Behaviorism (P. 1)
Assumptions:
-culture and environment effect behavior
- there is a balance between nature and nurture
-behaviors can be learned and enforced
Psychologists and Limitations:
-Bandura: Operant conditioning with children watching
adults act violently towards a doll. and mimicking the
behavior
-Skinner: classical conditioning with pigeons and their
behaviors to revive rewards
-Pavlov: classical conditioning with drooling dogs when
bells rang for food.
-Watson: classical conditioning with little Albert and the
white animals
Strengths:
-observable and measurable examples
-consistent results
-relatively easy to research
-high ecological validity
Limitations:
-does not take genetics and biology into account
-can be time consuming to study
-ethical issues when studying conditioning with humans
Real World Applications:
-people training pets
-child development and behavior
-phobias
Behavioral Psychology (P. 2)
Assumptions
 What cannot be seen is not relevant
 Behavior can be conditioned
 Culture can influence behavior
Psychologists & Studies
 Pavlov (Dogs & Salivation)
 Skinner (Pigeons & Box)

Bandura (Bobo dolls and Social Learning Theory)
Strengths And Limitations
 (+) Offers basic theory for how learning occurs
 (+) Ecological Validity
 (-) Ignores complexity of human mind and different stimuli (reductionism)
Real World Applications
 Phobias
 Extinction, generalization, discrimination of stimuli
 Spontaneous recovery
Review: Cognition (P. 1)
Psychologists/Studies:
Memory
Anderson and Pichert (1978)- schema influence on encoding and retrieval
Clive Wearing- how brain damage affects memory processing amnesia with no
sense of past or future
Frederic Bartlett-memory is reconstructive and that schemas influence recall
Loftus-eye-witness testimony (nature of questions influence memory
Freud- forgetting caused by repression (can go under emotion)
Cognition and emotion
Lazarus-appraisals are evaluations related to how the situation will impact one’s
personal well being
Folkman and Lazarus- people use different strategies in stressful situations
Brown and Kulik-Flashbulb memory
Happiness
conjoined twins studies (Lori and Reba)
Assumptions
Cognitive psychology concerns itself with the structure and functions of the mind
Cognitive processes include-perception, thinking, problem solving, memory, language,
and attention
Cognition is based on one’s mental representations of the world
people have different experiences and therefore they have different mental
representations
Real-World
memory and emotion effect our everyday lives
culture can effect cognition
Strengths and Limitations
Limitations
memory can be unreliable (false memory) (eye witness testimony)
Ethics in case studies (Clive Wearing)
Strengths
our knowledge on memory is improving, thus we can strengthen memory
Cognitive Level of Analysis (P. 2)
Assumptions:
Human beings are information processors and that mental processes guide behavior
The mind can be studied scientifically by developing theories and using a number of
scientific research methods
Cognitive processes are influenced by social and culture factors.
Evaluation:
Strengths
Schema theory useful in understanding how people categorize info, interpret stories,
make inferences
Contributed to understanding of memory distortions
Working memory model explains multi-tasking and is understanding cognitive tasks
Weaknesses
It is unclear how schemas are acquired or how they influence cognitive process
Memory is not as reliable as we think and it can be influence by other, unpredictable
factors
Doesn't take into account biological and behavioral factors
Psychologists in the Field:
Frederic Bartlett – schema theory
Atkinson and Shiffrin – multi-store model
Baddeley and Hitch – working memory model
Real-World Application:
Focused coping can be developed and used to help with trauma and in handling the
emotions that come in the aftermath.
Can help us to better understand our memories so that we can improve them
BIOLOGY (P. 1)
A. Assumptions
They believe in evolution/natural selection.
Humans should be studied as biological systems.
Behavior can be innate because it is genetically based.
Nature over nurture.
B. Studies
Minnesota twin studies.
Phineas Gage.
Rosenzwig, Bennett, and Diamond.
Davidson study.
Clive Wearing.
C. Strengths and Limitations
STRENGTHS
It is testable and quantifiable.
Roots in hard science.
Results are consistent.
LIMITS
Very reductionist.
Doesn't give any room for nurture.
Based off of case studies, and can only expand after a person with trauma passes, and psychologists are
able to study their brains.
D. Real world applications.
Treating behavior issues with medicine.
Treating brain trauma and identifying the cause of memory loss or negative personality traits.
The Biological Level of Analysis (P. 2)
a) Assumptions
a. All thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have a physical/biological cause.
b. Human genes have evolved over years to adapt to the environment meaning all
behavior can be explained through genetics.
c. Physiological data such as the brain, nervous system, endocrine system, and
neurochemistry.
d. Nature over nurture
b) Psychologists and Studies
a. Phineas Gage: A metal pipe went through his skull and then he began behaving
differently. Gave way to the effects of different brain parts.
b. Minnesota Twin Study: comparison between twins raised together and raised
apart. It showed that twins were more likely to be like the other if raised apart
meaning genes are important.
c. Sperry and Gazzaniga split brain experiment. It proved that the sides of the brain
have different tasks such as left brain for speaking and writing and right brain for
problem solving.
c) Strengths and Limitations
Strengths:



