Introduction to Psychology

• Psychology is the study of the mind, looking at mental processes and behaviour.

Mental processes

• Thoughts
• Feelings
• Motivations

Behavoiur

• Actions
• Reactions
• Habits

Branches of Psychology

• Clinical psychology deals with mental health and disorders.
• Clinical psychology aids individuals in coping with challenges.
• Diagnosis involves identifying mental health issues.
• Research aims to improve mental health care.
• Treatment includes therapy and counselling services.
• Developmental psychology studies lifespan changes in behaviour.
• Developmental psychology focuses on understanding growth and change from infancy to adulthood:
  • Infancy covers early development stages.
  • Childhood includes cognitive and social growth.
  • Adolescence focuses on identity formation and puberty.
  • Adulthood looks at relationships and career paths.

Social psychology

• Considers the influence of social factors.
• Group dynamics explains the influence of groups on individuals.
• Attitudes are beliefs, opinions, and values, and how people display them.
• Prejudice involves unfair negative attitudes.

Cognitive psychology

• Explores mental processes and thinking.
• Attention involves focusing on specific stimuli.
• Memory covers encoding, storing, and recalling information.
• Problem-solving focuses on finding solutions to challenges.

Industrial Psychology

• Applies psychological principles within the workplace.
• Employee selection is about finding the right candidates.
• Training involves developing employee skills.
• Productivity aims to improve workplace efficiency.

Forensic Psychology

• Applies psychology in the legal system.
• Criminal profiling involves analysing criminal behaviour.
• Witness testimony includes evaluating eyewitness accuracy.
• Jury selection aims to choose unbiased jurors.

Becoming a Psychologist

• Requires a journey of education and experience.
• Involves a 7-year degree program.
  • Undergraduate degree
  • Graduate degree
  • Internship
  • Licensing

The Scientific Method

• Uses observation to identify a question or problem to investigate.
• A hypothesis formulates a testable explanation or prediction.
• Experimentation designs and conducts tests to validate the hypothesis.
• Analysis interprets results and draws conclusions.

Importance of the Scientific Method

• Objectivity minimizes bias in research.
• Reproducibility allows others to verify findings.
• A systematic approach ensures a thorough investigation of phenomena.

Experimental Research

• It's characterized by a controlled environment.
• It involves manipulation of variables.
• Random assignment is used.
• It establishes cause-effect relationships.
• The method has high internal validity.

Non-Experimental Research

• Correlational studies
• Naturalistic observations
• Case studies
• Studies phenomena in natural settings.
• It is useful for complex behaviours.

Ethical Guidelines in Psychology

• Informed consent requires participants to understand and agree to the research.
• Confidentiality protects participants' personal information.
• Protection from harm ensures research does not cause undue distress.
• Debriefing explains the study's purpose after participation.

Importance of Ethics in Research

• Protects participants by ensuring safety and well-being.
• Maintains integrity by upholding the credibility of psychological research.
• Builds trust and fosters public confidence in scientific endeavours.
• Guides decision-making by providing a framework for resolving dilemmas.

Challenges in Psychological Research

• Replication crisis.
• Bias.
• Ethical constraints.
• Generalizability.

Advancements in Research Methods

• 1950s: Rise of experimental psychology.
• 1970s: Increased focus on ethics.
• 1990s: Growth of neuroimaging techniques.
• 2000s: Big data and online research methods.
• The scientific method is a systematic approach used to explore natural phenomena, enabling researchers to test and refine their theories.

Defining the Scientific Method

• Empirical approach:
  • Based on observation.
  • Relies on measurable evidence.
• Systematic:
  • Follows a structured process.
  • Ensures rigor and consistency.

Testability

• A hypothesis must be verifiable through experimentation.

Steps of the Scientific Method

• Observe to gain insights from natural surroundings or areas of interest.
• Question to spark curiosity by crafting broad, thought-provoking research questions.
• Hypothesize by making an educated guess about the relationship between variables.
• Experiment by designing tests to see if the hypothesis holds true.
• Analyze data to uncover patterns and insights.
• Conclude by drawing final conclusions and supporting them with evidence.

Brain Structure and Function

• The brain is the body's command centre, regulating everything from movement to mood

Neural Pathways

• Complex networks of neurons allow communication.
• Pathways enable rapid information processing.
• Brain activity directly shapes our behaviours.
• Every action begins with a neurological event.

