‭CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGY AND SCIENTIFIC‬

‭THINKING‬

‭What is psychology?‬
-‭ ‬ S ‭ cientific study of the mind, brain and behavior‬
‭-‬ ‭Clinical psychology → phd to work with patients in mental psychology‬
‭-‬ ‭Research psychology → basic research, basic ideas of how things work,‬
‭scientific questions of how brain works‬

‭Margin of error‬
‭-‬ T ‭ o minimize the margin of error a representative population which accurately‬
‭showcases thee actual population is used as the actual population might be‬
‭too large to consider using in research‬
‭-‬ ‭The smaller the better‬

‭Historical roots of psychology‬

‭-‬ ‭Philosophy‬
‭-‬ ‭Two main questions‬
‭-‬ ‭Are the body and mind connected or distinct?‬
‭-‬ ‭Are we born with our abilities or do we acquire them (by learning‬
‭them)?‬
‭-‬ ‭Biology‬
‭-‬ ‭Theory of specific nerve energies‬
‭-‬ ‭Neural coding: theory holds that each nerve tells us about the‬
‭source of the stimulus‬
‭-‬ ‭The theory of neural coding: Our mind has access not to objects‬
‭in the world, but to our nerves‬
‭-‬ ‭Localization of function (broca’s area, left frontal lobe → aphasia)‬
‭-‬ ‭Ablation‬
‭-‬ ‭The experimental destruction of parts of the brain→‬
‭experimental ablation‬
‭-‬ ‭Looking at existing brain damage‬

