Chapter 1 Psychology

Psychology

the scientific study of behaviour, thought, and experience, and how they can be affected by physical, mental, social, and environmental factors

scientific method

a way of learning about the world through collecting observations, developing theories to explain them, and using the theories to make predictions

theory

an explanation for a broad range of observations that also generates new hypotheses and integrates numerous findings into a coherent whole

biopsychosocial model 

a means of explaining behaviour as a product of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

Biological

influences on behaviour involve the brain structures and chemicals, hormones, and external influence (drugs)

Psychological

influences on memory, emotions, and personalities and how these shape the way we think about/respond to different people and situations

Social

family, peers, ethnicity, and culture can have a hige effect on our behaviour

Scientific literacy

is the ability to understand, analyze and apply scientific information

Empiricism

a philosophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience

Determinism

the belief that all events are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships

Sanguine (blood)

impulsive, pleasure seeking, charismatic

Choleric (yellow bile)

ambitious, energetic, agressive

Melancholic (black bile)

independent, perfectionistic, introverted

Phlegmatic (phlegm)

quiet, relaxed, content with life

Zeitgeist

a general set of beliefs of a particular culture at a specific time in history

Dualism

the idea that there are properties of humans that are not material (ex. there is a mind or soul separate from the body)

Gustav Fechner

• Studied sensation and perception

• Created Psychophysics which is the feild of study that explores how physical energy such as light and sound and their intensity relate to psychological experience

• Used the experiment where people held balls of the same weight in each hand and the one in the right hand felt heavier 

Charles Darwin

• Behaviour is shaped by natural selection, just as physical traits are

• Behaviours we engage in every day (memory, emotions, social bonds, etc) were the same behaviours that allowed our ancestors to flourish over the course of our species’ history

Clinical psychology

the field of psychology that concentrates on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders

Localization of brain function

the idea that certain parts of the brain control specific mental abilities and personality characteristics

Phrenology

created by Franz Gall and Johann Spurzheim - basically saying that different traits caused different parts of the brain to be larger and these would cause bumps on the skull, which could be measured

Franz Mesmer

• Believed that exposure to magnets could get out toxic metals from the body - this didnt work but some patients felt better

• This was the beginning example of the placebo effect

• Sigmund Freud

• Used hypnosis to treat his patients 

• Hypnosis seemed to cure hysterical paralysis 

• Developed Psychoanalysis which is a psychological approach that attempts to explain how our behaviour and personality are influenced by unconcious processes

• Conscious experience includes perceptions, thoughts, sense of self, and the sense that we are in control of ourselves

• Unconscious mind contains the forgotten episodes from early childhood as well as urges to fulfill self-serving sexual and aggressive impulses

• He used psychoanalysis to have direct access to the unconscious mind and used this to correct any emotions or feelings that could cause physical symptoms

• Placed great emphasis on how early life experiences influence our behaviour as adults

Sir Francis Galton

• Believes that genetics could explain the physical and psychological differences found in a population 

• Developed Eminance which was a way of measuring ability, morality, and acheivement 

• Took on the question of Nature vs. Nurture which is the inquiry into how heredity and environment influence behaviour and mental processes

• Believed that people with good social groups, political standing, and race should be encouraged to have kids, and everyone else should not

Wilhelm Wundt

• Established psychology as an independent scientific feild

• Research method was Introspection - to look within

• Concluded that mental activity is not instantaneous, it requires a small amount of effort measured by the amount of time it takes to react

Edward Titchener

• Used introspection to devise an organized map of the structure of the human consciousness

• Used Stucturalism which was an attempt to analyze conscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements, and to understand how these elements work together

William James

• Developed Functionalism which is the study of the purpose and function of behavior and conscious experience

Evolutionary Psychology

an approach that interprets and explains modern human behaviour in terms of forces acting upon our distant ancestors

Edwin Twitmyer

• Worked with reflexes

• His work led to the process of classical conditioning (think Pavlovs Dogs) 

Behaviourism

an approach that has a singular focus on studying the observable behaviour with little to no refernce to mental events or instincts as possible influences on behaviour

John B. Watson

• Believed that all behaviour could be explained through conditioning

• Said that if the environment was completely controled, a child could be brought up to be anything you wanted guarenteed

• Explored connections between scientific research and application

Edward Thorndike

The frequency of different behaviours could be changed based on whether or not that behaviour led to positive consequences 

Radical Behaviourism

the foundation of behaviour, how an organism responded to rewards and punishments from B.F. Skinner

Norman Triplett

Conducted the first formal experiments on how the presence of other people influences behaviour - did this on cyclists riding faster in a group than alone

Social psychology

the study of the influence of other people on our behaviour

Personality psychology

the study of how different personality characteristics can influence how we think and act

Kurt Lewin

Behaviours could be predicted and explained through understanding how an individual with a specific set of traits would respind in a context that involves a specific set of conditions

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Collected data on remembering and forgetting

Frederick Bartlett

• Found that our cultural knowledge and previous experiences shape what elements of an event or storyline are judged to be important enough to remember

Gestalt psychology

• an approach that psychologists need to focus on the whole of perception and experience, rather than its parts

Cognitive psychology

a modern psychological perspective that focuses on processes such as memory, thinking and language

Humanistic psychology

focuses on the unique aspects of each individual human, each person’s freedom to act, their rational thought, and the belief that humans are fundamentally different from other animals

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

• Focused on the positive aspects of humanity and hte factors that lead to a productive and fulfilling life

• Humans strive to develop a sense of self and are motivated to personally grow and fulfill their potential

Anna Freud and Karen Horney

made contributions to understanding personality

Sandra Bem

examined how sex differences in power were due in large to the sexism in politics, business, home, academia, etc and how stereotypes could affect women’s beliefs about their own abilities

Shelley Taylor 

examined sex differences in response to stress and found that males produce “fight or flight”, women seek social supports “tend and befriend”

Cross-cultural psychology

the field that compares individuals and group behaviour among cultures

Intergenerational trauma

the transmission of the negative social and emotional consequences of oppression from one generation to the next

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

• Allows us to reliably detect activity throughout the entire brain and to depict this activity on clear three-dimensional images

• Helps in understanding memory, emotions, and decision making

Cognitive neuroscience

combines elements of psychology and biopsychology

Social neuroscience

the study of social behaviours (relationships-racism) using fMRI

Positive psychology

• to help people see the good in their lives by promoting self-accepting and improving social relationships with others

• Can be found in our motivation to acheive, coping with stess, and psychological disorders