Introduction to Psychology Reviewer PDF

**INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY REVIEWER** **LESSON 1: BEGINNING OF PSYCHOLOGY** **GALEN'S HUMORAL THEORY** - He believed that the body contained four important liquids called humors, which were phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile. - **Blood** represents [cheer and courage ]...

**INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY REVIEWER** **LESSON 1: BEGINNING OF PSYCHOLOGY** **GALEN'S HUMORAL THEORY** - He believed that the body contained four important liquids called humors, which were phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile. - **Blood** represents [cheer and courage ] - **Phlegm** represents [apathy ] - **Yellow** bile represents [anger ] - **Black** bile represents [melancholy] - These humors must remain in balance for a person to remain healthy. If there was too much of one humor, illness occurred. - The excess fluid was removed; for example, blood was removed by bleeding and excess bile could be removed with a purgative. The theory of the humors was an accepted medical teaching until the Renaissance (the Renaissance lasted from the 14th to the 17th century). **René Descartes - 1649** - Mind/body dualism - THERE IS A REASONING SOUL IN THIS MACHINE - The mind can control - The physical body by causing "animal spirits" to flow through the nervous system - French formal gardens of Versailles were used as an analogy to explain the concept of mind and body relationship **Johann Friedrich Herbart - 1816** - According to him, ideas form as information from the senses combines. The term he used for ideas---Vorsfellung---encompasses thoughts, mental images, and even emotional states. These make up the entire content of the mind, and Herbart saw them not as static but dynamic elements, able to move and interact with one another. Analogy of Magnets - Ideas that do not contradict each other are drawn together and can coexist in consciousness and one of them may even be pushed out of consciousness. - Before Abbé Faria, Mesmer\'s treatment involved manipulating the body's natural, or "animal," magnetism, through the use of magnets and suggestion. **Abbé Faria - 1819** - Nothing comes from the magnetizer; everything comes from the subject and takes place in his imagination. - After being "mesmerized," or"magnetized," some people suffered a convulsion, after which they claimed to feel better. - In this state the subject becomes more susceptible to the power of suggestion. **Søren Kierkegaard's - 1849** - BE THAT SELF WHICH ONE TRULY IS Desperation is considered to stem not from depression, but rather from the alienation of the self. Abandoning the real self. - This disavowal of the self is painful: despair is overwhelming when a man wants to shun himself---when he "does not possess himself; he is not himself." **Charles Darwin - 1859** - His theory of evolution suggested that psychological traits, like physical traits, are shaped by evolutionary pressures. This idea laid the foundation for evolutionary psychology, which examines how human behavior and cognitive functions have evolved to solve adaptive problems faced by our ancestors. **Pierre Paul Broca -- 1861** - His most famous finding was the localization of language production in the brain. By studying patients with speech impairments, especially the famous case of \"Tan,\" who could understand language but had difficulty speaking, Broca discovered that damage to a specific area in the left frontal lobe led to this condition. This region, now known as Broca\'s area, is crucial for speech production. **Francis Galton - 1869** - Personality is shaped by both nature and nurture, but Galton argued that nature plays a more significant role. He observed that certain traits run in families, suggesting that biological inheritance strongly influences personality development. **Wilhelm Wundt - 1879** - He, often called the [father of experimental] psychology, established the first formal psychological laboratory at the [University of Leipzig in 1879]. - His goal was to study the mind and human behavior scientifically by focusing on basic sensory processes. For Wundt, consciousness is the result of inner experience, and he emphasized that psychology must begin with self-observation---the practice of closely examining one's thoughts and feelings. This process, known as introspection, generates quantitative data that contribute to understanding consciousness. Wundt also recognized the importance of external observation for recording visible events in the external world, such as cause and effect. However, his main aim was to describe consciousness accurately, laying the foundation for experimental psychology. \"The beginnings of mental life date from the beginnings of life.\" **Emil Kraepelin - 1883** - He described what is now known as schizophrenia as a condition marked by a destruction of the internal connections of the psyche. - In 1893, he divided it into four types: 1. Simple dementia -- slow decline and withdrawal. 2. Paranoia -- characterized by feelings of persecution and fear. 3. Hebephrenia -- incoherent speech and inappropriate emotional responses. 4. Catatonia -- severe movement restrictions, either extreme stillness or excessive activity. - He's classification remains central to schizophrenia diagnosis today. **Jean-Martin Charcot - 1877** - He studied hysteria, then understood as a disorder exclusive to women, with symptoms including excessive emotional displays, fainting, and paralysis. He developed The Laws of Hysteria, believing the condition was hereditary and its symptoms triggered by shock. Charcot's research, based on thousands of observations, deeply influenced future understandings of psychological disorders. **William James - 1890** - He noted that we understand consciousness until we are asked to define it. He described consciousness as an individual's awareness of thoughts, sensations, and memories, and likened it to a stream of thought---a continuous flow that carries our experiences together. This metaphor, of a river or stream, captured the fluidity of our mental life. **Alfred Binet - 1895** - He saw adolescence as a new birth, emphasizing that this developmental phase represents the transition from childhood to adulthood. Though the term adolescence (from the Latin \"adolescere\") describes a distinct stage, it was not fully recognized as a concept until the 20th century, particularly in Western societies. **LESSON 2: RESEARCH METHODS** Despite the differences in their interests, areas of study, and approaches, all psychologists have one thing in common: **They rely on the scientific method.