Download introduction to psychology

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
NURS 203
LINDA NORMAN
DEFINITION OF TERMS
• PSYCHOLOGY
• PSUEDOPSYCHOLOGY
• PARAPSYCHOLOGY
• GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY
GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY
• DESCRIBE HUMAN BEHVIOUR
• UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN HUMAN
BEHAVIOUR
• PREDICT HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
• CONTROL HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
DESCRIPTION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
• Naming and classifying
• Making a detailed record of behaviour
• Helps to know the nature of behaviour
• Does not explain it
UNDERSTANDING AND EXPLAINING
HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
• Why a behaviour occurs
• State the cause of behaviour
• Darley et el(1968) By Stander Apathy
PREDICTION OF BEHAVIOUR
• Accurately forecast behaviour
• When behaviour will occur
• Psychological test are usually used
• Eg work or career success
CONTROLLING BEHAVIOUR
•
•
•
•
Altering conditions that influence behaviour
It anwsers what conditions affect behaviour
It does not mean a treat to personal freedom
Eg .using psychological principles to overcome
some behaviors –phobias,
PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE
• Systematic process or phenomenon
• Sciences assumes there is order and
lawfulness
• Everything happens in a systematic pattern
• Nothing happens by chance
• There should be a cause
• Cause and effect relationship
What Causes What?
• Main aim is to find relationship among
variables
• Collects empirical data that is factual
information on which hypothesis is tested
• Tentative- findings are temporal. Findings
remain valid until they are prove wrong
• Objective-individual biases shd not influence
scientific findings and results
What Causes What CONT’D
• Public and replicable
• Does not accept metaphorical explanationcause, effect and relationship
• Psychology is scientific because it conforms to
all the characteristics of science.
WHY STUDY ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR
1. Some complex animal behaviors can be
found in simplar forms in animals
- Gives insight into the understanding of human
behavior eg. Dominance, aggression,
territoriality
- Comparative psychology
Why CONT’D
2. Ethical reasons- some studies cannot be
performed on human beings
- Such studies are carried on animals to give us
an idea or the nature of behaviour among
human being
Why CONT’D
3. Genetic basis of human behaviour- Preliminary carried on animals
- Some animals can produce a large generation
of offspring's within a short period of time
- Such studies are carried on twins but it takes a
longer period for humans to mature
FIELDS AND PROFESSIONS OF
PSYCHOLOGY
Its has been broadly divided into two:
• Theoretical Psychology - concern with
researches designed to contribute to the
development of theories in psychology
• Applied Psychology- concern with the
application of psychological methods
principles and theories to solve real life and
practical problems
THEORETICAL EXAMPLES
• Experimental –application of scientific
research methods to study human/animal
behavior eg. Learning, memory, sensation,
perception, cognition
• Physiological-study of biological basis of
behaviour eg. Nervous&endocrine systems
THEORETICAL CON’D
• Comparative- study of relationship between
animal and human behaviour
• Social-concern with the study of the influence
of other people and social institutions on ones
behaviour
• Egs. Attitudes, social
influence,conformity,social power
THEORETICAL CONT’D
• Developmental-deals with the growth and
development of human beings(Growth and
development)
• From conception to death(development thru
the life span)
- physical, cognitive, Social
THEORETICAL CONT’D
• Abnormal- mainly concern with the
classification, causes development and
sometimes treatment of psychological and
behavioral problems
• Personality- study of the structure and
dynamics of personality, motivation and
individual differences
EXAMPLES OF APPLED PSYCHOLOGY
• Industrial and organizational/Occupational –
-Concern with problems people face at work
eg. Personnel selection, training, job
evaluation, performance appraisal , trade uni.
• Clinical/Counselling-use of psychological
principles in the treatment of psychological
and behavioral problems
APPLIED CONT’D
• Environmental-effect of the environment on
peoples behaviour
- Urban noise
,pollution,crowding,attitudes,human use of
space
- Provides consultantancy for design of
industrial env., school, urban architecture
APPLIED CONT’D
• Community –treats whole neighborhoods or
communities-prevention, education, promote
community mental health
• Medical-relationship between stress,
personality and diseases. Manage emotional
problems associated with illness
APPLIED CONT’D
• Psychometrics-concern with the construction
and usage of psychological tests eg
intelligence,attitudes,personality,interest
• Educational- research on classroom dynamics,
teaching and learning evaluating educational
prog.
APPLIED CONT’D
• Criminology and law/Forensic-study of crimes
and legal processes and the mgt of offenders
- Study of problems of crimes, crime
prevention, rehabilitation prog in prisons,
courtroom dynamics, selection of candidates
for police work.
• Engineering/Ergonomics-design of machinery,
controls, airplanes, cars or automobiles for
business ,industry and the military(eqip)
SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY
• A school is a group of people who have a
common approach to the study of Psychology
• Schools usually emerged around an eminent
thinker.
