introduction.a ching

mmmuyargas.psy10.2012

What is Psychology? When you ask yourself who am I?...you might mention many aspects about yourself when you answer this question. (personality, experiences, sexual preferences, age, physical characteristics, aspirations, attitudes, social contacts, etc.) Even the aspects that you do not mention (physiology, genetic make-up, mental process, etc.) are interests of Psychology.

We are all psychologists at heart. Rare is the person who doesn’t want to understand himself or

herself better. Hope to improve relationships? Understand why people react or behave in certain ways?

Psychology is all about these…it is the science of how we think and behave the way we do, alone and in our relationships, and its findings (concepts, principles, theories) are relevant to every aspect of our lives.

Isn’t it all just obvious? Encounter research results or reports in the media, common reaction “I could have told them that”…this is somewhat understandable. Why partly true? Psychology’s subject matter is people, individuals…something we’re all very familiar with. Research show: Familiarity gives people false confidence in a topic…simple because we encounter them everyday. **Test of Psychological Knowledge (30items) MYTHS ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY “Psychology teaches you secret ways to control and manipulate other people” (Psychology can help you understand yourself and others better, but it doesn’t give you any magical means to manipulate people) “Psychology is only for crazy people” (Psychology is different from Psychiatry, to understand oneself and others do not mean you are crazy) “Psychology allows you to read someone else’s mind” (Psychology seeks to observe, describe and explain the facts it studies – the facts are about our lives) “Folk Psychology” – most people harbor strong beliefs about why we and other people act like they do; cultural wisdom. [This can mean that whatever psychological science uncovers, it’s easy to feel that we already know about it.] (Some psychological findings turn out just the way we’d expect while others are truly surprising. It is possible to dine out on all sorts of surprising psychological findings, but to do so is to miss the point that the value of a psychological finding should not rest on how surprising it is but how true/empirical it is) Example: (Surprising psychological finding) Wriggling your eyes from side to side can boost your memory performance.

PSCHOLOGY is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. The term psychology came from two Greek words: psyche meaning mind; and logos meaning study. When applied to humans, psychology covers everything that people think, feel, and do.

Scientific study: Psychology as a science must be based on the principles and characteristics of science (fact, truth, tested information)


If there is any one thing, it is psychology’s reliance on a philosophical view known as empiricism. Empiricists believe that knowledge comes from observation and experience (the Greek empeiria literally means ‘experience’). This viewpoint tells us that all hypotheses about human functioning should have an observable consequence, which can be confirmed or refuted by data collection and statistical testing. ‘all sciences arise as refinement, corrections and adaptations of common sense’ (Oppenheimer, 1956, p. 128), Psychology is at its best, the epitome of the skeptical scientific approach. Because people and their lives and relationships are so complicated, and because we all hold so many preconceptions, the science of psychology must be watertight. THE GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY IN UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOR To describe human behavior To identify and explain the factors that cause a specific type of human behavior To regulate, control, or modify human behavior To predict with probability human behavior given its causal factors...HENCE, PSYCHOLOGY IS NOT

SIMPLY A STUDY OF THE “MIND ” Therefore…PSYCHOLOGISTS DO NOT READ MINDS!

Human Behavior: HUMAN BEHAVIOR refers to the total reaction of a person to a particular situation or event. Human behaviors are classified as either: • OVERT BEHAVIORS or reactions directly observable using our five senses. • COVERT BEHAVIORS or reactions that cannot be observed directly but those that are manifested through overt behaviors; include feelings, thoughts, ideas, attitudes, etc. Human behavior is complex:

Imagine you are a psychologist interested in understanding a particular kind of behavior, such as human aggression. What would you look at to advance your understanding?

Brain cells and hormones? Inherited characteristics? Socialization by parents? The stimuli that precede aggressive behavior?

