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Introduction to psychology
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Keep calm & study Psychology(!)
Course details
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16 Lectures
4 Exams (Every Friday)
Attendance
4 Home works
Marks distribution:
Attendance + homework + exam scores
Lecture outline
• Week 1: Historical background, trends in
psychological research.
• Week 2: Human Brain, psychological disorders,
treatments.
• Week 3: Research methodologies in
psychology.
• Week 4: Social, environmental psychology.
Psychology
PSYCH+LOGOS: Scientific study of
inner feelings, psychological
manipulation and behaviors
(living things).
If you call me a
dumb, I may feel sad
inside.
But I will still
act tough.
(but I will be
crying on the
inside, so be
gentle).
History of Psychology
• Only by exploring psychology's origins and
studying its development can we see clearly
the nature of psychology today (Duane &
Sydney Schultz).
• Although the science of psychology started in
the late 1800’s, the concept has been around a
lot longer.
• There was evidence of trephination (cutting
holes into a skull to let evil spirits out) back in
the stone age.
Earliest names in psychology
• 1874: FRANZ BRENATO publishes psychology
from an empirical standpoint.
• 1879: WILHELM WUNDT: first experimental
laboratory of psychology in Leipzig.
• 1894: Margaret Floy Washburn: First woman
in the USA to obtain a PhD in Psychology.
• 1899: Sigmund Freud publishes ‘Interpretation
of Dreams’- theories on dream interpretation.
• 1906: Ivan Pavlov: Extends psychological
experiments on other animals.
• Describe the scientific contribution of 5
earliest phychological researchers
Earlier names in psychology
• 1920: John B Watson: Classical conditioning.
Theory on how fear can be induced artificially
in children.
• 1924: Jean Piaget: works on linguistic and
paediatric psychology.
• 1938: Burrhus Frederic skinner: founder of
behavioural psychology. (operant science)
• 1942: carl rogers: publishes counselling and
psychotherapy.
• 1943: Abraham Maslow: theory of human
motivation
MIND
First journal on psychological research
Publisher:
Oxford University Press on behalf of the
Mind Association (UK)
Year of first publication: 1876
Landmarks in psychology in post WW2 era
• 1951:First drug to treat depression: Studies are
reporting that imipramine may be able to lessen
depression.
• 1954: Biopsychology: Studies of epilepsy, Wilder G.
Penfield discovers the relationship between chemical
activity in the brain and psychological phenomena.
• 1959: FDA approves use of Tofranil (antidepressant)
• 1973: Homosexuality removed from DSM. APA
removes homosexuality from the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). sexual
orientation "does not necessarily constitute a
psychiatric disorder."
Landmarks in psychology in post WW2 era
• 1976: Evolutionary psychology. Richard DawkinsThe Selfish Gene. principles from evolutionary
biology are applied in research on human brain
structure.
• 1987: FDA approves Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft. new
anti-depressant medication fluoxetine. The drug,
and other similar medications, acts on serotonin.
• 1990:Cultural
psychology:
Jerome
Bruner
proposes cultural psychology, influences and
relationship among mind, cultural community and
behavior.
Psychology Vs Psychiatry
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Education
Training
Prescription
Licensing
Social influences
Emotional vs physiological
Branches of Psychology
• Theoritical: Abnormal, Behavioral, genetics,
Biological
Cognitive,
Cross-cultural,
Developmental, Evolutionary, Experimental,
Neuropsychology.
• Applied: Applied behavior analysis, Clinical
Community, Consumer, Counseling, Educational.
Abnormal Psychology:
The scientific study of abnormal
thoughts and behaviour to
interpret and predict and describe
abnormal patterns in functioning.
Socially unacceptable/violation of
social norms.
The definition and context varies
among individuals across culture.
Cognitive psychology
• scientific investigation of human cognition e.g.
mental
abilities
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perceiving,
learning,
remembering, thinking, reasoning, understanding.
• Assumption: Human cognition can at least in
principle be fully revealed by the scientific method.
• The study of the capacity and fragility of human
memory is one of the most developed aspects of
cognitive psychology. (how memories are acquired,
stored, and retrieved)
Genetic psychology
• Transmission of characteristics from parents to
offsprings.
• Study of hereditary influences on behaviour,
personality development.
• Interaction with environment.
• Shyness, kindness, aggressiveness……
• Mental disorders: depression, bipolar disorder,
schizophrenia…
Cross-cultural psychology
• Scientific study of human behavior and mental
processes under diverse cultural conditions.
• Impact of culture on personality development.
• Differences across countries, races, linguistic
groups, ethnicities….
• Frequency of social conflicts, suicides.
• Degree of happiness.
Ethnocentrism
• Tendency to use your own culture as the
standard by which to judge and evaluate other
cultures. In
• Using your understanding of your own culture
to gauge what is "normal."
• Can lead to biases and a tendency to view
cultural differences as abnormal or in a negative
light.
Developmental Psychology
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Personality development in childhood.
Trends in personality at different life stages.
Goals: Describe, explain, optimize development
Understanding of how people change and grow
during different stages of their lives.
• Age specific approaches.
• People can change if important aspects of one's
life change. (Orphanage to adopting family)
Experimental psychology
• Application of experimental methods to the
study of behavior and the processes that
underlie it.
• Sensation, perception, memory, cognition,
learning, motivation, emotion.
