Introduction to Approaches in Psychology

Kevin SilberUniversity of Derby

Scientific Method: •Predict what will happen•Systematically observe events•Do events support predictions

Before Psychology

Philosophers asked questions about the mind: Plato (427-347 BC): Does perception accurately reflect reality? Aristotle (384-322 BC): Logic forms the laws of thoughtDescartes (1596-1650): “I think therefore I am”

Problematic - No “scientific” wayof studying problems

The beginnings of Psychology.This is Marko Marulic (1450-1524)Croatian humanist and poet, born in SplitHe probably studied in PaduaFirst use thought to be around 1506Title of work was “Psichiologia de ratione animae humanae”No actual manuscript exists but the work is listed in a list of his works (Life of Marko Marulic from Split) by his contemporary and friend, Franjo Bozicevic

The beginnings of Psychology.

Wilhelm Wundt(1832-1920)

First Experimental Psych Lab (1879)First Experimental Psych Lab (1879)

Focuses on the scientific study of the mind.

•Wundt insists that Psychological methods be as rigorous as the methods of chemistry & physics.

Wundt’s students start labsacross USA (1880-1900)

Founding Fathers of PsychologyFocus of Experiments: •Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)•Physiologist & Perceptual Psychologist•Founder of Psychology as a Science

Focus on Introspection:•Edward Titchener (1867-1927)•Student of Wundt•Developed at Cornell

Focus on understanding Mental Processes•William James (1842-1910)•Philosopher & Psychologist•Formed at Harvard

Structuralism vs Functionalism

•Analyze consciousness into basic elements and study how they are related using Introspection (self-observation of one’s own conscious experiences)

•Investigate the function, or purpose of consciousness rather than its structure.

•Leaned toward applied work (natural surroundings)

Structuralism (Wundt)Structuralism (Wundt)

Functionalism (James)Functionalism (James)

BehaviorismScientific Psychology should focus onobservable behaviour.

John Watson(1878-1958)

Ivan Pavlov

StimulusStimulusResponseResponse

PsychologyPsychology

Mental Processes cannotbe studied directly

= the study of observable behaviour

Black box theory

OR

Psychology (1920s-1960s)

•John B. Watson (1878-1958)•Behaviour without Reference to Thought•S-R Psychology•“Little Albert”

•B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)•Behaviour modification•The Pigeon•The Skinner Box

•Behaviourism:Science of Observable Behaviour

Psychology (1960s onwards) Gestalt Psychology

““The whole is greater The whole is greater thanthan

the sum of its parts.”the sum of its parts.”•Phi Phenomenon (Max Wertheimer (1880-1943))

•Illusion of movement created by presenting visual stimuli in rapid succession.

WHY?WHY? •A reaction against Structuralism.

• An attempt to focus attention back onto conscious experience (the mind)

Phi Phenomenon

Do you see a ball moving back and forth at the top?

Would it surprise you if I said that the moving ball is really one ball presented first on the left and then one on the right? This is true even though it appears like a ball moving across the screen.

The images physically consist of 3 circles with pie shaped wedges removed and 3 angles formed from straight lines. When you look at the images, you will probably see one triangle on top of another. The top triangle typically appears lighter, although the background is physically uniform. The triangular forms and the apparent lightness of the top triangle in comparison with the bottom one are subjective.

Kaniza Triangles

•Unconscious expressed in dreams & “slips of the tongue”

Freud & Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud(1856-1939)

The idea of the UNCONSCIOUSThe idea of the UNCONSCIOUS

•Psychoanalytic Theory attempts to explain personality, mental disorders & motivation in terms of unconscious determinants of behaviour

•Thoughts, memories & desires exist below conscious awareness and exert an influence on our behaviour

(Some) CURRENT Approaches to Psychology

Psychobiology and Neuroscience

Social Psychology

Cognitive Psychology

Developmental Psychology

Health Psychology

Learning and Conditioning

Psychobiology and Neuroscience

• Brain and behaviour are linked– behaviour may shape brain activity– brain activity may shape behaviour

•Biological psychologists use a number of techniques to study this relationship:

•healthy human participants•brain damaged patients

“the study of the brain and how it causes or relates to behaviour” (Wickens, 2000:3)

“ The scientific study of the effects of social and cognitive processes on the way individuals perceive, influence and relate to others” (Smith & Mackie, 2000)

Social Psychology

Social Psychologists seek to develop theories to explain social behaviour using the same principles, laws and conventions that bind other scientific disciplines.

Emphasis on scientific theories to explain social behaviour

Theories provide general explanations for social behaviour

Cognitive Psychology“How people perceive, learn, remember and think about information” (Sternberg, 1996)Cognitive psychologists are interested in structures and functions of mind

•Assumption - mind is a set of processes that rely on the brain•Assumption - mental processes are linked with observable behaviour•Takes a scientific perspective•Perform controlled experiments testing theories about inner mental processes. Observe the effects of these processes on outward measurable behaviour•Mind cannot be directly studied - but observable effects can be

Cognitive Psychology = the study of mental processes via measurable behaviour

Developmental Psychology“Developmental psychologists study both the similarities and the differences among people as they develop and change over the course of their life” (Carlson et al., 2004)

Many developmental theories involve characterisations of the stages of development that children and adults go through (e.g. Piaget, Erikson).

Some theories concentrate on certain aspects of development (e.g. Kohlberg’s theory of moral development)

Many theories have been influential in shaping the way learning is organised in schools (e.g. Piaget, Vygotsky)

Developmental psychology also takes account of adulthood, old age and even death (e.g. McCrae, Salthouse, Kübler-Ross)

Health Psychology•“The aggregate of the specific educational, scientific and professional contributions of the discipline of psychology to the promotion and maintenance of health, the prevention of illness, and the identification of etiological and diagnostic correlates of health, illness and related dysfunction” (Matarazzo, 1980).

Biopsychosocial (mind–body) perspective–The view that health is determined by the interaction of biological mechanisms, psychological processes, and social influences

Learning and Conditioning•“Learning is an adaptive process in which the tendency to perform a particular behaviour is changed by experience. As conditions change, we learn new behaviours and eliminate old ones ( Carlson et al, 1997).

Habituation: Simplest form of Learning

•Learning not to respond to unimportant events that occur repeatedly

Classical Conditioning: learning about the conditions that predict a significant event

•Pavlov’s Dogs

In Summary….

• Psychology is Empirical

• Knowledge acquired through observation

• Psychological conclusions based on research NOT Psychological conclusions based on research NOT tradition or common sensetradition or common sense

• Psychology develops in both a social & historical contextPsychology develops in both a social & historical context

• Behaviour is shaped by genes and environment (nature & Behaviour is shaped by genes and environment (nature & nurture)nurture)

• Psychology is theoretically diverse (different Psychology is theoretically diverse (different approaches)approaches)