Psychology pursues all these avenues in its attempt to explain human behavior. It may be viewed from physiological functioning, from mental activity, from the environment (focusing

on events or stimuli that precede an aggressive act), or from learning... It is apparent that there is no single explanation for aggressive behavior. Confusion can be avoided if

we accept that each explanation is useful in its own way. BEHAVIOR AS THE CONCERN OF PSYCHOLOGY

Activities of an organism that can be observed

Mental Processes: MENTAL PROCESSES refer to the different cognitive functions of the mind such as planning, decision making, creativity, learning and analysis. Looking back... Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-94) investigated the speed of neural impulses. His work suggested that THOUGHT and movement do not occur instantaneously as earlier believed...but THOUGHT occurs first, followed by movement. This paved that way for other psychologists to investigate the “psychological” processes or the mental processes that occur in relation to behavior. What is Psychology? (other definitions)

It is a science that studies human behavior and the mental processes (Atkinson, 1990) It is the study of the mind and behavior; studies life (Goleman, 1975)


The science of behavior and experience; the science of the adjustments of organisms to their environment (Munn, 1972)

Psychology’s Past: has both Traditional and Scientific Past

Primitive notions of Mind and Soul ~ spirits or gods were thought to direct the activities of lightning, rain, harvest and also the activities of men/women (i.e. sickness) ~ the internal forces of man were called MIND or SOUL ANIMISM Eventually...The work of French philosopher and mathematician Rene Descartes (1596-1650) let to many of the later trends in Psychology. Reflecting the spirit of his times, Descartes subscribed to the idea of MECHANISM – an image of the universe as a machine and physical entities as mechanical devices. Descartes applied his view of animals, including humans, setting humans apart from animals only by their possession of a MIND. Since Plato, most philosophers viewed the body and the mind (or soul, or spirit) as fundamentally different in nature. Descartes accepted this DUALISM...but prior to Descartes, the mind was believed to influence the body, rather than the other way around. He reasoned that the mind controlled the body’s movements, sensations, and perceptions. His approach to understanding human behavior was based on the assumption that the mind and body influence each other to create a person’s experiences. Descartes eventually developed CARTESIAN DUALISM...which asserts a relationship of mutual interaction (Mind and Body)...this view also limits the MIND to one function – THOUGHT. Perspectives in Psychology STRUCTURALIST Perspective

Structures of the Mind (Wilhelm Wundt – 1832-1920) focused on trying to discover basic elements or “structures” of mental processes. Focus on the conscious experience and the task of analyzing such experience into its basic parts. Introspection – “looking inward”...an observational method used to describe the elements of

experience (colors, shapes, tones, tastes, etc.) Studies mainly focused on SENSATION and PERCEPTION because they were the easiest processes to

break down into component parts

Did you see a BLUE fish? According to Wundt, this will not do...since you are showing more interest in the OBJECT (fish) rather than the sensation of experiencing BLUE. In other words, this is a mediated or interpreted experience. Hence, a good introspection of this experience is describing only the intensity and clarity of the sensations that occur in viewing the image, such as the BLUENESS.

Like chemistry, psychology consists of analysis – discovering the basic elements of conscious thought – and synthesis – discovering connections between elements and the laws governing these connections.

Criticism: Studying the MIND cannot possibly result to something scientific, because it is intangible (therefore cannot be observed and measured)


The use of INTROSPECTION can be too subjective, biased, and therefore prone to errors and inconsistencies

FUNCTIONALISM Perspective

William James – 1842 – 1910 James felt that psychology should have practical value, and that psychologists should find out how the

mind can function to a person's benefit. It addresses the very practical question of WHAT FUNCTIONS THE MIND, OR MENTAL PROCESSES,

ACCOMPLISH. the functions of the mind; focus on the FUNCTION of the structures of the Mind emphasized processes of thought rather than on its contents. HOW and WHY the mind works as it does. James believed that the attempt to divide the consciousness into distinct elements is misguided. He believed that the function of consciousness is to guide behavior that will help the organism adapt

to the environment. Structuralists believed that the mind was flexible and fluid, characterized by constant change and

adaptation in response to a flow of information (Stream of Consciousness). Experienced the same criticisms and doubts like that of the Structuralist perspective.

BEHAVIORAL APPROACH / PERSPECTIVE: BEHAVIORISM The emergence of functionalism had been evolutionary rather than revolutionary... Functionalism

shifted attention away from the exclusive focus on private experience (consciousness) to include the study of objective, observable behaviour.

