PSY20150 Foundations Of Psychology Lecture 1 - Introduction & Overview PDF

PSY20150 FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY Introduction & Overview Dr Monika Pilch [email protected] Course coordinator/lecturer: Dr Monika Pilch Email: [email protected] Office Hours F215, Newman Building Mondays: 3.30-5:00pm, by appointment Who is the first point of contact? Teachin...

PSY20150 FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY Introduction & Overview Dr Monika Pilch [email protected] Course coordinator/lecturer: Dr Monika Pilch Email: [email protected] Office Hours F215, Newman Building Mondays: 3.30-5:00pm, by appointment Who is the first point of contact? Teaching Assistant: Ms Shruthi Kanapram Email: [email protected]  Brightspace,  Managing queries from students,  In-class teaching support,  Grading  What is this module about?  Introduction to the history of Psychology  An overview of different approaches  Foundations in scientific and philosophical traditions  Critical analysis of the changing role of Psychology  Including the role of Psychologists  Consideration of the bidirectional relationship between Psychology and Society  How has social, scientific and technological change impacted on practice and research in Psychology?  How have developments in Psychology influenced society?  Why understanding the history of psychology might be crucial to the understanding of psychology itself? Think of one word that capture the essence...  Module Structure & Assessment Weighting 5 credits Teaching  20 hours of lectures ~ 2 per week  Mondays: 2:00-2:50 (Location: B-H2.21SCH),  Wednesdays: 4:00-4:50 (Location: Th.-O-ART)  Self study: Additional resources Assessment  (1) MCQ exam (40%), Wednesday 23rd Oct (week 7)  (2) End-of-module assignment: (60%), due Monday 2nd Dec (week 12)  CHOICE OF THE MODE OF ASSESSMENT ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Plagiarism is a serious offence  Plagiarism is the inclusion, in any form of assessment, of material without due acknowledgement of its original source.  All assignments will be automatically screened by the Turnitin plagiarism detector, and the reports will be reviewed by the module coordinator  Suspected cases of plagiarism are referred to the School of Psychology Academic Integrity Committee, and may result in serious penalties  Avoid plagiarism by making sure your assignments are written in your own words, and that you have correctly cited all your sources, using APA standards  Visit https://libguides.ucd.ie/academicintegrity for guidance on how to avoid plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct Please note that the use of generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Google Bard etc.) is NOT permitted in the assessments for this module. DIVERSITY  END-OF-MODULE ASSIGNMENT You need to select only one option  Choice of Modality 1 2 3 4 5 Essay Presentation Podcast Debate Other (?) (1500 words) (recording) (recording) (5-7 students) Individual 2-3 students (10 minutes) (12-15 minutes) Recorded “Live” Places limited! Critical Reflection is a key aspect of all options! Firs come, first served! How to make an informed choice of an assessment option? “Real life GOAL” Career Choice Peer-Review Volunteering (informal) 3 Required Skillset Assessment Option Informed Assessment Self-assessment 1 Choice 4 5 Current Skillset Completion Action Plan 2 SKILLS GAP ANALYSIS & REFLECTION  Poll Everywhere Would you like to have a choice of assessment mode? At present, what is your preferred mode of assessment?  What process will we follow? 9th Sept - 23rd Sept – SCOPING & REFLECTION 16th Sept – Career Advice Service – 15 min presentation 23rd Sept – Assignment descriptors available on Brightspace 30th Sept – EXPRESSION OF INTEREST  Preliminary choice of an assessment mode 30th Sept – 20st Oct – FURTHER EXPLORATION and/or PREPARATION 17th Oct – COMMITMENT to the final assignment mode  PLEASE NOTE that MCQ Exam will take place on 23rd Oct 2nd Dec – END-OF-MODULE ASSIGNMENT SUBMISSION Volunteers to provide feedback & inform the process?  Lecture schedule Week Date Topic Date Topic 1 09/09/2024 L1: Introduction and Overview 11/09/2024 L2: Early experimentation 1 2 16/09/2024 L3: Early experimentation 2 18/09/2024 L4: Evolution 3 23/09/2024 L5: William James 25/09/2024 L6: Behaviourism 4 30/09/2024 L7: Neo-Behaviourism 02/10/2024 L8: Gestalt psychology 5 07/10/2024 L9: Freud: Psychoanalysis 1 09/10/2024 L10: Freud: Psychoanalysis 2 6 14/10/2024 L11: Social psychology - Intro 16/10/2024 L12: Social psychology 2 7 21/10/2024 L13: Psychology and race 23/10/2024 MCQ exam (23.10.24) 8 28/10/2024 BH 30/10/2024 READING WEEK 9 04/11/2024 L14: Psychology and madness 06/11/2024 L15: Ethics in Psychology 10 11/11/2024 L16: Psychology and animals 13/11/2024 L17: Psychology and women 11 18/11/2024 L18: Debates/ Presentations 20/11/2024 L19: Debates/ Presentations 12 25/11/2024 L:20: Debates/ Presentations 27/11/2024 Assignment due (02.12.24)  Textbooks Fancher, R. E. & Rutherford, A. (2016). Pioneers of psychology. WW Norton & Co. 5th edition (previous editions of this book: 3rd or 4th) Richards, G. (2010). Putting psychology in its place: Critical historical perspectives. Taylor & Francis. 3rd edition Classic Edition Sources: Psychology, edited by Terry Pettijohn (2007).  Lecture 1: Learning outcomes  Enhanced understanding of the role of history of psychology for the discipline of psychology.  