PSY1610 Major Paradigms Introduction PDF

MAJOR PARADIGMS IN PSYCHOLOGY THE PSYCHODYNAMIC PARADIGM: AN INTRODUCTION Greta Darmanin Kissaun Mary Rose Gatt INTRODUCTION TO PSY1610 ➤ Study unit value: 6 ECTS ➤ Method of assessment: Synchronous Take-home Examination (short-essay questio...

MAJOR PARADIGMS IN PSYCHOLOGY THE PSYCHODYNAMIC PARADIGM: AN INTRODUCTION Greta Darmanin Kissaun Mary Rose Gatt INTRODUCTION TO PSY1610 ➤ Study unit value: 6 ECTS ➤ Method of assessment: Synchronous Take-home Examination (short-essay questions). ➤ Co-ordinator: Dr Greta Darmanin Kissaun ➤ Lecturers in Psychoanalysis: Dr Greta Darmanin Kissaun (Malta cohort), Ms Mary Rose Gatt (Gozo cohort). ➤ Lecturer in The Humanistic- Existential paradigm: Dr Marta Sant (Malta and Gozo cohorts). ➤ Lecturer in Behaviourism: Ms Roberta Farrugia Debono (Malta and Gozo cohorts). PSY1610 LEARNING OUTCOMES ➤ To introduce students to three of the major areas of Psychology: ➤ Psychoanalysis ➤ The Humanistic Existential Paradigm ➤ Behaviourism. ➤ To provide a foundation of psychological knowledge required for subsequent courses (these paradigms are the foundation stones on which most psychological theories are built). ➤ To expose students to the underlying values and attitudes typically associated with these paradigms TEXTBOOKS Main text ➤ Hall, C. S., Lindsey, G., & Campbell, J. B. (1998). An introduction to theories of personality. New York: J. Wiley & Sons. Other texts ➤ Brenner, C. (1974). An elementary textbook of psychoanalysis. Anchor Books. ➤ Feist, J., Feist, G.J., & Roberts, T.A. (2018). Theories of Personality. New York: McGraw Hill. WHAT IS A PARADIGM? ➤ A paradigm is a set of ideas, a way of looking at something, a framework through which we interpret reality. ➤ A generally accepted perspective, position or view of a particular discipline at a given time. ➤ A universally recognisable scientific achievement that, for a time, provides model problems and solutions to a community of practitioners. (Kuhn, 1962) ➤ Scientists accept the dominant paradigm until anomalies appear, scientists begin to question the paradigm and new theories emerge to challenge the dominant paradigm until a new one takes its place - paradigm shift WHAT IS A PARADIGM SHIFT? ➤ A scientific revolution occurs when 1) the new paradigm better explains the observations and offers a model that is closer to objective, external reality 2) the new paradigm is incommensurable (does not fit) with the old. Examples: When a new paradigm replaces an old one, it often does so by reinterpreting old data or offering new concepts and methods that don't align with the previous framework. ➤ Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection replaced Lamarckian theory. ➤ Ptolemy’s cosmo-centric theory was replaced by Copernicus’ heliocentric model - Copernican Revolution ➤ Newton’s theory was replaced by Einstein’s theory of gravity. PSYCHOLOGY - A UNIQUE DISCIPLINE! ➤ Psychology does not have one widely accepted paradigm, but several competing schools or camps. ➤ It is a complex discipline with many branches that reflects the complexity of the organism: ➤ Psychoanalysis ➤ Behaviourism ➤ Cognitive Psychology ➤ Humanistic-Existential perspective ➤ Neuropsychology PSYCHOLOGY - A UNIQUE DISCIPLINE!!! ➤ There has been no need for a Kuhnian revolution in psychology because many paradigms co-exist and successful ideas have persisted and survived (evolutionary epistemology). rather than a dramatic paradigm shift (as Kuhn proposed), psychology evolves through a more gradual process where multiple theories and approaches can coexist, each offering useful insights. ➤ Psychology is a multiparadigmatic discipline. ➤ Different paradigms in psychology provide different ways for understanding behaviour - psychoanalysis is one way THREE PARADIGMS OF PSYCHOLOGY WE WILL FOCUS ON IN THIS COURSE behaviors and emotions are largely determined by unconscious drives, such as those related to sexuality and aggression, and by childhood experiences. ➤ 1st force: Psychoanalysis - espouses determinism ➤ 2nd force: Behaviourism - a reaction to psychoanalysis. direct opposition to psychoanalysis, Focusses only on what is measurablefocusing on observable behavior and rejecting introspection or the unconscious. ➤ 3rd force: Humanistic-Existential perspective - a reaction to both. At its core is the belief in human potential to determine and live meaningful lives. ➤ All three have diverse conceptual frameworks and theories, diverse practices and interventions based on these frameworks, and different treatment aims. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY ➤ Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) born in Moravia (Czech Republic) - family moved to Vienna when he was 4 ➤ Came about at an important time in western history ➤ Emphasises unconscious processes ➤ Deterministic theory ➤ Focusses on the importance of childhood in the development of the personality ➤ Emphasises that instincts and drives are motivators of behaviour ➤ Espouses various in-depth developmental theories ➤ Treatment focuses on understanding patients and treating them for their symptoms or emotional problems by means of making the unconscious conscious BEHAVIOURISM ➤ Important movement in experimental psychology beginning 20th century ➤ Functionalism (Cattell, 1904) and objectivism (Sechenov, 1829 -1905)— concern with practical applications, not introspection. ➤ John Watson (1878-1958): The theoretical goal of psychology is, to the behaviourist, the prediction and control of behaviour ➤ Pavlov (1849-1936): Discovery of the conditioned reflex - Classical conditioning (Wolpe and British schools) - eliciting behaviours from passive organism (e.g. of Systematic Desensitization) ➤ Operant Conditioning (Skinner - USA 1951 - How to teach animals) - sees person as acting on an environment which in turn influence behaviour - Positive and Negative Reinforcement e.g. of E+RP. ➤ Emergence of Behaviour Therapy in the 1950s when Eysenck proposed BT based on modern learning theory as an alternative to traditional psychotherapy ➤ Treatment aims at changing behaviour and alleviating symptoms by drawing on the premises of classical and operant conditioning (ex THE HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL PERSPECTIVE ➤ Three main approaches subsumed under the Humanistic- Existential Perspective: ➤ The person-centred approach (Rogers 1902-1987) ➤ Logotherapy (Frankl 1905-1997) ➤ Gestalt Psychotherapy (Perls 1893-1970) At it’s core is the belief in human potential to determine and live meaningful lives THE HUMANISTIC-EXISTENTIAL PERSPECTIVE ➤ Key concepts of Humanistic-Existential Therapy, based on the main tenets of the Existential philosophers. Gestalt therapy is rooted in the traditional Gestalt theories ➤ The capacity for self-awareness ➤ Freedom and responsibility ➤ Striving for identity and relationship to others ➤ The search for meaning ➤ Anxiety as a condition of meaning ➤ Awareness of death and non-being Treatment consists in fostering growth and integration in the personality by means of providing a safe, non-judgemental space for clients  EXAMPLE ➤ You are sitting on the beach observing other people…. ➤ You notice that a boy is energetically throwing stones into the water ➤ (By mistake?) the boy misses his aim and one of the stones hits his father ➤ HOW DO YOU THINK THE FATHER WILL REACT? Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 THE FATHER COULD…. ➤ Rise up angrily and without thinking, proceed to beat his son until he cries. ➤ Pick up the stone and throw it back with all his might. ➤ Shame him in public, accusing his son of being very cruel, after all he does for him. ➤ Say it is all okay, only to kick up a big fuss with his wife when she wets the towel and then order the family to pack up and leave. ➤ Say nothing but become tense and anxious. ➤ Feel like shouting and hitting, but decide that it is not right and settles on complaining to his son that he is upset. Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 THE FATHER COULD….. ➤ See his son feeling sorry and feels guilty that, because of him, his son is upset. ➤ If he is a lecturer he could reflect on the incident and use it as an example in class. ➤ Make a joke about it and annoy everyone by repeating it over and over for the rest of the year. Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 PSYCHOANALYSIS EXPLAINS ➤ Which of these reactions a person will have, based on the structure of their personality and the function of its traits ➤ Why a person chooses to react in this way ➤ What is happening internally at the time PSYCHOANALYSIS HAS EVOLVED OVER TIME ➤ The three waves of psychoanalysis: ➤ First wave: Drive Psychology (Freud, Jung) ➤ Second wave: Ego Psychology (A. Freud, Hartmann, Rapaport, Kernberg) ➤ Third wave: British Schools - Object Relations Theory and Self Psychology (Klein, Fairbairn, Bion, Winnicott, Mahler, Kohut). The founding father of psychoanalysis - Sigmund Freud PERSONALITY AND MAJOR PARADIGMS: HOW ARE THEY RELATED?: paradigms provide the theoretical framework for understanding how personality develops, functions, and varies across individuals. Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 DEFINING PERSONALITY: A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ➤ Various definitions. Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja2010 3 FOCAL POINTS OF PERSONALITY ➤ STRUCTURE ➤ DYNAMICS ➤ DEVELOPMENT Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 DEFINITIONS OF PERSONALITY ➤ Is a complex pattern of deeply embedded, long-lasting psychological characteristics ➤ These characteristics are largely non-conscious and not easily altered ➤ They express themselves automatically in almost every facet of functioning ➤ These intrinsic, pervasive traits emerge from a complicated matrix of biological dispositions and experiential learnings ➤ They comprise the individual’s distinctive pattern of feeling, thinking, coping and behaving THE 5 HUMAN DOMAINS 1. PHYSICAL DOMAIN 2. EMOTIONAL DOMAIN 3. COGNITIVE DOMAIN 4. BEHAVIOURAL DOMAIN 5. SPIRITUAL DOMAIN Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010  LETS’S PRACTISE – PERSONALITY DOMAINS 3 Students before exam. ➤ Moderate anxiety, sharper thinking, studies hard. ➤ Low self-confidence, feels life is worthless, depressed. ➤ Tall, blonde, blue eyes, does not believe in self, has strong faith in God’s help. Which domains are involved? Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 PERSONALITY DOMAINS CONT'D ➤ 11 year old Matthew: ➤ Physical: Early developer. Taller, stronger. Well muscled. ➤ Emotional: Anger is strong, does not control it. ➤ Cognitive: Impulsive, has no idea of consequences. ➤ Behavioural: Behaviour is power driven. ➤ Spiritual: Comes from a materialistic family. ➤ What do you predict about Matthew? Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 IMPORTANT QUESTIONS… ➤ Nature or nurture? ➤ Instinctive or Intentional? ➤ Are we a product of our past? ➤ How conscious are we of what we do? Blind areas ➤ What are your thoughts? ➤ What are the implications of each of these debates? Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 HOW CONSCIOUS ARE WE OF WHAT WE DO? BLIND AREAS. ➤ You lent a friend money and she never returned it. You vow you will never lend her money again. She asks you for money to buy a gift for her sick mother. You give her the money again. ➤ How conscious are you that she played on your guilt feelings and you are easily manipulable when made to feel mean? ➤ How conscious are we of our faults? Of what influences our behaviour? Some persons more self-aware than others. Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 WHY FOCUS ON PERSONALITY? ➤ Therapeutic purpose – ➤ Assessment ➤ Research ➤ Theory ➤ We study personality to understand, predict and treat. Adapted from ©S.Scicluna Calleja 2010 REFERENCES ➤ Hall, C. S., Lindsey, G., & Campbell, J. B. (1998). An introduction to theories of personality. New York: J. Wiley & Sons. ➤ Hergenhahn, B.R. (2001). An Introduction to the history of psychology. USA: Wadsworth/Thomson learning. ➤ Kuhn, T.S. (2012). The structure of scientific revolutions. London: The University of Chicago. ➤ Millon, T. (2004): Personality disorders in modern Life. London: John Wiley and Sons.