Chapter 1 Psych

Psychology

The scientific study of behaviour and the mind

Behaviour

Actions and responses that can be directly observed

Mind

Internal states and processes (thoughts, feelings) that can't be seen directly and are inferred from observable responses

Clinical psychology

Subfield focused on the study and treatment of mental disorders

Cognitive psychology

Subfield studying mental processes (memory, attention, decision making, problem solving, consciousness) from an information-processing view

Biopsychology/neuroscience

Subfield focused on the biological underpinnings of behaviour (brain processes, genes, hormones, evolution)

Developmental psychology

Subfield studying physical, psychological, and social development across the lifespan

Experimental psychology

Subfield studying basic processes (learning, sensory systems, perception, motivation), often through lab experiments with nonhuman animals

Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

Subfield studying behaviour in the workplace (leadership, teamwork, job satisfaction, motivation, performance)

Personality psychology

Subfield identifying core personality traits, how traits relate, and how they influence behaviour; develops personality tests

Social psychology

Subfield examining how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviour are affected by the social world (groups, attitudes, attraction, prejudice, helping, aggression)

Forensic psychology

Subfield studying phenomena at the intersection of psychology and the law

Psychiatrist (vs. psychologist)

Medical doctor with additional specialized training in diagnosing and treating mental disorders

Science

A process of systematically gathering and evaluating empirical evidence to answer questions and test beliefs about the natural world

Empirical evidence

Evidence gained through experience and observation, including manipulating things and observing what happens

Systematic (observation)

Performed according to a system of rules or conditions so observations are as objective and precise as possible

Mental shortcuts (pitfall)

Judgment strategies that can serve us poorly, e.g., judging personality based solely on stereotypes about physical appearance

Failing to consider alternative explanations (pitfall)

Assuming one factor caused a behaviour when a less obvious factor was the true cause

Confirmation bias

Selectively paying attention to information consistent with our beliefs while ignoring or downplaying inconsistent information

Inter-rater reliability

When multiple researchers independently observe the same behaviour and their findings agree

Self-correcting process (science)

In principle, science ultimately corrects itself as new evidence modifies or overturns earlier findings

Why replication failures aren't a weakness of science

They reveal a strength: previous findings get reconsidered as better information is gathered (some findings, perhaps up to 50 percent, could not be replicated)

Critical thinking questions to ask about a claim

1) What exactly is the claim? 2) Who is making it; is the source credible? 3) What is the evidence and how good is it? 4) Are other explanations possible? 5) What is the most appropriate conclusion?

Mind-body problem

Long-standing question of whether the mind is a spiritual entity separate from the body or part of the body's activities

Mind-body dualism

Belief that the mind is a spiritual entity not subject to physical laws that govern the body (René Descartes)

Monism

View that mind and body are one and the mind is not a separate spiritual entity; mental events correspond to physical events in the brain (Thomas Hobbes)

British empiricism

School of thought (e.g., John Locke) holding that all ideas and knowledge are gained empirically, through the senses

Psychophysics

Field established in the mid-1800s by German scientists studying how psychologically experienced sensations depend on characteristics of physical stimuli

Charles Darwin's contribution to psychology

His theory of evolution implied that studying other species could give insight into human behaviour

Wilhelm Wundt

Established the first experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879

Structuralism

Early school that analyzed the mind in terms of its basic elements, like a chemist breaking down a compound (Wundt)

Introspection

"Looking within"; structuralists' method of describing sensations and inner experiences; criticized as too subjective

Functionalism

School holding that psychology should study the functions of consciousness rather than its structure (asking "why do we have it, how does it help us adapt?")

William James

Helped widen psychology's scope to include biological and mental processes and overt behaviour; helped establish psychology in North America

Mary Whiton Calkins

Student of James; first woman president of the American Psychological Association (1905); established one of the first US psychology labs at Wellesley College

Modern descendants of functionalism

Cognitive psychology and evolutionary psychology

Psychodynamic perspective

Searches for causes of behaviour in the inner workings of personality (traits, emotions, motives), emphasizing unconscious processes

Sigmund Freud

Developed the first and most influential psychodynamic theory (1856-1939)

Free association

Freud's technique in which the patient says any thoughts that come to mind

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory and form of psychotherapy: analysis of internal, primarily unconscious psychological forces

Repression

A primary defence mechanism that protects us by keeping unacceptable impulses, feelings, and memories in the unconscious

Defence mechanisms

Psychological techniques that help us cope with anxiety and the pain of traumatic experiences

Why "psychodynamic"?

Behaviour reflects an ongoing, dynamic struggle between conflicting forces (defences vs. internal impulses)

Modern psychodynamic theory

Downplays hidden sexual and aggressive motives; focuses on how early relationships with family/caregivers shape views of self and others

Behavioural perspective

Focuses on the role of the external environment in governing actions; behaviour is determined by learned habits and immediate stimuli

Tabula rasa

John Locke's "blank slate": at birth the mind is blank and experience writes upon it; human nature is shaped by the environment

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist who showed dogs learn to salivate to a new stimulus (e.g., a tone) repeatedly paired with food

Edward Thorndike's law of effect

Responses followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to recur; those followed by unsatisfying consequences become less likely

Behaviourism

School emphasizing environmental control of behaviour through learning; proper subject matter is observable behaviour (John B. Watson, began 1913)

