Intro to Psychology: Theories and History

• These are psychology study notes from lectures and readings

Lecture 1 Week 1

• Nominative determinism is the idea that people are drawn to work that fits their names
• A theory is a systematic way to explain observations using propositions about relationships between phenomena, more encompassing than a hypothesis
• A hypothesis is a testable statement that can be exploratory, directional, or non-directional and is more focused than theories
• Francis Galton (19th–20th Century) studied the heritability of intellect and is credited with "nature vs. nurture" in 1869

Nature vs. Nurture

• Nature refers to genes determining one's personality
• Pythagoras (6th Century BC) proposed physiognomy: dispositions follow bodily characteristics, and physical appearance reveals the psyche
• Phrenology (18th-19th century) attempted to divine character from skull shape and identify criminal types, often using death masks
• Galen (2nd Century AD) linked personality to the balance of four humors: blood (sanguine), black bile (melancholic), yellow bile (choleric), and phlegm (phlegmatic)
• Descartes (17th Century) proposed mind-body dualism, viewing the body as a machine, with innate ideas like God and self
• Locke (17th-18th Century) believed in "tabula rasa" (blank slate), where experiences shape personality
• Broca (19th Century) found that lesions in the left frontal convolution were linked to speech production
• Sheldon (20th Century) linked personality to body types ("somatypes"): endomorph (complacent), mesomorph (energetic), and ectomorph (restrained)
• Little Albert was conditioned to fear the color white through association with a white rat and loud noise by John Watson

Online Lecture Week 2

• Wundt and Structuralism focuses on the study of human consciousness
• Wundt used introspection ("internal perception") to objectively examine conscious experience like scientists observe nature
• William James et al. and Functionalism suggest that natural selection adapts organisms' behavior for survival and reproduction
• Freud's psychoanalytic theory posits that patient issues arise from the unconscious mind which contained feelings and urges, so accessing it was crucial for resolution
• Wertheimer, Koffka, and Köhler of Gestalt Psychology believed that sensory experiences are broken down into parts, how they related to each other influenced perception
• Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner (Behaviorism) studied conditioned reflexes, where a stimulus is associated with a response over time
• Pavlov's "classical conditioning" is one form of learning behavior studied by behaviorists

Maslow, Rogers, and Humanism

• Humanism emphasizes the potential for good innate in all humans
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs ranks from basic physiological needs, to safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization in fulfillment

Lecture 1 Week 2 Reading Homework

• Social psychology studies how people affect each other and the power of the situation
• Empiricism suggests that characteristics are influenced by the environment

Situational vs. Dispositional

• Situationism means behavior is determined by the immediate environment
• Dispositionsism believes behavior is determined by internal factors
• The fundamental attribution error is assuming behavior is a trait and underrating the power of the situation
• The actor-observer bias is attributing others' behavior to internal factors while attributing one's own behavior to situational forces
• The self-serving bias is explaining success using internal characteristics and failures with situational factors
• The just-world hypothesis is the belief that people get what they deserve

Lecture 1 Week Two

• IV (independent variable) is what is manipulated
• DV (dependent variable) what depends on the manipulations
• Norman Triplett (1897) in the fishing wheel study studied the basis of social facilitation

Social Facilitation

• Social facilitation means the positive effect of observers on performance
• An experiment that simulated real-life situations is harder to control extraneous variables and there was deception
• The mere presence of others impacts people and pairs that wound more than alone

Sherif-1935 Auto Kinetic Effect

• Participants alone or in groups estimated the movement of a light in a dark room
• Condition A: Days 1-3: spoken estimates alone, Day 4: gave it in groups
• Condition B: Days 1-3: gave estimates in groups, Day 4: alone
• In Group 1, participants gave mostly persistent answers
• In Group 2, participants converged towards a standard estimate or norm
• Participants' judgments were influenced by others and they conformed

Asch 1951-1956 Lines Study

• Experiments on visual discrimination: judging which of three lines matched the target line
• Control group: 37+ people gave alone answers and found the average error rate was 0.7%
• Experimental groups: all confederates gave unanimously wrong answers in 12 expel trials and it found the average error rate was 37%
• Conformity increases when more neutral trials occurred at the start

Conclusion About Conformity

• People tend to conform to the majority in ambiguous situations at least some of the time due to fear of being ostracized, motivation to fit in, and wanting to be right
• Informational influence increases conformity, and normative influence means wanting to be liked
• Informational Influence and conversion increases with initial neutral study trials
• Normative influence and compliance relates to increase with promising rewards
• Compliance is conforming due to concern about how one is viewed while privately disagreeing
• Conversion is conforming due to belief that others are right; one changes one's own private opinion

Tutorial 1 Homework

• Case/clinical studies are in-depth studies, archival research analyzes past data, longitudinal research gathers data repeatedly over time, and cross-sectional research studies different population segments simultaneously

Tutorial 1 Notes

• Causation is one variable causing another and correlation is two independent variables happening at the same time but cannot infer cause
• Journals include sections such as abstracts, introductions, methods, results, discussions, and references

Psych 121 Online Lecture Week Three

• Cultural WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) nations exist where non-WEIRD populations pay more attention to behavioral context
• Fundamental attribution error explains outcomes based on traits rather than environment impact
• Collectivistic cultures emphasize importance of relationships and loyalty
• Individualistic cultures focus on personal needs and those of immediate family

