Week 1 Summary - Brain and Behaviour PDF

Week 1 Summary WEEK 1: Introduction to Modern Psychology Week Objective 1: Define psychology as a scientific discipline Psychology is the science that seeks to understand behaviour and mental processes, and to apply that understanding in the service of human welfare. Psychologists perform experimen...

Week 1 Summary WEEK 1: Introduction to Modern Psychology Week Objective 1: Define psychology as a scientific discipline Psychology is the science that seeks to understand behaviour and mental processes, and to apply that understanding in the service of human welfare. Psychologists perform experiments and other scientific procedures to systematically gather and analyse information about behaviour and mental processes to reach informed conclusions and generate new questions for study. Psychology relies on knowledge based on experience and observation rather than imagination or intuition. Using scientific methods to test their ideas, they reach informed conclusions and generate new questions. Even psychologists who don’t conduct research still benefit from it. They are constantly applying the results of their colleagues’ studies to improve the quality, accuracy, and effectiveness of their teaching, writing, or service to clients and organisations. In the developing field of performance psychology, for example, practicing clinical psychologists are combining their psychotherapy skills with research from cognitive, industrial and organisational, and sport psychology to help business executives, performing artists and athletes excel. Weekly Objective 2: Describe the historical philosophical and experimental foundations of the psychology discipline Early interest in behaviour and the mind was dominated by philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. They believed that some knowledge was innate, but debated the source of human knowledge, the nature of mind and soul, the relationship of mind to body, and the possibility of scientifically studying these matters. In the 17th century, British philosophers John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume argued that human knowledge should be understood through empiricism. Empiricists argued that people are born as a tabula rasa – a ‘blank slate’, lacking innate knowledge, but on which experiences of life ‘write’ to give knowledge through direct sensation. Wundt and the Structuralism of Titchener Gustav Fechner studied mental processes by observing people’s reactions to changes in sensory stimuli. He developed psychophysics, the complex but predictable relationships between changes in the physical characteristics of stimuli and changes in people’s psychological experience of them. Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychology research laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879. He attempted to use empirical research methods to study consciousness. Wundt used the technique of introspection (looking inward) in which trained participants tried to describe each aspect of their conscious sensory experiences. Wundt concluded that ‘quality’ and ‘intensity’ are the two essential elements of any sensation and that feelings can be described in terms of pleasure-displeasure, tension-relaxation, and excitement-depression. Under Wundt, psychology became the science of mental processes rather than the philosophy of mental processes. Edward Titchener also used introspection. He added ‘clarity’ as an element of sensation. Although associated with Wundt, structuralism is the name given solely to Titchener’s approach because of his efforts to define the structure of consciousness. Hermann Ebbinghaus concentrated on the capacities, limitations, and other characteristics of mental processes such as learning and memory. Ebbinghaus served as the participant in his memory experiments. Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler, Gestalt psychologists from Germany, saw consciousness as a totality, arguing that it can best be understood by observing it as a whole, not piece by piece. An example from the text notes that movies are long strips of film containing thousands of still photographs, but describing those photographs would not capture a person’s experience of watching a movie. Freud and Psychoanalysis In Vienna, Austria, Sigmund Freud believed that all behaviour is motivated by psychological processes, especially unconscious conflicts within the mind. His work and ideas became the basis for psychoanalysis, including a theory of personality, mental disorder, and treatment methods. Freud’s ideas were and still are controversial, but they had a significant influence on psychology and many other fields. James and Functionalism William James founded the first US psychology lab at Harvard University. James was influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. James’ approach, which was called functionalism, focused on the role of consciousness guiding people’s ability to make decisions, solve problems, and the like. The emphasis was on how the ongoing ‘stream of consciousness’, an ever-changing pattern of images, sensations, memories and other mental events, helps people adapt to their environments. This approach also encouraged psychologists to measure individual differences in mental processes. • Stanley Hall founded the first psychology research lab in the US in 1883 at Johns Hopkins University. • James Mark Baldwin, a pioneer in research on child development, founded the first Canadian lab at the University of Toronto in 1889. Watson and Behaviourism Because of Darwin’s influence, psychologists