Critical evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of perspectives on psychology.  Insight into role of language within specific psychological paradigms and the ways in which it indicates change.  Reflect on the contribution of these diverse perspectives to the development of the filed of psychology. “Psychology has a long past but only a short history” Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885) Are the mind and the brain the same thing?  Mind-Body (“Cartesian”) Dualism René Descartes (1596 - 1650) “interactive dualism” Check this link: Dualism in 2 Minutes Gall & Phrenology Franz Joseph Gall - 1796 Specific brain regions may be responsible for specific ‘mental faculties’ Acquisitiveness Benevolence Cautiousness Conscientiousness Combativeness Firmness Destructiveness Hope Love of life Veneration Secretiveness Wit or Mirthfulness Self-esteem Wonder Truthfulness Individuality Mental attributes determined by feeling lumps on the skull Check this link: Hysteria - 'Phrenology' Lessons of the brain: the Phineas Gage case Who Was Phineas Gage? What Really Happened to Phineas Gage? Phineas Gage (1848) The Man With a Hole in His Brain  Modern Psychology & Evolution Development of evolutionary thought 1859: Darwin’s Origin of Species Role of natural selection Perception of human beings as animals Subjects suitable for scientific study, rather than the creation of divine will Serious discussion of what constitutes ‘human nature’ The Theory of Evolution (by Natural Selection) Modern Psychology & Experimentalism 1879: Wilhelm Wundt’s established experimental laboratory The beginning of experimental psychology Introspection method to investigate mental phenomena: perception, attention, reaction times. Structuralism (Edward B. Titchener) Aim to describe the structure (elements) of the mind How is the conscious mind structured? Link: Wundt’s contribution to the development of Psychology  Structuralism & Introspection Describe the sensations, thoughts, feelings, and images that come into your mind..  Functionalism & Pragmatism William James: ‘Father of American Psychology’ 1890: The Principles of Psychology Stream of consciousness Emotion Habit It is nothing jointed; it flows. Will A 'river' or a 'stream' are the metaphors by which it is most naturally described. In Functionalism talking of it hereafter let us call it the stream of thought, How behavioral processes function; of consciousness, or of how they enable an organism to adapt, subjective life survive, flourish Functionalism in Psychology  Psychodynamic perspective Founder of psychoanalysis The role of unconscious processes in psychology Instinctive drives (e.g., sex, aggression) influence our behaviour in ways we are unaware of Id, ego, superego Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) Behaviourism Ivan Pavlov John B. Watson B.F. Skinner (1849 – 1936) (1878 – 1958) (1904 - 1990)  Aimed to investigate observable behavior  Not unknowable mental processes  Saw all behaviour in terms of stimulus and response  Key concept: learning through conditioning  Classical conditioning (Pavlov – 1901) Classical conditioning 1 2 3 + Unconditioned response Conditioned response Check this link: The difference between classical and operant conditioning Operant conditioning ‘Skinner box’ Check this link: Skinner’s Theory of Behaviorism: Key Concepts Check this link: An example of a Skinner Box Gestalt Psychology Gestalt = shape or form Germany - 1911 Rejected reductionist approach of structuralists and behaviourists. Perception Whole is greater than the sum of its parts Figure/ground distinction Problem solving: Consideration of whole problem rather than breaking down into constituent parts Cognitive approaches The study of mental processes Perception Language Memory Reasoning Attention Problem solving 1960s: beginning of modern computer age The cognitive revolution: mind as computer Models of processing to explain behaviour (e.g., memory) Encoding Storage Retrieval Neuroscience Study of the brain from molecular (e.g. neurotransmitter chemicals) and cellular (e.g. neurons) to systems (circuits/networks) level. Cognitive (or behavioural) neuroscience tries to link brain structure and function with thought and action. Two main themes: Localisation: phrenology to neuroimaging Plasticity: changes resulting from experience (e.g. learning or injury) Check this link: About Neuroscience Timeline Descartes Phineas Gage’s Wundt James Freud Dualism accident Structuralism Principles in Psychology Psychodynamism 1641 1848 1879 1890 1890s 1990s 1960s 1900s 1911 1901 Neuroscience: Cognitive psychology Behaviourism Gestalt Pavlov Neuroimaging Information processing (Watson/Skinner) Psychology Classical conditioning Historical Perspectives on Psychology What to consider? Diversity Nature vs Nurture Need for critical evaluation rather than pure description The history of Great Man Development: Progress, Success, … and Failure Psychologist vs the things they study Language and change Next steps Background Reading: Richards, G. (2010). Putting psychology in its place: Critical historical perspectives. Taylor & Francis.  Chapter 2: ‘Before Psychology’ Reading for Lecture 2: Early experimentation (Wed 11.09.24)  Richards (2010) Chapter 3: “Founding Psychology: evolution and experimentation”  Fancher and Rutherford (2012) Chapter 4: “The Sensing and Perceiving Mind: From Kant Through the Gestalt Psychologists” (pp. 140-161)