Cultural and Cross-Cultural Psychology

• Cultural psychology (emic) studies how culture affects people and cross-cultural psychology (etic) identifies universal psychological processes
• Culture has systematic patterns, sharing, cumulative learning, and intergenerational transmission

Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions

• Examined value differences across IBM divisions, identifying dimensions like individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity/femininity
• Motivation towards achievement and success refers to gender roles, high motivation with competitiveness, and low motivation with relationships

Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance

• Uncertainty avoidance (UA) addresses patience when faced with ambiguity
• Power distance refers to how the less members want institutions that evenly distribute organizations
• People with a high degree accept hierarchies where people do not need justifications
• Societies with low power distance seek equal distribution of power and are called egalitarian

PSYCH 121 Week 3 Lecture 1

• Milgram's experiment replication results were 80% in Italy, Germany, and Austria, 90% in Spain and Holland, and 40% in Australia
• In Milgram's experiments, women reported more stress
• There was 65% of obedience rate in Milgrams results
• Only 16% of Australian women yielded these results
• Women showed higher obedience if their grades were threatened in puppy-shock study results

Criticism of Milgram’s Research and Bioethics

• In Milgram's research, conflicting cues and no lasting effects and societal ethics are considered
• Respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice are examples of bio-ethical principles to govern medical research
• There is a NZ ethics code with principles like respect, responsible caring, integrity, and social justice

Zaney, Banks, and Zimbardo 1973

• The study involved prisoners and officers to evaluate Navy prisons in the US
• The Navy funded the experiment with 24 participants, who got paid $15 USD/day
• The study ended early, due to anxiety and depression, and Christine Maslach helped with awareness
• Some of the actions were depersonalisation (switch identity), deindividuation (lost self-awareness), internalisation, and authoritarianism
• The procedure saw 10 prisoners and 11 guards (paid), were put in simulated prison for 6 days, and guards enforced authority
• The increased aggression and punishment from guards had prisoners show less signs of submissiveness
• Both groups confirmed to their roles, lost their identity, gained a new one, and conformed and used obedience to authority figure

Strengths and Weakness of Prisoners and Officers

• Experiments stimulated participants and showed true feelings/actions with results
• The distress caused, unnatural environment, and the lack of generalisation were some of the weaknesses shown

Lab Two Week Three Notes

• SRM theory describes what a perceivers average rating of others
• The partner effect: which is the average rating a target receives from others
• Relationship effect is the portion of the judgment that cannot be accounted for

Matching Pairs Study East Wick and Buck 2014

• The background saw investigating phenomenon known as homogamy or assortative mating
• The method saw 46 six students, 45 were women, 78% were last years and 22% were second-to last years with correlational method
• Stage 1 saw students engage in the pairing game with playing cards
• The playing card values and suit points reflect the relationship effects

Stage 2 and Results

• 5-Min lectures saw people answer difficult SRM questions using iClickers and lectures
• There was r = .86 for the correlation results
• In high-value, they paired faster

Conclusion of Experiments

• Results showed modified study better replicated the real-life mating process, that correlation would be weaker
• The limitations was sample size, generalisation, and experimenter bias with answers

Week Three Lecture 2

• Cognitive dissonance is uncomfy tension which comes from two competing thoughts in mind
• Strength of conflict, rationaling, beliefs, and the self-image are some of dissonance that can increase tension
• There is behaviour change to release tension
• Obedience is more prevalent in those with a high Californian F scale, which means they tend to be more authoritarian
• People with broader humanity tend to be less obedient and discriminatory

Criticism of Authoritarian

• Authoritarian criticism sees, low, representative, and acquiescence

Right-Wing Authoritarian and How to Avoid

• Authoritarian submission, aggression and conventionalism exist among those that do not change beliefs
• Childhood avoids, punitive socialisation, conformity, dangerous worlds, and authoritarianism
• In Leon Festinger, proximity impacts friendships, and we compare ourselves to people above or on par
• Golem theory is where low expectations mean there is a poorer performance and this is a self-fulfilling prophecy
• Millerian cults see change of century and doomsday

Researchers and Their Pursuits

• Albert Bandura: Observational learning of aggression
• Robert Rosenthal: The Pygmalion Effect
• Solomon Asch: Conformity
• Philip Zimbardo: Depersonalisation
• Stanley Milgram: Obedience to authority
• Leon Festinger: Cognitive Dissonance
• Christine Maslach: burn out.
• Bob Altemeyer: Right-Wing Authoritarianism

Different Effects and Personalities

• People that affect others are,
• Pygmalion, describe beliefs and effect ones abilities
• Golem Effect, bad performance
• Heisenberg Effect, know everything
• Hawthorne Effect, change when being watched

Leon Festinger and Cognitive Dissonance

• One question Festinger asked was, How to explore beliefs when action contradicts someone
• This involved 71 college males where they turned pegs on a board for an hour
• They also lied, giving payment groups.
• Participants changed their attitudes to feel less bad when there wasn't a justifiable reason to lie.
• When people admitted to inconsistency; they experience this
• This has impacted psychology, influences persuasion, justification and self-image