‭Roots of Psychology‬
‭-‬ ‭Philosophy‬
‭-‬ ‭Are the mind and body connected or distinct?‬
‭-‬ ‭Monism → Holds there is unity in any given field‬
‭-‬ ‭Dualism → The existence of two in one‬
 -‭ ‬ ‭They are distinct → Socrates and Plato (Dualism Believers)‬
‭-‬ ‭They are connected → Aristotle (monism Believer)‬
‭-‬ ‭Rene Descartes‬
‭-‬ ‭Agreed with Socrates and Plato‬
‭-‬ ‭Animal spirits flow from the brain through the nerves‬
‭-‬ ‭Mental processes reside in the pineal gland (produces‬
‭melatonin)‬
‭-‬ ‭Are we born with our abilities/qualities?‬
‭-‬ ‭Nativism (Nature)‬
‭-‬ ‭Genetic programming‬
‭-‬ ‭Learning is based on innate predispositions‬
‭-‬ ‭Experience still needs to occur‬
‭-‬ ‭Empiricism (nurture)‬
‭-‬ ‭Tabula rasa (Aristotle) (that we are born with nothing and‬
‭gain through experience)‬
‭-‬ ‭Learning occurs through experiences (much more‬
‭important than genetic disposition)‬
‭-‬ ‭Learning occurs through associations‬
‭-‬ ‭Epigenetics‬‭→ can turn on and off some genes → Can‬‭relate to‬
‭nature and nurture debate as those possessing the same nature‬
‭such as twins could display different traits.‬
‭-‬ ‭Biology‬
‭-‬ ‭Johannes Müller‬‭→ theory of specific nerve energies‬
‭-‬ ‭Considered as the father of experimental physiology‬
‭-‬ ‭Theory → All nerves send an identical message (electrical‬
‭impulse), there are different nerve fibers that contain information‬
‭-‬ ‭Different kinds of information travel on different channels‬
‭-‬ ‭Visual Channels‬
‭-‬ ‭Auditory channels‬
‭-‬ ‭Different brain areas have different functions‬
‭-‬ ‭Marie jean Pierre‬‭→ Experimental ablation‬
‭-‬ ‭Removing parts of the brain of animals‬
‭-‬ ‭observe which functions are lost‬
‭-‬ ‭heart rate, breathing etc. type observations are made‬
‭-‬ ‭Paul Boca‬
‭-‬ ‭Patient ‘Tan’‬
‭-‬ ‭had a stroke → insufficient oxygen supply to the brain‬
‭-‬ ‭Had difficulty speaking‬
‭-‬ ‭Telegraphic speech‬
‭-‬ ‭Autopsied his brain‬
‭-‬ ‭revealed damaged area‬
‭-‬ ‭Determined this area was responsible for speech →‬
‭Broca's area → left frontal lobe‬
‭Trends in the Development of Psychology‬
‭-‬ ‭Individual differences‬
‭-‬ ‭Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911)‬
‭-‬ ‭Cousin of Darwin‬
‭-‬ ‭Human abilities are genetically determined‬
‭-‬ ‭Came up with:‬
‭-‬ ‭Eugenics‬
‭-‬ ‭Good birth or well born‬
‭-‬ ‭A study or practice that aims to improve the‬
‭genetic quality of the human population‬
‭-‬ ‭Encouraging or discouraging certain people from‬
‭procreating‬
‭-‬ ‭Psychometrics‬‭(science of measuring mental faculties)‬
‭-‬ ‭Statistical concept of correlation‬
‭-‬ ‭Association between two variables and if the‬
‭increase in one variable will affect the other‬
‭-‬ ‭The association could be both ways (get stressed‬
‭you smoke, you smoke and get stressed)‬
‭-‬ ‭Concept of “Regression toward the mean” (in‬
‭statistics)‬
‭-‬ ‭The phenomenon that if a variable is extreme on‬
‭the first measurement it will tend to be average in‬
‭the second measurement.‬
‭-‬ ‭How can we explain behavior?‬
‭-‬ ‭*5 Schools of thought*‬‭that have shaped modern Psychology‬
‭-‬ ‭Structuralism‬
‭-‬ ‭Wiliam Wundt (1832- 1920) & E. B. Titcher‬
‭-‬ ‭Studies the structure or the elements of the mind‬
‭-‬ ‭Aim:‬‭Identify the most fundamental elements of‬
‭psychology‬
‭-‬ ‭In 1879 Wundt established the first psychological‬
‭lab‬
‭-‬ ‭Known as the father of psychology.‬
‭-‬ ‭Focus:‬‭Structure of the human Mind‬
‭-‬ ‭Method:‬‭Introspection → Looking Within‬
‭-‬ ‭Technique that requires the researchers to‬
‭learn of the participants' thoughts.‬
‭-‬ ‭Limits of introspection‬
‭-‬ ‭Lack of awareness‬
‭-‬ ‭Desire to Aim:‬‭Understand the adaptive purposes‬
‭of psychological characteristics.‬
‭-‬ ‭Functionalism‬
‭-‬ ‭William James, heavily influenced by Darwin‬
 ‭ im‬‭: Understand the adaptive purposes of psychological‬
A
‭characteristics.‬
‭-‬ ‭Natural selection‬‭is a mechanism of evolution and‬‭it is‬
‭the process through which species adapt to their‬
‭environment which is the engine of evolution, by‬
‭emphasizing that many physical characteristics evolved‬
‭because they were useful for the species.‬
-‭ ‬ ‭Saw the limitations of structuralism.‬
‭-‬ ‭Structuralism vs. Functionalism‬
‭-‬ ‭Structuralism:‬
‭-‬ ‭Analyze consciousness into basic elements and‬
‭study how they are related‬
‭-‬ ‭Introspection‬‭→ Self observation of one's own‬
‭conscious experience.‬
‭-‬ ‭Functionalism:‬
‭-‬ ‭Investigate the function or purpose of‬
‭consciousness rather than its‬
‭-‬ ‭Behaviouralism‬
-‭ ‬ W ‭ atson and Skinner‬
‭-‬ ‭School of psychology founded by watson that focuses on‬
‭uncovering/examining the general law/principles of‬
‭learning‬‭, underlying human and animal behavior‬
‭-‬ ‭Aim:‬‭Uncovering the general laws of‬‭learning‬‭by focusing‬
‭on external‬‭observable‬‭elements.‬
‭-‬ ‭Behaviorism left a long lasting effect on scientific‬
‭psychology.Reaction to the lack of progress using‬
‭introspection‬
‭-‬ ‭rejected introspection altogether‬
‭-‬ ‭Focus behavior‬
‭-‬ ‭instead of mental representations, consciousness,‬
‭inner mental states.‬
‭-‬ ‭behavior is observable‬
‭-‬ ‭Conditioning‬‭→‬‭Learning‬
‭-‬ ‭Classical conditioning‬
‭-‬ ‭Learning associations between stimuli‬
‭-‬ ‭Operant conditioning:‬
‭-‬ ‭Learning associations between stimuli and‬
‭responses‬
‭-‬ ‭Cognitivism‬
-‭ ‬ P ‭ iaget (1896-1980) and Neisser (1928-2012)‬
‭-‬ ‭Aim:‬‭understand mental processes underlying thinking‬‭in‬
‭a variety of contexts‬
‭-‬ ‭Argued that children go through‬‭4 major mental stages‬
 ‭-‬ H ‭ as helped understand the physiological aspects of‬
‭memory‬
‭-‬ ‭Cognitive psychologists argue that thinking affects‬
‭behavior.‬
‭-‬ ‭Psychoanalysis‬
-‭ ‬ S ‭ igmund Freud‬‭(1856-1939) and Jung‬
‭-‬ ‭Aim:‬‭uncover internal (unconscious) processes we are‬
‭unaware of‬
‭-‬ ‭As a therapy focuses on unconscious conflicts, motives‬
‭and defenses‬
‭-‬ ‭Study of‬‭internal unconscious thought processes‬
‭such as‬‭impulses‬
‭-‬ ‭suggests that our simple everyday life is filled with‬
‭symbols or signs pointing to a deeper meaning‬
‭-‬ ‭Summary‬
‭-‬ S ‭ tructuralism:‬‭Insisted on systematic data collection‬‭and‬
‭empiricism‬
‭-‬ ‭Functionalism:‬‭used evolutionary theory in modern‬‭psychology‬
‭-‬ ‭cognitivism:‬‭focused on or interpretations of events‬
‭-‬ ‭Behaviourism:‬‭helped to understand learning and the‬
‭importance of scientific rigor‬
‭-‬ ‭Psychoanalysis:‬‭acted as a starting point for conceiving‬‭mental‬
‭processes outside of conscious awareness‬