Psychology Ch. 1
psychoanalytic theory (psychoanalytic)
details: Charcot, Janet, and Freud
cognitive psychology details:
details: Wertheimer; focused on the study of illusions(errors of perception, memory, or judgment in which subjective experience differs form objective reality)
functionalism details:
details: William James; functionalism: the study of the purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment; James inspired by ideas of Charles Darwin principle of natural selection (the features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed on to subsequent generations)
structuralism: details
details: Wundt; taught the first course in physiological psychology; he opened the first laboratory exclusively devoted to psychological studies and marked birth of psychology as independent field of study.
behaviorism details:
details: behaviorism: advocated that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior; Watson; Pavlov; Skinner
humanistic psychology
details: psychoanalysis had greatest impact on clinical practice, but the influence diminished; Freud's vision of human nature was dark and cynical regarding limitations and problems than potential. Optimistic psychologists in America were more positive; Maslow and Rogers kind of blossoming of the spirit
Natural selection evolutionary approach:
evolutionary approach: has roots in Darwin's theory of natural selection; evolutionary psychologists think of the mind as a collection of specialized "modules" that are designed to solve the human problems our ancestors faced as they attempted to eat, mate, and reproduce over millions of years; the brain is not an all-purpose computer that can do or learn in thing just as easily as it can learn another
Consciousness; the unconscious psychoanalysis:
psychoanalysis: Freud theorized that many of the patients's problems could not remember, and he suggested that the powerful influence of these seemingly lost memories revealed the presence of an unconscious mind; the unconscious (the part of the mind that operates outside of conscious awareness but influences conscious thoughts, feelings, and actions
psychology
the scientific study of mind and behavior
Overarching approaches: social-personality
their assumptions, how each explains human behavior: b/c of a complex combination of enduring personality traits and ongoing social pressures, interpersonal dynamics
Overarching approaches: biological
their assumptions, how each explains human behavior: b/c of biological factors (nervous system activities, brain chemicals)
Overarching approaches: cultural
their assumptions, how each explains human behavior: b/c of cultural background/upbringing
Overarching approaches: evolutionary
their assumptions, how each explains human behavior: b/c of evolved adaptations to ancestral environmental conditions
Overarching approaches: cognitive
their assumptions, how each explains human behavior: b/c of mental processes such as perception, recall, memory, interpretation
Overarching approaches: humanistic
their assumptions, how each explains human behavior: b/c of our need to reach out fullest potential
Overarching approaches: behaviorist
their assumptions, how each explains human behavior: b/c of past learning and present rewards/punishments
Overarching approaches: psychodynamic
their assumptions, how each explains human behavior: b/c of unconscious conflicts and early childhood experiences
Spaced rehearsal (from "Improving Study Skills" in textbook)
what it is and what it does: -a type of active manipulation: repeating to-be-learned info. to yourself. The repetition of info. to yourself at increasingly long intervals. Studies show this type of rehearsal improves long-term learning more than rehearsing the name w/o any spacing between rehearsals
difference between "mind" and "behavior"
"mind"=refers to the private inner experience of perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings, an ever-flowing stream of consciousness "behavior"=refers to observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals, the things that we do in the world, by ourselves or with others
difference between "nativism" and "philosophical empiricism"
"nativism"=the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn; "philosophical empiricism"=the view that all knowledge is acquired through experience
the "cognitive revolution"
1960s-present; computer provided model for theorizing about unobservable mental activities (e.g. memory, problem-solving language, etc.); made it once again okay to study "consciousness"; cognitive psych.: the study of the mental processes such as perception, thought, memory, and reasoning
concept of dualism
Descartes; how mental activity can be reconciled and coordinated with physical behavior; argued that body and mind are fundamentally different things--that the body is made of a material substance, whereas the mind (or soul) is made of an immaterial or spiritual substance
Stimulus, reaction time
Helmholtz; had developed a method for measuring speed of nerve impulses in a frog's leg then in human beings--trained participants to respond when he applied a stimulus(sensory input from the environment) to different parts of the legs. He recorded his participant's reaction time(the amount of time taken to respond to a specific stimulus) after applying the stimulus
Define Structuralism:
Structuralism: the analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind; involves breaking down consciousness into elemental sensations and feelings. He believed psych. should focus on analyzing consciousness (a person's subjective experience of the world and the mind).