began to study animals as well as humans. John B. Watson, an American psychologist, criticised making inferences about mental behaviour by observing external behaviour. Watson believed that consciousness existed, but that it would always be private and unobservable by scientific methods and therefore should be ignored. Watson’s approach, behaviourism, relied on observations of overt behaviour and responses to various stimuli. Watson believed that learning is the most important determinant of behaviour and that through learning organisms are able to adapt to their environments. Behaviourism was championed further by B. F. Skinner. His functional analysis of behaviour explained how rewards and punishments shape, maintain, and change behaviours through operant conditioning. An example from the text notes that a functional analysis of behaviour would explain that children’s tantrums may be unknowingly encouraged by the attention they attract from caregivers. Behaviourism was dominant from the 1920s through the 1960s. Weekly Objective 3: Describe the major theoretical perspectives and how they contribute to the understanding of modern psychology Computers have provided a new way to think about mental activity – as information processing – and enabled more accurate measurement of mental activity. Today psychologists are attempting to study mental processes with precision and scientific objectivity. Approaches to the Science of Psychology Each approach to psychology provides a different set of assumptions, questions and methods for understanding behaviour and mental processes. Most psychologists are eclectic, combining the features of several approaches. 1. The biological approach. The biological approach assumes that biological factors (for example hormones, genes and the activity of the central nervous system, especially the brain) affect behaviour and mental processes. 2. The evolutionary approach. The evolutionary approach emphasises how behaviour and mental processes emerge as generation-to-generation adaptations to help organisms survive and reproduce in their environments, in other words, through natural selection. 3. The psychodynamic approach. The psychodynamic approach, based on Freud’s theories, sees constant unconscious conflicts within each person as the main determinant of behaviour and mental life. The conflict is primarily between the impulse to satisfy personal desires and the need to live by the rules of society. 4. The behavioural approach, based on Watson’s ideas, sees behaviour as primarily the result of learning. A person’s learning history, especially the patterns of reward and punishment, influences behaviour. People can change problematic behaviours by unlearning old habits and developing new ones. Today, many behaviourists apply a learning-based approach to try to understand thoughts or cognitions as well as behaviours. A cognitive-behavioural or social-cognitive approach explores how learning affects the development of thoughts and beliefs and how, in turn, these learned cognitive patterns affect overt behaviour. 5. The cognitive approach emphasises the importance of thoughts and other mental processes. It also focuses on how people take in, mentally represent, and store information; how they perceive and process that information; and how cognitive processes are related to observable behaviour. science is an interdisciplinary field studying intelligent systems in humans and computers to attempt to discover the components of cognition and to determine how these components produce complex behaviours. 1. The humanistic approach (also called the phenomenological approach) sees behaviour as determined primarily by each person’s capacity to choose how to think and act based on each individual’s unique perceptions. Humanists believe that people control themselves, and that each person is essentially good, with an innate tendency to grow toward her/his highest potential. Humanists do not search for general laws but try to understand the perceptions and feelings of individuals. Today, the impact of this approach is limited because the concepts and predictions are too vague to be expressed and tested scientifically. However, positive psychology has its roots in the writings of humanistic psychologists such as Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Weekly Objective 4: Outline the training requirements for becoming a psychologist in Australia https://psychology.org.au/training-and-careers/careers-and-studying-psychology/studyingpsychology/st udy-pathways Weekly Objective 5: Describe the major areas of applied psychology (e.g. clinical, counselling, health) Subfields of Psychology 1. Biological psychologists, or physiological psychologists, use high-tech scanning devices and other methods to study how biological processes in the brain and other organs affect, and are affected by, behaviour and mental processes. They study the processes that allow you to maintain blood pressure, move, speak, cope with stress, fight disease, and perform many other vital functions. 2. Developmental psychologists describe changes in behaviour and mental processes and try to understand the causes of these changes and their effects throughout the life span. They study things such as the development of memory and other mental abilities as well as parenting, evaluating day care, and preserving mental capacity in elderly people. 