John B. Watson

Led behaviourism; opposed the "mentalism" of structuralists, functionalists, and psychoanalysts

B.F. Skinner

Leading behaviourist who argued mentalistic concepts weren't needed; studied how rewarding/punishing consequences influence behaviour (rats, pigeons)

Radical behaviourism

Skinner's extreme approach: the real cause of behaviour is the outer world; influence waned after the 1970s

Behaviour modification

Techniques from behaviourism to decrease problem behaviours and increase positive ones by manipulating environmental factors

Cognitive behaviourism

View that learning experiences and the environment affect behaviour by giving us information we need to behave effectively (Albert Bandura)

Albert Bandura

Leading cognitive behaviourist (born in Alberta, BA from UBC); argued the environment affects behaviour via our thoughts, not by "stamping in/out" behaviours

Humanistic perspective

Emphasizes free will, personal growth, and the attempt to find meaning in one's existence; arose in the mid-20th century to challenge psychodynamic and behavioural views

Self-actualization

Inborn force toward reaching one's individual potential (Abraham Maslow)

Positive psychology movement

Founded by Martin Seligman; studies human strengths, fulfillment, and optimal living rather than what's wrong

Cognitive perspective

Examines the nature of the mind and how mental processes influence behaviour; humans are information processors governed by thought

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Pioneering cognitive psychologist who studied memory

Gestalt psychology

German school (1920s) examining how the mind organizes experience into unified wholes; "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"

Renewed interest in cognition (1950s)

Driven by WWII work on cockpit displays, early computer technology (mind as an information processor), and the language debate

Noam Chomsky

Linguist who argued humans are biologically "preprogrammed" for language, challenging Skinner's learning-based explanation

Jean Piaget

Swiss psychologist whose theory of how children's thinking becomes more sophisticated with age gained wide recognition in North America

Cognitive revolution

1960s-1970s surge of psychologists' interest in mental processes

Elizabeth Loftus

Cognitive psychologist who studies memory and factors that distort it

Cognitive neuroscience

Uses electrical recording and brain-imaging to examine brain activity during cognitive tasks; intersection of cognitive psychology and biological perspective

Sociocultural perspective

Examines how the social environment and cultural learning influence behaviour, thoughts, and feelings

Social psychological component

Studies how the presence of others (actual, implied, or imagined) influences behaviour, thoughts, and feelings

Social pain

Pain from rejection/ostracism; shares many brain circuits with physical pain

Kenneth and Mamie Clark

Psychologists who studied how discrimination and prejudice shape the personality/racial identity development of African American children

Cultural psychology (cross-cultural)

Explores how culture is transmitted and examines psychological similarities and differences among people from diverse cultures

Individualism

Emphasis on personal goals and self-identity based on one's own attributes and achievements (common in northern Europe and North America)

Collectivism

Individual goals are subordinate to the group's; identity defined largely by ties to extended family and social groups (common in many Asian, African, South American cultures)

Two-Eyed Seeing

Framework for appreciating strengths of different cultural perspectives; integrates Indigenous and Western approaches

Biological perspective

Examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behaviour

Behavioural neuroscience

Examines brain processes and physiological functions underlying behaviour, senses, emotions, and thoughts (also called physiological psychology)

Karl Lashley

Early biological psychologist who made lesions in rats' brains and measured effects on learning and memory

Olds and Milner (1954)

At McGill, discovered some brain areas are specialized for providing pleasurable sensations

Scoville and Milner (1957)

Patient H.M.: damage to areas of the brain was associated with severe memory loss

Donald Hebb

Canadian who proposed changes in connections between nerve cells are the biological basis of learning, memory, and perception; led to discovery of neurotransmitters

Evolutionary psychology

Seeks to explain how evolution shaped modern human behaviour and mental abilities

Natural selection

Process in which inherited traits that give members of a species an advantage become more common over generations (Darwin, 1859)

Sociobiology

Holds that complex social behaviours (aggression, competition, altruism, sex differences) are products of evolution; more controversial (E.O. Wilson, 1980)

Criticism of sociobiology

Overemphasizes innate biological factors at the expense of cultural and social learning

Levels of analysis

Three-part framework: behaviour can be examined at the biological, psychological, and environmental levels

Biological level of analysis

Behaviour and its causes in terms of brain functioning, hormones, and genetic factors shaped by evolution

Psychological level of analysis

Draws on cognitive, psychodynamic, and humanistic perspectives: thought, memory, planning, motives, and personality traits

Environmental level of analysis

Draws on behavioural and sociocultural perspectives: how stimuli in the physical and social environment shape behaviour

Depression: biological level

Genetic factors (relatives eight times more likely), neurotransmitter imbalances, low vitamin D, and disrupted brain rhythms for sleep/dreaming

Depression: psychological level

Pessimistic thinking style, childhood abuse/rejection/family discord, perfectionism, low self-esteem, lack of "mattering"

Depression: environmental level

Non-rewarding environment creating a vicious cycle of withdrawal and fewer rewards; physical environment (more common farther north in Canada, less sunlight)

Depression statistics (Canada)

About 8-10 percent of Canadians expect severe depression in their lifetime; rate for women is twice that for men; levels doubled during COVID-19

Major perspective: conception of human nature

Psychodynamic: controlled by inner forces; Behavioural: reactor to environment; Humanistic: free agent; Cognitive: thinker; Sociocultural: social being embedded in culture; Biological: animal