Introduction to Psychological Theories Lecture 1 PDF

| 1 | 1 Introduction to Psychological Theories PSMIN-11 Lecture 1: The Science of Psychology  | 2 Course overview Week Date Time...

| 1 | 1 Introduction to Psychological Theories PSMIN-11 Lecture 1: The Science of Psychology  | 2 Course overview Week Date Time Topic Reading 37 10/09/24 11.00-13:00 The Science of Psychology Chapter 1 38 17/09/24 11:00-13:00 Learning Chapter 6 39 24/09/24 11:00-13:00 Thinking, Decisions & Intelligence Chapter 8 40 01/10/24 11:00-13:00 Emotion & Motivation Chapter 10 41 08/10/24 11:00-13:00 Social Psychology Chapter 12 42 15/10/24 11:00-13:00 Health & Well-Being Chapter 11 43 22/10/24 11:00-13:00 Psychological Disorders & Treatment of Chapter 14 & Chapter 15 Psychological Disorders 44 08/11/24 11:45 - 13:45 Exam Exam hall 1 5 24/01/25 11:45 - 13:45 Resit Exam Exam hall 1  | 3 Your lecturers dr. Līga Kļaviņa Contact Info › Email: [email protected] › Office Hours: By appointment › RUG staff page: https://www.rug.nl/staff/l.Klavina  | 4 dr. Wim Meerholz Contact Info › Email: [email protected] › Office Hours: By appointment › RUG staff page: https://www.rug.nl/staff/e.w.meerholz  | 5 You › Thank you to those who completed the pre-course survey! › If you have not done so yet, please still complete it! › 293 students  | 6 Course text Phelps, Berkman & Gazzaniga Psychological Science › Text book › E-Book › Online resources The 7th edition is the reference Using older editions are your own responsibility!  | 7 Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology › Overview  What is Psychological Science?  What is the Scientific Scope of Psychology?  What are the Latest Developments in Psychology?  | 8 Minor Psychology in Society Course ECTS Mandatory/Choice Period Introduction to 5 M Ia Psychological Theories Research instruments 5 M Ia critically considered The social psychology of 5 choice Ia communication Psychology in the choice 5 Ib workplace choice Human error 5 Ib choice Social influence 5 Ib Consumer and economic choice 5 Ib psychology  | 9 Practical Info Lectures take place on location › Lecture recordings available in two batches All important information appears on Brightspace  e.g. Announcements, Readings, Timetable, Quizzes  | 10 How to make the most of this course? - Book – read the assigned chapter BEFORE class - Slides - Lectures - Demonstrations - Discussion with peers (e. g., your classmates) - Self-testing We learn better by: Distributed practice Retrieval/Testing Elaborative interrogation  | 11 How to pass this course? › Exam Multiple choice and short answer questions Covering the lectures and the assigned chapters  | 12 Today’s program › What is Psychological Science? › What are the foundations of Psychology? › What are the latest developments in the field of Psychology?  Practice questions  | 13 Learning objectives › After studying the chapter and this lecture, you can: Explain the foundations of psychology Demonstrate the use of scientific method in psychology Experience the shortcomings of intuition and using common sense Recognize the dynamic developments of psychological science  | 14 Some of your questions and interests › Why do humans think about thinking? › Why is the behaviour of people more or less the same? › Why are certain events triggers for people to react the same (independent of each other)?  | 15 Warm up! Every evening Laura plays classical music for her unborn baby to hear. She hopes that providing her baby with this type of stimulating environment will help to develop strong cognitive skills. Her partner thinks that playing music is a waste of time, because the baby’s intelligence will be based only on how smart the parents are. What age-old issue are Laura and her partner rehashing? a. the mind/body problem b. structuralism c. the nature/nurture debate d. dualism  | 16 What is Psychology? › The study of the Soul  From Greek - Psykhe (“Soul”) & Logia (“Study of”)  | 17 Studying the «soul» ? We, humans, are ‘intuitive psychologists’  | 18 Heider&Simmel (1944) video  | 19 Psychology is a Science 19 Psychological science is the study, through research, of mind, brain, and behavior (Phelps, Berkman & Gazzaniga, 2022) Aimed at understanding and predicting - Behaviour (actions) - Mind (mental activity)  | 20 What is Mind? Stuff of thought… Mental activity Perceptual experiences (sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and touches) Memories, thoughts and feelings Not directly observable  | 21 What is Behavior? What we do The observable tip of the iceberg  | 22 Psychological science There are many levels at which you can study psychology, e.g.,  Groups vs. individuals  Behavior vs. brain activity  Nature vs. nurture › These are complementary, resulting in fascinating insights › We will consider different levels in this course!  | 23 Short journey through history of psychology  | 24 Early roots - Dualism Descartes Separation of Soul/Mind and Body - Nature / Nurture debate  | 25 Structuralism Complex mental processes can be reduced to simpler processes e.g., perception of an orange reduced to the colour and shape Methods used: Reaction times Introspection  | 26 Demonstration 1 Reaction times Stroop task: Name the colour of the word  | 27 Demonstration 1 Name the colour of the word  | 28 Functionalism Concerned with the adaptive purpose/function of mind and behavior Mind is more complex than its elements  | 29 The first psychologists Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) prof. of physiology Structuralist William James (1842-1910) prof. of philosphy Functionalist First psychology labs date from 1875/1879 (Leipzig / Harvard)  | 30 Evolution Focus on the functions of behavior, the ways our behavior helps us to survive and reproduce Darwin, On the origin of Species (1859)  | 31 Evolution › Genetic diversity Mutation = Variation The benefits of sexual reproduction › Environmental pressures - Evolution has no foresight  | 32 Evolution Sexual Selection Traits that aid in reproduction (e. g., bird songs and “dance”, peacock’s tail)  | 33 Psychology and Evolution? › Psychology is about behaviour and the brain › How does evolution come into play?  Evolution can provide answers to the “why” questions Functionalism  | 34 Break › Thank you to those who completed the pre-course survey! › If you have not done so yet, please still complete it!  | 35 Schools of thought › Psychoanalytical approach › Behaviorism › Gestalt › Humantistic psychology › Cognitivism  | 36 Psychoanalytical approach Mental processes operate below the level of conscious awareness Unconscious drives Freud Psychoanalysis Influential outside of psychology (e.g., popular culture, literature)  | 37 Behaviorism Building on work of Pavlov Only observable behavior can be subject of scientific investigation Psychology’s focus should be on how environment affects observable behavior Watson Skinner  | 38 Gestalt A few basic principles guide visual perception › These explain how visual input is grouped into a coherent whole “The whole is bigger than the sum of its parts”  | 39 Humanistic psychology › An approach focusing on basic goodness in people, achieving goals, and finding fulfilment Positive psychology Values, creativity, quality of relationships, gratitude, faith  | 40 Cognitivism The Cognitive Revolution › Exploring mental process › Influences by the progress in computer science Cognitive neuroscience › We can infer how the mind works by looking at behavior › Neuroimaging has even made the mind observable  | 41 Studying the «soul» ?  | 42 Studying the «soul» ?  | 43 The Scientific Method Based on the experience, observation, existing theories, etc. come up with a question and a prediction Test that prediction against real measurement from the physical world Make conclusions with regard to your questions, show support or lack of if for your prediction ?  | 44 Demonstration 2  | 45 Demonstration 2 Optimism bias We tend to think we are better than others - Vast majority of drivers rated themselves as better than the median (“average”) driver (Svenson, 1981)  | 46 Dunning-Kruger effect  | 47 Demonstration 3 | 48 4 8 | 49  | 50 Demonstration 4 Who is deadlier sharks or horses?  | 51 Demonstration 4 Availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974)  If something is easier to bring to mind/imagine  If we hear about something more often We judge it as more probable  | 52 Demonstration 5 On average it only takes 23 people to be in the same room for there to be a 50% chance that 2 of them will share the same birthday?  | 53 Demonstration 5 › The Birthday Paradox  Difficulty with exponential growth  “Rare” events given importance  Self-identity  | 54 The importance of the scientific method › Our intuitions and even perceptions can be biased The Scientific Method can help to overcome these problems  | 55 Critical thinking and psychology How to “consume” psychological science? With amiable scepticism  | 56 Contemporary psychology What’s new in psychology? › Biology (Evolution) › Big data, Computational Modeling, (almost) AI › Culture › Interdisciplinary influences (crossing levels of analysis)  | 57 Quiz During his career, Dr. Bakker had the goal of describing the basic parts of the conscious mind. This approach is most similar to that of A. structuralism. B. cognitive psychology. C. functionalism. D. Gestalt theory.  | 58 Quiz Todd believes there is no point in trying to studying mental activity. He says psychologists should instead study how stimuli in the environment make us behave the way we do. Todd’s beliefs are most similar to that of A. cognitive psychology. B. social psychology. C. functionalism. D. behaviorism.  | 59 Quiz Which approach to study risk-taking would an evolutionary psychologist most likely use? a. examine people who have suffered damage to brain areas that are thought to play a role in risk-taking b. explore forms and consequences of risk-taking to identify possible benefits for reproductive success c. identify how risk-taking behaviors that are effective in obtaining rewards may increase in frequency with experience, and how ineffective behaviors may decrease  | 60 Quiz Tim does not know personally anyone who has been in a car accident. When he is asked to estimate the number of people who have been involved in a traffic accident in the Netherlands very few instances come to mind, so he underestimates. _____ has influenced Tim's conclusion. a. The availability bias b. The confirmation bias c. The deterministic fallacy  | 61 Summary  Psychological science is the study of mind, brain and behaviour  Our common sense is often wrong/biased  Scientific Method and evidence are required!  Psychological sciences teaches critical thinking  Psychology’s schools of thought reflect different perspectives on mind, brain and behaviour with roots in structuralism and functionalism  Psychological science increasingly incorporates insights from biology and culture  | 62 Next Week Learning Chapter 6