Introduction to Psychology Chapter 1 Lesson 1 Reviewer.docx

**Introduction to Psychology** **Chapter 1, Lesson 1 -- Reviewer** **Nature of Psychology** **Objectives** 1. **Describe the nature and scope of psychology**: - Understand what psychology is and its broad applications. 2. **Enumerate and differentiate the fields of psychology, schools...

**Introduction to Psychology** **Chapter 1, Lesson 1 -- Reviewer** **Nature of Psychology** **Objectives** 1. **Describe the nature and scope of psychology**: - Understand what psychology is and its broad applications. 2. **Enumerate and differentiate the fields of psychology, schools of thought, and contemporary views in psychology**: - Identify various branches and perspectives within psychology. 3. **Explain the uses of methods in the conduct of psychological research, and ethical issues involved in psychological research**: - Learn about research methodologies and ethical considerations. **Definition of Psychology** - **Etymology**: Derived from Greek words: - **LOGOS**: Science - **PSYCHE**: Mind or Soul - **Scientific Study**: Focuses on animal and human behavior and mental processes. - Seeks to understand, measure, explain, and change behavior when necessary. **Characteristics of Behavior** 1. **Overt and Covert**: - **Overt**: Directly observable behaviors (e.g., gestures, speech). - **Covert**: Indirectly observed behaviors (e.g., thoughts, feelings). 2. **Conscious and Unconscious**: - **Conscious**: Behaviors within the level of awareness. - **Unconscious**: Behaviors outside the level of awareness. 3. **Simple and Complex**: - **Simple**: Basic reflexes without higher brain functions. - **Complex**: Involves analytical thinking and higher brain functions. 4. **Rational and Irrational**: - **Rational**: Sane or normal behaviors. - **Irrational**: Strange or abnormal behaviors. 5. **Voluntary and Involuntary**: - **Voluntary**: Controlled by voluntary muscle activity. - **Involuntary**: Controlled by the Autonomic Nervous System. 6. **Human and Animal**: - **Human**: Rational behaviors. - **Animal**: Instinctual or reflexive behaviors. **What Psychology Is** - **Describe Behavior**: Precisely describe observable behaviors and processes. - **Identify Factors that Help Predict Behavior**: Use tests and correlation techniques to predict behaviors based on cause-effect relationships. - **Understand and Explain Behavior**: Assemble known facts and gain insights into relationships among behaviors. - **Control or Change Behavior**: Predict and prevent occurrences by changing conditions. **What Psychology Is Not** - **Not a Mysterious or Superhuman Way of Reading Others' Feelings and Thoughts**: Psychology is based on scientific principles, not mystical abilities. - **More than Just "Common Sense"**: Involves systematic study and evidence-based practices. - **Not a Pseudo-Science**: Unlike palmistry, astrology, or numerology, psychology is grounded in scientific research and methodologies. **The Ancient History of Psychology** 1. **Animistic Orientation**: - Early humans attributed behaviors to spirits and supernatural forces, leading to speculative and superstitious explanations. 2. **Myths and Legends**: - "Old Tales" served as complex and powerful means of explaining human behavior and natural phenomena. 3. **Philosophy**: - Philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle pondered human actions, feelings, thoughts, and perceptions, laying the groundwork for psychological thought. 4. **Rationalism**: - Emphasized the power of reason and the belief in a moral order in the universe, which resides in one's mind. Key figures include Descartes, who believed in the separation of mind and body. 5. **Realism**: - Asserted that brain functions, rather than the heart, are crucial in determining conscious experiences. 6. **Empirical Evidence**: - The Renaissance period marked a "REBIRTH" with an emphasis on data and sensory experience, leading to more scientific approaches to understanding behavior. 7. **Francis Bacon (1561-1626)**: - Known as the Father of Social Psychology, he focused on the influence of habit, friendship, education, and other conditions on human behavior. 8. **Rene Descartes (1596-1650)**: - Proposed a division between the mind and the physical world, contributing to the development of dualism in psychology. **The Modern History of Psychology** 1. **Experimental Psychology**: - Discoveries about the brain and nervous system spurred inquiries into the physiological basis of human behavior. 2. **Psychophysics**: - Focused on the mind-body interaction, studying how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experiences. 3. **Gustav Fechner (1801-1887)**: - Father of Psychophysics, he established the exact science of the dependency between the body and mind. 4. **Herman Ludwig Von Helmholtz (1821-1894)**: - Studied the speed of nerve impulses, contributing to the understanding of sensory processing. 