** Research psychologists use scientific methods to create new knowledge about the causes of behavior. Practitioners, such as clinical, counseling, industrial-organizational, and school psychologists, primarily use existing research to help solve problems **The Problem of Intuition** - Intuition is thinking that is more experiential, emotional, automatic, and unconscious, and does not lead to careful analysis of all the variables in a situation (Kahneman, 2011). **Extrasensory perception (ESP)** - It is a [perception](https://www.britannica.com/topic/perception) that occurs independently of the known sensory processes. Usually included in this category of phenomena are [telepathy](https://www.britannica.com/topic/telepathy), or [thought](https://www.britannica.com/topic/thought) transference between persons; [clairvoyance](https://www.britannica.com/topic/clairvoyance), or supernormal awareness of objects or events not necessarily known to others; and [precognition](https://www.britannica.com/topic/precognition), or knowledge of the future. **Predictions of astrology** **Biases = faulty conclusions** In addition, most individuals listen to people they know and trust to give them accurate information rather than doing research to determine what scientific studies show. In summary, accepting explanations for events without testing them thoroughly may lead us to think that we know the causes of things when we really do not. **Hindsight bias** is a psychological phenomenon in which one becomes convinced they accurately predicted an event before it occurred. **Example:** After a football game, a fan might say, \"I knew the team was going to win!\" even though before the game, they were unsure or had no solid evidence that the team would win. This hindsight bias gives the person an inflated sense of their own predictive abilities. All scientists, whether they are physicists, chemists, biologists, or psychologists, use **empirical research** to study the topics that interest them. We can label the **scientific method** as the **set of assumptions,** rules, and procedures that scientists use to conduct empirical research. Empirical research methods include collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, reaching conclusions, and sharing information E**mpirical** refers to knowledge or information that is based on **observation, experience, or experimentation** rather than on theory or logic. In other words, empirical evidence is data that can be measured or observed directly. **Opinions** are individual ideas such as "It is important to study psychology." **Facts** are objective statements determined to be accurate through empirical study. The following are two examples of facts. "There were more than 21,000 homicides in the United States in 2009. **The Challenges of Studying Psychology** Individual differences **-** are the variations among people on physical or psychological dimensions Human behavior is influenced by more than one variable at a time, and these factors occur at different levels of explanation **Why Psychologists Rely on Empirical Methods?** Scientific method as the set of assumptions, rules, and procedures that scientists use to conduct empirical research. Empirical research methods include collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, reaching conclusions, and sharing information. Although scientific research is an important method of studying human behavior, not all questions can be answered using scientific approaches. Statements that cannot be objectively measured or objectively determined to be true or false are not within the domain of scientific inquiry. Scientists generally do not attempt to prove values, beliefs, or opinions to be true or false. **Values** are personal statements, because it cannot be either true or false, science cannot prove or disprove them. **Facts** are objective statements determined to be accurate through empirical study.\ Research can sometimes provide facts that can help people develop their values. People also use values to decide which research is appropriate or important to conduct. However, since information from scientific research is shared, knowledge is continually challenged. New research follows, and scientific facts can be modified when new evidence is found. **The Scientific Methods** The scientific method is the set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research. **Characteristics of an Ethical Research Project Using Human Participants** This list presents some of the most important factors that psychologists take into consideration when designing their research: - Trust and positive rapport are created between the researcher and the participant. - The rights of both the experimenter and participant are considered, and the relationship between them is mutually beneficial. - The experimenter treats the participant with concern and respect and attempts to make the research experience a pleasant and informative one. - Before the research begins, the participant is given all information relevant to his or her decision to participate, including any possibilities of physical danger or psychological stress - The participant is given a chance to have questions about the procedure answered, thus guaranteeing his or her free choice about participating. - After the experiment is over, any deception that has been used is made public, and the necessity for it is explained. - The experimenter carefully debriefs the participant, explaining the underlying research hypothesis and the purpose of the experimental procedure in detail and answering any questions. - The experimenter provides information about how he or she can be contacted and offers to provide information about the results of the research if