Download Psychology is a science that studies behaviour and mental

Psychology 30
Definition of Psychology:
Psychology is a science that studies behaviour and mental processes.
There are several important components to this definition:
1. Psychology is a _____________. This means that psychologists use empirical methods (like the Scientific
Method); they demand evidence to support their beliefs. Contrast this with philosophy, which emphasizes use of
reasoning and logic to develop a belief system.
2. Psychologists study __________ behaviour and mental processes. Of the two, behaviour is the easier to study
scientifically, because it is directly observable. For that reason, radical behaviourists maintained that if
psychology was to be established as a science, it should study only observable processes. However, most
psychologists would agree that psychologists have found ways to study mental processes using good scientific
theory. Studies of mental processes usually involved drawing inferences about mental processes based on
observations of behaviour.
3. Note also what is left out of this definition: it does NOT say that the interests of psychologists are restricted to
studying behavior and mental processes in humans. Although the majority of psychologists are interested in
human behaviour and thought, some devote themselves to studying behavior and mental processes in
____________, either for its own intrinsic interest or because of studies of animals which may yield insights into
the behavior and thought processes of humans.
Theoretical Perspectives (Models) in Psychology
Psychology is theoretically diverse; there are many theories which attempt to explain behaviour and mental processes.
No one theory provides a comprehensive explanation of thought and behaviour.
These theories have been likened to “tools” for understanding thought and behaviour. In everyday life, one tool (a
hammer) is useful when you want to pound a nail into the wall; another tool (a saw) is useful when you want to cut a
piece of wood in half. Similarly, in psychology, one theory may be useful for explaining one phenomenon. Another
theory may be useful in conceptualizing a different type of problem.
GRAND THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT
http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/branches/psych_portal/mtp.shtml#psy
http://www.learningplaceonline.com/stages/organize/Erikson.htm
Psychoanalysis
Advocates of the psychodynamic perspective believe that behaviour is motivated by inner forces,
memories and conflicts that are generally beyond people’s awareness and control. There are 2
major theories:
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory suggests that _________________ forces act to determine
personality and behaviour. To Freud, the unconscious is a part of the personality about which a
person is unaware. It contains infantile wishes, desires, demands and needs that are hidden,
because of their disturbing nature, from conscious awareness. Freud suggested that the
unconscious is responsible for a good part of our everyday behaviour. According to Freud, one’s
personality has three aspects:
1. the id –
2. the ego –
3. the superego –
Erikson’s psychosocial theory suggests that developmental change occurs throughout our lives in
eight distinct stages. The stages emerge in a fixed pattern and are similar for all people. Erikson
argues that each stage presents a crisis or conflict that the individual must resolve. Although no
crisis is ever fully resolved, making life increasingly complicated, the individual must at least
address the crisis of each stage sufficiently to deal with demands made during the next stage of
development.
Erikson’s stages are:
1. Infancy – Birth to 18 months
Crisis:
2. Early Childhood – 18 months to 3 years
Crisis:
3. Play Age – 3 to 5 years
Crisis:
4. School Age – 6 to 12 years
Crisis:
5. Adolescence: 12 to 18 years
Crisis:
6. Young Adulthood: 18 to 35 years
Crisis:
7. Middle Adulthood: 35 to 60 years
Crisis:
8. Old Age: 60 years to death
Crisis:
Erikson’s theory is so important this year, as we have based almost the entire course on these
distinct stages. Therefore, it’s very important that we know them inside and out!
Your assignment this week, due next Wednesday, is to create a project with Erikson’s stages. I
know some of you have done something similar in Psych 20, but think of it as a review.
Options:
1. You may choose to create a CD (you must actually burn the disc) with one track
representing each stage. You may not choose this if you had Ms. Linke for Psych 20.
2. You may create a children’s storybook illustrating each stage.
3. You may make a video.
4. You may produce a very brief radio or talk show on the subject.
5. You may create a portfolio of toys, games, and activities that help people at each stage
accomplish their crisis.
6. You may create a collage, poster, powerpoint, or prezi representing your understanding of
the stages.
7. Any other APPROVED idea you may have
Evaluation:
Project demonstrates understanding of each stage – 8 points
Project demonstrates understanding of each crisis – 8 points
Project is attractive, creative, and represents some effort on the part of the student(s) – 8 points
Behaviourism
The behavioural perspective suggests that the keys to understanding development are observable behaviour and
outside stimuli in the environment. If we know the stimuli, we can predict the behaviour. Behavioural theories reject the
notion that individuals universally pass through a series of stages. Instead, people are assumed to be affected by the
environmental stimuli to which they happen to be exposed. Developmental patterns, then, are personal, reflecting a
particular set of environmental stimuli, and development is the result of continuing exposure to specific factors in the
environment.
