PS101 Ch 1 PDF

Chapter 1 What Is Psychology? Psychology: the study of mental processes and behaviours. Mental Processes: activities of our brain when engaged in thinking, observing the environment, and using language. - thinking, imagining, and remembering. Behaviour: observable activities of an organism, of...

Chapter 1 What Is Psychology? Psychology: the study of mental processes and behaviours. Mental Processes: activities of our brain when engaged in thinking, observing the environment, and using language. - thinking, imagining, and remembering. Behaviour: observable activities of an organism, often in response to environmental cues. - During psychology’s early history, the primary method for exploring internal mental processes was to observe outward behaviour, our observable actions, and make inferences, or guesses, about what was happening in the mind. The Four Goals of Psychologists 1. Description of what we observe 2. Explanation - The Why 3. Prediction of the circumstances that lead to the expression of a certain behavior 4. How can we control behavior? Level Of Analysis When studying why a certain behavior or mental process occurs, one can study the influences of: - The brain (neutral activity) - The person (emotions, ideas, thoughts) - The group (friends, family, culture) Culture: a set of shared beliefs and practices that are transmitted across generations. Activity does not take place only at one level or another. During even our most everyday activities, we are operating at all three levels at once. The levels also interact. Brain activity is affected by other levels, even by our broad cultural contexts. Similarly, changes in the biology of our brains can cause significant changes in our general state of being. Psychology’s Roots in Philosophy Historically, humans have attempted to explain inexplicable events in their natural environments through rituals and myths Myths: Myths are stories of forgotten origin that seek to explain or rationalize the fundamental mysteries of life that are universal—that is, common to all cultures. Example: Myths seek to explain topics such as the reason for earthquakes, why crops are poor or plentiful, how humans came to be, and so on. Rituals: Rituals are solemn ceremonies that are related to myths and involve sacred or customary ways of celebrating important religious or social occasions in a given culture. Rituals therefore reflect an innate human need to understand and make sense of people and the natural world. Although they did not consistently rely on empirical methods to examine questions, the early Greek philosophers in the fourth and fifth centuries B.C.E. moved beyond myths and rituals. Instead, they tried to find ways to determine the nature of reality and the limitations of human awareness. To accomplish these difficult goals, they engaged in open, critical discussions of each other’s ideas. Philosophy: is defined as the study of knowledge, reality, and the nature and meaning of life. Plato, Aristotle, and Hippocrates queried how the human mind worked, how the human body related to the mind, and whether knowledge was inborn or had to be learned from experience - The Greek philosophers developed a method of introducing problems and then questioning proposed solutions that is at the core of modern scientific methods, which we will discuss in greater detail in - Greek philosophers also emphasized that theories, ideas about the way things work, are never final, but rather are always capable of improvement. Psychologists still take this view. Hippocrates - “Father of Medicine,” - Believed that disease had a physical and rational explanation and was not caused by evil spirits or as a punishment from the gods. - He believed that an individual’s physical and psychological health was influenced by an excess or a lack of one or more of four bodily humours. - He believed that the balance of these four bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile) collectively determined a person’s personality and character, and predicted the individual’s well-being and responses to environmental events - He was the first to recognize the importance of good food, fresh air, and rest, and he accurately diagnosed the symptoms for pneumonia and epilepsy. - Correctly identified the brain as the organ of mental life, and argued that thoughts, ideas, and feelings originated in the brain and not in the heart—as was commonly believed at the time. Plato - Believed that the human mind was imprinted with all relevant knowledge and that this knowledge was innate—that is, inborn or existing within a person from birth. - believed that the healthy mind represented a balance among intellect, emotion, and base desires and appetites. - Plato believed that a healthy psyche provided opportunity for reasoning to uncover the core ideas deeply embedded in every human mind. Aristotle - a student of Plato’s, and one of the most famous thinkers of the Greek period, made key contributions to the foundations of psychology - first important theories about many of the topics discussed throughout this book, such as sensations, dreams, sleep, and learning - He looked inward at sensory experiences and also scrutinized his environment, searching for the basic purpose of all objects and creatures. - In his studies, he formed ideas about how living things are hierarchically categorized, concluding—centuries before Charles Darwin—that humans are closely related to animals. Psychology’s Roots in Physiology and