Biology Chapter on Evolution and Genetics

PSYC1450: Introducing Psychology

• Psychology is the scientific study of people, the mind, and behaviour.
• The mind includes inner experiences, thoughts, perceptions, feelings, and memories.
• Behavior includes observable actions and responses.
• Domains of psychological inquiry include biological, cognitive, developmental, and social.
• Social constructivism is an approach to illustrate perspectives and interactions with existing knowledge.
• A social construct is a collection of characteristics and traits in society that have lost their origins.
• Levels of analysis framework involves biological, psychological, and environmental perspectives when studying behaviour.
• Psychology aims to describe, understand, predict, and influence behaviour for people's welfare.
• Basic research seeks knowledge for its own sake, while applied research solves practical problems.
• The Robbers Cave study (Sherif et al., 1961) demonstrated how intergroup conflict can be fostered by competition but reduced by shared goals.
• Studies like the Jigsaw Program (Aronson et al., 1978) aimed at desegregation, encouraging positive intergroup relations through co-operative efforts.

Perspectives on Behaviour

• Mind-body dualism views the mind as a non-physical entity distinct from the body, with interaction occurring through the pineal gland, a concept proposed by René Descartes.
• Monism posits that the mind and body are one, a perspective developed by Thomas Hobbes and John Locke.
• Psychologists like Wundt (1832-1920) developed introspective methods for studying the mind, although this lacked scientific objectivity.
• Structuralism, led by Titchener, aimed to identify the basic elements of conscious experience, while functionalism, led by William James, focused on the adaptive function of behaviors.
• The psychodynamic perspective (Freud) emphasizes unconscious motivations and childhood experiences, often studied through psychoanalysis or projective tests like the Rorschach inkblot test.
• The humanistic perspective (Maslow, Rogers) stresses free will, personal growth, and reaching one's potential through self-actualization.
• The behavioral perspective focuses on observable behaviors and their environmental determinants. Behaviorists like Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner explored learning processes like classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.
• Cognitive psychology emphasizes mental processes like memory, language, problem-solving, and decision-making
• The Sociocultural perspective focuses on how social environment and cultural learning influence behavior and thought processes.

Approaches to Generating Knowledge

• Experimental approach involves quantitative data analyses to test hypotheses,
• Case study approach uses qualitative data analyses to understand individual cases,
• Inductive reasoning forms general statements from specific observations,
• Deductive reasoning uses general premises to draw specific conclusions.
• Objective approaches are free from personal biases,
• Subjective approaches acknowledge the influence of personal feelings, opinions, and beliefs.

Individual Differences

• Individual differences (IDs) are the ways in which people differ in their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings.
• Intra-individual variability is the way individuals differ in their behaviors across different situations.
• Inter-individual variability is the way individuals differ from one another in their behaviors, thoughts, and feelings.
• Nomothetic approach develops general laws based on understanding from large groups of people. Examples are the Big Five personality traits of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN).
• Idiographic approach focuses on understanding individual cases and unique characteristics specific to individual experiences.
• Psychometric tools are used to measure individual differences. These include self-report (S-data), test data (T-data), observer report (O-data), and data from daily life (L-data).
• Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of skills and abilities related to perceiving, understanding, using, and managing emotions.

Intelligence

• Intelligence is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills; in addition, common themes include learning, problem solving, cognition, communication, and environmental adaptation.
• Historically, there have been theoretical approaches to measure intellectual capability e.g., intelligence testing.
• Sternberg's Triarchic Theory describes intelligence with three types of intellectual competence: analytical (academically oriented), creative, and practical.
• Psychometrically-oriented approach to intelligence assessment such as Spearman's g-factor (general intelligence), Cattell's two-factor theory (fluid and crystallized intelligence), and Carroll's three-stratum model.

Cognitive Psychology

• Cognitive psychology is a branch of psychology focused on thinking and mental processes.
• Information-processing approaches explain cognitive processes similar to computer functions including inputs, memory, and output.
• Cognitive neuropsychology focuses on behaviour of patients with brain damage to understand relation between brain and cognition. This approach emphasizes understanding memory, attention, language, and other mental processes.
• Cognitive neuroscience focuses on neural mechanisms associated with various cognitive processes using brain imaging techniques e.g. EEG, ERP, PET, fMRI and MEG.