• exploring theoretical questions> creating a
hypothesis >prove or disprove it through
experimentation.
• Humans and other animals
• Perception, attention, memory, cognition and
emotion.
Evolutionary psychology
• Human behavior is the output of psychological
adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent
problems in ancestral environments.
• EP: Functional products of natural selection.
• Mind as a set of information-processing
machines designed by natural selection to
solve adaptive problems across generations.
Neuropsychology
• Studies how structure and function of the brain
and they relate to specific psychological processes
and behaviors.
• Experimental field that aims to understand how
behavior and cognition are influenced by brain
functioning.
• Concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of
behavioral and cognitive effects of neurological
disorders.
• Clinical neuropsychology: assessment and
treatment of patients with brain injury or disease.
Applied psychology
• Application of psychological methods and findings
to solve real life problems.
• Engineering psychology: study of human behavior
and capability- applied to the design and
operation of systems and technology….Improve
the relationships between people and machines
by redesigning equipment, interactions, or the
environment- user friendliness/ easy-to-use
interfaces.
Organizational psychology
• Scientific study of human behavior in the
workplace and applies psychological theories
and principles to organizations and individuals
in their workplace.
• Interconnectedness.
• Effective communication.
• Development of professional skills.
Counseling psychology
• Psychotherapeutic approach to cure disorders
• Assessment, supervision, consultation.
• Application of methods using theory and
research to help individuals, groups, and
organizations
function
optimally/reduce
dysfunction.
Counseling vs clinical psychology
• Counseling: theory based. Simple/temporary
disorders. (lifestyle changes). Work in
universities/counselling centres.
• Clinical: involves severe disorders. Require
medications. Work in hospitals or other
medical settings.
More you like someone BETTER they look –
P. BLOOM)
•Feeling: Happy, excited, sullen, optimistic,
Interested, attractive, loved.
•Behaviour: Manipulation: Lying, Excuse making.
Deformation of the truth, Exaggeration.
Understatement. Biasedness.
MIND!
• LOVE LOOKS NOT WITH THE EYES BUTWITH
THE MIND.
-W SHAKESPEARE
Trends in Psychological
thinking
• The science of psychology has gone
through about 5 different stages since it
started.
• Stages are different ways of thinking
over time.
Stage One: Introspection
• Started with William Wundt’s first psychological
laboratory and his concept of introspection
(structuralism).
• Then William James wrote The Principles of
Psychology and discussed functionalism.
•In reality these ideas do not have much impact on
how psychologists think today.
Stage Two: Gestalt Psychology
• Led by Max Wertheimer, they focused not on how
we feel, but on how we experience the world.
• The whole of an experience can be more than the
sum of its parts.
Think for a moment of all the reasons that you love
someone.
If you add all those reasons up, do they equal your
love for your that person?
Stage Three: Psychoanalysis
• This wave of thinking started with
Sigmund Freud (in the early 1900’s).
• In a nutshell, during this time period
people believed that most of your feelings
come from a hidden place in your mind
called the unconscious.
• We protect ourselves from our real feeling
by using defense mechanisms.
Stage Four: Behaviorism
• During this time period (early to mid
1900s), people started to ignore how you
feel inside.
• All that mattered was how you acted.
• If you they could change your behavior,
who cares how you feel.
• Very popular during the conservative
1950’s when social appearance mattered
more than self expression.
Wave Five: Eclectic
• We are now in wave five….which is about
variety.
• Psychologists pick and choose what theories
to use depending on the situation and the
client.
The seven schools of psychology
Todays psychologists pick and choose from
about 7 schools of thought to resolve
psychological problems.
Stage Five is made up of about 7 different
perspectives.
Biopsychology (Neuroscience)
Perspective
• All of your feelings and behaviors have an
organic root.
• In other words, they come from your brain,
body chemistry, neurotransmitters, etc…
Let us imagine for a second that your dog died (sad but it will
happen). You become depressed. You stop eating and
sleeping. What would a psychologist from this school say is
going on and how might they help you?
Evolutionary Perspective
• Focuses on Darwinism.
• We behave the way we do because we
inherited those behaviors.
• Thus, those behaviors must have helped
ensure our ancestors survival.
Psychoanalytic Perspective
• Focuses on the unconscious mind.
• We repress many of our true feelings and are not
aware of them.
• In order to get better, we must bring forward the true
feelings we have in our unconscious.
Behavioral Perspective
• Focuses on observable behaviors while putting
feelings to the side.
• We behave in ways because we have been
conditioned to do so.
• To change behaviors, we have to recondition the
client.
Pretend that you fail psychology
class. You become depressed. In
turn, you begin to binge and gain
weight.
They would probably ignore the fact
that you are depressed and just focus
on your overeating.
Humanist Perspective
• Peaked in the late 190’s and 70’s….so it
focused on spirituality and free will.
• We have to strive to be the best we can
be “self-actualization”.
• Happiness is defined by the distance
between our “self-concept” and “ideal
self”.
Cognitive Perspective
• Focuses on how we think (or encode
information)
• How do we see the world?
• How did we learn to act to sad or happy
events?
• Cognitive Therapist attempt to change the
way you think.
Social-Cultural Perspective
• Says that much of your behavior and your feelings
are dictated by the culture you live in.
• Some cultures kiss each other when greeting, some
just bow.
• Does your culture place value on individual or the
group?