Module 1 The Story of Psychology

psychology: the science of behaviour and mental processes cognitive psychology: the ways we perceive, process, and remember information

Psychologys Biggest Question: Nature vs. Nurture o Are our human traits present at birth, or do they develop through experience? Plato o we inherit character and intelligence o certain ideas are inborn Aristotle o nothing in the mind that doesnt come from the external world through the senses Locke o the mind is a blank slate on which experience writes Descartes o some ideas are innate Darwin o proposed natural selection nature selects traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment

3 Main Levels of Analysis:

Behaviour or Mental Process

Biological Influences
natural selection of adaptive traits genetic predispositions responding to environment brain mechanisms hormonal influences

Social-Cultural Influences Psychological Influences

learned fears and other learned expectations emotional responses cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations

presence of others cultural, societal, and family expectations peer and other group influences compelling models (such as the media)

Psychological Perspectives: Perspective Neuroscience Focus how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences how the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes how our genes and our environment influence our individual differences how behaviour springs from unconscious drives and conflicts how we learn observable responses Examples of Subfields biological cognitive clinical biological developmental social personality developmental clinical counseling personality clinical counseling industrial-organizational cognitive clinical counseling industrial-organizational developmental social clinical counseling

Evolutionary

Behaviour Genetics Psychodynamic

Behavioral

Cognitive

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

Social-Cultural

how behaviour and thinking vary across situations and cultures