John Watson (1913) a totally objective psychology, whose subject matter was observable behaviour. Theories of learning emphasized the ways in which people might be predisposed, or conditioned, by

their environments to behave in certain ways. Emphasizes the study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants. Focuses on the interactions with the environment that can be seen and measured... Stimulus–response

units were seen to be the basic building blocks of complex behaviour...( Rewards – punishment, stimulus – response, cause and effect)

“What we DO is the ultimate test of who we are”(BF Skinner) Behavior is shaped by the environment Edward Thorndike: law of effect articulates two central experimental findings: 1) any act that produces

satisfaction is more likely to recur; and 2) any act that produces discomfort is less likely to recur Ex: ~ A child is well-behaved because her parents have rewarded this behavior. ~ An adult works hard at a job because of the money he gets for his effort. ~ Tiger Woods found golf so rewarding ever since the first year of his life. COGNITIVE APPROACH / PERSPECTIVE: It has been said that psychology ‘lost its mind’ with the advent of Watsonian behaviourism. It could

equally be said that several factors led psychology to ‘regain its mind’. Behaviorism had thereby deprived psychology of some of its most interesting problems (e.g. how

people ascribe meaning to events and how this meaning influences subsequent behaviour). It is concerned with mental process, such as perceiving, remembering (Memory), reasoning, decision

making, intelligence and problem solving. this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and

linguistics.


Only by studying mental processes can we fully understand what individuals do. The individual’s mental processes are in control of behavior through memories, perceptions, images,

and thinking. Ex: ~ How does Tiger Wood’s memory store information about strategies in golf? ~ Eyewitness identification. *** Perspectives at the psychological level are sometimes mutually compatible and sometimes competitive.

With the rise of computer science and artificial intelligence, analogies were drawn between the processing of information by humans and information processing by machines.

PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH / PERSPECTIVE: PSYCHOANALYTIC Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), a Viennese physician, formulated this revolutionary theory of human

behaviour... He applied his own idiosyncratic interpretation of data to formulate theories. By the mid 1890s, he had become convinced that traumatic sexual experiences in childhood were responsible for many of his patients’ symptoms.

Freudian theory made reason secondary: for Freud, the unconscious and its often socially unacceptable

irrational motives and desires, particularly the sexual and aggressive, were the driving force underlying much of human behaviour and mental illness and symptom formation.

Emphasize unconscious thought, conflict between biological instincts and society’s demands, and early

family experiences. Psychological development is instinctual. Early relationships with parents are the chief forces that shape the individual’s personality. Impulses, instincts, and even fears influence behavior. The unconscious (such as drives, motives, instincts, psychic energy known as libido) Emphasizes unconscious thought, conflict between biological instincts and society’s demands, and early

family experiences. the importance of early childhood experiences Unlearned biological instincts (sex and aggression) influence the way people think, feel and behave. These

instincts, buried deep within the unconscious mind, are often at odds with society’s demands. Ex: ~ Tiger Wood’s ambition to be the greatest golfer comes from his mother’s and father’s differing influences on him. ~ Some people overeat when they are nervous or anxious. (since eating can produce satisfaction and comfort) HUMANISTIC / PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH / PERSPECTIVE: Humanism focused on fundamentally and uniquely human issues, such as individual free will, personal

growth, self-actualization, self-identity, death, aloneness, freedom, and meaning. It is more concerned with the describing the inner life and experiences of individuals rather than with

developing theories or predicting behavior. An individual’s primary motivational force is a tendency towards growth and full realization of his or her

potentials (Self-actualization). Emphasizes a person’s positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth and freedom to choose a

destiny. People have the ability to control their lives and avoid being manipulated by the environment. Importance of the subjective experience, concerned with the individual’s personal view of events. Phenomenology – how one understands himself and the world around him Subjective experiences Emphasizes a person’s positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth, and freedom to choose a

destiny. People have the potential to for conscious self-understanding and that the way to help others achieve

self-understanding is by being warm and nurturing of them. People have the ability to control their lives and avoid being manipulated by the environment.


BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE: ‘‘You’’, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behaviour of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.

Biological psychology or behavioral neuroscience is the study of the biological substrates of behavior and mental processes.

A biological psychology perspective encompasses different areas of study such as development, evolution, genetics and physiology.

Physiology looks at the components of the body, how they interact and how they are involved in the control of behaviour.

Studying the brain can provide insights into psychological processes and the determinants of behaviour.

The relationship between biology and psychology is reciprocal. ~ All psychological events correspond in some manner to the activity of the brain. ~ relate overt behavior to electrical and chemical events taking place inside the body.

introduction.a ching

Documents