Introduction to Psychology

Definition and Goals of Psychology

• Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
• 4 primary goals of psychology: describe, explain, predict, and change behavior and mental processes.

Fields of Psychology

• Clinical psychology: addresses behavioral and mental health issues across the lifespan.
• Counselling psychology: helps individuals overcome mental health challenges to improve quality of life.
• Educational psychology: studies how people learn.

Psychology Approaches

Structuralism

• Key figure: Wilhelm Wundt
• Focus: identifying the basic structures of the mind via introspection

Functionalism

• Key figure: William James
• Focus: studying how the mind adapts to the environment

Psychoanalysis

• Key figure: Sigmund Freud
• Focus: unconscious processes, childhood experiences, and unresolved past conflicts

Behaviourism

• Key figure: Ivan Pavlov
• Focus: studying objective and observable environmental influences on overt behavior

Humanism

• Key figure: Carl Rogers
• Focus: free will and self-actualization

Research Methods

Experimental Research

• Definition: controlled scientific procedures that manipulate variables to determine cause and effect.
• Key features: IV, DV, Experimental Group, Control Group

Descriptive Research

• Definition: observing and recording behavior without producing causal explanations.
• Types: naturalistic observation, survey, case study

Correlational Research

• Definition: studying relationships between two or more variables.
• Types: positive, negative, zero
• Note: cannot show cause and effect due to multiple variables

Biological Research

• Definition: studying the brain and nervous system

Reflexes

• Definition: actions performed without conscious thought in response to a stimulus

Piaget's Cognitive Development Stages

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)

• Learning through sense and motor activities
• Understanding object permanence

Pre-operational Stage (2-7 years)

• Learning through symbolic thinking (role-play, language)
• Egocentric thinking: unable to consider another's POV
• Animistic thinking: believing all things are living

Concrete Operations (7-11 years)

• Learning by performing operations on concrete objects
• Understanding conservation and reversibility

Formal Operations (>11 years)

• Mastering abstract thinking and constructing arguments using hypothetical thinking and deductive reasoning
• Hypothetical thinking: considering 'what if' scenarios
• Deductive reasoning: drawing logical conclusions from existing knowledge

Moral Development Stages

Pre-conventional Level (under 9 years)

• Moral judgment: self-centered
• Moral understanding: rewards and punishment

Conventional Level (9 years to early adolescence)

• Moral judgment: other-centered
• Moral understanding: compliance with societal rules and values

Post-conventional Level (adolescence and beyond)

• Moral judgment: abstract
• Moral understanding: personal standards of right and wrong

Learning

Definition

• A change in behavior resulting from practice or experience

Types of Learning

Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)

• When a neutral stimulus evokes a response originally evoked by another stimulus

Operant Conditioning (John Watson)

• When voluntary responses are controlled by their consequences
• Reinforcement: increasing or maintaining a behavior
• Punishment: decreasing a behavior

Observational Learning (B.F. Skinner)

• Influencing responses by observing others

Definition of Gender

• Psychological and sociocultural meanings added to biological sex

Definition of Sex

• Biological elements of being male or female