and recall. Based on research done by Bower, Clark, Winzenz and Lesgold (1969), (which found that subjects showed better recall if presented with words in an organized format rather than just random), a less extensive reproduction of their work has been conducted in this report. Two different groups of participants were presented with identical sets of twenty two words to learn. For each group, the words were organized differently. One group had words that were organized in the form of an associative hierarchy, whereby one initial word is given at the top, followed by three words that had a strong association to the first and so forth, continuing this trend until a five level hierarchy comprising in total of twenty two words is achieved. Upon asking the participants to recall and write as many words as they could remember; the results showed that there indeed was, as Bower et al.'s research revealed, a better recall
The Learning Perspective
The Learning Perspective History and cultural context: - Origins from the start of the 20th century - A contrast to introspection and psychoanalytical theory - Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson developed a which emphasized environmental stimuli and behavioural response - It grew in popularity the first fifty years - It became the dominant framework for experimental research. Framework: Key concepts: -Classical conditioning: "the study of learning which involves reflex responses, in which a neutral stimulus comes to elicit an existing reflex response due to learning." -Pavlov found that ringing a bell and then immediately giving the dog some food, the bell came to evoke the same response as the food itself - salvation. -Salvation at the presence of food is a basic neural reflex that requires no learning. -Reflex responses; unconditional responses (a reflexive response produces by a specific stimulus, such as pupil contraction to bright light) -The stimulus which elicits (triggers) an unconditional response (like food)is called an unconditional stimulus; (a stimulus which elicits (triggers) a reflexive (unconditioned) response.) -conditioned refers to learned -the bell = neutral stimulus which normally has an orienting response, (a stimulus which initially produces no specific response other than provoking attention; as conditioning proceeds the neutral stimulus
Cognitive Psychology in Education
Cognitive Psychology in Education In recent years a child's cognitive development has been greatly taken into consideration when developing methods used in education throughout the world. As Bruner (1973) said, "Some environments push cognitive growth better, earlier and longer than others, it makes a huge difference to the intellectual life of a child simply that he was in school". Therefore cognitive theories do not neglect the role of the environment on learning but strive towards improving a child's environment to enable the child to hone its cognitive abilities such as memory and processing. Educational practice around the world has been heavily influenced by theories by Piaget and Vygotsky. Jean Piaget was very interested in knowledge and how children come to know their world. A central component of his theory of learning is that the participation of the learner is crucial. To put simply, education should be focused not on the teacher teaching, but the student learning. Therefore the teacher's task should not be to feed the child with information but to "focus on preparing and arranging a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child" (Dr Maria Montessori). Knowledge is not merely transmitted verbally but must be constructed and reconstructed by the learner. According to Piaget, the learner must be active and not a vessel to be
Effects of Drugs and Alcohol on the Brain
Effects of Drugs and Alcohol on the Brain Addiction is a complex phenomenon with important psychological consequences. There are many factors that influence our behavior. Everyday teenagers are faced with life changing decisions to make including the use of drugs and alcohol. What many adolescents do not realize are the effects of drugs and alcohol on the brain. Illegal substances can be consumed in various ways. For substances to exert their effects, they must first get to the brain. The four common ways of administration are oral consumption, intranasal consumption, inhalation through the lungs, and intravenous use. To enter the brain a substance's elements must first get through a chemical protection system. This consists of the blood brain barrier along with a tight cell-wall and layers of cells around the blood vessels. Small neutral molecules, like those of amphetamines, can easily pass through the barriers and enter the brain. At that time, the substances begin to cause their psychoactive effects. Stimulants are several groups of drugs that tend to increase alertness and physical activity. These groups include pharmaceuticals such as amphetamines and the street drugs commonly called "uppers" or "speed," and cocaine (Stimulants). Among the many drugs, the more commonly used stimulants are cocaine and amphetamines. Amphetamines increase the heart and
Cognitive and Biological factors influence behavioural change
Cognitive and Biological factors influence behavioural change "Theories challenging traditional learning theory make the assumption that learning is more than a series of stimulus-response associations." With reference to this statement, assess the extent to which cognitive and/or biological factors contribute to explanations of behavioural change within the learning perspective. Cognitive and biological factors contribute to the explanations of behavioural change within the learning perspective. Studies on behavioural change suggest that cognitive and biological factors influences learning, such as biological preparedness, imprinting, instinctual drift and the LAD. Phobias are also an example of biological influences on learning, which supports the one-trial-learning theory. Cognitive elements such as cognitive maps and insight contribute to the explanations of behavioural change within the learning perspective. Biological preparedness, in the learning perspective, suggests that learning is influenced by biological factors. For example, the concept of one-trial-learning explains how phobias are learnt. One-trail-learning does not incorporate the original ideas of classical conditioning, as repeated-pair trials are not needed for phobias to be learnt. Furthermore, one-trial-learning does not require repetition, which is normally required in the traditional classical
Psychology - analysing myself.
Final Project: Self Analysis WRITTEN BY: LAKIA MARSHALL INSTRUCTOR: MICHEAL FORD CLASS : PSY 285 I am independent, frank, and very nonchalant. I have picked these three words because I think that they accurately describe my personality. I would say that I am independent because I am able to rely on myself. I have a high sense of pride and really don't like to ask for help because of that I make it a point to make sure that I can do things on my own. I would say that I am frank because I don't like to hide what it is that I am thinking. If I feel it I will say it and pride myself on being the person who says what others want to say but won't. With that said, I am not a trouble maker and don't just go around raining on others parades but I will give you my honest opinion if you ask for it and sometimes when you don't. Finally to describe myself I would say that I am nonchalant. I tend to be very Zen for the most part. I don't bother other people and try my best to treat others the way I would treat myself. I don't like a lot of drama or trouble so I tend to stay to myself to remain stress free. In the terms of whether or not I an independent or interdependent I would say that I am independent. I don't mind being alone or doing things for myself. I personally feel that being self-reliant is a gift and not everyone can be or is that way. I like that fact that I work for my