Outline And Evaluate The Key Theories Of Psychology

According to Dictionary.com (2017), the definition of psychology is: “The scientific study of mental processes and behaviour. The behavioural and cognitive characteristics of a specific individual, group, activity, or circumstance.” Psychology studies human mental functioning and behaviour by the use of systematic, scientific study known as the scientific method. The scientific method is a standardised way of making observations, gathering data, forming theories, testing predictions and interpreting results. Courses.lumenlearning.com (2017) stated that the scientific method is based on the following process: 1.Ask a question.

Operant conditioning is a condition in which the desired behavior or increasingly closer to the approximations to it are followed by a rewarding or reinforcing stimulus. “The fundamental principle of operant conditioning is that behavior is determined by its consequences. Behavior does not occur as isolated and unrelated events; the consequences that follow the actions of an animal, be they good, bad, or indifferent, will have an effect on the frequency with which those actions are repeated in the future,” (Laule 2). A reinforcement strengthens a response, reinforcement

When it comes to Pavlovian conditioning, or classical conditioning, humans will associate a stimuli and anticipate an event (Spielman, 2014). The stimuli can continually change and make us learn and behave in different ways. For example, if some comes home every day and their spouse is nice to them and has dinner ready, they will learn to be excited when they walk in the door. However, if that same person was scared every time they walked in the door, they will learn to be afraid. The way that humans and animals’ learn is much simpler than I thought before I researched more about Pavlovian conditioning.

INTRODUCTION Have you ever thought on how people explain about behaviour? How do we know when learning process has occurred? Learning is permanent change that happened in the way of your behaviour acts, arises from experience one’s had gone through. This kind of learning and experience are beneficial for us to adapt with new environment or surrounding (Surbhi, 2018). The most simple form of learning is conditioning which is divided into two categories which are operant conditioning and classical conditioning.

When it comes to the science of psychology psychologist are looking deeper into what affects ones behavior and mental health. Looking at the environment, health issues, cognitive, learning, and etc… How does everything affect the overall mental health of a person? 2. Distinguish between a theory, a hypothesis, and an operational definition.

Psychology keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps undermining the effort. ~Mason Cooley Learning is one of the most fundamental, influential, and reoccurring processes that humans use to make sense of their daily lives. Whether this learning comes in the form of reactions or reflexes to certain outside influences or cues, or it is a voluntary action that has developed because of some form of reinforcement, we engage daily with the principles of both classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Classical conditioning is the main method used by behaviourists, it is where an unconditioned stimulus elicits a reflexive response without prior learning, and then an unconditioned response is elicited by a stimulus without prior learning, the conditioned stimulus through association with an unconditioned stimulus elicits a conditioned response alike the original unconditioned response, a conditioned response is then elicited by a conditioned

Classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are paired together repeatedly. The first stimuli evoke a natural response by the subject while the second stimuli do not. However, after repeated pairings, the second stimuli become conditioned and trigger a response to occur. In classical conditioning, there are 6 key principles that are considered a basic process, acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination. Acquisition refers to the initial stage of learning a new response tendency which depends on the stimulus contiguity.

Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence. An example of using positive reinforcement through operant learning is giving a dog a treat for going outside each time he uses the bathroom. Another example would be giving your child money for doing their chores or even praising your child for working hard on their psychology assignments. On the other side of the coin is negative reinforcement. For example, if your dog does not go outside to use the bathroom you would not reward him and would scold him instead for his bad behavior.

This school of thought suggests that only observable behaviors should be studied, since internal states such as cognitions, emotions and moods are too subjective. There are two major types of conditioning: 1. Classical conditioning is a technique used in behavioral training in which a naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a response. Next, a previously neutral stimulus is paired with the naturally occurring stimulus.

Learning is a natural skill for humans early in life, and operant and classical conditioning are two common methods of learning. Operant conditioning is learning based on the discovered relationship between one’s voluntary behavior and its repercussions. The behavior is reinforced or punished either positively or negatively by consequences after the event. To be effective, the signal must happen after the behavior, but can only influence voluntary behaviors. The learner must be an active participant in the conditioning, changing their behavior based on the consequences.

Classical conditioning is learning that is developed by a neutral stimulus (NS) paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) to create a conditioned response (CR). Meaning: that the observer will take something ordinary that does not affect the observed subject and pair it with something that does affect the observed subject. And then repeat the process of pairing these two things until the subject being observed formulates a reaction. This idea originated from a Russian psychologist by the name of Ivan Pavlov (1849-1946). He formulated a test with dogs, where he rang a bell every time he fed them.

For example, when the lab rat pressed the blue button, he received a food pellet as a reward, but when he pressed the red button he would receive an electric shock. As a result, the rat eventually learned to press the blue button to get food and to avoid the red button. Growing up my parents were strong believers in operant conditioning. If I was good they would give me praise and if I was bad I would get a spanking. As I got older they stopped giving me spanking and started taking my phone away.

The five noteworthy hypothetical points of view in psychology are biological, learning, cognitive, psychodynamic, and sociocultural viewpoints. Every one of these points of view searches down answers about conduct through various strategies and through searching for answers to various types of questions. Because of the diverse methodologies, every point of view frame their own particular suppositions and clarifications. A few points of view are generally acknowledged while others battle for acknowledgment. Biological perspective “The premise behind the biological point of view in psychology is that all activities, sentiments, and contemplation are connected with events.

Operant Conditioning or instrumental conditioning is: “a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior” (Kendra Cherry). B.F. Skinner designed what he called “an Operant Chamber” to test his theory. The Operant Chamber was a mechanism in which a rat was being taught that if he pressed a lever he would then eat. When the rat