Introduction to PsychologyIntroduction to Psychology

www.ssc.uwo.ca/psychology/undergraduate/psych020-002/PSY20Class1web.ppt

Psychology: The Science of Behaviour

Chapter 1© McGraw-Hill Ryerson 2005

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What is Psychology?What is Psychology?• Science of behaviour and factors that influence it

• What is behaviour?

• 2 components:– directly observable actions– mental events/ internal processes

• not observable: e.g. thoughts, feelings

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What questions and behaviours do you think psychologists are interested in studying?

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Psychologists are interested in many issues and aspects of behaviour:

• Memory• Thinking• Biological basis of behaviour• Causes and treatment of mental disorders/addiction• Child development and parenting styles• Function of sleep• Personality• Culture• Animal behaviour• Etc.!!!

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Psychology as a Science Psychology as a Science

• Looks for causes of behaviour using rigorous systematic method of hypothesis testing and theory building

• When possible use controlled experiments

• Research is the foundation of psychology

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Types of ResearchTypes of Research

• Basic research “curiosity driven”– Seeks knowledge purely for it’s own sake– Describe behaviour – Find factors that influence or cause it

Ex/ I wonder how babies learn to talk?

• Applied research– Solve specific practical problems

Ex/ What medication works best to relieve Parkinson’s disease symptoms?

Note – basic research feeds applied

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Basic and Applied ResearchBasic and Applied Research

• Robber’s Cave Study (see document “Aggression: Robbers Cave”)

• Basic research findings:– Competition breeds hostility– Conflict decreased by increasing group

interdependence

• Jigsaw Classrooms (Aronson et al., 1978)– Cooperation between multiethnic groups was achieved

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4 Goals of Psychology4 Goals of Psychology

• To describe how people behave

• To explain and understand its causes

• To predict how people will behave under certain conditions

• Influence or control behaviour by controlling the causes

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• When examining the causes of behaviour

– Biological

– Psychological

– Environmental

– Different researchers study each of these causes

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What caused Whitman to kill?What caused Whitman to kill?

• Case of Charles Whitman• Killed his mom, wife and shot many others• Tumor in area involved in aggression (Biological)• Irrational thoughts/ violent impulses (Psychological)• Abusive father; rifles – rewarded (Environmental)

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Which answer is correct?Which answer is correct?

All can be correct.

Different levels of analysis.

The same behaviour viewed from different perspectives.

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What do you see?What do you see?

Similarly, researchers from different perspective see different causes of the same behaviour.

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Psychological Perspectives Psychological Perspectives • Perspective = vantage point from which you analyze

behaviour and its causes

• The perspective a psychologist studies from influences which questions they ask, which aspects of behaviour he/she considers important, the type of research methods, etc.

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6 Perspectives on Behaviour6 Perspectives on Behaviour

• Biological

• Cognitive

• Psychodynamic

• Humanistic

• Behavioural

• Sociocultural

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Biological PerspectiveBiological Perspective

• What is psychological is first physiological

• Roles of:– Brain structures & function– Biochemical processes– Genetic factors– Evolution

Ex/ tumor in amygdala

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Cognitive PerspectiveCognitive Perspective

• Views human as problem solvers and information processors

• Roles of:– Mental processes ex/ attention– Information stored and retrieved– Memory

Ex/ abnormal thought patterns

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Psychodynamic PerspectivePsychodynamic Perspective

• Behaviour caused by unconcious processes

• Roles of:– Unconcious forces– Unresolved conflict from past– Hypnosis & ink blots

Ex/ unconcious aggressive impulses

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Behavioural PerspectiveBehavioural Perspective

• External environment shapes behaviour• Roles of:

– Past experience in forming habits– Reward and Punishment– Associations– Stimuli in environment evokes response– Observational learning

Ex/ rifle play rewarded

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Humanistic PerspectiveHumanistic Perspective

• Internal factors such as innate tendency toward individual growth and self fulfillment

• Roles of:– Concious motives– Free will

Ex/ discharged from army

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Sociocultural PerspectiveSociocultural Perspective

• External environment determines behaviour through influence of one’s culture

• Roles of:– Culture = enduring values, behaviours, traditions

shared by a large group of people and passed on from one generation to the next

– Social influences

Ex/ violence on TV and videogames

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6 Perspectives on Behaviour6 Perspectives on Behaviour

• Biological

• Cognitive

• Psychodynamic

• Humanistic

• Behavioural

• Sociocultural