PSYC1101

The Nature of Psychology

Psychology the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. That seeks to describe and explain aspects of human thought, feelings, perceptions and actions. As a science uses systematic methods to observe, describe, predict and explain behaviour. - Psycholoy methods are no casual but carefully and precisely planned and conducted. - Verified by checking to see if they describe the behaviour of many different people. - Researchers try to predict the behaviour or activities of people they are studying. - After psychologists analyse the data gathered, they will also explain what they observe. Behaviour- everything we do that can be directly observed, e.g. two people holding hands, driving a car or a baby crying. Mental Processes thoughts, feelings and motives that each of us experiences privately but that cannot be observed directly. - Despite not seen they are real . - Includes thinking about holding someones hand, your memory of driving a car and a babys feelings when its mother leaves the room. Psychology is not a cure for all problems and it does not tell us the meaning of life instead it contribute enormously to our knowledge about why people are the way they are , why they think and act the way they do and how they can cope more effectively with their lives.

Psychology as a Science
Beginnings Developed from myths e.g. eruption of a volcano means the gods are angry, if two people fell in love they were shot by Cupids arrows. Myths gave way to philosophy which is the rational investigation of the underlying principles of being and knowledge e.g. do we acquire knowledge or does it come through our senses and experiences with the environment. Philosophy was not the only discipline out of which psychology developed Roots can also be traced to biology and physiology and influenced by British naturalist Charles Darwin who developed the natural selection which suggests that organisms that adapt to their world are most likely to survive, reproduce and pass on their characteristics to their offspring.

Early Contributors William Wundt/Bradford Titchener and Structuralism Wundt Laboratory philosopher-physician who is credited with the development of the first formal laboratory for psychology in 1879 in Germany. Developed to find natural laws of human mind-primary interest-perception and recorded minute detail thoughts, feelings, heartbeat and respiration. Titchener- British student of Wundt who migrated to the U.S. and conceptualise the idea of structuralism classifying and breaking down the elements of the mind structures of conscious mental experience through the use of introspection. William James and Functionalism First American psychologists who believed that the minds ability to continuously evolve as it adapts to information about the environment . Functionalism study the functions of the mind and behaviour in adapting to the environment.

Early Approaches to Psychology

Biological Approach Study of physiology and the structure of the brain. The brain and the central nervous system are central to the understanding of behaviour and are a complex, intricate and elegant system. Study of how genes affect behaviour with factors such as chromosomes, hormones and the brain. Suggest that behaviour and mental processes are inherited.

The Behavioural Approach Emphasises the scientific study of behaviour and its environmental determinants.

Ivan Pavlov (1898) Experiments emphasised careful observation of overt behaviour following precise manipulation of the environment. Concerned with how environmental factors (stimuli) affect observable human behaviour (response). Classical Conditioning behaviour is learned by association. We do things because of the environmental conditions we have experienced and are continuing to experience.

B.F. Skinner (1938) -added the idea of reinforcement - operant conditioning learning from the consequence of behaviour. Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Approach Emphasises the unconscious aspects pf the mind, the conflicts between biological instincts and societys demands and early family experiences. Sigmund Freud (1904) Neurologists who was intrigued by the abnormal aspects pf peoples lives. Believed that the key to understanding the mind and behaviour rested in the unconscious aspects of the mind- aspects of which we are unaware. Compared the human mind to an iceberg- the conscious mind is only the tip , the portion above the water; the unconscious mind is the huge bulk of the iceberg, the portion under the water. Suggest that unlearned biological; instincts influence the way individuals think feel and behave. These instincts, especially sexual and aggressive impulses often conflict with the demands of society. Also argues that our early relationships with parents are the chief environmental contributors to developing our personalities.

Erik Erikson (1968) Revised Freuds views and suggest that personality develops through a series throughout the life span and not the first five years as Freud suggested. Suggest that not just sexual roles but many different roles e.g. religious, ideological, vocational, lifestyle and gender are explored by adolescents in developing their identity.

Humanistic Approach Stresses a persons capabilities for personal growth, freedom to choose his or her destiny and positive qualities. - Suggests that individuals have the ability to control their lives rather than be manipulated by their environment. - Subjective personal perception of self and the world is stressed and the belief that humans have tremendous potential for self understanding. Carl Rogers(1961) Abraham Maslow (1971) Rogers places emphasis on improving individual self concept by providing a warm supportive therapeutic environment while Maslow pontificates the importance of achieving our potential which he believes is limitless.

Cognitive Approach Emphasises the mental process being involved in the knowing.

An individual cognitive process controls their behaviour. The use of memories, perceptions, images and thinking allows greater cognitive control over ones behaviour. Scientific study of information processing how individuals process information, how they attent to information, how they perceive it, how they store it, how they think about it and how they retrieve it for further use.

Herbert Simon (1969) Pioneer who reasoned that the human mind is best understood by comparing it to a computer processing information. Insert model here

Evolutionary Psychology Approach Emphasisies the importance of adaptations, reproduction and the survival of the fittest in explaining behaviour. Focuses on the conditions that allows individuals to survive or fail. The evolutionary process of natural selection favours behaviours that increase organisms reproductive success and their ability and their ability to pass their genes on to the nest generation.