3. Cognitive psychologists (sometimes called experimental psychologists) study mental processes including sensation, perception, learning, memory, thinking, consciousness, intelligence, and creativity. Research by psychologists with interests in engineering psychology, or human factors, has been applied to the ‘layout’ of aircraft instruments panels, computer keyboards, mobile phones, nuclear power plant controls, and even TV remotes that are logical, easy to use, and less likely to cause errors. 4. Personality psychologists focus on how people are similar and different. They use tests, interviews and other measures to compare individuals on different characteristics. Within the focus of positive psychology, personality psychologists study characteristics of people who maintain optimism even in the face of stress or tragedy. 5. Clinical and counselling psychologists conduct research on the causes of behaviour disorders and try to help troubled people overcome these disorders. Community psychologists create systems to ensure that psychological services reach those who need help but tend not to seek it. They try to prevent psychological disorders by trying to reduce the stressors of life that so often lead to disorder. Health psychologists study the effects of behaviour on health, and the effects that illness has on people’s behaviours and emotions. Their work is applied in programs to promote healthy behaviours, as well as to help people cope with illness. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialise in abnormal psychology. 6. Educational psychologists conduct research and develop theories about teaching and learning. The results are applied to try to help students learn more efficiently and improve teacher training. School psychologists traditionally specialise in IQ testing, diagnosing learning disabilities and other academic problems, and setting up programs to improve students’ achievement and satisfaction in school. Today, they are also involved in early detection of students’ mental health problems and crisis intervention. 7. Social psychologists focus on how people think about, relate to, influence, and are influenced by other people. Prejudice and persuasion are just two areas social psychologists study. 8. Organisational (I/O) psychologists try to improve the efficiency, productivity and satisfaction of workers and the organisations that employ them. Their research is applied to foster the development of positive organisational behaviour through improved training programs, evaluation tools, incentive systems and the like. Other subfields: 1. Sports psychologists help athletes reduce excessive anxiety, focus attention and employ other techniques that will allow them to perform at their best. 2. Forensic psychologists deal with issues of psychology and the law, including jury selection and evaluating defendants’ mental competencies to stand trial. 3. Environmental psychologists study the effects of environmental characteristics on people’s behaviour and mental processes. 4. Community psychologists work with communities and individuals to prevent psychological disorders by working for changes in social systems. Weekly Objective 6: Understand the diversity of psychology. Psychologists are unified by their commitment to empiricism and scientific research, and their interests in behaviour and mental processes. But as they are diverse in terms of subfields and approaches, they are also diverse in terms of background. In Australia, the Psychology Board of Australia publishes the statistical breakdown of registered psychologists. Women comprise 78 per cent of registered psychologists and men 22 per cent (Psychology Board of Australia, 2012). The most represented age group is between the ages of 36 and 40 years (14 per cent). In 2009, there were 39 registered Indigenous Psychologists (Rickwood, Dudgeon & Gridley, 2010) of which only two have doctoral qualification and both are women, Dr Pat Dudgeon and Dr Tracey Westerman. The Impact of Sociocultural Diversity on Psychology. Because most researchers in psychology work at universities in North America and Europe, they have tended to study local college students, primarily white, middle-class males. Psychology has been criticised for assuming that people in all cultures are the same, or that findings from one group of people ‘must’ apply to others. However, much as people are the same in terms of certain behavioural and mental abilities, all people tend to live in groups and recognise smiles; they also differ in many ways. Sociocultural factors such as gender, ethnicity, social class, and the culture in which they grow up, create significant differences in behaviour and mental processes. For example, the role of women is very different in Western countries than in many Middle Eastern countries. Culture is the accumulation of values, rules of behaviour, forms of expression, religious beliefs, occupational choices, and the like for a group of people who share a common language and environment. Culture is an organising and stabilising influence. It encourages or discourages particular behaviours and mental processes and also allows people to understand and anticipate the behaviour of others in that culture. Most countries are multicultural, hosting many subcultures within their borders. Subcultures are comprised of individuals who identify with their cultural heritage and tend to share behaviours, values, and beliefs based on their culture of origin. People often are unaware of how culture or subculture has shaped their patterns of thinking and behaviour until they come in contact with people whose culture or subculture differs, promoting different patterns. Even in Western countries, subtle, culturally influenced differences in men and women’s communication patterns have been found.