the participant is interested in receiving it. (Stangor, 2011) **American Psychological Association Code of Ethics** **No Harm** - The most direct ethical concern of the researcher and prevents harm to the research participants **Informed consent** - t is conducted before a participant begins a research session, and is designed to explain the research procedures and inform the participant of his or her rights during the investigation. **Confidentiality** - refers to researchers protecting the privacy of research participants. **Deception** - occurs whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it. **Debriefing** - is a procedure designed to fully explain the purposes and procedures of the research and remove any harmful aftereffects of participation. **Research Designs** These are specific methods a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret dat **Types of descriptive research:** 1. **Case studies** -based on only a small set of individuals, often only one person or a single small group and are conducted on individuals who have unusual or abnormal experiences 2. **Surveys -** In other studies, the data from descriptive research projects come in the form of a survey, questions administered through either an interview or a written questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviors of a sample of people of interest - **Population** is all the people that the researcher wishes to know about. - **Sample** is the people chosen from the population to participate in the research. - **Representative sample** reflects the population on key variables such as gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, and it is necessary to draw valid conclusions about the population. 3. **Observations** - **Naturalistic Observation** - psychologists observe and record behavior that occurs in everyday settings - **Laboratory observation --** it is conducted in a setting created by the researcher. This permits the researcher to control more aspects of the situation - Example: A teacher conducts a survey asking 5th-grade students about their favorite subjects in school. The study collects data on what subjects are most liked but does not try to change any conditions or explore relationships between different factors. - Purpose: To describe the preferences of students in a specific grade level. **2. Correlational Study (Exploring Relationships)** - Example: A researcher wants to explore the relationship between the amount of time students spend studying and their grades. They collect data on how many hours students spend studying per week and compare this to their test scores. - Purpose: To determine if there is a positive, negative, or no relationship between study time and academic performance, but not to establish a cause-and-effect link. ------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Correlational** To assess the relationships between and among two or more variables Allows testing of expected relationships between and among variables and the making of predictions. Can assess these relationships in everyday life events. Cannot be used to draw inferences about the casual relationships between and among the variables ------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **3. Experimental Research** ------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **Experimental** To assess the casual impact of one and more experimental manipulations on a dependent variable. Allows drawing of conclusions about the casual relationships among variables. Cannot experimentally manipulate many important variables. May be expesive and time consuming ------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- **LESSON 3: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT** **Human development** refers to the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of humans throughout the lifespan **Domains of Development** 1. **Physical development** - involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness. 2. **Cognitive development** - involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity 3. **Psychosocial development** - involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.  **Lifespan development** explores how we change and grow from conception to death. This field of psychology is studied by developmental psychologists. They view development as a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically across three developmental domains: physical, cognitive development, and psychosocial. **Development can be:** - **Positive** -- Example: toilet training, enrolling in college - **Negative** -- Example: Isolating yourself after retirement **Physical Domain** - Brain development - Physical development also includes puberty, sexual health, fertility, menopause, changes in our senses, and primary versus secondary aging **Cognitive Domain** - Language Development - ability to think logically - includes mental processes, thinking, learning, and understanding - Moral reasoning  - practical intelligence---wisdom may develop with experience over time - Memory abilities **Psychosocial Domain** - Both psychologically and socially emotions, personality, self-esteem, and relationships Forming their own identities (Dating, romance, cohabitation, marriage, having children, and finding work or a career are all parts of the transition into adulthood.) **Influences of Development** - **Heredity** - It refers to the genetic inheritance passed down from biological parents to their children - **Environment -** Encompasses all external factors that influence development, such as family, school, peers, and the community. - **Maturation** -- It refers to the biological growth and developmental processes that occur naturally. - **Family (Nuclear / Extended)** - It is the primary social group in a child\'s life. A nuclear family consists of parents and their children, while an extended family includes a wider network, such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. - **Socioeconomic -** It refers to a family's economic and social position, typically measured by income, education level, and occupation. - **Culture** - Encompasses the shared beliefs, customs, norms, and values of a group - **Ethnic Group** - It consists of people who share a common cultural heritage, language, religion, or national origin. - **Race** - Race refers to a social categorization based on physical characteristics like skin color, although it has no biological basis - **Historical Context** - experience, time and place. It refers to the unique conditions of the time and place in which an individual is born and raised. - **Normative Influences**: Common, age-related, or historically shared experiences that shape development predictably across a population. - **Non-Normative Influences**: Unpredictable, unique, or rare experiences that shape an individual\'s development in less predictable ways. **Is development continuous are discontinuous?