Memory and Forgetting

• Memory is the psychological process of acquiring, storing, and retrieving information.
• The three-stage memory model describes memory passing through Sensory memory, Short-term memory, and Long-term memory. Encoding, storing and retrieving are key components of the memory process.
• Encoding is converting sensory information into a neural code that can be stored in memory,
• Storage is retaining encoded information in memory over time.
• Retrieval is accessing stored information when it's needed.
• Reconstruction of memories is a complex process which can be affected by pre-existing schemas and prior knowledge.
• Methods like encoding specificity, and cues to help retrieval of memories include context-dependent cues, state-dependent cues, and mood congruent memory.
• Forgetting is the inability to retrieve stored information. There are several theories to explain it. Examples include encoding failure, decay, interference, and retrieval failure.

Learning: The Role of Experience

• Learning is acquiring knowledge and skills through studying, experience, or teaching.
• Habituation involves a reduction in response to repeated exposure.
• Sensitization involves an increase in response to repeated stimuli.
• Classical conditioning is learning through associative pairing of stimuli.
• Operant conditioning is learning through consequences of behaviors.
• Observational learning is learning by observing other's behaviours.

Social and Emotional Development

• Early basic emotions emerge in infancy, such as startle, disgust, distress, smile.
• Social emotional development influences relationships, behaviour, empathy, the understanding of self, and the ability to regulate one's emotions.
• Social cognitive theory explains how children learn through observation, modelling, and social experiences.
• Attachment theory deals with how relationships affect children, and also has a focus on different Attachment Styles based on the care a child experiences.
• Socioemotional development deals with different types of intelligence and emotional responses.
• Social psychologists are involved in research concerning social groups, interactions, and social influence, including conformity and obedience.
• Some studies have examined social processes like the bystander effect which is related to how individuals respond in emergency situations (when help is needed), also related studies of factors preventing intervention in an emergency.
• Social influence is the extent of how one individual influences another.

Introduction to Biological Psychology

• The field studies the biological factors impacting human behaviour. It involves understanding how physical processes influence behaviour.
• Key historical figures in biopsychology studied the relationships between the mind and the brain, with early theories like phrenology.
• Modern biological approaches include; comparative, neuropsychological, psychophysiological, and cognitive neuroscience approaches.
• Key areas of anatomy involving the nervous system and brain and how physical processes influence cognitive and emotional expressions are key to the study.
• Studies have investigated the role of the brain, and specifically different structures, in various behaviours and psychological concepts.
• Brain injuries have been researched to understand the relation between damaged areas of the brain and effects of these damages on cognitive function.

Evolution, Genes, and Behaviour

• Evolution has influenced the brain and behaviors.
• Natural selection, variation, inheritance and selection are key factors to this process.
• The levels of causality in evolutionary studies include proximate, ontogenetic, phylogenetic, and ultimate.

Emotions

• Emotion is a state of arousal that involves physiological, behavioural, and cognitive aspects.
• Various models of emotions exist e.g., the dimensional model, and the evolutionary perspective.
• The emotional response is triggered by internal and external stimuli.
• Appraisal processing describes the process by which individuals interpret the cognitive evaluation that are based on the interpretations of events to elicit emotions.
• Physiological Responses such as heart rate, hormones and bodily changes are strongly correlated with emotions; psychological states influence emotions in multiple ways.

Wellbeing

• Wellbeing is a broad concept representing overall well-being and encompassing both physical and emotional aspects, and psychological aspects.
• Subjective well-being deals with overall positive life experiences, including life satisfaction and well-being.
• Hedonic wellbeing is the state of experiencing pleasure, while eudaimonic well-being is associated w a sense of purpose and meaning. Psychological wellbeing involves personal growth, and positive relationship and positive traits.
• Different factors affect wellbeing including individual differences, societal environment, and life experiences.