What is Psychology? + Schools of Thought Flashcards
What is Psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind and behaviour: how we think,feel,act and interact individually and in groups.
Where do psychology’s origins come from?
Ancient Greece
From which subject can we say that psychology arose from?
Philosophy
Where can we find psychology in everyday life? Mention some examples.
Social interactions
Mental health centres
Self-help
Performance enhancement
Etc
What is the universal symbol for psychology?
The pitchfork.
This is great for shorthand purposes,instead of having to type or spell the word “psychology” we can use its symbol
What does the word psychology mean?
The word “psychology” can be split into 2 :Psyche and ology. Ology means :the study of
Psyche means mind or soul
Therefore these 2 words gave us the word psychology which literally means the study of the mind
Everyone behaves differentley in life and everyone has diffrent opinions and attitudes about diffrent subjects. Mention and explain 8 factors which influences these things.
1)Stimuli : these are the events that happen in my internal or in my external environment which cause a reaction. For example : I feel hungry so I go and cook something to eat.
2) Genetics : this is the passing of genetic information from the parent to the offspring. For example: studies have shown that alcoholism type 2 is related with genetics
3) Physiological systems: these are all the processes that take place in the body. For example: the secretion of adrenaline as a response to the sympathetic nervous system
4) Cognition: this is the term that we use in psychology to refer to all the mental processes such as : remembering,decision-making,thinking,solving mathematical problems etc.
5)Social context: this refers to the immeidate physical and social setting in which a person lives in and develops. Furthermore we are referring to the type of people and institutions that the person communicates with and the type of environment that the individual was brought up in and was educated in + the type of culutre
6) Culture: Culture refers to the characteristics of a particular group of people. This can range from its music,cuisine,language,gestures,religion,arts, etc.
7) Previous life experiences which leave a mark upon the individual: exa: going through a really bad romantic breakup
8) Personal characteristics: These are the personal traits which influences how a person thinks,behaves or feels. ex: being an extrovert or being a pessimistic
What is nature in psychology?
Nature refers to an individual’s genetics and biology on an individual’s traits and characteristics with shape them as an individual.
What is nurture in psychology?
Nurture refers to environmental influences and experiences that shape an individual’s behaviour and development.
What are the 5 goals in psychology?
Case scenario: Client who struggles with social anxiety
Observation : observe the client’s behaviour in social situations + body language ex: stuttering/stammering/ folded arms
Describe: Describe the client’s behaviour in social situations
Explain: give reasons for this type of behaviour in terms of anxiety
Predict: Predict how the client will feel in other similar social situations
Control: change behaviour or mental process by teaching the client new ways of keeping their anxiety
What is a theory?
A theory is based upon a hypothesis and backed by evidence. A theory presents a concept or an idea that is testable.
In science, a theory is not a guess. What is a theory in science?
It is a fact-based framework for describing a phenomenon
And what is a theory in psychology?
It is used to provide a model to better understand human emotions,thoughts and behaviours.
Why do we need to study psychological theories?
To gain a better and deeper understanding of human emotions,thoughts and behaviour
To learn more about the progression of thought upon a particular topic
And to gain rich and detailed information
+ Thanks to these psychological theories,nowadays we can much better understand human behaviour.
Psychology can be divided into 2 main areas of focus. Mention and explain them.
The academic field and the applied field
The academic field : this field mainly focuses on building upon the pre-existing knowledge of psychology and focuses also on research. Ex: researchers + lecturers at university
The applied field: this field mainly focuses on professionals working in this field. These professionals apply research and psychological theories to try and understand and solve everyday problems. Ex: clinical,counselling or a sport psychologist
As psychology moved away from its philosophical roots,more scientific methods were introduced to try and study and understand human behaviour. Mention some scientific methods that were introduced.
Neurological tests/ MRIs (brain scan)
Longitudinal studies (very long study which usually takes years to finish)
Correalational studies
Experiments
Observations
Case-studies (an in depth study about 1 or a few people)
Psychology is a very vast area of study. Not everyone studying human behaviour had the same opinions on how human behaviour should be studied and which topics should be given more importance throughout psychology’s history. Therefore this gave rise to 5 schools of thought. Mention them and their founders and the YEAR when they were found.