John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner’s theories of classical and operant conditioning hold that all behaviour is learned as a
response to external stimuli.
Classical conditioning occurs when an organism learns to respond in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally
does not evoke that type of response. For example, Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov found that if a dog is repeatedly
exposed to the pairing of two stimuli, such as the sound of a bell and the presentation of meat, it may learn to react to
the sound of the bell alone in the same way it reacts to the presentation of meat.
Classical Conditioning in my own words –
Pavlov’s dog in my own words –
In operant conditioning, Skinner demonstrated that individuals learn to act deliberately on their environments in order
to bring about desired consequences. Reinforcement is the process by which a stimulus is provided that increases the
probability that a preceding behaviour will be repeated. In addition, punishment will decrease the probability that the
preceding behaviour will occur in the future.
Operant conditioning in my own words –
According to social-cognitive learning theorist Albert Bandura, when we see the behaviour of a model being rewarded,
we are likely to imitate that behaviour. Behaviour is learned through observation and imitation, not conditioning
through reinforcement or punishment.
Ecological Theory
The Ecological model, the major proponent of which is Urie Bronfenbrenner, seeks to explain individual knowledge,
development, and competencies in terms of the guidance, support, and structure provided by society and to explain
social change over time in terms of the cumulative effect of individual choices (Berger, 2000).
According to Urie Bronfenbrenner, each person is significantly affected by interactions among a number of overlapping
ecosystems. At the center of the model is the individual. Microsystems are the systems that intimately and immediately
shape human development. The primary microsystems for children include the family, peer group, classroom,
neighbourhood, and sometimes a church, temple, or mosque as well. Interactions among the microsystems, as when
parents and teachers coordinate their efforts to educate the child, take place through the mesosystem. Surrounding the
microsystems is the exosystem, which includes all the external networks, such as community structures and local
educational, medical, employment, and communications systems, that influence the microsystems. And influencing all
other systems is the macrosystem, which includes cultural values, political philosophies, economic patterns, and social
conditions. Together, these systems are termed the social context of human development.
For each of the following types of influence, please indicate which “system” it belongs to and why:
Ex. Home videos = Microsystem, because they are made by and for your own family
Local news =
School newsletter =
Results of the Canadian census =
Religious publications =
The text messages in your cell phone =
Reality television shows =
Christmas concert =
Youtube music videos =
Chocolate chip cookies recipe from a local recipe book =
A note from your mom in your lunch =
The Quran (Muslim holy book) =
A Dr. Seuss book =
A billboard for planned parenthood =
Humanism
The humanistic perspective contends that people have a natural tendency to make decisions about their lives and
control their behaviour. The humanistic perspective emphasizes free will, the ability of humans to make choices and
come to decisions about their lives.
Carl Rogers suggested that all people have a need for positive regard that results from an underlying wish to be loved
and respected. Because it is other people who provide this positive regard, we become dependent on them.
Consequently, our view of ourselves and our self-worth is a reflection of how we think others view us.
Abraham Maslow suggests that self-actualization is a primary goal in life. Self-actualization is a state of self-fulfillment in
which people achieve their highest potential in their own unique way. Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic
needs are inborn, having evolved over tens of thousands of years. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs helps to
explain how these needs motivate us all. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn,
starting with the first, which deals with the most obvious needs for survival itself. Only when the lower order needs of
physical and emotional well-being are satisfied are we concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal
development. Conversely, if the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned
about the maintenance of our higher order needs.
Level 5
Level 4
Level 3
Level 2
Level 1
Evolutionary
The Evolutionary Theory stresses that behaviour is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is
characterized by critical or sensitive periods (Santrock, 1999). Evolutionary approaches grow out of the groundbreaking
work of Charles Darwin. The evolutionary perspective is also referred to as Ethological or Biological.
Konrad Lorenz discovered that newborn geese are genetically preprogrammed to become attached to the first moving
object they see after birth. His work, which demonstrated the importance of biological determinants in influencing
behaviour patterns, ultimately led developmentalists to consider the ways in which human behaviour might reflect
inborn genetic patterns.
The evolutionary perspective encompasses one of the fastest growing areas within the field of lifespan development,
behavioural genetics. Behavioural genetics studies the effects of heredity and genetics on behaviour. As technology
improves, and researchers continue to map the human genome, there is an increasing understanding of the role and
function of the genetic codes and their influence on development.