Lecture 1 - Intro to Psych Flashcards
Weiten and McCann, 2019: Definition of Psychology
Psychology is the science that studies behaviour and the physiological and cognitive processes that underlie it, and it is the profession that applies the accumulated knowledge of this science to practical problems
4 Main Goals of Psychologists
- Description of what they observed
- Explanation of why a mental process or behaviour is occurring
- Prediction of the circumstances that lead to a certain behaviour or mental process
- Provide advice on how to control behaviour and mental processes
3 Levels of Psychological Analysis
-
The Brain
Ex. What’s Going on In the Brain When on Social Media? -
The Person
Ex. Are Certain People (or personalities) More Likely To Use Social Media? -
The group
Ex. How Does Social Media Affect Feelings of Connectedness and Belonging?
During even our most everyday activities, we are operating at all three levels at once.
Who is Said To Have Created Psychology as a unique and distinct field of inquiry? PG. 40 of textbook
Wilhelm Wundt, (1832-1920)
- Established The First Independent Psychology Lab in 1879
- Established The First Psychology Journal In 1881
- Studied Consciousness (One’s Awareness of Immediate Experience)
Voluntarism: Wundt’s theory in which will is regarded as the ultimate agency in human behaviour; belief that much of behaviour is motivated and that attention is focused for
an explicit purpose.
What Are The Two Major Schools of Thought?
- Structuralism
- Functionalism
Structuralism: Edward Titchener (1867–1927)
Analyzes consciousness into its basic elements/components (structure) and to investigate the relationship among these elements.
Focused on:
Introspection - The careful systematic observation of conscious experience (Edward Titchener)
The school of structuralism came under attack for its failure to incorporate the study of animals and to examine issues of abnormal behaviour.
The major concern many psychologists had with structuralism was its emphasis on gathering knowledge for its own sake without any further agendas such as a desire to
apply our knowledge of the mind in practical ways. The goal of the structuralists was to use introspection to describe observable mental processes rather than to explain the mechanisms underlying consciousness or to try to control such mechanisms.
Functionalism: William James (1842–1910)
Functionalism was based on the belief that scientists should examine the function or purpose of consciousness, rather than simply focusing on
its structure.
Ex. Functionalists were less interested in describing the parts of a car engine or bicycle, and more interested in what the engine or bicycle could
do under a variety of conditions.
“Stream of consciousness” - understand the stream of consciousness, not just bits and pieces. Looks at the bigger picture.
Emphasized the mind adapting to a changing environment.
Functionalists used empirical methods that focused on causes and consequences of behaviour
Functionalism emphasized the need for research to include animals, children,
and persons with mental disorders in order to understand both normal and abnormal psychological functioning (Wertheimer, 2012).
Gestalt Psychology (Arose In Germany In 1920’s)
Consciousness cannot be broken down into elements.
We are always perceiving things as whole perceptual units.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Learning is tied to what we perceive.
Kanzia Illusion summary: Our brains adapt to make sense of all the visuals around us frequently.
Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939)
Freud’s theory of Psychoanalysis emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts that influence behaviour.
Unconscious mind exerts enormous influence on behaviour.
Freud’s beliefs were very controvertial and had an influence on psychology and beyond (art, medicine, literature).
Freud is now “cancelled” in academic circles.
The back-and-forth tension within
and between the conscious and unconscious mind is what shapes personality, helps produce abnormal behaviours in some cases, and governs virtually all behaviour (Smith,
2013)
Behaviourism
Psychology should only focus on behaviour you can outwardly observe (actions).
- determinism
- focus on stimulus
Behaviourism: Ivan Pavlov
Discovered dogs could learn to associate a bell with an automatic behaviour (e.g. salivating for food)
Behaviourism: John B. Watson
Emphasized the importance of “nurture” over nature”.
Conducted “Little Albert” Experiment, demonstrating that children (people) could be classically conditioned
Behaviourism: B.F. Skinner
Developed Operant Conditioning To Shape Behaviour.
If the consequence of a given behaviour is rewarding, the consequence is regarded as a reinforcement.
Reinforcement is used to change the frequency of the expression of the behaviour.
Positive Reinforcement: Increases The Likelihood of a behaviour occurring
Negative Reinforcement: Decreases The Likelihood of a behaviour occurring
Behaviourism: Albert Bandura
Social observation in children behaviour. Observation of the growth processes in a social environment
Humanistic Psychology
A person has the capacity for personal, positive growth.
A person has the freedom to choose their destiny.
Our subjective perceptions of the world are unique and more important than behaviour itself