Structuralism (1879) : Edward B.Titchener and Wilhelm Wundt
Functionalism (1890) William James
Psychoanalysis (1900) Sigmund Freud
Behaviourism (1913) Pavlov,Skinner,Watson
Humanism (1951) Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
A psychologist is a person who first does a bachlor in psychology,then they specialize a Master’s degree in a specific area of psychology (ex:educational or clinal psychology),then they apply for a warrant) + having acquired a relevant ammount of experience. A psychologst CANNOT prescribe medication. However in America they can,in Europe they cannot prescribe. Psychologists deal with less severe cases. Psychologists use the method of talking theraphy.
A psychiatrist is a medical doctor by profession who has specialized in the field of psychiatry. A psychiatrist can prescribe medication. These people deal with much more severe cases.
What does the term referral mean?
Let’s say that a client goes to a psychologist with severe anxiety and depression. Since the problem is severe the psychologist can refer them to a psychiatrist and vice-versa.
If a client goes to a psychiatrist but the issue that they are dealing with is less severe and they dont need medication,the psychiatrist can refer them to a psychologist.
Why do we need to study the history of psychology?
1)Perspective:seeing ideas in their historical perspective allows us to appreciate modern psychology
2)Deeper Understanding: Greater perspective bring about deeper understanding . Like this we know where psychology’s content came from and why is it important
3)Recognition of trends: What is popular varies with different times in history. A perspective does not fade away because it is wrong but its simply not popular.
4)To gain a supply of new ideas: Getting to learn more about certain important ideas which maybe were not as popular due to the social and cultural times of the past and not because it was a bad idea.
5)To avoid repetition of mistakes: Like in all subjects,mistakes were also committed when studying human behaviour,so by being aware of the mistakes that were committed in psychology, this could save us precious time in the future not to repeat those same mistakes.
6)Curiosity: we want to study the history of psychology just because we find it interesting and want to learn more about it.
Mention some Greek philosophers who tried to study aspects of psychology.
Socrates and his student Plato
Aristotle
What did these Greek philosophers conlude about certain aspects of psychology?
Socrates and his student Plato believed that the : mind existed after death
they believed that ideas were innate (nature)
And that the mind was separate from the body (dualism)
Aristotle believed that:
the mind is not separate from the body
that ideas grow from experience (nurture)
What did Descartes conclude and what was his conclusion called?
His conclusion was called the cartesian Dualism
Descartes worked to answer the question: are the mind and the body the same,or are they different?
His answer was this: the mind and the body are different and related to each other. The mind can influence the body,and the body can influence the mind. Furthermore he said that the body is a machine like structure to be studied and understood,whilst the mind is the source of all information and ideas.
So he believed that all knowledge is innate but in order to gain knowledge one must discover knowledge through experience and learning.
Charles Darwin was also a person who influenced the field of pscyhology. Name a theory that Darwin came up with which has influenced psychology.
The natural selection threoy (survival of the fittest)
Darwin claimed that humans adapt their behaviour in order to survive. This caused lots of revolutions specifically in the church.
He concluded that there is a degree of variation amongst species in the environment,and that this variation can be inheritable.
In nature a process of natural selection works by: the best-suited organisms well suited to the enviroment will live,whilst those which are not as adapted are going to be eliminated through this process of natural selection.
Structuralism. (1879)
By Edward B.Titchener and Wilhelm Wundt
This school of thought focused more on identifying the structural elements of the brain. What type of method did Wilhelm Wundt expose his participants to?
The structuralist approach aims at identifying the structures behind psychological experience.
Wundt usually got his participants exposed to a stimulus,and he would tell them to ring a bell first when they heard the sound and to ring the bell again whenever they perceived the sound.
This made Wundt distinct between sensation and perception.