5. **Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)**: - Founder of Modern Experimental Psychology, he established the first experimental laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany, in 1879. This year marks the establishment of psychology as a separate science. **History of Psychology in the Philippines** 1. **Early Teaching**: - Psychology was initially taught at the University of San Carlos in Cebu and the University of Sto. Tomas (UST). 2. **Integration with Philosophy**: - In the 1900s, psychology was part of the Philosophy Department. 3. **Separation and Establishment**: - In 1926, psychology was taught as a separate subject from philosophy, and a Department of Psychology was established at the University of the Philippines (UP). 4. **Degree Programs**: - UST was the first institution to offer BS Psychology and advanced degrees (Masteral and Doctoral) in psychology. 5. **Early Practices**: - The earliest forms of psychology practice in the Philippines were in testing, counseling, and clinical psychology. 6. **Pambansang Samahan ng Sikolohiyang Pilipino (PSSP)**: - Established in 1975 to promote Filipino psychology. 7. **Psychology Bill**: - In 1983, the Psychological Association of the Philippines (PAP) proposed the Psychology Bill. - In 1999, Senator Aquilino B. Pimentel Jr. introduced the Psychology Bill to the Senate through Senate Bill No. 1168: An Act to Regulate the Practice of Psychology. 8. **Philippine Psychology Act of 2009 (RA 10029)**: - Enacted in 2009, this act aims to regulate the professional practice of psychology in the country. **Fields of Psychology** 1. **General Psychology**: - Explains the underlying principles of human behavior, focusing on the "how's" and "why's" of behavior. 2. **Developmental or Genetic Psychology**: - Studies human behavior in terms of growth and development across the lifespan. 3. **Abnormal Psychology**: - Deals with the etiology (causes) of personality defects and mental disorders. 4. **Dynamic Psychology**: - Emphasizes internal drives and motives as the primary causes of behavior. 5. **Business Psychology**: - Applies psychological principles to business practices and consumer behavior. 6. **Social Psychology**: - Studies the behavior of individuals and groups in their relationships with other groups. 7. **Forensic or Legal Psychology**: - Applies psychological principles to legal issues and proceedings. 8. **Clinical Psychology**: - Focuses on diagnosing and treating emotional and behavioral disorders. 9. **Counseling Psychology**: - Helps individuals with educational, career, and social adjustments. 10. **Educational/School Psychology**: - Applies psychological principles to educational settings to enhance learning and development. 11. **Experimental Psychology**: - Studies basic psychological processes such as sensation, perception, memory, cognition, motivation, and emotion. 12. **Industrial or Organizational Psychology**: - Focuses on methods of selecting, training, counseling, and supervising personnel in business and industry. 13. **Community Psychology**: - Promotes mental health and well-being at the community level. **Schools of Thought in Psychology** 1. **Structuralism**: - **Key Figures**: Wilhelm Wundt, Edward B. Titchener - **Focus**: Uses introspection to identify the basic elements or "structures" of psychological experience. 2. **Functionalism**: - **Key Figure**: William James - **Focus**: Attempts to understand why animals and humans have developed particular psychological aspects. 3. **Psychodynamic**: - **Key Figures**: Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson - **Focus**: Emphasizes the role of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories, and early childhood experiences in determining behavior. 4. **Behaviorism**: - **Key Figures**: John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner - **Focus**: Argues that it is not possible to objectively study the mind, so psychologists should focus on observable behavior. 5. **Cognitive**: - **Key Figures**: Hermann Ebbinghaus, Sir Frederic Bartlett, Jean Piaget - **Focus**: Studies mental processes such as perception, thinking, memory, and judgments. 6. **Social-Cultural**: - **Key Figures**: Fritz Heider, Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachter - **Focus**: Examines how social situations and cultural contexts influence thinking and behavior. **Contemporary Views/Perspectives in Psychology** 1. **Biological -- Physiological Psychology**: - **Key Figures**: Wilhelm Wundt (1874), Edward B. Titchener (1898) - **Focus**: Elements of human experience and sensation --- the "what" of human experience. 