Psychology: Human Behaviour - Summary

Psychology: Human Behaviour

Overview of Psychology

  • Psychology is the science of mind and behavior.
  • Mind and behavior are influenced by biological, psychological, societal, cultural, and environmental factors.
  • Folk psychology involves intuitive theories, while scientific psychology employs empirical methods.

Brief History

  • Psychology originated from philosophy.
  • Structuralism (Wilhem Wundt) focuses on breaking down consciousness.
  • Functionalism (William James) views mental processes as tools.

Major Perspectives

  • Paradigm: A framework of concepts and procedures.
  • Psychology lacks a universally accepted body of facts and assumptions.
Psychodynamic
  • Key figures: Freud, Horney, Erikson, Adler.
  • Behavior results from unconscious processes and early experiences.
  • The mind is a tension of competing forces.
Behavioralist
  • Key figures: Watson, Skinner.
  • Behavior is learned from environmental consequences.
  • The mind is a 'black box'.
Cognitive
  • Key figures: Broadbent, Chomsky, Neisser, Piaget.
  • Behavior is the product of information processing.
  • The mind is like a computer.
Humanistic
  • Key figures: Rogers, Maslow, May.
  • Behavior is shaped by the need to self-actualize.
  • Emphasizes empathy, acceptance, and respect.
Evolutionary
  • Key figures: Tooby, Cosmides, Buss.
  • Psychological processes reflect evolutionary processes.
  • Enduring human attributes serve adaptive functions.

Critical Thinking in Psychology

  • Critical thinking involves evaluating information to make well-reasoned decisions.
Key Traits:
  • Scepticism, creativity, open-mindedness, comparative reasoning, metacognition.
Process:
  • Observation, imagination, gathering information, analysing and interpreting, experimenting, evaluating arguments, drawing conclusions, reflecting and revising.
Phases:
  • Identify the problem, generate possible solutions, eliminate unlikely answers, test remaining answers, identify the best answer.

Barriers to Critical Thinking

Unavoidable Barriers:
  • Age, memory, attention, insufficient knowledge, cultural/social conditioning, assumptions.
Avoidable Barriers:
  • Confirmation bias, salience bias, availability heuristic, conformity bias, authoritative thinking, cognitive distortions.
Overcoming Barriers:
  • Seek multiple high-quality sources, look for balanced information, avoid appeals to emotion/authority, approach information with skepticism.

Applying Skills: Logic and Argument

Evaluating an Argument:
  • Deductive reasoning (broad to specific).
  • Inductive reasoning (specific to broad).

Cultural Psychology

Defining Culture:
  • Culture includes shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors.
  • Culture arises through shared meaning, products, and rituals.
  • University as a culture with unwritten rules.

Cultural and Indigenous Psychology

Historical Context:
  • Australia's history of racism impacts First Nations people.
  • Colonisation and systematic racism inflicted trauma.
Trauma:
  • Colonisation, racism, dispossession of land.
The Stolen Generation:
  • Forcible removal of children from families (1910-1970).
Intergenerational Trauma:
  • Trauma passed from survivors to descendants.
  • Impacts attachment, community connection, and development.
Western vs. Indigenous Psychology:
  • Western psychology is Eurocentric.
  • Indigenous psychology aligns with Indigenous beliefs.
Social and Emotional Wellbeing:
  • National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
  • Objectives: Shared decision making, community-controlled sector, mainstream institution improvement, Indigenous-led data, socio-economic outcomes.
Cultural Competence:
  • Effectiveness in communicating and behaving appropriately with people from another culture.
Cultural Responsiveness:
  • Awareness of cultural background, heritage, and biases.
Double Consciousness:
  • Awareness of your cultural background and how it's perceived.
Cultural Assumptions:
  • Time perception, display of emotions, personal space.
Approaches to Cultural Expectations:
  • Emic (insider), Etic (outsider).
WEIRD Bias:
  • Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic.

Personality

Person Approach:
  • Aims to understand individual differences in thinking, feeling, and behaving.
  • Personality traits: enduring characteristics.
Proponents of Trait Theory:
  • Allport, Cattell, Eysenck, Gray, Costa, and McCrae.
Big Five Traits:
  • Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.
Situational Approach:
  • Emphasises the role of context and variability.
  • Cognitive-Affective Processing System (CAPS).
Interactional Approach:
  • Synthesis of personality traits and situational factors.
  • Models: Selection, interpretation, trait visibility.
Real World Implications:
  • Occupational, educational, clinical, personal development.

Intelligence

Definition:
  • Mental abilities to achieve goals and overcome challenges.
  • Varies among individuals.
Domains and Correlations:
  • Includes problem-solving, recall, language, pattern detection.
  • Abilities correlate, supporting a concept of general intelligence ('g').
Motives and Value Judgements:
  • Intelligence is a source of social and political tension.
Study of Intelligence Is Crucial:
  • Responsive education, public health interventions, resisting exploitation.
Intelligence Testing:
  • Quantifies human intelligence by comparing scores to cohort standards.
  • IQ = (mental age / chronological age) x 100.
Standardisation and Ranking:
  • Expressed as percentile scores or standardised scores (mean 100, SD 15).
Limitations, Assumptions, and Harms:
  • Validity (measures what it intends?).
  • Reliability (consistent results?).
  • Assumes familiarity with test language, cultural references, motivation, state of mind.
Components of 'g':
  • Shared factor of mental abilities.
  • Neural transmission speed, practice, ability to focus.
Models of Specific Intelligence:
  • Wechsler Scales (Verbal vs Non-Verbal).
  • Cattell-Horn GfGc Model (Fluid vs Crystallised).
  • Carrols Three Stratum Model.
Textbook Issues:
  • Gardeners Multiple Intelligences.
  • Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory.

Genetic vs. Environment

Heritable:
  • Runs in families (57-73% heritability).
  • Heritability increases with age.
Environmental Effects:
  • Exposure to toxins, parental age, stressful upbringing.
  • Access to education, nutrition, early intervention.
Comparing Groups:
  • Difficult due to intelligence scores being relative measures.
  • The Flynn effect: IQ scores inflate over time.

Developmental Psychology

Physical Development:
  • Stages: Germinal, embryonic, fetal.
  • Infancy: Sleep, visual/auditory development, motor skills, nutrition.
  • Childhood and adolescence: Motor skills, nutrition, health behaviors.
  • Adulthood: Cardiovascular changes, health behaviors.
  • Midlife and late adulthood: Menopause, appearance changes, ageism.
Cognitive Development:
Piaget's Theory:
  • Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational stages.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory:
  • Social interactions, cultural context, language, zone of proximal development (ZPD).
Processes and Aging:
  • Attention, perception, language acquisition.
Cognitive Changes and Older Adulthood:
  • Psychomotor slowing, memory issues, dementia.

Major Themes

  • Psychology is the science of mind and behaviour.
  • Mind and behaviour are shaped by biological, psychological, social, environmental, and cultural influences.
  • Critical thinking, cultural forces, individual characteristics, developmental processes, social processes, principles of positive psychology.