Psychophysics Francis Bacon (1561–1626) - An English philosopher, scientist, and statesman who was fascinated by the human mind, became a prominent figure in scientific methodology and natural philosophy. - He is widely regarded as the creator of empiricism: the view that all knowledge originates in experience. - He established and popularized the scientific method, gathering data, analyzing data, and performing experiments. René Descartes (1596–1650 - thought that the brain controlled the body via the movement of fluids within tubes that ran throughout the body - the first of the modern philosophers and an early scientist, viewed all truths as ultimately linked and believed that the meaning of the natural world could be understood through science and mathematics - mind and body, believing the mind to be distinct from the body.  - He identified the point of contact between the two as the pineal gland, and he believed that the mind (which he viewed as synonymous with the soul) would survive the death of the body and was therefore the “province of God” John Locke (1632–1704) - believed that we learn by our experiences - Argued that the mind at birth is a tabula rasa—a blank slate—“a white paper, void of all characters, without any ideas”, waiting for experience to imprint knowledge. - Thought that at birth the human mind has no innate ideas but instead acquires all knowledge through experience. Johannes Müller (1801–1858) - advocated for scientists to study the relationship between physical stimuli and their psychological effects that is, the sensations and perceptions they affect. Herman von Helmholtz (1821–1894) - Measured the speed of neural impulses. Discovered that neural impulses were not instantaneous - This finding led to the understanding that thought and movement are linked, but are not the same thing. The work of von Helmholtz contributed to the foundation of modern physiological psychology and neuroscience Gustav Fechner (1801–1887) - German philosopher and physicist who is considered to be one of the founders of experimental psychology. - His evidence of the relationship between physical and mental events demonstrated that psychology had the potential to become a quantified science. Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) - Father of psychology - Established first in psychology lab in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany - Focused on the study of consciousness, personal awareness - Wundt believed that the study of mind and behaviour ought to be conducted using the experimental methods of other sciences such as chemistry and physics, so he established a program that trained students to perform empirically driven experiments in psychology. Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) - Proposed the theory of evolution in his book The Origin of the Species  - Making the radical suggestion that all life on Earth was related and that human beings were just one outcome of many variations from a common ancestral point - All life on earth comes from one common ancestor - a racial idea - Natural selection proposes that chance variations are passed down from parent to offspring, and that some of these variations are adaptive—better suited to an organism’s environment - Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) - Father of psychology - Established first in psychology lab in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany - Focused on the study of consciousness, personal awareness - Wundt believed that the study of mind and behaviour ought to be conducted using the experimental methods of other sciences such as chemistry and physics, so he established a program that trained students to perform empirically driven experiments in psychology. - Wundt studied the content and processes of consciousness - Wundt also went on to form theories about emotion and the importance of historical and social forces in human behaviour. His ideas about cultural psychology are in fact appreciated today for their early recognition that an individual’s social context must also be taken into account to fully explain his mental processes and behaviour Consciousness: personal awareness of ongoing mental processes, behaviours, and environmental events. Voluntarism: a theory in which will is regarded as the ultimate agency in human behaviour; belief that much of behaviour is motivated and that attention is focused for an explicit purpose. Structuralism: Looking for the Components of Consciousness Edward Titchener (1867–1927): expanded upon Wundt’s approach, forming a theoretical paradigm called structuralism - Goal was to uncover the structure, or basic elements, of the conscious mind, much like looking at the parts that make up a car engine or bicycle or the individual bricks in a Lego sculpture, and to then determine how these elements were related. - Attempted to break mental processes down into their most basic fundamental components, such as sensations or feelings. - Structuralists then endeavoured to identify the laws governing the relationships between these elements and to ascertain how these elements interacted with the mind and body. - The goal of structuralism was to describe observable mental processes rather than to explain, predict, or control Structuralism: a philosophical approach that studies the structure of conscious experience.  Introspection:“looking inward.”