Response, reinforcement
Watson/Pavlov: studied the association between a stimulus and a response(an action or physiological change elicited by a stimulus) and emphasized the importance of the environment in shaping behavior; Watson and others made these two notions the building blocks of their theories, which is why behaviorism is sometimes called stimulus-response (S-R) psych. Skinner: developed concept of reinforcement using Skinner's box. He demonstrated that animals and humans repeat behaviors that generate pleasant results and avoid performing those that generate unpleasant results; He extended Watson's contentions about importance of environment in shaping behavior by suggesting that free will is an illusion and that principle of reinforcement can benefit society
Illusions, Gestalt psychology
Wertheimer; focused on the study of illusions(errors of perception, memory, or judgment in which subjective experience differs form objective reality) Wertheimer; Gestalt psychology (a psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts), the mind imposes organization on what it perceives, so people don't see what the experimenter actually shows them (two separate lights), instead, they see the elements as a unified whole (one moving light)
cognitive psychology argument:
argument: he reasoned that the perceived motion could not be explained interns of the separate elements that cause the illusion (two flashing lights) but instead that the moving flash of light is perceived as a whole rather than as the sum of its parts (this unified whole called Gestalt); Lewin argued that a person's behavior in the world could be predicted best by understanding the person's subjective experience of the world
humanistic psychology arguments:
arguments: Freud saw people as hostages to their forgotten childhood experiences and primitive sexual impulse and the inherent pessimism of his perspective; rather than holding this view, humanistic psychologists viewed people as free agents who have an inherent need to develop, grow, and attain their full potential
psychoanalytic theory arguments:
arguments: Freud theorized that many of the patients's problems could not remember, and he suggested that the powerful influence of these seemingly lost memories revealed the presence of an unconscious mind; the unconscious (the part of the mind that operates outside of conscious awareness but influences conscious thoughts, feelings, and actions)
behaviorism arguments:
arguments: Washburn argued nonhuman animals like human animals have conscious mental experiences; Watson argued the only way to understand how animals learn and adapt was to focus solely on their behavior, and suggested that the study of human beings should proceed on the same basis
functionalism arguments:
arguments: believed trying to isolate and analyze a particular moment of consciousness (as structuralists did) distorted essential natter of consciousness. Consciousness was more like a flowing stream than a bundle of separate elements; argued mental abilities must have evolved b/c they were adaptive b/c they helped people solve problems and increased their chances of survival
structuralism: arguments:
arguments: science requires replicable observations; we couldn't determine the structure of DNA or anything else if every scientist who looked through a microscope saw something different; even trained observers provided conflicting introspections about their conscious experiences, thus making it difficult for different psychologists to agree n basic elements of conscious experience; doubtful whether it is even possible to identify such elements through introspection
cognitive psychology assumptions:
assumptions: Bartlett believed that it was more important to examine memory for the kinds of info. people actually encounter in everyday life; he found that research participants often remembered what should have happened or what they expected to happen rather than what actually did happen; suggested that memory is not a photographic reproduction of past experience and that our attempts to recall the past are powerfully influenced by our knowledge, beliefs, hopes, aspirations, and desires;
psychoanalytic theory assumptions:
assumptions: Charcot and Janet observed patients who had developed a condition known as hysteria (a temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences). They studied unusual cases in which patients acted like two different people while under hypnosis, raising the possibility that each of us has more than one self
humanistic psychology assumptions:
assumptions: Freud's ideas were also difficult to test, and a theory that can't be tested is of limited use in psych. or other sciences
structuralism: assumptions
assumptions: Wundt emphasized the relationship between elements of consciousness; Titchnener focused on identifying the basic elements themselves
behaviorism assumptions:
assumptions: he thought a focus on behavior would put a stop to endless philosophical debates in which psychologists were currently; entangled, and it would encourage psychologists to develop practical applications in various areas
functionalism assumptions:
assumptions: the importance of focusing on immediate experience and the usefulness of introspection as a technique; set out to understand the functions those mental processes served
Consciousness; the unconscious behaviorism:
behaviorism: Washburn argued nonhuman animals like human animals have conscious mental experiences; Watson argued the only way to understand how animals learn and adapt was to focus solely on their behavior, and suggested that the study of human beings should proceed on the same basis
historical roots of psychology
contributions of philosophy and psychology: William James is credited the founder; Aristotle and Plato proposed some of the fundamental questions still pondered today in psych.; German scientists contributed through the work of physiology
Consciousness; the unconscious functionalism:
functionalism: James believed trying to isolate and analyze a particular moment of consciousness (as structuralists did) distorted essential natter of consciousness. Consciousness was more like a flowing stream than a bundle of separate elements; argued mental abilities must have evolved b/c they were adaptive b/c they helped people solve problems and increased their chances of survival
Consciousness; the unconscious how it was studied within: structuralism:
how it was studied within: structuralism: the analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind; involves breaking down consciousness into elemental sensations and feelings.Wundt believed psych. should focus on analyzing consciousness (a person's subjective experience of the world and the mind). The method of introspection: way to analyze in a systematic way the sorts of things in the stream of consciousness; used reaction time
Natural selection links between functionalism and the evolutionary approach: functionalism:
links between functionalism and the evolutionary approach: functionalism: James was inspired by ideas of Charles Darwin principle of natural selection (the features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed on to subsequent generations)
psychoanalytic theory major contributions of this perspective:
major contributions of this perspective: early 1900s: Freud and followers formed a psychoanalytical movement; psychoanalytic theory became controversial b/c it suggested that understanding a person's thoughts, feelings, and behavior required thorough exploration of the person's early sexual experiences and unconscious sexual desires (topics considered too racy for discussion in that time)
