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Comprehensive Psychology Notes from Transcript

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What is Psychology?

  • Psych = Mind; Ology = Scientific study of; Psychology = Scientific study of the mind and behavior
  • Study of the human experience, including:
    • human brain
    • consciousness
    • memory
    • language
    • reasoning
    • personality
    • mental health
    • and much more

The Scientific Method in Psychology

  • Psychology is a Science
  • Scientific Method steps:
    1. Question about how/why something happens
    2. Propose hypothesis, a testable explanation
    3. Accumulation of evidence leads to theory, a broad collection of evidence and explanations
  • Empirical method = acquiring knowledge through observation and experimentation (vs. logic or intuition)

History of Psychology

  • Psychology originated in philosophy; speculation about human behavior
  • In the 1800s, psychology emerged as a scientific discipline
  • Development of schools of thought
  • Started with Wilhelm Wundt & William James
  • While the origins of psychological thought go back quite a while, psychology as a scientific discipline is relatively new

Psychological Perspectives

  • Structuralism – understanding the conscious experience through introspection (Wundt)
  • Functionalism – focused on how mental activities helped an organism adapt to its environment (William James)
  • Psychoanalytic Theory – focuses on the role of the unconscious in affecting conscious behavior (Sigmund Freud)
  • Gestalt Psychology – focuses on humans as a whole rather than individual parts (Kohler, Koffka, Kohler)
  • Behaviorism – focuses on observing and controlling behavior (Pavlov, Watson, Skinner)
  • Humanism – emphasizes the potential for good innate to all humans (Maslow and Rogers)
  • C h r o n o l o g i c a l O r d e r (referenced order of perspectives)

Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism

  • Wilhelm Wundt = a founder of psychology
  • Created first psychology research laboratory
  • Emphasized structuralism
  • Introspection – process by which someone examines their own conscious experience to break it into its component parts
  • Uses: quality and intensity

Functionalism

  • First American psychologist
  • Function vs structure
  • Functionalism – emphasized how mental activities contributed to basic environmental survival
  • William James (Functionalism)

Psychoanalytic Theory

  • Sigmund Freud (Psychoanalytic Theory)
  • Focus on unconscious mind & drives as well as early childhood experiences
  • Clinical focus
  • Studied “hysteria” and neurosis
  • Claim: problems are due to conflicts in the unconscious mind
  • Dream analysis = way of supposedly accessing the unconscious
  • Generative vs empirical; Freud’s Couch (credit: BBC)

Gestalt Psychology

  • Gestalt – “Whole” or “form”
  • The whole of a sensory experience > the sum of its parts
  • Perception of sensory info is not merely putting all the individual parts together
  • Rather, focus on the composite whole → what forms our perception
  • Kohler, Koffka, Wertheimer (credit: Elearning Industry)
  • German psychologists who immigrated to the U.S. to escape Nazi Germany

Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning (Behaviorism)

  • Ivan Pavlov (Classical Conditioning - Behaviorism)
  • Discovered the concept of classical conditioning
  • Stimuli and reflexes
  • Pairing of natural associations with learned associations

John B. Watson (Behaviorism)

  • John B. Watson is known as the father of behaviorism
  • Believed that objective analysis of the mind was impossible
  • Focused on observable behavior and ways to bring that behavior under control
  • Implications for cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
  • Quote attributed to Tolman (1938):
    • "I believe that everything important in psychology (except … such matters as involve society and words) can be investigated in essence through the continued experimental and theoretical analysis of the determiners of rat behavior at a choice-point in a maze."

