Psych 100 Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology

Psychology is the study of human behaviour The ultimate goal of psychological research is to understand human behaviour why people do what they do Causal event-an even which causes another event Psychological research is performed to explain the different types of behaviours analyzing the cause of each There are 12 fields of psychology we will focus on: 1. Physiological-study of physiology of organism to understand causal events in human behaviour 2. Comparative-study of behaviour of a variety of species, attempting to explain behaviour in terms of evolutionary adaption 3. Behavioural analysis-studies effect of environment on behaviour -Behaviours producing + effects repeated, - are not 4. Behavioural genetics- studies role of genetics in behaviour -look into what behaviours can be passed on genetically 5. Cognitive-studies mental processes and complex behaviours like perception -research helps us to discover brain function in response to events 6. Cognitive Neuroscience-studies brain mechanisms responsible for cognitive processes, studies damaged brain to find functions 7. Developmental-studies the physical, emotional, cognitive and social development of children mainly 8. Social-looks into the effect of people on others behaviours 9. Personality-catergorizes and understands the causes of an individuals difference in behavioural patterns 10. Evolutionary-explains behaviour in terms of adaptive advantages that propagate specific behaviour 11. Cross-cultural-studies the effects of culture on behaviour 12. Clinical-investigation and treatment of abnormal behaviour and psychological disorders Physiological Roots of Psychology: we are all aware of out own existence, it is believed that this consciousness tends to relate to our own behaviours Animism-believed at one time that our behaviour was governed by spirits Rene Descartes looked into natural phenomena using sensory experience and human reasoning Reflex-automatic response to a stimulus Dualism-belief that reality consists of mind and matter

mind controls movements while body provides mind with environmental information and sensations John Locke took this further with empiricism (truth through observation) instead of rationalism, proposing knowledge must come from experience George BArkely extended this theory, proposing perception is also necessary to attain knowledge James Mill proposed Materialism, reality can only be known through an understanding of the physical world Biological Roots of Psychology: Rene Descartes model of muscular physiology provides connection between biology and psychology Johannes Miller advocated removing animals organs and testing their responses or behaviours to different stimuli to see how they worked -Doctrine of specific nerve energies, basic messages sent along all nerves is an electric impulse -messages causing behaviour must be sent along different chemicals Pierre Flourens investigated on animals, discovering that different parts of the brain conduct different functions Time of reaction varies from person to person as perception of signals occurs at varying speeds Psychophysics-measures quantitative relation between physical stimuli and perceptual experience Determinism-behviour is the result of prior events Law of Effect- Thorndikes observation that stimuli that occur as a consequence of a response can increase or decrease the likelihood of making the response again Developments of Psychology: 1. Dualism-early belief that reality was composed of two separate entities; mind and matter 2. Structuralism: Wunt described as science of immediate experience Mind structured into elements of consciousness such as ideas and sensations Looks into how basic sensory information gives rise to complex perception Died out as the raw data of sensation not contaminated by experience is unavailable for study 3. Functionalism:

Understanding the uses of a species structural or behavioural features for survival or reproductive success 4. Empiricism-psycholgoical view in which all knowledge is attained through your sense 5. Materialism-reality can only be known through an understanding of the physical world Behaviourism-a movement in psychology which asserts that the only proper subject matter for scientific study is observable behaviour Behaviours which help an organism to survive and reproduce will likely be repeated throughout a species as they yield positive effects Through experience animals will respond to a stimulus that had never caused any behaviour before (dog salivating when bell rings if food is served after) Humanistic psychology-the approach to the study of human behaviour that emphasizes human experience, choice and creativity, self realization and positive growth Hard to look into as there are very little objective ways to study it Gestalt (cognitive) psychology-emphasizes that cognitive processes can be understood by their organization and not their elements Use information processing, explain the workings of the brain; information received through the senses is processed by systems of neurons in the brain, they look at these systems Study mental structures and operations Neurobiology: Neurobiologists are able to observe the details of nerve cells, allowing them to analyze what signals and chemicals are used to transmit information and control behaviour Argue that behavioural and mental phenomena could be related directly to brain activity