Week 1 - understanding human behaviour

week 1 content

psychology

scientific investigation of mental processes, behavior and the interaction between them

Nature vs Nurture

are behaviours determined by biology or how we are raised?

free will vs determinism

are we able to make choices or are we driven by the environment/genetics

reason vs emotion

are we driven by emotions or reason

rationalism vs empiricism

our position in the world. the extent to which our faculties of reason and experience support our attempts to know and understand the situation

continuity vs discontinuity

can we learn about ourselves by studying animals?

Individualism vs relationality

are we fundamentally self-interested or orientated towards community? are we about ourselves or about helping other people?

conscious vs unconscious

do we think we can accurately describe ourselves? are we aware or unaware of our personality?

mental vs physical mind/body

is our mind different from our brain?

Wilhem Wundt: proponent of structuralism

establishes the method of introspection to uncover basic elements of consciousness. established the first psychological laboratory

William James: proponent of functionalism

argued that consciousness’ is functional and serves a purpose

perspectives in psychology

psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, cognitive, evolutionary. psychology lacks a universal paradigm - instead have several schools of thoughts or “im’s”

Psychodynamic POV

looks at the individual. Key figure: Freud, Jung.

Psychodynamic POV proposes that

conscious and unconscious forces interact to control our thoughts and behaviours. Behaviors are an interplay between feelings and wishes. Some mental events are unconscious i.e. dreams which are sought to be understood through speech and dream analysis in order to know mental processes

Psychodynamic data collection

case studies by therapists understanding thoughts, feelings and motivations/actions of a client - now heavily criticized. empirical evidences supports assumptions that psychological processes can occur outside conscious awareness

Tripartite division of the mind

id (ruled by pleasure - demon), Ego (ruled by reality - balance between the 2), Superego (ruled by moral and ethical reason - angel)

Behaviourist POV

looks at learning and conditioning. key figures: pavlov, watson, skinner

Behavioralist-explained

environmental stimuli control behaviour through learning, behaviour of humans and animals can be understood without reference to internal states i.e. thoughts, feelings.

Mechanistic

behaviouralist view that humans and animals show responses that can be elicited by external stimuli - sociocultural environment controls behaviour (behavior selected by environmental consequences)

behaviouralist pov seeks to understand

relations between stimuli and behaviour

behavioralist data

quantitative empirical data analysed statistically and replicated

humanistic pov

looks at the individual level/person centered. key figures: rogers, Maslow

humanistic looks at / explained

uniqueness of the induvial and that people are motivated to reach their full potential (self-actualization).

humanistic believes behaviour is driven by

the need to be the best that we can be (self-actualize) or heal

issues arise according to humanistic when…

true self does not align with the ideal self

cognitive perspective

looks at the mind/brain as a computer, key figures: Wundt, Descartes

cognitive pov explores

how people process, store and retrieve info. the way that we process information

data collection of cognitive pov

experimental method to infer mental processes at work

evolutionary pov

looks at a population, key figure: Darwin

evolutionary view is that,, / explained

human behaviours evolved because they helped our ancestors survive and reproduce. some behaviors are innate/biologically determined. explain based on evolutionary principles

data collection evolutionary pov

deductive methods with more recent use of experimentation

psychodynamic contributions to psychology

unconscious processes, conflict and early experiences

behaviourist contributions to psychology

learning (behaviour modified by consequences)

cognitive contributions to psychology

thought and memory

humanistic contributions to psychology

the unique individual and motivation to achieve goals

the biopsychosocial model

biological processes, psychological factors, social forces are interrelated and influence mental states and behaviour. Draws from across all povs