** **Continuous Development:** The idea that development is a progressive and cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills **Discontinuous Development:** Idea that development takes place in unique stages and occurs at specific times or ages **Is There One Course of Development or Many?** Stage theories hold that the sequence of development is universal Example: in cross-cultural studies of language development, children from around the world reach language milestones in a similar sequence (Gleitman & Newport, 1995). Infants in all cultures coo before they babble. They begin babbling at about the same age and utter their first word around 12 months old. **How Do Nature and Nurture Influence Development?** Are we who we are because of nature (biology and genetics), or are we who we are because of nurture (our environment and culture)? **Nature:** The influences of biology and genetics on behavior **Nurture:** Environmental, social, and cultural influences on behavior **Theories of Human Development** **1. Psychosexual Development / Stages** **Sigmund Freud** - [**Unconscious mind**](https://www.verywellmind.com/the-conscious-and-unconscious-mind-2795946): This is one of his most enduring ideas, which is that the mind is a reservoir of thoughts, memories, and emotions that lie outside the awareness of the conscious mind.^2^ - **Personality**: Freud proposed that personality is made up of three key elements: [the id, the ego, and the superego](https://www.verywellmind.com/the-id-ego-and-superego-2795951). The ego is the conscious state, the id is the unconscious, and the superego is the moral or ethical framework that regulates how the ego operates.^3^ Conflicts and interactions between these parts makeup one\'s personality. - [**Life and death instincts**](https://www.verywellmind.com/life-and-death-instincts-2795847): Freud claimed that two classes of instincts, life and death, dictated human behavior. Life instincts include sexual procreation, survival, and pleasure; death instincts include aggression, self-harm, and destruction.^4^ - [**Psychosexual development**](https://www.verywellmind.com/freuds-stages-of-psychosexual-development-2795962): Freud\'s theory of psychosexual development posits that there are five stages of growth in which people\'s personalities and sexual selves evolve. These phases are the oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latent stage, and genital stage.^5^ - [**Mechanisms of defense**](https://www.verywellmind.com/defense-mechanisms-2795960): Freud suggested that people use defense mechanisms to avoid anxiety. These mechanisms include displacement, repression, sublimation, regression, and many more. **Psychoanalytic Theory** In psychoanalytic theory, the personality is structured into three parts: the id, ego, and superego **1. Id (Instinctual Desires)** - Operates based on the pleasure principle. It is the most primitive part of our psyche, representing basic drives and desires, like hunger, thirst, aggression, and sexual impulses. The id seeks immediate gratification of these urges, without considering reality or consequences. - **Example:** Imagine you're on a diet, but you see a delicious cake. Your id urges you to eat the entire cake immediately, without thinking about your health or diet. It\'s the part of you that says, \"I want it now!\" **2. Ego (Reality)** - Operates based on the **reality principle**. It mediates between the id\'s desires and the external world\'s rules and norms. The ego tries to satisfy the id\'s needs in a realistic and socially acceptable way. It deals with the demands of reality while balancing the id and the superego. - **Example**: In the cake scenario, your **ego** might decide, "I'll have one small slice of cake, and then I'll stop." The ego tries to find a compromise between your desires (id) and what is practical. **3. Superego (Morality)** - It represents internalized moral standards and ideals from parents, society, and culture. It strives for perfection and judges our actions based on these internalized values. The superego can make us feel guilty or proud, depending on whether we follow or violate these standards. - **Example**: Your **superego** might say, "You shouldn't have any cake at all. It's unhealthy, and you'll regret breaking your diet!" It's the part that tries to enforce discipline, ethics, and self-control. **Freud\'s Stages of Human Development (psychosexual stages )** According to the famous psychoanalyst [Sigmund Freud](https://www.verywellmind.com/sigmund-freud-his-life-work-and-theories-2795860), children go through a series of psychosexual stages that lead **to the development of the adult personality**. Freud\'s stages of human development, **which consisted of five psychosexual stages of development,** described how personality developed over the course of childhood. Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which the pleasure-seeking energies of the id become focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as an area of the body that is particularly sensitive to stimulation. **2. Psychosocial Stages**  **Erik Erikson (1902-1994)** He is best known for his famous theory of psychosocial development and the concept of the identity crisis. His theories marked an important shift in thinking on personality; instead of focusing simply on early childhood events, his psychosocial theory looks at how social influences contribute to our personalities throughout our entire lifespans.