Chapter 1 Flashcards
Define behaviour
Actions and responses that we can directly observe
Define mind
Internal states and processes - such as thoughts and feelings - that cannot be seen directly and that must be inferred from observable, and surable responses.
Basic research
Research that reflects the quest for knowledge purely for its own sake.
Applied research
Research designed to solve specific, practical problems.
Robbers Cave and the Jigsaw Classroom
A classic study, read on page 6-7
Goals of Psychology
- To describe how people and others species behave.
- To understand the causes of these behaviours.
- To predict how people and animals will behave under certain conditions.
- To influence behaviour through the control of its causes.
- To apply psychological knowledge in ways that enhance human welfare.
What are the levels of analysis in relation to psychology?
Behavior and its causes can be examined:
At the biological level (e.g. brain processes, genetic influences)
At the psychological level (e.g. our thoughts, feelings and motives)
At the environmental level (e.g. past and current physical and social environments to which we are exposed)
What is GAD?
Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)
- Excessive disproportionate anxiety about several different aspects of life.
What is mind-body dualism?
The belief that the mind is a spiritual entity not subject to physical laws that govern the body
What is monism?
Monism holds that mind and body are one and that the mind is not a seperate spiritual entity.
What is empiricism
A school which holds that all ideas and knowledge are gained empirically - that is, through the senses.
What are the roots of psychology?
Dualism, monism and later empiricism.
Psychology’s predecessors also include physiology and medicine.
Psychophysics, the study of how psychologically experienced sensations depend on the characteristics of physical stimuli, also predated and forwarded psychology.
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, that the human mind was not a spiritual entity but rather the product of biological continuity between humans and other species. Humans might get insight about humans through studying other species.
What is a suggested date for the emergence of psychology?
1879, when Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental psychology laboratory in the University of Leipzig.
What are the two early schools of psychology?
Structuralism and functionalism.
What is structuralism?
The analysis of the mind in terms of its basic elements.
Structuralism describes the most basic perceptions of the item under investigation.
For example a banana is smooth, yellow and curved. In breaking down the structure into its most simple elements we can begin to look at the structure differently.
In a human perspective, structuralists used the method of introspection (looking within), to study sensations, which they considered the basic elements of consciousness (e.g. emotions, thoughts).
What is functionalism?
A psychological philosophy that prioritises the functions of consciousness rather than its structure.
Influenced in part by Darwin’s evolutionary theory.
What is the difference between structuralism and functionalism?
An analogy:
Consider your arms and hands. A structuralist would try to explain their movement by studying how muscles, tendons and bones operate. In contrast a functionalist would ask “Why do we have arms and hands?” “How do they help us adapt to our environment?”. The functionalists asked similar questions about metak processes and behaviour.
What is the psychodynamic perspective?
The psychodynamic perspective searches for the causes of behaviour within the inner workings of our personality (our unique patterns of traits, emotions and motives), emphasizing the role conscious processes.
What is psychoanalysis?
The analysis of internal and primarily unconscious psychological forces.
What is free association?
A technique developed by Sigmund Freud, in which a patient expresses any thoughts that come to mind.
He experienced that his patients eventually described painful and long “forgotten” childhood experiences, often sexual in nature.
Often, after recalling and reliving these traumatic childhood experiences, the patient’s symptoms improved.
What are defence mechanisms in relation to psychology?
Defence mechanisms: psychological techniques that help us cope with anxiety and the pain of traumatic experiences.
Repression is an example, keeping unacceptable impulses, feelings and memories in the unconscious.
What is the term psychodynamic?
Behaviour reflects a largely unconscious conflict between defences and internal impulses. This struggle is dynamic in nature, hence the term psychodynamic.
What is the psychodynamic object relations theories?
Theories that focus on how early experiences with caregivers shape the views that people form of themselves and others.
What is the psychodynamic perspective?
Looking at how conscious and unconscious aspects of personality influence behaviour.
A focus on how early family relationships, other social factors and our sense of self shape our personality.
Includes the object relations theories.
An example:
To explain a person’s shyness, a modern psychodynamic psychologist might examine the person’s conceptions about themselves and their parents. The shyness may stem from a fear of rejection of which they are unaware. This fear may be based on conceptions they developed of their parents as being rejecting and disapproving, views that now unconsciously shape their expectations of how relationships with people will be.
This is the more modern version, as Freuds older version had more focus on the role of hidden sexual and aggressive motives.
What is the behavioural perspective?
The behavioural perspective focuses on the role of the external environment in governing our actions.
From this perspective, our behaviour is jointly determined by habits learned from previous life experiences and by stimuli in our immediate environment.
What is behaviourism?
