Module 2: Contemporary Psychology — Key Concepts (Notes)

Contemporary psychology integrates cognition, biology and experience, culture and gender, and human flourishing.
Cognitive revolution in the 1960s revived interest in mental processes; led to cognitive psychology and later cognitive neuroscience (brain activity underlying mental activity).
Psychology defined as the science of behavior and mental processes:
- Behavior: observable actions (yelling, smiling, sweating, etc.).
- Mental processes: internal experiences inferred from behavior (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, feelings).
Psychology is a science: about asking and answering questions and evaluating competing claims; roots in philosophy and biology.
Global field:
- ~>1{,}000{,}000$+ psychologists worldwide.
- International Union of Psychological Science: $82$ member nations.
- China: first university psychology department in $1978$ ; by $2016$ there were ~ $270$ universities (not counting AP courses).
Big themes in contemporary psychology include how biology and experience, culture and gender, and human flourishing shape behavior and mental processes.

Biopsychosocial approach: an integrated framework combining biological, psychological, and social-cultural viewpoints.
This holistic view helps explain complex behaviors and mental processes (e.g., why shootings occur can involve biology, environment, and culture).
Psychology’s major theoretical perspectives provide complementary lenses; none alone yields the whole picture.
Figure 2.1 (biological, psychological, social-cultural) is a practical model for analyzing behavior/mental processes.

The seven main perspectives: Behavioral, Biological, Cognitive, Evolutionary, Humanistic, Psychodynamic, Social-Cultural.
Each perspective asks different questions and has limits; together they illuminate behavior.
Example (anger):
- Behavioral: what triggers anger or aggression; how to modify behavior.
- Biological: brain circuits, heredity, temperament.
- Cognitive: interpretation of a situation and its effect on anger.
- Evolutionary: how anger may have aided survival.
- Humanistic: impact of anger on personal growth.
- Psychodynamic: anger as outlet of unconscious hostility.
- Social-Cultural: cultural variations in expressions of anger.
AP exam tip: become familiar with terms and how each perspective explains behavior; all perspectives are useful but incomplete alone.

Behavioral: Study of observable behavior and how learning explains it; how to alter behavior.
Biological: Links between biological processes and psychology; genes, neurons, hormones; how biology and environment shape traits.
Cognitive: How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information; memory, reasoning, problem solving.
Evolutionary: How natural selection has shaped behavior and mind; survival and reproduction.
Humanistic: Focus on personal growth and self-fulfillment; maximizing potential.
Psychodynamic: Unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and disorders.
Social-Cultural: How situations and cultures shape behavior and thinking.

Nature–nurture issue: longstanding debate on contributions of genes vs. experience.
Modern view: traits arise from the interaction of nature and nurture; nurture works on what nature provides.
All psychological events are biological events; e.g., depression can involve brain processes and thoughts.
Darwin and natural selection: inherited traits that best enable survival and reproduction are more likely to be passed on.
Evolutionary psychology studies behavior and mind through natural selection; behavior genetics examines genetic and environmental influences.
Twin studies: Identical twins share genes; fraternal twins share environment; help disentangle nature and nurture.

WEIRD cultures: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic; caution when generalizing findings.
Culture shapes behavior and norms (promptness, attitudes toward premarital sex, body image, eye contact, etc.).
Language and communication vary, but underlying human processes are similar.
Biological and cultural factors interact; gender differences exist in dreams, emotion expression, and risk for certain disorders, but core processes are largely similar.
Studying culture and gender helps reduce assumptions and improves interpersonal understanding.

Positive psychology focuses on human flourishing, not just pathology.
Martin Seligman and others advocate researching happiness as a by-product of a pleasant, engaged, and meaningful life.
Goals: scientific study of building a good life and meaningful life that enhance well-being for individuals and communities.

The biopsychosocial approach provides a framework for understanding most psychological events by integrating biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors.
Use the seven perspectives to analyze behavior from multiple angles; no single view provides the full explanation.
Recognize the nature–nurture interaction: both genetics and environment shape traits and behaviors; they are deeply interwoven in modern explanations.
Cultural and gender context matters: WEIRD bias and cross-cultural differences should inform interpretation of findings.
Positive psychology highlights practices and conditions that promote well-being and fulfillment, not just the absence of illness.

The ___ ___ perspective focuses on how behavior and thought differ from situation to situation and from culture to culture, while the ___ perspective emphasizes observation of how we respond to and learn in different situations.
What is natural selection and how does it relate to psychology?
How does the biopsychosocial model differ from a single-perspective approach when analyzing a behavior like anger or depression?

Biopsychosocial approach
Behavioral, Biological, Cognitive, Evolutionary, Humanistic, Psychodynamic, Social-Cultural perspectives
WEIRD cultures
Positive psychology
Nature–nurture issue
Natural selection
Cognitive neuroscience
Twin studies
Culture and gender in psychology
Cross-cultural psychology