Psych 100: Psychological Perspectives

• Notes from Psych 100 on February 4, 2025

Perspectives in Psychology

• Different views on the understanding of behaviour and mental processes

Psychodynamic Perspective (Freud)

• This perspective emphasizes unconscious inner forces and impulses on behaviour, focusing on unconscious drives, such as sexual drives
• Conflicts are a key aspect of development influencing everyday behavior through intrapsychic conflicts between the id, ego, and superego, and between unconscious impulses and societal expectations
• Early childhood experiences significantly impact adulthood

Behavioral Perspective (Watson, Pavlov, Skinner, Bandura)

• This approach primarily studies observable and measurable behaviors
• Behaviors are influenced and acquired through the process of learning, thus advocating for environmental influences instead of genetic
• Learning happens through direct experience or by observing others
• Modeling, reinforcement, and punishment play roles in behavior

Humanistic Perspective (Maslow, Rogers)

• In this perspective, human beings are inherently good with the ability to grow and overcome challenges for self-actualization
• Problems arise when people place conditions of worth on themselves or others
• Conditional vs unconditional positive self-regard and regard from others are central to a person's self functioning

Cognitive Perspective

• This perspective entails people automatically activate thoughts and perceptions influencing emotions and behavior
• Information processing is both active (seeking) and passive (receiving)
• Focus is on thinking and knowing processes like memory, problem-solving, categorization, and perception

Physiological/Biological/Neurophysiological Perspective

• The perspective focuses on biological processes underlying behavior, such as chemical transmissions in the brain during emotions
• Every psychological event corresponds with biochemical events or neural connections in the brain, thus: "Brain Wires Behavior"

Research Methods in Psychology

• Main goals are to find and understand the relationship between variables while using the population found to reflect the sample

Definitions of Important Concepts

• Variables: Anything that can differ among individuals (e.g., height, environment, genetics)
• Constructs: Implicit and not directly measurable concepts, assumed to exist and measured through related variables (e.g., anxiety level)
• Independent/predictor variables: Variables that cause an impact (x → y), such as social media, environment, etc.
• Dependent/outcome variables: Variables a researcher wants to predict, such as self-esteem
• Operational definition: Definition of a variable in terms of how it's measured or manipulated
• Hypotheses: Predictive statements about relationships between variables

Types of Research Designs

• Methods to describe behaviour in detail allowing the researcher to use generate hypothesis

Descriptive Methods

• These methods describe behavior in detail allowing the researcher to use information to generate a hypothesis

Naturalistic Observation

• Observing behavior or variables of interest as they naturally occur with minimal interference
• The partakers are unaware they are being observed
• Advantages: Enables researchers see behavior as it naturally occurs
• Disadvantages: Mainly descriptive with little control as well as time consumption and observer bias

Case Study

• Intensive investigation of an individual or small group involving interviews and observations that are descriptive
• Advantage: Useful for circumstances that are unethical to manipulate
• Disadvantage: Lacks control, not generalizable
• Confounds/3rd variable- limitations for both of these designs, an extra factor not controlled leading it to inaccurately indicate the effect

Survey Research/ Correlational Research

• Define strength of relationship between 2+ variables. Goal is prediction
• Used when manipulation of varibales isn't possible and when researchers are interested in pre-existing variables existing
• Assessed via questionnaires collecting individual’s information and variables
• Advantages: Circumstances impossible to manipulate and economical
• Disadvantages: 3rd variable problem and no causation

Experimental Designs

• The goal is to establish a casual relationship between variables while used to predict and explain
• Independent variable (IV): Doing the manipulating and predicting
• Dependent variable (DV): Researchers expect it to change as a function of the IV
• Structure: Experimental and control groups will be assessed on the IV and DV

How causality is established

• Manipulation of the IV
• Control group
• Control of extraneous/third variables:
• Random assignment: Participants assigned randomly to conditions
• Matching: Measured and distributed across conditions based on that variable
• Advantages: Potential for causality
• Disadvantages: Artificiality, few independent variables, foster demand characteristics
• Overall conclusion: there is more than one way to research in order to know how the variables relate

Biological Bases of Behavior

• Investigates physiological factors influencing behaviour and mental processes

Two Systems in the Body

• Divided into two main systems

Nervous System

• The body's primary communication network, divided into the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system

Endocrine System

• Works with nervous system to carry messages between the brain and the body

Nervous System: Structure (PNS, CNS)

• The main structure of the nervous system

Peripheral Nervous System

• The part of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord
• Key in sending information while carrying out commands to the brain
• Somatic (skeletal)- Relays sensory information while controlling voluntary movements
• Afferent - Carry signals from the senses to the brain
• Efferent (Motor neurons) - Sends signal from brain to muscles

Autonomic (Visceral)

• Controls involuntary muscle movements and manages distribution of energy
• Sympathetic - Activates in response to emergencies triggering surge of energy such as rapid heart rate
• Parasympathetic- Calms the body back to homeostasis but trauma can hinder that process
• Homeostasis - Stabilizing internal environment

Central Nervous System

• Made up of Brain and Spinal Cord which controls body functions
• Spinal Cord Neurons carry messages between body and mind
• Brain: Controls thinking, memory, emotions, and body functions that are divided into cerebellum, cerebrum, and brainstem

Role of Neurons in the Nervous System

• The process and structure of how neurons communicate

Structure and Process

• Chemical Activation: Communication between neurons carried out by neurotransmitters