- the careful reflective and systematic observations of all the details of mental processes and how simple thoughts combine into complex ideas Example: If shown a house made of Lego, for example, an introspection structuralist would describe the smooth, shiny texture of each brick, the colour of the brick, the tiny gap between it and the adjoining bricks, and so forth. Functionalism: Toward the Practical Application of Psychology William James (1842–1910): Functionalism was based on the belief that scientists should examine the function or purpose of consciousness, rather than simply focusing on its structure. - James wrote one of the first important psychology texts, Principles of Psychology (1890). - instrumental in shifting attention away from the structure of mental content to the purposes and functions of our mental processes. - Argued that human thoughts, perceptions, and emotions have helped humans to adapt and therefore to survive, and that it was therefore important to understand how consciousness functions. - James viewed consciousness as an ever-changing stream of mental events rather than the more or less static set of components that the structuralists were seeking. - Set up the first psychology lab in the US at Harvard - James believed that mental processes wer fluid (“stream of consciousness”) instead of fixed elements (structuralists viewpoint) Functionalism: a philosophical approach that considers how mental processes function to adapt to changing environments. Gestalt Psychology: More than Putting Together the Building Blocks - Gestalt is of German origin, meaning “whole” or “form.” - “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” - Said consciousness CANNOT be broken down into elements - We perceive things as whole perceptual units - Learning is tied to what we perceive - Gestaltists also viewed learning as tied to perception—the recognition and identification of stimuli that come through our senses. They believed that problem solving occurs when a person develops a sudden and complete insight into a solution—indeed, they believed that problems remain in an unsolved state until such points of insight occur. - Gestalt school helped guide psychology away from the study of individual elements and toward a broader view of the human mind and functioning. Gestalt Psychology: the field of psychology arguing that we have inborn tendencies to structure what we see in particular ways and to structure our perceptions into broad perceptual units. Psychoanalysis: Psychology of the Unconscious Wundt, Titchener, and the structuralists, James and the functionalists, and the Gestaltists held very different views about how the mind is structured and how it should be studied. But they were all alike in one way: they all focused on consciousness, behaviours, and mental processes of which we are aware. Other theorists, however, focused on mental processes of which we are unaware, those that happen in the unconscious mind. Unconscious: hypothesized repository of thoughts, feelings, and sensations outside human awareness, thought in some theories to have a strong bearing on human behaviour. Sigmund Freud Founder of psychoanalytic theory - Suggested that many of our thoughts and feelings exist beyond the realm of awareness, in the unconscious - He believed the unconscious mind existed well below the surface of conscious awareness, but nevertheless exerted enormous influence on behaviour. - Freud was particularly interested in patients who had a condition that was then known as hysteria. Particularly women who suffered a transient loss of perceptual, cognitive, or motor function without any known physical cause, causing blindness, paralysis, amnesia, or other catastrophic losses. - He came to believe that the mind is a complex interaction of the thoughts and memories that exist at different levels of awareness, some conscious and some unconscious. Psychoanalytic Theory: psychological theory that human mental processes are influenced by the competition between unconscious forces to come into awareness. Behaviourism: Psychology of Adaptation This school of thought was founded on the belief that psychology should study only behaviours that are directly observable rather than abstract mental processes. Behaviourism: a branch of psychological thought arguing that psychology should study only directly observable behaviours rather than abstract mental processes. Early behaviourists tended to focus on the relationships between stimuli—things that trigger changes in our internal or external states—and responses—the ways we react to stimuli. Stimuli: Elements of the environment that trigger changes in our internal or external states. Response: The way we react to stimuli. Edward Thorndike (1874–1949) - helped transition the field of psychology toward behaviourism by proposing that animal findings could help explain human behaviour. John Watson (1878–1958) - He agreed with Thorndike that animals could be useful in guiding our understanding of human psychology, and he sharply disagreed with psychoanalysis and with the notion of unobservable mental processes as appropriate approaches to studying the mind and behaviour. B.F. Skinner (1904–1990) - Helped expand behaviourism’s perspective by acknowledging that internal, mental processes may indeed be at work in some situations, such as when an animal runs to get food - Skinner argued, empirical—observable—information should be gathered first, and then theories about causation could be formulated from that. Reinforcement: a learning process that increases the likelihood a given response will be repeated. Punishment: an experience that produces a decrease in a particular behaviour. Humanistic Psychology: A New Direction Humanistic Psychology: theory of psychology that sought to give greater prominence to special and unique features of human functioning. - Emerged as an alternative theory that took an optimistic view of human nature and sought to give greater prominence to the special and unique features of human functioning rather than to the mechanistic principles that they believed characterized psychoanalysis and behaviourism.  - Humanists emphasized the unique qualities of humans and acknowledged their rationality as well as their central human drive for freedom and personal, positive growth. Founding humanistic theorists Carl Rogers (1902–1987) and Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) rejected the approach of behaviourists. They felt that behaviourists looked at humans just as they looked at animals—that is, as machines that could be predicted and controlled—but giving little or no weight to consciousness and other distinctly human characteristics. Cognitive Psychology: Revitalization of Study of the Mind Ulric Neisser (1928–2012), a student of Miller’s, published the influential text Cognitive Psychology in which he described cognition as “all the processes by which.... sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used” - Neisser went on to define cognitive psychology as the study of information processing, the means by which information is stored and operates internally. Despite its unpopular beginning, the cognitive perspective is currently the prevailing perspective in psychology. Cognitive Psychology: The field of psychology studying mental processes as forms of information processing, or the ways in which information is stored and operated in our minds. Information Processing: The means by which information is stored and operates internally. Cognition is defined as the mental processes involved in knowing, perceiving, and remembering and includes research in areas such as decision making, problem solving, and understanding language. Many cognitive psychologists compare the human mind to a computer, likening mental processes to the mind’s software and the human nervous system to the system’s hardware. Early cognitive psychologists reasoned that if modifying software can control the “behaviour” of computers, identifying and modifying specific mental processes ought to control human behaviour. Cognitive psychology has become the dominant model of the mind. Cultural Psychology: the study of how cultural practices shape psychological and behavioural tendencies and influence human behaviour. Cross-Cultural Psychology: the study of what is generally or universally true about human beings regardless of culture. Psychobiology/Neuroscience: Exploring the Origins of the Mind The term psychobiology has largely fallen into disuse, with this subfield of psychology now more frequently referred to as neuroscience Neuroscience: the study of psychological functions by looking at biological foundations of those functions. Karl Lashley (1890–1958) - One of the most influential psychobiologists working in the area of learning and memory, based his work on the study of animal neurological functioning. - His ultimate goal was to pinpoint all areas of the brain responsible for memory, learning, and other higher functions. Behavioural Genetics: a subfield of psychology looking at the influence of genes on human behaviour. Edward O. Wilson (1929–) - The father of sociobiology - Wilson used sociobiological and evolutionary principles to argue that animal behaviour is governed by epigenetic rules. Epigenetics is the study of how environmental influences affect gene expression and change behaviour. - Wilson and other sociobiologists argued that the concept of tabula rasa is incorrect because humans are genetically more predisposed than other organisms to learn language, create culture, protect territory, and acquire specific societal rules and regulations. Sociobiologists did not claim that genetic influences are necessarily more important than environmental factors, such as parenting or the mass media. Rather, they proposed that our social behaviour is the result of biological and cultural influences. Sociobiologists: theorists who believe humans have a genetically innate concept of how social behaviour should be organized. The subfield of sociobiology is now part of a still broader subfield called evolutionary psychology, one of the major perspectives in psychology today Evolutionary Psychology: a field of study believing that the body and brain are products of evolution and that genetic inheritance plays an important role in shaping the complete range of thoughts and behaviours. Cultural Universality: behaviours and practices that occur across all cultures. Perspectives Major Emphasis Psychoanalytic Interactions between the conscious and  unconscious mind govern virtually all behaviour; childhood experiences set the stage for later psychological functioning Behavioural Only observable behaviour can be studied scientifically. Perspective focuses on stimulus–response relationships and the consequences for behaviour. Humanistic People can be helped to realize their full and grand potential, which will inevitably lead to their positive psychological growth. Cognitive Mental processes are studied using an information-processing model (inputs/outputs). Psychobiology/neuroscience