2. **Psychodynamic -- Interpretation of Dreams**: - **Key Figure**: Sigmund Freud (1990) - **Focus**: Unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories, particularly as revealed through dreams. 3. **Behavioristic -- Stimulus and Response**: - **Key Figures**: Ivan Pavlov (1927), B. F. Skinner (1938) - **Focus**: Observable behaviors and their responses to stimuli --- the "how" of human experience. 4. **Humanistic -- Self-Actualization**: - **Key Figures**: Carl Rogers (1942), Abraham Maslow (1954) - **Focus**: Personal growth and self-fulfillment, emphasizing the positive aspects of human nature. 5. **Cognitive -- Information Processing**: - **Key Figure**: Ulric Neisser (1967) - **Focus**: Mental processes such as perception, thinking, memory, and information processing. 6. **Evolutionary -- Adaptation**: - **Key Figure**: David Buss (1999) - **Focus**: How evolutionary processes such as natural selection influence behavior and mental processes. **Three Elements of Psychology** - **Why?**: Evolution, environment, and culture. - **How?**: Cognition, behavior, and subconscious. - **What?**: Sensations, emotions, thoughts, perceptions, and actions. **Research Methods in Psychology** 1. **Basic Research**: - **Purpose**: Answers fundamental questions about behavior. - **Example**: Studying how memory works. 2. **Applied Research**: - **Purpose**: Investigates issues with practical implications and provides solutions to everyday problems. - **Example**: Developing interventions to improve mental health. **Research Design: Descriptive** - **Goal**: Create a snapshot of the current state of affairs. - **Advantages**: Provides a complete picture of what is occurring at a given time; helps develop questions for further study. - **Disadvantages**: Does not assess relationships among variables; may be unethical if participants are unaware they are being observed. **Research Design: Correlational** - **Goal**: Assess relationships between and among two or more variables. - **Advantages**: Tests expected relationships and makes predictions; assesses relationships in everyday life events. - **Disadvantages**: Cannot draw inferences about causal relationships between variables. **Research Design: Experimental** - **Goal**: Assess the causal impact of one or more experimental manipulations on a dependent variable. - **Advantages**: Allows concluding causal relationships among variables. - **Disadvantages**: Cannot manipulate many important variables; may be expensive and time-consuming. **Ensuring that Research Is Ethical** 1. **Cost-Benefit Analysis**: - The ethics of a research project are determined by comparing the potential costs against the benefits. This helps ensure that the benefits justify any risks involved. 2. **Ethical Review Board (ERB)**: - A committee of at least five members that evaluates the cost-benefit ratio of research conducted within an institution. - The ERB must approve all research procedures before the research can begin. 3. **Informed Consent**: - A crucial tool for ensuring ethical research. - Participants must be fully informed about the nature of the research, including any potential risks, before they agree to participate. 4. **Debriefing**: - Given the potential for long-term changes in participants, all participants should be fully debriefed immediately after their participation. - Debriefing involves explaining the purposes and procedures of the research and removing any harmful after-effects of participation. **Research with Animals** **Canadian Psychological Association Guidelines on Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research** 1. **Principle II.45**: - Animals should not be used in research unless there is a reasonable expectation that the research will: - Increase understanding of the structures and processes underlying behavior. - Increase understanding of the particular animal species used in the study. - Result in benefits to the health and welfare of humans or other animals. 2. **Principle II.46**: - Procedures that subject animals to pain, stress, or privation should only be used if no alternative procedures are available and the goal is justified by its prospective scientific, educational, or applied value. 3. **Principle II.47**: - Researchers must make every effort to minimize the discomfort, illness, and pain of animals. - This includes: - Performing surgical procedures only under appropriate anesthesia. - Using techniques to avoid infection and minimize pain during and after surgery. - Humanely disposing of experimental animals at the termination of the study if necessary. 4. **Principle II.48**: - Animals should be used in classroom demonstrations only if: - The instructional objectives cannot be achieved through the use of videotapes, films, or other methods. - The type of demonstration is warranted by the anticipated instructional gain.