Synapse

• The tiny gap of space between neurons where messages are sent

Neurotransmitter Function

• No neurotransmitter = no message sent
• Excitatory- Speed up messages
• Inhibitory- Stop messages

Neurotransmitter Activation

• If the neurotransmitter isn't the right amount or type, the neurons won't fire

Dendrites

• Receives neurotransmitters and check message and trigger if the right type and amount

Neuron Charge

• Defaults at -70 millivolts but when activated goes to 0 millivolts (aka action potential)

Action Potential

• The charge changes throughout the axon
• A fatty substance that helps the electrical charge move faster along the neuron

Resting Potential

• When the neuron is not firing, it is the default at -70 millivolts

Central Nervous System

• The brain and its structure

Structure of the Brain

• Composed of hindbrain/midbrain

Hindbrain/Midbrain

• Includes the midbrain, pons and medulla

Brain Stem

• Medulla- Regulates autonomic and helps with homeostasis while controlling vitals
• Pons- Allows for communication with cerebellum helping the body smoothly move while triggering REM sleep
• Reticular Formation- Involves processing, alertness and attention which sleeping pills affect

Midbrain

• Processes sounds and sights while controlling movement and keeping the body alert.
• Monitors and makes you alert

Cerebellum

• Coordinates movement while controlling posture. Starts in the cerebral cortex and can be stored for muscle memory

Forebrain

• Composed of the thalamus and hypothalamus
• Thalamus: "Thala-MUST process senses!", the body's information station to process sensory function
• Hypothalamus: "Hypo-Homeostasis", keeps the body balanced with key functions of controlling circadian rhythms hunger + sexual behaviors

Other Limbic System

• Amygdala- Key in assessing threats with the ability to trigger emotions such as anxiety by communicating with the other systems
• Hippocampus- Establishes new memories and sticks in the cerebral cortex while creating new routines

Cerebral Cortex

• Responsible for the awareness and problem solvinf of the experience of the brain while housing language and every memory
• The structure of the cerebral cortex
• Two hemispheres are both left and right

Contralateralization

• All information sent to the left side will end up on the right side of the brain's cortex (vice versa)

Lateralization/Specialization

• Efficient neurons result in specialization of function, making tasks easier
• "Right is Logic" with more "Visuospatial" intelligence
• Emotional intelligence can be found in right , hemisphere
• Facial recognition in either part of brain
• Proprioception- the physical awareness of the body
• Kinesthesia = moving muscles
• Vestibular Sense = inner balance

Corpus Callosum

• Dense in neurons in centre
• Responsible for transferring information to other hemispheres from the pons
• The Lobes and what they are responsible for
• Every lobe is responsible for processing afferent signals from cortex
• Association cortex is responsible for other lobes
• Occipital Lobe: visual cortex
• Parietal lobe: The experience of touch
• Temporal Lobe- Receives and translates information from sounds
• Frontal Lobe: Controls thinking and movement

Prefrontal Cortex

• Helps with decision-making, emotion regulation, and personality

Association Cortex

• Connects different parts of the brain and allows for memories and a plan of action

Sensation And Perception

• How the brain makes sense and receives information

Sensory Information Processing

• Divided into two definitions

Definitions

• Sensation: "Senses start the process", process of the brain getting physical information
• Perception: "Perception interprets the senses", how the interprets the senses

Eye structure

• Helps in prioritizing and get correct lightwave recognition
• Cornea- Curved and clear, while focusing on light
• Pupil- "Pupils let in light", shift muscle size to allow light in
• Iris- Regulates pupil size
• Aqueous Humor- Jelly maintains light waves
• Lens- Clarity of waves
• Ciliary Muscles- Tighten loose to see
• Accommodation: Adjusting focus through the eyeprocess
• Vitreous Humor- Keeps lens shape while keeping retina in place

Retina

• plays the role for transduction translation
• Rods - objects movement
• Cones- color,gradients objects
• Fovea: Detailed color
• Optic Nerve: connects eye to brain

Relation to the Brain

• Carried via light, the information is collected at all sides of the eyes that can be interrupted with vision by combining the process of the visual field from light.

Coordination of two hemispheres

• Brain can coordinate with the vision due to integrating all processes

Perception: Types of Processing

• Divided into main two methods processing and thinking

Bottom- Up Processing

• Starts by seeing and working way up the brain

Top-Down Processing

• Uses something that may be already known
• Parallel Distribute Processing: Processes all information at the same rate in all different areas.

Brain Functioning and Language

• Understand how speech is processed in the brain

Speech Production

• Articulate by using the vocal cords

Brain Structures

• Broca's Area – Helps produce speech by sending commands

B Expressive Aphasia

• Loss of ability to produce language although comprehension intact

Speech Comprehension

• Receptive receives

Brain Structure

• Wernicke's Area between the frontal cortex
• Allows for interpretation of words

Receptive/ Fluent Aphasia

• Cannot correlate word
• Order with meaning

Connecting tract Between Brocas and Wernicke's Area

• A Conduction: Area in the woman struggles, realizing mistakes and fixing.

Notes on different perspectives in psychology, including psychodynamic and behavioral approaches. Covers Freud's emphasis on unconscious forces and the impact of early experiences. Also discusses the behaviorist focus on observable behaviors and learning through environmental factors, modeling, reinforcement, and punishment.