Psychobiological functions are explained primarily in terms of their biological foundations. Evolutionary Behaviour and mental processes are explained in terms of evolution, inheritance, and adaptation. Socio-cultural Norms and rules of society are learned through interacting with others. Such behaviours may be culturally universal or may vary cross-culturally. Branches of Psychology The three current key branches of psychology are: academic psychology, clinical and counselling psychology (including clinical, counselling, and clinical neuropsychology), and applied psychology (the rest, including school, rehabilitation, industrial/organizational, health, and forensic psychology) Academic Psychology Academic Psychology: a branch of psychology focusing on research and instruction in the various areas or fields of study in psychology. - Academic psychologists typically work at colleges and universities, where they often divide their time between teaching and conducting research in their particular fields of interest. Example: A developmental psychologist, for example, may teach courses on child development while also researching how children think and behave. Applied Psychology Applied Psychology: the branch of psychology applying psychological principles to practical problems in other fields, such as education, marketing, or industry. - One specialty area in applied psychology is industrial/organizational psychology. This area of psychology focuses on applying the research from psychology to issues in organizations and workplaces Example: Sports psychologists, for example, may provide guidance to athletes or teams, helping them overcome feelings of anxiety or frustration or teaching them to focus their energy more effectively Clinical and Counselling Psychology Clinical and Counselling Psychology: the study of abnormal psychological behaviour and interventions designed to change that behaviour. - help individuals to cope more effectively or to overcome abnormal functioning Clinical psychologists generally provide psychotherapy, which involves helping people to modify thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that are causing them distress or inhibiting their functioning (see photo). They also may administer and interpret psychological tests to provide further information relevant to treatment. Many clinical psychologists earn a Ph.D. degree awarded by a university graduate program, which typically requires training in therapeutic practices and in the conduct and interpretation of research. Counselling psychologists and psychiatric social workers also provide psychotherapy for people with psychological problems. These professionals may also help individuals and families deal with issues tied to relationships, careers, child-rearing, and other important areas of functioning. In addition, some social workers provide aid to families through social service systems that are available in the community. - Canadian psychologists are not able to prescribe drugs for their clients. In the United States, only five states, New Mexico, Louisiana, Iowa, Idaho, and Illinois currently grant prescription privileges to psychologists who receive special pharmacological training. The U.S. territory of Guam also grants such privileges to psychologists Psychiatrists, who may also provide guidance and therapy to individuals, are professionals who attend medical school and earn an M.D. (doctorate of medicine). Psychiatrists generally have less training in psychological research and testing than clinical psychologists, but they have medical knowledge and the ability to prescribe medications for abnormal emotional states or behaviour problems. Shared Values Although the three branches of psychology—academic, applied, and clinical and counselling—have different goals and ways of meeting those goals, they do share important values that guide their work 1. Theory Driven 2. Empirical 3. Multi level 4. Contextual Collectivist: a culture whose members focus more on the needs of the group and less on individual desires. Individualistic: a culture that places the wants or desires of the person over the needs of the group. Advances in Technology With recent innovations in neuroscience, a contemporary area known as cognitive neuroscience has emerged. Cognitive Neuroscience: the study of mental processes and how they relate to the biological functions of the brain. - focuses on how specific neural connections in the brain affect cognition and mental functioning. - One goal of cognitive neuroscientists is to link specific mental processes to particular brain activities. Similarly, a field called social neuroscience has emerged, which seeks to link social functioning to particular brain activities. Example: Recent studies have, for example, found that there is a network of nerve cells in the brain that is activated when we show empathy, our ability to understand and share the feelings of others Social Neuroscience: the study of social functioning and how it is tied to brain activity Positive Psychology - studies human strengths, fulfillment, and creativity - Positive psychologists point out that psychology is over-focused on weakness, psychopathology, psychological damage, and ways to treat suffering. - They argue that psychology ought to also consider the factors that make life worthwhile, including happiness, meaning in life, and character strengths, as well as increased attention to how those features of positive living might be more readily developed