Chapter one.

KEY TERMS

adaptive traits A term applied to traits that help organisms adjust to their environment.

behavioural genetics A field that examines the genetic and environmental bases of differences among individuals on psychological traits.

behaviourism See behaviourist perspective.

behaviourist or behavioural perspective The perspective pioneered by John Watson and B. F. Skinner, which focuses on the relationship between observable behaviours and environmental.

biopsychology or behavioural neuroscience The field of investigation that examines the physical basis of psychological phenomena such as motivation, emotion and stress; also called behavioural neuroscience.

biopsychosocial model A model that recognises that there is usually no single cause for our behaviour or our mental states and that biological, psychological and social processes are both interrelated and interacting influences.

Cartesian dualism The doctrine of dual spheres of mind and body.

cognition Thought and memory.

cognitive perspective A psychological perspective that focuses on the way people perceive, process and retrieve information.

conservation psychology The study of the reciprocal relationships between humans and nature, with a focus on changing attitudes and behaviours to encourage conservation of the environment.

critical thinking A skill that involves carefully examining and analysing information to judge its value, assessing both its strengths and its weaknesses and considering alternative explanations.

cross-cultural psychology A field that focuses on the patterns — the similarities and differences — among various cultural groups and how they influence behaviours.

cultural psychology A field that focuses on the patterns in behaviours, and how culture influences those behaviours.

empathy The capacity to understand another person’s experience, both cognitively and emotionally.

empiricism The belief that the path to scientific knowledge is systematic observation and, ideally, experimental observation.

ethology The field that studies animal behaviour from a biological and evolutionary perspective.

evolutionary perspective The viewpoint built on Darwin’s principle of natural selection that argues that human behavioural proclivities must be understood in the context of their evolutionary and adaptive significance.

evolutionary psychologists Specialists that apply evolutionary thinking to a wide range of psychological phenomena.

falsifiability criterion The assertion that when researchers are testing hypotheses, they must frame them in such a way as to allow for them to be proven false, and that if this does indeed occur, then a logical result is that the theory on which the hypothesis is base must be modified or developed in some way so as to become closer to the truth.

free will or determinism The philosophical question of whether people act on the basis of their freely chosen intentions, or whether their actions are caused or determined by physical processes in their bodies or in the environment in which they live.

functionalism An early school of thought in psychology influenced by Darwinian theory that looked for explanations of psychological processes in terms of their role, or function, in helping the individual adapt to the environment.

Gestalt psychology A school of psychology that holds that perception is an active experience of imposing order on an overwhelming panorama of details by seeing them as parts of larger whole (or Gestalts).

humanistic perspective An approach to personality that focuses on aspects of personality that are distinctly human, not shared by other animals.

ideal self A person’s view of what she or he would like to be.

Indigenous psychology Examines psychological phenomena in an ecological, historical and cultural context, emphasising the knowledge, skills, strengths and beliefs that Indigenous peoples from within a given culture hold about themselves.

inclusive fitness The notion that natural selection favours organisms that survive, reproduce and foster the survival and reproduction of their kin.

information processing The transformation, storage and retrieval of environmental inputs through thought and memory.

introspection The method used by Wundt and other structuralists in which trained participants verbally reported everything that went through their minds when presented with a stimulus or task; more generally, refers to the process of looking inward at one’s own mental contents or process.

localisation of function The extent to which different parts of the brain control different aspects of functioning.

mind–body problem The question of how mental and physical events interact.

natural selection A theory proposed by Darwin which states that natural forces select traits in organisms that help them adapt to their environment.

nature–nurture controversy The question of the degree to which inborn biological processes or environmental events determine human behaviour.

paradigm A broad system of theoretical assumptions employed by a scientific community to make sense out of a domain of experience.

person-centred Carl Rogers’ therapeutic approach that focuses on the individual’s phenomenal world.

perspectives Broad ways of understanding psychological phenomena, including theoretical propositions, shared metaphors and accepted methods of observation.

positive psychology The focus on understanding and harnessing positive emotions and actively stimulating conditions that produce valued, subjective experiences that help people flourish.

psychiatrists Specialists who have medical degrees and prescribe medication to treat mental illness.

psychodynamic perspective The perspective initiated by Sigmund Freud that focuses on the dynamic interplay of mental forces.

psychodynamics A view analogous to dynamics among physical forces in which psychological forces such as wishes, fears and intentions have a direction and an intensity.

psychological anthropologists People who study psychological phenomena in other cultures by observing people in their natural settings.

psychologists Professionals who examine why people behave the way they do; they consider the thought processes that underpin behaviour.

psychology The scientific investigation of mental processes and behaviour.

rationalist philosophers Philosophers who emphasise the role of reason in creating knowledge.

reproductive success The capacity to survive and produce offspring.

self-actualised People are motivated to fulfil the whole range of needs that humans experience.

self-concept An organised pattern of thought and perception about oneself.

sociobiology A field that explores possible evolutionary and biological bases of human social behaviour.

sociocultural perspective Represents a modern approach to psychology that emphasises social interaction and the cultural determinants of behaviour and mental processes.

stimuli Objects or events in the environment that elicit a response in an organism.

structuralism An early school of thought in psychology developed by Edward Titchener, which attempted to use introspection as a method for uncovering the basic elements of consciousness and the way they combine with each other into ideas.

