INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY.pdf

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY OUTLINE Definition of Psychology Types of behavior The study of animals Goals of psychology Branches of psychology Parapsychology Pseudo psychology Characteristics of science The scientific method What is Psychology? Psychology comes from two Greek...

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY OUTLINE Definition of Psychology Types of behavior The study of animals Goals of psychology Branches of psychology Parapsychology Pseudo psychology Characteristics of science The scientific method What is Psychology? Psychology comes from two Greek words; psyche and logos. Psyche: mind, spirit or soul Logos: the subject of study. In the late 18th century psychology was defined as the study of the mind.  Psychology Psychology has its roots in physiology and Philosophy. The scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Through its many subdivisions proponents seek to describe and explain human thought, feelings, perceptions and actions.  Psychology has a long past but short history in that Plato and Aristotle wrote about human behavior and mental processes but it was just late 1800 that scientific methods to questions that had puzzled philosophers for centuries were applied. Only then did psychology come into being as a formal, scientific discipline separate from philosophy. The history of psychology can be divided into three main stages; the emergence of a science of the mind, the behaviorist decades and the cognitive revolution. Most psychologists agree that Psychology was born in 1879, the year that Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychological laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany.  Wundt attempted to explain immediate experiences and to develop ways to study it scientifically, though he also believed that some mental processes could not be studied through scientific experiments. He was primarily interested in memory and selective attention the process by which we determine what we are going to attend to at any given moment. Wundt used voluntarism to describe his views of psychology. He believed that attention is actively controlled by intentions and motives and that this sets human attention apart from r attention in other organisms. The use of animals in research Because animals equally behave. The principle of parsimony; why study the complex when the simple is available Darwin’s theory of evolution: humans evolved from apes. The notion that animals are similar to humans. Ethical issues: issues of informed consent, debriefing etc. Involuntary participation of humans Attrition is high in the use of humans  Behavior Overt behavior: observable acts or actions: taking temperature of a patient, recording the weight of the patient etc. Covert behavior: unobservable behavior such as consciousness, feelings, thoughts sensation and images. This behavior inferred from the overt behavior.  Characteristics of science For psychology to be a science it must meet the following criteria; Science is empirical: knowledge obtained is based on empirical backing, research and observation. Accumulation of facts and generalization.  Cont’d Science include a body theory: this consist of theories that serve to systematize, organize or explain an observation. Scientific method: series of steps that ensure maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem.  The scientific method Defining or identifying a problem observation operationally define terms, constructs and variables that will be used in the study. A systematic process used by psychologists for testing hypothesis about behavior.  Review of literature Review theories in relation to topic of interest. A literature review might involve looking at a considerable amount of written material from both books and academic journals dating back decades. The relevant information collected by the researcher will be presented in the introduction section of the final published study results. This background material will also help the researcher with the first major step in conducting a psychology study — formulating a hypothesis.  Hypotheses Translate a theory or an intuitive idea into a testable hypothesis. Formulate hypotheses that can be either supported or rejected. To be testable a scientific hypothesis must be formulated precisely and the variables under study must be clearly defined.  Data collection Researchers use a variety of data collection techniques, which are procedures for making empirical observations and measurements. Among the widely explored method to test hypotheses include: Correlational studies, naturalistic observation, interviews, surveys, questionnaires, experimentation and archival studies.  