Intro/History

Question 1

Psychological Science

Answer 1

-study of the mind, brain, and behaviour

Question 2

Unifying Themes

1. Psychology evolves in a socio-historical context

Answer 2

–affected by real world
–after/during World War II: research on social influence, prejudice, obedience
–zeitgeist: spirit of the times, intellectual thinking of the day

Question 3

Unifying Themes

2. Psychology is an empirical science.

Answer 3

–The scientific method: based on empirical research
•test hypothesis
–Scepticism
–Critical thinking: open mindness, not accepting anything at face value
•psychology is not common sense

Question 4

Unifying Themes

3. Multiple factors influence behaviour.

Answer 4

–Behavioural processes are complex
•biological, social, culture, personality
•multifactorial causation of behaviour
•never simple

Question 5

Unifying Themes

4. People’s experience of the world is highly subjective.

Answer 5

–experiences shaped by beliefs, biases, history, culture, etc.
•filter everything through experience, personalities, biases, expectations
•no two ppl have same experiences

Question 6

Unifying Themes

5. The mind is adaptive.

Answer 6

–Evolutionary sense: shared human mind adapted through evolutionary history
–Personal experience: brains change based on experiences
•brains adapt + change when learning

Question 7

Unifying Themes

6. People are often unaware of the influences acting upon them.

Answer 7

–Often unaware of how events, memories, environment, other people influence thoughts, feelings + behaviours

Question 8

History of Psychology

Answer 8

• psyche + logos-study of the soul/mind
• Philosophical and physiological influences
• mind separate from body
• perception + sensation separate

Question 9

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 9

–Psychology scientific study of
conscious experience
-formally founding experimental psychology
•Took him while to convince ppl that conscious could be scientifically studied
•Fraction of a second for him to look and hear
•Couldn’t process both sound + sight
•Studying reaction time

Question 10

Edward Titchener

Answer 10

• student of Wundt’s
• should study consciousness (total of mental experience at any given moment)
• more interested in describing conscious experience than explaining

Question 11

Charles Darwin

Answer 11

natural selection significant role in development of functionalism and behaviourism

Question 12

Structuralism

Answer 12

• Introspection, ask ppl about it
• Break it down into sensations, components
• conscious experience can be broken down into diff. components + sum makes up consciousness

Question 13

Functionalism

Answer 13

•Stream of consciousness: mind consisted of an ever changing, continuous series of thoughts
-adaptive purpose/function of mind + behaviour

Question 14

William James

Answer 14

–understand function of mind rather than static description of its contents
–mental processes + behaviour as legitimate subject matter for psychology
•consciousness was personal, functional, and could not be ‘divided up for analysis’

Question 15

Behaviourism

Answer 15

• Stimulus response psychology
• Learn behaviours through environmental factors: stimuli to predict response
• Behaviour result of response of external stimulus

Question 16

John Watson

Answer 16

–believed goal of psychology should be prediction + control of behaviour
•How could we study mental events we can’t see
•Should focus on observable behaviour

Question 17

B. F. Skinner

Answer 17

•Free will is an illusion: behaviour due to external forces

-repeated behaviours shaped by events/consequences

Question 18

Sigmund Freud

Answer 18

–unconscious contains thoughts, memories + desires below surface of conscious awareness, but exert great influence on behaviour
• Psychoanalytic theory
•Subconscious unobservable

Question 19

Humanism (Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow)

Answer 19

–against psychoanalytic theory + behaviourism
-seen as unappealing, dehumanizing
–Emphasizes unique qualities of humans: freedom + potential for personal growth
•focus on positive things
•didn’t like using research on animals, unlike behaviourists

Question 20

Cognition

Answer 20

–Mental functions important for understanding behaviour (“cognitive revolution”)
–cognitive psychology: study of how people think, learn + remember (mental processes involved in learning + using knowledge)
•what goes on in our minds when we make decisions, when we perceive something

Question 21

Physiology

Answer 21

–Interrelations among mind, body, and behaviour
–Donald Hebb’s research on cell assemblies + focus on biological basis of behaviour
-importance of physiological + neuropsychological perspectives
•Advance in understanding of brain, neuroscience

Question 22

History of Mental Illness

Answer 22

• Supernatural explanations
• Biological: Hippocrates, humors, hysteria
• When uterus moved around, created chem inbalances
• Middle Ages: return to supernatural,witch hunts, magic after fall of Roman empire - asylums, mental disorders locked away

Question 23

History of Mental Illness

Answer 23

• 18th century:“Moral Management”, humane treatment: treat it better by focusing on social, environmental factors
• group therapy sessions, improving environment
• Return to the brain, naturalism: pros & cons
• Prevalence of organic/medical model: we can explain disorder in physical way=imbalances
• focused purely on biological issues: didn’t allow for psychological/social factors

Question 24

History of Mental Illness

Answer 24

• Biopsychosocial model: consideration of the whole person, in context
• have to look at whole person in context, social/cultural