structuralism: major contributions of this perspective
major contributions of this perspective: Helmholtz demonstrated that reaction time could be a useful way to study the mind and the brain; he proved that neurological processes underlying mental events are not instantaneous for everything to be synchronized
behaviorism major contributions of this perspective:
major contributions of this perspective: Pavlov and Watson studied the association between a stimulus and a response(an action or physiological change elicited by a stimulus) and emphasized the importance of the environment in shaping behavior
functionalism major contributions of this perspective:
major contributions of this perspective: functionalism became the dominant approach to psych. in N. America; the efforts of James and Hall set the stage for functionalism to develop as a major school of psychological thought in N. America; psych. departments that embraced functionalist approach started to spring up at many America universities
cognitive psychology psychologists:
major contributions of this perspective: psychologists such as Wertheimer, Bartlett, Piaget, and Lewin defied behaviorist doctrine and studied the inner workings of the mind. Their efforts paved the way for cognitive psych. to focus on inner mental processes such as perception, attention, memory, and reasoning
humanistic psychology major contributions of this perspective:
major contributions of this perspective: this movement reached its peak in 1960s when a generation of "flower children" found it easy to see psychological life as a
functionalism methods:
methods: Charles Darwin's book on biological evolution which proposed the principle of Natural Selection
cognitive psychology methods:
methods: Gestalt psychology (a psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts), the mind imposes organization on what it perceives, so people don't see what the experimenter actually shows them (two separate lights), instead, they see the elements as a unified whole (one moving light)
behaviorism methods:
methods: he proposed that psychologists focus entirely on the study of behavior--what people do, rather than what people experience--b/c behavior can be observed by anyone and it can be measured objectively; Skinner developed concept of reinforcement using Skinner's box. He demonstrated that animals and humans repeat behaviors that generate pleasant results and avoid performing those that generate unpleasant results; He extended Watson's contentions about importance of environment in shaping behavior by suggesting that free will is an illusion and that principle of reinforcement can benefit society
humanistic psychology methods:
methods: humanistic psychology (an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings), focusing on the highest aspirations that people had for themselves
structuralism: methods
methods: method of introspection: way to analyze in a systematic way the sorts of things in the stream of consciousness; used reaction time
psychoanalytic theory methods:
methods: theory of psychoanalysis, which focuses on bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders
Diversity of psychology as a discipline, changes in gender and race of psychologists Ph.D.s over time
most people who call themselves psychologists neither teach nor do research, but rather, they assess or treat people with psychological problems; most of these clinic psychologists; other clinical psych. work in hospitals or medical schools, some have faculty positions at universities or colleges, and some combine private practice w/ an academic job; just over 10% of APA members are counseling psych.; other psych. are industrial/organizational psych. -psych. Ph.D.s to Latino, native American, and Black people doubled since 1985; psych. Ph.D.s t Asians and Pacific Islanders tripled since 1985 -today more than 70% of Ph.D.s earned in Psych. by women
counseling psychology
psychologists who assist people in dealing with work or career issues and changes or help people deal w/ common crisis such as divorce, the loss of a job, or death of a loved one
cognitive neuroscience psychology
psychologists who attempt to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity
evolutionary psychology
psychologists who explain mind and behavior in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection
industrial-organizational psychology
psychologists who focus on issues in the workplace; typically work in business or industry and may be involved in assessing potential employees, finding ways to improve productivity,or helping staff and management to develop effective planning strategies for coping w/ change or anticipated future developments
behavioral neuroscience psychology
psychologists who link psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes; to learn about the relationship between brain and behavior, these psychologists observe animals' responses as the animals perform specially constructed tasks
cultural psychology
psychologists who study how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members; they study a wide range of phenomena, ranging from visual perception to social interaction, as they seek to understand which of these phenomena are universal and which vary from place to place an time to time
cognitive psychology
psychologists who study mental processes including perception, memory, thought, and reasoning
social-personality psychology
psychologists who study the causes and consequences of sociality (example: some studied stereotyping, prejudice, and racism); today, social psychologists study a wide variety of techniques (from social memory to social relationships) and use a wide variety of topics (from opinion polls to neuro-imaging) than did their forebears, but this field of psychology remains dedicated to understanding the brain as a social organ, the mind as a social adaptation, and the individual as a social creation
clinical psychology
psychologists worked in the clinic and were beginning to study people with psychological disorders; they realized that one can often understand how something works by examining how it breaks, and their observations of mental disorders influenced the development of psych.; work in private practice, often in partnerships ; others work in hospitals or medical schools, some have faculty positions at universities or colleges, and some combine private practice w/ an academic job; many focus on specific problems or disorders (depressions, anxiety, etc.)
Role of technology in the development of cognitive psychology
the advent of computers had enormous practical impact on psych.; both humans and computers store, register, and retrieve info. other technologies like the radar also impacts psych.; it required that those who designed the equipment think about and talk about cognitive processes, such as perception, attention, identification, memory, and decision making
difference between "nativism" and "philosophical empiricism" (Debate)
the debate between these perspectives: -few modern psychologists believe that nativism or empiricism is entirely correct, the issue of just how much "nature" an "nurture" explain any given behavior -philosophers were able to articulate so many important questions psych. and offer insights into answers w/o access to scientific evidence (ideas came from personal observations, intuition, and speculation) -good arguing, but found it impossible to settle their disputes b/c their approach provided no means of testing their theories