Scientific approach so hard sciences involved meaning materialistic subject
matter and experimental methodology.
Can be used to understand a wide range of phenomenon.
Have practical applications that are used for treatment.
Limits



Over simplistic as it over simplifies complex physical systems.
Reductionism: explains thoughts and behaviors in a way that ignores other
suitable explanations.
Genetics: it is difficult to separate what is caused by genes and by the
environment.
d) Real World Application
a. PET Scans
b. fMRI
c. EEG
d. Applied to therapy, health, and education.
Qualitative Methods (P. 1)
There are three types of qualitative methods; Case studies, interviews and observations
Psychologists & studies
 Example of a case study: Genie
 A study of a found child who suffered from severe abuse and neglect which could not be
duplicated due to ethical reasons
 Example of an Observation: Festinger
 A look into cult behaviors and attitudes through participant observation
 Example of an interview: Grigoriou 2004
 Research determining the key factors of a gay man and heterosexual woman
relationship
Strengths
Provides with rich- thick data
Explains phenomena
Generates new ideas and theories
Limitations
Time consuming
The data is difficult to analyze
Interpretations may be subjective
Real World Applications
 Genie case study
 Gives a specific analyzed example of
how neglect affects a child
 Supports the theory of there being a
time threshold when language can
be learned
 Festinger Observation
 Gives insight to, and supports
Festinger’s theory of cognitive
dissonance
 Grigoriou’s interview
 Defined/explained relationships
 However there is a low ecological
validity because of the reflexivity
addressed by the psychologist
Methods (P. 2)
A. Assumptions
a. Our group decided that there weren’t assumptions for Methods. Not sure if
that is right or not…
B. Psychologists and Studies
a. “There is no unified qualitative paradigm.” (Rolfe, 2006)
b. “Can distinguish between 3 types of generalization: Representational,
Inferential, and Theoretical.
c. (Rolfe, 2006) Creditability corresponds roughly to the concept of internal
validity that it is used in quantitative research. (Rolfe, 2006)
C. Strengths and Limitations
a. Semi Structured interviews
i. Strengths: depth of information, interviewee can bring up greater
topics that call for more discussion, and set list of questions is used to
ensure that the interview flows.
ii. Weaknesses: time-consuming, hard to generalize data, and the
researcher has to avoid bias.
b. Participant Observation
i. Strengths: depth of information,
ii. Weaknesses: takes a lot of time, and researchers may lose objectivity
c. Naturalistic Observation
i. Strengths: gives researcher a way to see behavior how it really is
ii. Weaknesses: reduces; variety and creativity
d. Focus Groups
i. Strengths: provides information of people’s attitudes, and because of
small size, ensures involvement
ii. Weaknesses: only based on the views of a small sample
e. Case Studies
i. Strengths: provides real examples, practical in nature
ii. Weaknesses: points to only a target group for information
D. Real World Applications
a. Methods can be applied in the real world in many different ways. Interviews,
observations, and case studies are used every day in psychologist’s quest to
discover new information about the world. These methods make it easier for
the psychologists to understand how whatever they are studying works.