Sensation is : a stimulus’ effect on our senses
Perception is: our brain’s interpretation of the stimulus.
Therefore,the processing of the sound took longer than actually hearing the sound,so we can say that sensation and perception are 2 different things but they are related to each other.
Edward B.Titchener was more focused on the structural elements of the brain,and tried to analyse and study the building blocks of the mind. Therefore Titchener was the ACTUAL founder of structuralism. What method did Titchener use to try to understand human behaviour ?
He trained his participants in self-reflective introspection.
This worked by exposing his participants to a stimulus,and he would tell them to report back the sensations that the stimulus would evoke. For example when he showed them an apple he would expect them to report back that it was round,sweet,red,hard, rather than just describing it as an apple.
Why was structuralism criticsized?
Although introspection was a step to understand human behaviour,it was not a good scientific tool because no 2 people could perceive something as exactly the same. Therefore it was too subjective.
With the fail of introspection,came the decline of structuralism.
Mention some contributions that structuralism had.
1) The birth of psychology as an experimental science
2) Wundt founded the first laboratory to study human behaviour.
3) Introduced introspection,but found that it was not a good scientific tool.
4) Titchener believed that the structure and function of the bind are interdependant. This understanding paved the way t the notion that the cognitive function and the cognitive structure of the mind are related.
Functionalism (1890)
By William James
(Influenced by Darwin)
What did Functionalism focus on?
Functionalism mainly focused to understand the functions of our behaviour. Functionalists argued that we know what we do and behave in certain ways, we just need to figure out WHY.
Example : why do we feel jealous?
why do we laugh?
why do we smile?
Which theory proposed by Charles Darwin was James influenced by?
The Evolutionary theory.
James was focused on the functions of our behaviour in relation to evolution and how this helps people in their lives.
(He focused on the functions of our behaviour and how these thoughts,emotions feelings and behaviours increase our chance of survival and how do they contribute to be more successful as a species.
(Example how does laughing benefit us a species)
(Does jealousy benefit us as a species)
What type of methods did the functionalists use?
Introspection and direct observation
Why was functionalism criticsized?
Titchener argued that in order to understand the functions of the mind,you need to understand the structure of the mind first.
Like the structuralists the functionalists also relied heavily on the method of introspection which was not a good scientific tool
This came about the decline of structuralism and functionalism. They both ignored 1 very important factor,the unconscious.
Mention some contributions that functionalism had.
1)Functionalism evolved into a new branch of psychology that of evolutionary psychology.
Evolutionary psychology focuses on the adaptive behaviour of humans and how these are predisposed by our genetic makeup. It aims to describe how our behaviour helps us to be more successful as humans and procreate fruitfully to ensure the propagation of our species.
2) Functionalism influenced behaviourism and applied psychology
What was the evolutionary theory?
This theory describes how organisms change over time as a result of changes in their inherited physical or behavioural traits. These chnages allow the organsim to better adapt to its enviroment,help it survive therefore,more offspring.
What did psychoanalysis mainly focus upon?
The importance of the unconscious and its influence on our behaviour
Who is the founder of psychoanalysis?
Freud
In which era did Freud live in and describe it .
The Victorian era.
This was a time during the 19th century where people were expected to behave in morally abiding ways. It was also a patriarchial society in which women were viewed as lesser individuals.
(It was a time when there was a great social and moral contradictions) People couldnt express themselves they wanted especially with topics regarding sexuality.
Prostitution and child labour
Freud challenged this era by his controversial theroies of personality,psychosexuality theory in this era.
What were the conditions in mental asylums and hospitals during this time?
Duirng this time people with mental health conditions were treated like animals. The doctor was serving as an experimenter and used to carry out dangerous medical procedures on these patients such as lobotomies. The patiens were treated very very unfairly and suffered abuse. The patiens suffered violence,abuse and various fangerous medical procedures.
What condition was freud inerested in?
Hysteria
Its apsycholoigcal disorder which affected mainly women. Some symptoms include: paralysis,hallucinations,blindness,loss of senstion and emotional outbursts etc)