• Various schools have emerge over the years
• The old schools give a basis for looking at a
subject matter differently
• Criticizing and analyzing various works- new
ideas
EARLY SCHOOLS
•
•
•
•
Wilhelm Wundt-Structuralism(1832-1920)
Established the first experimental psychology
lab at the university of Leipzig in Germany
Study of the mind after the natural sciences
The mind could be studied by breaking it
down into its basic components.
Analysis of the mind in terms of its basic
elements
Schools CONT’D
Edward Titchener (1867-1927)
• Student of Wundt’s- took his ideas to the US
• Both Wundt and Titchener used the method
of introspection (looking into) to study
sensations-basic element of consciousness
• It died after a few decade but left in its wake
the scientific tradition for the studying of
cognitive processes
Schools CONT’D
William James(1842-1910)- Functionalism
• The study of functions of consciousness
• Influence by Darwin’s evolutional theory
• Much research on learning and problem solving
• It widens the scope of psychology to include the
study of various biological, mental and behavioral
processes
• Cognitive and evolutionary psychology
Psychodynamic Perspective: Forces
Within
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• Searches for the causes of behavior within the
inner workingss of our personality
• Our inner patterns of traits, emotions,and
motives,
• Emphasizing the role of the unconscious
process
• Psychoanalysis-the analysis of internal and
primarily unconscious psychological forces
Psychodynamics CONT”D
• Freud was a physician who treated mental
patients for many years.
• He used hypnosis and later free association
• In born sexual and aggressive drives-punish in
childhood
• Defense mechanisms-techniques that help us
to deal/cope with anxiety and pain
• Study and treatment of psychological
disorders
Modern Psychodynamics
• Down play the hidden sexual and aggressive
motives
• Look into how early family relationships ,other
social factors,our sense of self shape our
personality
• Behaviour can be triggered by
unconsciousness
The Behavioral Perspective:
The Power of the Environment
• Role of the external env. In governing our
actions
• Learn from previous life experiences and our
immediate environment
• All ideas and knowledge are gain through the
senses
John Locke- empirism-at birth the human mind
is a blank slate (tabula rasa)
Behavioral CONT’D
• Experiences are written on this blank slate
• Human nature is purely shaped by the
environment
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)- revealed how
environment affects behavior
• Association of events with one another
• Stimulus -response
Behavioral CONT’D
Edward Thorndike(1874-1949)
• Learning through the consequences of their
action
• Law of effect-responses followed by satisfying
consequences is more likely to recur
• Learning is key to understanding how
experiences molds behaviour
Behavioral CONT’D
John B Watson(1878-1958)
• Observable behaviour and not unobservable
inner consciousness
B.F. Skinner(1904-1990)
• The real causes of behaviour reside in the
outer world -’’ a person does not act upon the
world, the world acts upon him’’
• Reward and punishment-behaviour
modification
Cognitive Behaviorism
Albert Bandura
• Learning experiences and the environment
influence our expectations and thoughts and
in turn our thoughts influence how we behave
Humanistic Perspective : Self
Actualization and Positive Psychology
• Free will, personal growth and the attempt to
find meaning in one’s existence
Abram Maslow (1908-1970)
• Self actualization-reaching ones potential
• Misery and pathology occur when the env.
frustrate our innate tendency towards self
actualization
• Personal choice& responsibility, personality
growth, positive feeling of self worth
Humanistic Perspective CONT’D
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
Pioneered the scientific study of psychotherapy
Cognitive Perspective: The Thinking
Human
• Cogitare (latin) - to think
• Examines the nature of the mind and how
mental processes influence behavior
• Information processors govern by our
thoughts
• Gestalt Psychology (Germany, 1920’s)
• Elements of experience are organised into
wholes
Cognitive Perspective CONT’D
•
•
•
•
Gestalt means whole or organization
“The whole is better than sum of its parts”
Cognitive psychology-study of mental process
Cognitive neuroscience-sophisticated electrical
recording and brain –imaging techniques to
examine brain activity while people engage in
cognitive tasks
• Social constructivism- what we consider reality is
largely our own mental creation
Sociocultural Perspective: The
Embedded Human
• How the social env. and cultural learning
influence our behavior, thoughts and feelings
• Culture-values, beliefs, behaviors and traditions
that are shred by a large group of people and
passed from generation to generations
• Norms-rules that specify what behaviour is
accepted
• Socialization-transmission of culture to new
members and internalizing them
Biological Perspective: The Brain,
Genes and Evolution
• Examines how the brain processes and other
bodily functions regulate behaviour.
• Behavioral Neuroscience-brain processes and
other physiological functions that underline our
behavior, sensory experiences, emotions, and
thoughts
• Behavior Genetics-how behavior is affected by
genetics
• Evolutional Psychology- how evolution shapes
human behavior
Psychology Today
•
•
•
•
Education
Violence prevention
Mental health
National Policies