Behaviourism is the school of thought that emphasises environmental control of behaviour through learning
An example:
A behaviourist might explain a person’s shyness, for instance, by examining their past experiences and whether their experiences with asking people out on a date were not good, perhaps repeatedly poor. Such punishment decreases the likelyhood of a positive outcome and so the person may retreat from such dating behaviour.
What is cognitive behaviourism?
Cognitive behaviourism proposes that learning experiences and the environment influence our expectations and other thoughts, and in turn our thoughts influence how we behave.
An example:
A cognitive behaviourist might say that past dating rejections are punishing and lead the person to expect that further attempts at romance would be doomed. In turn, these expectations of social rejection inhibited them from asking peopel out and even making friends. Discussions with friends and family may help the person think about their situation in a new light, enabling them to modify their behaviour, become more outgoing and improve their social relationships.
What is the humanist perspective (or humanism)?
The humanistic perspective (or humanism) emphasised free will, personal growth and the attempt to find meaning in one’s existence.
An example:
Thinking about shyness and loneliness, a humanist might say that, no matter how many rejections a person has led in the past, they must take personal responsibility for turning things around. A humanist also might wonder whether happiness and sense of self-worth may rest too heavily on a person’s hope for a good romantic relationship. It may be more appropriate to build on a few friendships - to satisfy our basic human need for social acceptance and companionship.
What is the positive psychology movement?
The positive psychology movement emphasises the study of human strengths, fulfilment and optimal living.
What is the cognitive perspective?
The cognitive perspective examines the nature of the mind and how mental processes influence behaviour.
What is Gesalt psychology?
Gesalt psychology examines how elements of experience are organised into wholes.
What is cognitive psychology?
Cognitive psychology focuses on the study of mental processes and embodies the cognitive perspective.
What is cognitive neuroscience?
Cognitive neuroscience uses sophisticated electrical recording and brain-imaging techniques to examine brain activity while people engage in cognitive tasks.
What is social constructivism?
Social constructivism, a cognitive viewpoint, maintains that what we consider “reality” is largely our own mental creation, from a shared way of thinking among members of social groups.
An example:
From a cognitive perspective, we might examine someone’s shyness in terms of how they pay attention and process information, their perceptions and their memory. A person’s interpretation of their past dating failures may also be based on faulty reasoning. The shy person may believe their rejections are because of their personal qualities (I’m not attractive or interesting enough) and therefore expects that future dating attempts will also be unsuccessful. If the person correctly attributed the rejections to some temporary situational factor (They were already interested in someone else), then they would not necessarily expect other people to reject them in the future. A cognitive psychologist also might ask whether the person’s memories of their past dating experiences are accurate or have become distorted over time. It is possible that the person may be remembering those events as much more unpleasant than they actually were.
What is the sociocultural perspective?
Sociocultural perspective examines how the social environment and cultural learning influence our behaviour, thoughts and feelings.
What is culture?
Culture refers to the enduring values, beliefs, behaviours and traditions that are shared by a large group of people and passed from one generation to the next.
What are norms?
Norms are often unwritten rules that specify what behaviour is acceptable and expected for members of a group.
What is socialisation?
Socilalisation is the process by which culture is transmitted to new members and internalised by them.
What is behaviour genetics?
Behaviour genetics is the study of how behavioural tendencies are influenced by genetic factors.
What is cross-cultural psychology?
Cross-culture psychology explores how culture is transmitted to its members, and examines psychological similarities and differences among people from diverse cultures.
Describe the term individualistic.
Individualistic - an emphasis on personal goals and self-identity based primarily on one’s own attributes and achievements.
Describe the term collectivist.
Individual goals are less important to those of the group, and personal identity is defined largely by the ties that bind one to the extended family and other social groups.
What is a sociocultural perspective on a person’s shyness?
The sociocultural perspective leads us to ask how our cultural upbringing and other social factors may contribute to a person’s shy behaviour. For instance, throughout their teenage years, cultural norms for assertiveness, particularly in males, may have put pressure on men to perform a certain way .Shyness may evoke by teasing and other negative reactions from school peers, increasing a feeling of inadequacy by the time the person left school and reached university.
What is the biological perspective?
The biological perspective examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behaviour.
What is behavioural neuroscience?
Behavioural neuroscience examines brain processes and other physiological functions that underlie our behaviour, sensory experiences, emotions and thoughts.
What is natural selection?
If an inherited trait gives certain members an advantage over others, these members will be more likely to survive and pass tese characteristics to their offspring.
What are neurotransmitters?
Neurotransmitters are chemicals released by nerve cells that allow them to communicate with one another.
What is evolutionary psychology?
A growing discipline that seeks to explain how evolution shaped modern human behaviour.
