understanding people and behaviour

what are the three areas of psychology development

Biological, Psychological, Social

What is psychology

psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour

what are the historical origins/as a science

Originated predominantly from philosophy, through the works of Aristotle and Plato and later expanded through Wilhelm Wundt when he established the first formal psychology lab in 1879

Four Key Rules for Knowledge?

1. Accept nothing as true unless it is self-evident (clear and distinct ideas).

2. Divide problems into smaller, manageable parts.

3. Order thoughts from simple to complex.

4. Review comprehensively to ensure nothing is missed.

what does Structuralism look into? And who originated it?

Structures of the mina/consciousness. Originated from Wilhelm Wundt

what does Functionalism look into? And who originated it?

Considered “why” rather than the “what”. Originated by William James.

what does Psychoanalysis look into? And who originated it?

Explores how the conscious self acts to control the conflict between inner-desires and societal control. Originated from Sigmund Freud.

what does Behaviourism look into? And who originated it?

Focused on predictions and manipulations of observable behaviour. Originated by John Watson.

what does Humanistic perspective look into? And who originated it?

Emphasises the humans are unique and that they are motivated by self-growth. Originated by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

what does Cognitivism look into? And who originated it?

Refers to the mental process involved in thinking/thought. Originated by Ulric Neisser.

What is Epistemology?

The theory of knowledge. Concerned with the nature, origin, and limits of human knowledge

What is Rationalism?

Reasoning, logic, and deduction to generate knowledge without experience. Innate Knowledge (a priori).

What is Empiricism?

Knowledge gained from experience (a posteriori), believes people are born a blank slate (tabula rasa).

Empiricism assumptions

Assumes that reality is objective and quantifiable and experienced universally (positivism).

Constructionist perspective on empiricism assumptions

Reality is not universally experienced.

What is the Scientific method process?

observations, questions, hypotheses, predictions, empirical study, reporting.

what is the scientific method observations sections about?

When research ideas come from personal observations, previous research and a practical need.

What are the different types of research question?

Descriptive, Predictive, Casual

What is PICO?

Population
Intervention
Comparison
Outcome

What is FINER?

Feasible: timeframe
Interesting: will the question be valuable
Novel: has the question already been answered
Ethical: is this ethical
Relevant: will this question improve society

What is a hypothesis?

A hypothesis is a possible answer to a research question

what is a prediction?

A prediction is an outcome that you expect to observe if your hypothesis is correct.

What are some of the criticisms of the Scientific Method?

Relies too much on framework, does not reflect the reality of scientific investigation.

What is the problem of induction?

Assumes that the future will resemble the past.

What is Black Swan Fallacy?

The assumption that because something has never been observed in the past, it cannot exist or occur in the future

What are the different forms of empirical studies?

Survey, experiment, case studies, qualitative interviews.

How do you report properly in the scientific method?

Provides an opportunity for reflection, encourages ongoing research, allows for theoretical refinement, disseminates finding to stakeholders, real-world relevance.

Where are results reported according to the scientific method?

peer-reviewed academic journals, academic conferences, theses, news media, social media, governemnt/technical reports, clinical guidelines, podcasts.

What makes a good theory?

an evidence-based explanation that is testable, parsimonious, and generative, serving to describe, explain, and predict human behavior and mental processes.

What is the hypothetico-deductive method?

Deductive reasoning, specific conclusions (hypothesis) from general premises (theory).

What is inductive reasoning?

involves generating/refining general premises (theories) from specific observations?

What is bpth deduction and induction essential for?

the self-correcxting nature of science.

who founded behavioural psychology?

Watson and Skinner.

What is behavioural psychology?

The observation of behaviours and conditioning.

who founded social cognitive psychology?

Bandura

What is social cognitive psychology?

Cognitive and social connections.

What is the Transtheoretical model?

Pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance/

What are the three main factors of social cognitive?

Cogntive factors, behavioural factors, environmental factors.

Who founded the theory of reasoned action?

Fishbein and Ajzen.

What is the theory of reasoned action?

a person's behavior is determined by their intention to perform it, which is shaped by their own attitude and perceived social pressure.

what factors affects behaviour?

The Foundation: Your personal background shapes your beliefs about what will happen. The Mindset: Those beliefs create your attitude, subjective norms, and perceived control.
The Action: These three factors combine to form your intention, which is the final "green light" that leads directly to your behaviour.

What is developmental psychology?

A field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan.

What affects development?Ke

The role of context, nature vs nurture, development as lifelong.

what are the key theories in developmental psychology?

Psychoanalytic perspectives, Erikson’s psychosocial stages, Piaget’s cognitive development theory, Attachment theory, Social learning theory, systems theory.

What is the Psychoanalytic theory?

Founded by Freud. people move through stages were they confront conflict between biological drives and social expectations.

What are the pssychosexual stages?

Oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital.

What is Erikson’s psychosocial stages method?

Erikson’s build on Fraud’s stages, adding attitudes, and skills that made an individual an active contributing member of society.

What are the Erikson’s psychosocial stages?

Infancy, Early childhood, play age, school age, adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood, old age.

What is Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory?

Cognitive development is a fundamentally social process. Learning occurs first through social interactions with others, then is internalized by the individual.

What are the three zones of Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory?

Current understanding (can learn unassisted), zone of proximal development (leans with specific assistance), out of reach.

What is Piaget’s cognitive development theory?

Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world.

What are Piaget’s stages cognitive development?

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.

What is the systems theory?

An individual develops, learns and is influenced within the complex system of relationships they are surrounded by their environment, microsystems, exodsystems, macrosystem, and chronosystem, “time”.

what is microsystems?

he immediate, direct environment in which an individual lives and interacts

what is ecosystems?

how a person's development is shaped by five nested, interconnected environmental systems: the micro-, meso-, exo-, macro-, and chronosystems.

what is macrosystem?

The broad cultural contest, values, law, ideologies, and socioeconomic conditions influence a person’s development.

what is chronosystem?

representing the influence of time,2026-05-15, on a person’s development.

Who found the attachment theory?

John Bowlby

What is the attachment theory?

A framework explaining how ealry bonds with caregiver shape our emotional development and adult relationships

What are the types of attachment?

Secure, Avoidant, Anxious, Disorganised

who found the social learning theory?

Bandura

what is the social learning theory?

People learn by observing others.

What is the process of the social learning theory?

Attention (stimuli focus), Retention (Rehearse encode), Motor reproduction (practice feedback), motivation (reward reinforce).

What is social psychology?

The scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined to implied presence of others.

Who founded social psychology?

Gordon Allport

Who founded the realistic conflict theory?

Muzafer Sherif

What is the realistic conflict theory?

a social psychological model explaining how intergroup hostility, prejudice, and discrimination arise from direct competition over limited resources.

What are the four factors of realitic conflict theory?

Interpersonal cooperation, interpersonal competition, intergroup cooperation, intergroup competition

Who founded the social identity theory?

Tajfel and Turner

What is the social identity theory?

we categorize ourselves and others into groups to simplify our social world and boost our self-esteem through "in-group" belonging. leading to in-group vs out-group mentality.

what is Social Categorisation?

We mentally organize people into groups to make the social world easier to navigate.

what is Social Identification?

We adopt the identity of the group we belong to, conforming to its norms and deriving emotional significance and self-esteem from that membership.

what is Social Comparison?

We compare our group against others; to feel good about ourselves, we need to perceive our group as having a higher status or being "better" than the competition.

what is Positive Distinctiveness?

establishing that our in-group is unique and superior in a way that distinguishes it from the out-group, often leading to in-group favoritism and out-group prejudice

What is trait theories?

a psychological framework that proposes personality is composed of broad, enduring dispositions, or traits, that cause individuals to think, feel, and behave in consistent ways.

What is Lexical hypotheses?

The most important and universally relevant human personality traits are encoded directly into everyday natural language.

What are the big 5 (Costa and McCrae)

openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

What is cross-cultural applicability?

It refers to how well a concept or tool maintains its meaning and effectiveness when translated across different cultural boundaries.

What is the HEXACO model? (Ashton and Lee)

a six-dimensional framework for assessing human personality structure

what are the six frameworks of HEXACO

Honesty-Humility (H), Emotionality (E), Extraversion (X), Agreeableness (A), Conscientiousness (C), Openness to Experience (O)

What is EySenck’s big three factor?

efers to a biological theory of personality developed by Hans Eysenck, consisting of three core, heritable superfactors.

What are EySenck’s big three factors?

Psychoticism (P), Extraversion (E), and Neuroticism (N). 

What is the Eclectic approach?

It is a "pick-and-choose" approach where a therapist uses the best tools from different styles to fit the specific person they are treating.

What is revised reinforcement sensitivity theory?

It suggests our personalities are shaped by how our brains process rewards and threats through three systems: the BAS (seeks rewards), the FFFS (reacts to immediate danger), and the BIS (handles anxiety and conflict between goals).

What is Etic perspective?

It focuses on observing a culture from the outside using universal standards rather than local beliefs.

What is Emic perspective?

an "insider's" viewpoint, focusing on the intrinsic beliefs, values, and meanings of a specific culture or group as understood by its members

What is cross-cultural comparison studies?

Comparing two or more cultures on a particular psychological variable

What is cross-cultural validation studies?

To examine whether a psychological variable constructed in one culture can apply and have meaning in another culture.

What is cross-cultural psychological?

a branch of psychology that examines how cultural factors influence human behavior, cognition, emotion, and social processes.

What is Berry’s ecological model?

explains how human behavior and psychological traits are shaped by the interaction between a group's physical environment and their cultural practices.

What is absolutism?

psychological phenomena are qualitatively the same across cultures.

What is Relativism?

that truth, morality, knowledge, or beauty are not absolute or universal, but rather relative to social, cultural, historical, or personal contexts. 

What is Berry’s acculturation framework?

It categorizes how people adapt to a new culture based on whether they choose to keep their original identity or adopt the host culture.

what is Integration?

Keeping your original culture while participating in the new one.

what is Assimilation?

Giving up your original culture to fully adopt the new one.

what is Separation? (in acculturation orientation)

Keeping your original culture and avoiding the new one.

What is Marginalisation? (in acculturation orientation)

Losing touch with your original culture while also feeling excluded from the new one.

What is Acculturation?

the process of adjusting to a new culture while balancing the traditions of your original one.

What is the Bicultural identity integration?

how individuals who identify with two or more cultures perceive, manage, and balance their dual cultural identities.

What are the multicultural identity styles?

strategies individuals use to negotiate and manage multiple cultural affiliations, primarily focusing on how they integrate or switch between their heritage and host cultures.