1.1 Define psychology

Psychology is the scientific investigation of mental processes and behaviour. Understanding a person means practicing ‘triple bookkeeping’ — simultaneously examining the person’s biological make-up, psychological experience and functioning, and cultural and historical moment.

1.2 Discuss the contributions of biopsychology and the sociocultural perspective.

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Biopsychology (or behavioural neuroscience) examines the physical basis of psychological phenomena such as motivation, emotion and stress. The sociocultural perspective emphasises social interaction and the cultural determinants of behaviour and mental processes.

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Cultural psychology focuses on the patterns in behaviours and how culture influences those behaviours, and cross-cultural psychologists examine the similarities and differences in behaviours among various cultural groups. Biology and culture form the boundaries, or constraints, within which psychological processes operate.

1.3 Outline the history of psychology.

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A classic question inherited from philosophy is whether human action is characterised by free will or determinism — that is, whether people freely choose their actions or whether behaviour follows lawful patterns. A related issue is the mind–body problem — the question of how mental and physical events interact.

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The field of psychology began in the late nineteenth century as experimental psychologists attempted to wrest questions about the mind from philosophers. Most shared a strong belief in the scientific method as a way of avoiding philosophical debates about the way the mind works. Among the earliest schools of thought were structuralism and functionalism. Structuralism, developed by Edward Titchener, attempted to use introspection to uncover the basic elements of consciousness and the way they combine with one another into ideas (i.e., the structure of consciousness). Functionalism looked for explanations of psychological processes in their role, or function, in helping the individual adapt to the environment.

1.4 Distinguish among the major theoretical perspectives in psychology.

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A paradigm is a broad system of theoretical assumptions that a scientific community uses to make sense of a domain of experience. Psychology lacks a unified paradigm but has a number of schools of thought, or perspectives, which are broad ways of understanding psychological phenomena. A psychological perspective, like a paradigm, includes theoretical propositions, shared metaphors and accepted methods of observation.

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The psychodynamic perspective originated with Sigmund Freud. From a psychodynamic perspective, most psychological processes that guide behaviour are unconscious. Thus, consciousness is like the tip of an iceberg. Because a primary aim is to interpret the meanings or motives of human behaviour, psychodynamic psychologists have relied primarily on case study methods, although ongoing efforts to apply more rigorous methods to psychodynamic concepts are likely to prove fruitful in integrating these concepts into scientific psychology.

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The behaviourist perspective focuses on the relationship between environmental events (or stimuli) and the responses of the organism. Skinner proposed that all behaviour can ultimately be understood as learned responses and that behaviours are selected on the basis of their consequences. A primary metaphor underlying behaviourism is the machine; many behaviourists also consider the ‘mind’ to be an unknowable black box because its contents cannot be studied scientifically. The primary method of behaviourists is laboratory experimentation.

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The humanistic perspective emphasises the uniqueness of the individual and focuses on the person’s immediate experience. According to this perspective, people are motivated to achieve personal goals so that they can fulfil their true potential. As a result, humanistic methods typically focus on helping individuals to understand their own unique frame of reference and work towards achieving self-actualisation, defined as the fulfilment of the whole range of needs.

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The cognitive perspective focuses on the way people process, store and retrieve information. Information processing refers to taking input from the environment and transforming it into meaningful output. A metaphor underlying the cognitive perspective is the mind as a computer, complete with software. In recent years, however, many cognitive psychologists have used the brain itself as a metaphor for the way mental processes operate.

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The evolutionary perspective argues that many human behavioural proclivities exist because they helped our ancestors survive and produce offspring that would be more likely to survive. Natural selection is the mechanism by which natural forces select traits in organisms that help them thrive in their environment. The basic notion of evolutionary theory is that evolution selects organisms that maximise their reproductive success, defined as the capacity to survive and reproduce, and maximise the reproductive success of genetically related individuals. The primary methods are deductive and comparative, although evolutionary psychologists are increasingly relying on experimental methods.

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Although the five major perspectives largely developed independently, each has made distinctive contributions. The biopsychosocial model recognises that there is usually no single cause for our behaviour or our mental states and that biological, psychological and social processes are interrelated and interacting influences.

1.5 Discuss the educational requirements for psychologists and outline their most common work settings.

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You must register with a psychologists’ registration board to practice as a psychologist in Australia and New Zealand. The career prospects for psychologists are strong. Psychologists work in a variety of settings, including health and community services, education, government administration and private practice. The vast majority of psychologists have chosen to become members of the peak bodies that represent psychologists, to help establish and enforce high standards in the profession.