Lobes of the Brain

• The frontal lobe is responsible for decision-making, planning, and personality.
• The parietal lobe integrates sensory information and processes touch, temperature, and pain.
• The temporal lobe is responsible for auditory processing and plays a role in memory.
• The occipital lobe processes visual information and interprets what we see.

Methods of Studying the Brain

• Functional MRI reveals brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow. For example, observing which areas activate when a subject performs a memory task.
• Electroencephalography (EEG) measures electrical activity using electrodes on the scalp, useful for studying sleep patterns, detecting seizures, and monitoring overall brain function.
• CT scans use advanced scanning techniques like computer tomography to closely examine the physical properties and structure of the human brain.

The Case of Phineas Gage

• In 1884, Phineas Gage, a railway construction foreman, experienced a life-altering accident where an explosion sent an iron rod through his head, near Cavendish, Vermont.
• Following the accident, his personality and behaviour changed.
• Gage became more impulsive, irreverent, and demonstrated a reduced capacity for social interaction.
• The iron rod's path caused extensive damage to his frontal lobe, particularly in the prefrontal cortex.
• That area is understood to be critical for executive functions, decision-making, and personality expression.
• The case provided early insights into the functions of the frontal lobe, linking specific brain regions to personality, behaviour, and social cognition.
• It remains a landmark case in neuroscience, influencing our understanding of the brain and behaviour.

Brain Organization

• The brain's hierarchical organisation represents evolutionary development and increasing complexity of functions.
• Each region builds upon lower functions while adding greater complexity.
• Disruptions at any level can cascade to affect multiple psychological processes.

Brain Regions

• The forebrain is involved in complex cognition, conscious processing, and emotional regulation.
• The midbrain is associated with visual/auditory processing and motor coordination.
• The hindbrain handles basic survival functions and autonomic processes.

Forebrain

• The Limbic System manages Emotion and Memory.
  • Emotional processing:
    • The amygdala evaluates emotional significance of stimuli, being especially responsive to fear and threat detection.
  • Memory function:
    • The hippocampus converts short-term memories to long-term storage.
    • Damage prevents forming new memories.
  • Behavioural motivation
    • The limbic system generates emotional responses that drive actions and decisions.

Thalamus

• Sensory and Motor Relay Station
  • Sensory gateway:
    • Nearly all sensory information passes through the thalamus before reaching the cerebral cortex, except for smell.
  • Information sorting:
    • The thalamus directs sensory signals to appropriate processing areas in the brain and filters relevant stimuli from irrelevant ones.
  • Consciousness control:
    • The thalamus plays a crucial role in regulating alertness, attention, and awareness, and is essential for conscious perception.

Hypothalamus

• Homeostasis and Motivation
  • Biological regulation:
    • Controls body temperature, hunger, thirst, and fatigue.
    • Maintains internal balance essential for survival.
  • Hormonal control:
    • Directs the pituitary gland to release hormones that affect growth, metabolism, and stress responses.
  • Emotional states:
    • Influences rage, aggression, and pleasure.
    • Plays a key role in motivated behaviours like eating and drinking.

Hindbrain

• The Cerebellum: Motor Coordination and Learning
  • Movement precision:
    • Fine-tunes the timing and precision of movements and ensures smooth, coordinated physical actions.
  • Balance control:
    • Maintains posture and equilibrium.
    • Processes information from the inner ear to adjust body position.
  • Cognitive functions:
    • Involved in attention, language, and emotional regulation.
    • Contributes to procedural learning and rhythm perception.

Midbrain

• The Reticular Formation: Arousal and Attention
  • Sleep regulation:
    • Controls sleep-wake transitions and maintains proper sleep cycles essential for mental health.
  • Consciousness levels:
    • Regulates levels of alertness.
    • Damage can cause coma or persistent vegetative status.
  • Sensory filtering:
    • Screens incoming stimuli and prevents sensory overload by focusing attention on relevant information.

Corpus Callosum

• Hemispheric Communication
• Neural bridge:
  • The largest white matter structure in the brain contains over 200 million nerve fibres that connect the hemispheres.
• Information transfer:
  • Allows language, memory, and attention to function across both brain sides and also enables unified perception and response.
• Split-brain studies:
  • Research with a severed corpus callosum reveals specialised hemisphere functions and shows how integration occurs normally.