Analyze data Researchers use statistics to analyze their data and decide to either support or reject the hypotheses. Converting data collected into numbers. The essence of this step is to find out if the hypothesis stated earlier have confirmed or rejected. Not only can statistical analysis support (or refute) the researcher’s hypothesis; it can also be used to determine if the findings are statistically significant. When results are said to be statistically significant, it means that it is unlikely that these results are due to chance. Reporting findings Scientific progress can be achieved only if research findings made is shared with one another and the general public. Writing a concise summary of the study and its findings. This is often done by writing up a description of the study and publishing the article in an academic or professional journal. Goals of psychology Describe: what is the nature of behavior: -through observation -measuring the observed behavior (psychological tests). Operationally define terms to avoid any form of vagueness or ambiguity. In summary psychology therefore is to study behavior, understand behavior and predict behavior. Explain Why does the act occur. The reason for the occurrence of the act. To establish cause and effect Prediction Can we predict the event? Once a researcher assumes cause and effect, it is likely to make predictions. Formulate hypotheses Control Practical ways of solving problems or influencing them. Altering conditions that influence the event in predictable ways. Schools/ Perspectives In Psychology Development in psychology, right after the birth of psychology as a scientific study. Perspective Principal contributors Subject Matter Structuralism Wilhelm Wundt Study of conscious experience and Edward B. Titchener mind. Functionalism William James John Dewey Concerned with functions of conscious experience. Psychoanalytic Sigmund Freud Carl Jung Unconscious determinants of Erik Erikson behavior. Behaviorism John Watson Effects of environment on the Ivan Pavlov overt behavior of humans and B.F. Skinner animals  Cont’d Perspective Principal contributors Subject Matter Humanistic Carl Rogers Abraham Maslow Humans are free, rational beings with the potential for personal growth and Cognitive Jean Piaget Noam Chomsky Human behavior cannot be fully understood without examining how people acquire, store Gestalt Aristotle John Locke The whole is better than the sum of its part. Eclectic - -  structuralism This is based on the belief that psychology’s role was to identify the basic elements of perspective and how they combine. These basic elements include  physical sensations (what we see)  feelings (such as liking or disliking bananas)  images (memories of other bananas)  Functionalist Theories This is a theory of mental life and behavior that is concern with how an organism uses its perceptual abilities to function in its environment. That our rich storehouse of ideas and memories is what enables us to function in our environment. Psychodynamic theories The idea that much of our behavior is governed by unconscious conflicts, motives and desires. Personality theories contending that behavior results from psychological factors that interact within the individual, often outside conscious awareness.  Behaviorism The study of observable and measurable behaviors. It was based on Ivan Pavlov’s experiment. He noticed that the dogs in his laboratory began to salivate as soon as they heard their feeder coming, even before they could see their dinner.  Gestalt Psychology The theory of how people perceive and experience objects as whole patterns. It is the tendency to see patterns, to distinguish an object from its background, to complete a picture from a few cues  Humanistic Psychology This emphasizes nonverbal experience and altered states of consciousness as a means of realizing one’s full human potential.  Cognitive Psychology The study of mental process in broadest sense. Positive Psychology This focuses on positive experiences including subjective well being, self determination, the relationship between positive emotion and physical health and the factors that allow individuals, communities and societies to flourish.  Field of psychology Specialties in the discipline of psychology. Areas one can work when the person studies psychology. Developmental psychology Social psychology Experimental psychology Physiological psychology Cognitive psychology Personality psychology Psychometrics Clinical psychology Counseling psychology  Cont’d Educational psychology School psychology Industrial or organizational psychology Environmental psychology Comparative psychology Health psychology Neuropsychology Physiological /biological psychology  Parapsychology Any study or assertion beyond the field of science or observation. Any discipline that does not constitute a body of scientific knowledge, lacks coherent rationale or framework and merely a collection of anecdotal evidence. e.g. telepathy, psychokinesis, clairvoyance,precognition  Telepathy Transfer of thoughts from one person to another without using any sensory channel or physical contact.  Precognition Acquisition of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information. Also called future sight, premonition or second sight e.g. predicting the scores of a football match, prophesies etc  Psychokinesis Is an alleged psychic ability, allowing a person to influence a physical system without physical interaction.  Clairvoyance the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known senses.  Pseudo psychology Pseudo psychology simply means false psychology. Pseudopsychology does not adhere to the standards of formal scientific, academic or practice-based discipline. E.g. graphology, astrology, phrenology and palmistry.  Graphology Making claims about a person’s personality based on the person’s handwriting. use of handwriting analysis to attempt to divine personality traits.  Astrology The study of a person’s personality based on the signs, number and portions of stars at a time.  Phrenology the use of skull size measurements and bumps on the head to determine personality traits and intelligence.