B. F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning

  • Skinner focused on how behavior was affected by its consequences
  • Studied the principles of modifying behavior through reinforcement and punishment as major factors in driving behavior

Abraham Maslow and Humanism

  • Maslow emphasized people’s capacity for good
  • Proposed a hierarchy of human needs in motivating behavior
  • So long as basic needs necessary for survival were met (e.g., food, water, shelter), higher-level needs (e.g., social needs) would begin to motivate behavior

Carl Rogers and Client-Centered Therapy

  • Developed a client-centered therapy method
  • Influential in clinical settings
  • Client-centered therapy involves the patient taking a lead role in the therapy session
  • Carl Rogers believed therapists need:
    1. unconditional positive regard
    2. genuineness
    3. empathy

The Cognitive Revolution

  • By the 1950s, new disciplinary perspectives in linguistics, neuroscience, and computer science were emerging
  • The mind became the new focus of scientific inquiry
  • Noam Chomsky was very influential in beginning the cognitive revolution
  • Chomsky’s view: psychology needed to incorporate mental functioning to fully understand human behavior

Multicultural & Cross-Cultural Psychology

  • Psychology has a history of studying primarily WEIRD societies (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) – Henrich et al., 2010
  • Culture and environment play a crucial role
  • Example: Individualistic vs. Collectivistic cultures
  • Francis C. Sumner and George I. Sanchez

Women in Psychology

  • Margaret Floy Washburn – first woman to earn a doctorate in Psychology (1894); researched animal behavior
  • Martha Bernal – first Latina woman to earn her doctoral degree in Psychology (1962); educational research with Mexican American children
  • Inez Beverly Prosser – first African American woman to earn her doctoral degree in Psychology (1933); researched personality & self-esteem in African-American children

Contemporary Psychology

Branches of Contemporary Psychology

  • Biopsychology
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Sensation and Perception
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Personality Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Health Psychology
  • Industrial-Organizational Psychology
  • Sports and Exercise Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Forensic Psychology

Biopsychology

  • Biological psychologists study how the structure and function of the nervous system generate behavior
  • Research can include:
    • Sensory and motor systems
    • Sleep
    • Drug use and abuse
    • Ingestive behavior
    • Reproductive behavior
    • Neurodevelopment
    • Plasticity of the nervous system
    • Biological correlates of psychological disorders

Sensation and Perception

  • This area focuses on both physiological aspects of sensory systems and the psychological experience of sensory information
  • Sensation – sensory information (sights, sounds, touch, smell)
  • Perception – experience of the world which is influenced by where we focus our attention, our previous experiences, and our cultural backgrounds

Sensation and Perception (Illustrative Example)

  • When you look at this image, you may see a duck or a rabbit
  • The sensory information remains the same, but your perception can vary dramatically

Developmental Psychology

  • Studies the physical and mental attributes of aging and maturation
  • Includes skills acquired during growth: moral reasoning, cognitive skills, social skills, physical growth
  • Jean Piaget – famous for theories on changes in cognitive ability from infancy to adulthood

Personality Psychology

  • Focuses on behaviors and thought patterns that are unique to each individual
  • Five Factor Model (Big Five)
  • For more on the Big Five, see the associated assessment resource
  • \text{Big Five} = {O, C, E, A, N}

Social Psychology

  • Focuses on how individuals interact and relate with others and how such interactions can affect behavior
  • Topics include:
    • Prejudice
    • Attraction
    • Peer pressure
    • Interpersonal conflicts
    • Obedience (Milgram’s study discussed in later chapters)

Health Psychology

  • Biopsychosocial model: health/illness determined by an interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors
  • Emphasizes that health is not just the absence of illness but the interaction of multiple influences

Clinical Psychology

  • Focuses on diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and problematic patterns of behavior
  • Involves clinical therapy and counseling
  • Cognitive-behavioral therapists take cognitive processes and behaviors into account when providing psychotherapy
  • This is one of several strategies used by practicing clinical psychologists

More Applied Fields

  • Industrial & Organizational (I/O) Psychology: applies psychological theories, principles and research to industrial and organizational settings; issues related to personnel management, organizational structure and workplace environment
  • Sports & Exercise Psychology: psychological aspects regarding sports and physical performance; includes motivation, performance-related anxiety, and general mental well-being
  • Forensic Psychology: deals with the justice system; tasks include assessment of mental competency to stand trial, sentencing and treatment suggestions, and advisement regarding eyewitness testimonies