Outcome 1 Revision

Chapters 1, 2, 3

Chapter 1: Introduction to

Psychology

Definition of Psychology. What is it?

Psychology is the study of mental processes and behaviours in

humans.

Distinction between psychology and psychiatry.

What can a psychiatrist do that a psychologists cant? How can the two work together??

Different types of psychologists.

Clinical- assessment, diagnosis, treatment of psychological problems.

Sports- mental factors that influence participation in sport.

Forensic- understand the functioning of the legal and criminal justice system.

Overt and covert behaviours

What are they and what are some examples of each?

Overt Behaviours: behaviours that can be seen (talking, sleeping, running.)

Covert: internal behaviours that cannot be seen (emotions, thinking, remembering)

Philosophical roots.

Two famous philosophers;1)Wilhelm Wundt2)William James

Wilhelm Wundt• Founder of experimental psychology• Interested in studying the human conscious.• In 1879 he opened up his famous laboratory in

Leipzig where he and his students conducted original scientific research.

• He blended philosophical ideas and physiology to create the independent discipline of psychology.

William James• James believed that the consciousness does not exist

as bits and pieces but flows like a stream. (stream of consciousness)

• James thought that like a stream, the consciousness (sense of awareness) has the following properties

-it is personal-it is constantly changing-it is continuous-it is selective-it is active

Chapter: 2 Perspectives and

Methods

Biological Perspective

• Focus on how physiological structures and bodily functions influence our thoughts/ feelings.

• View humans as biological organisms

–Paul Broca?–Wilder Penfield?–Roger Sperry?

Behavioural Perspective

• AKA: the learning perspective. Focuses on learning.• Looks at the effect of the environment (external influences)

on behaviour. • Looks at the relationship between the behaviour (response)

and the environmental events (stimuli)

– John Watson?– Ivan Pavlov?– B.F Skinner?

Cognitive Perspective• Emphasises the effect of mental processes on behaviour.• Looks at how humans mentally deal with information they

receive from the environment

– Herman Ebbinghaus?– Howard Gardner?– Jean Piaget?- he was interested in epistemology (study of

origins) and became famous for his theories on how children think and reason. Piaget’s observations of children led to an new philosophy of how thinking develops. He developed a cognitive development theory of children, believing that children pass through 4 separate stages achieving different accomplishments along the way. New reasoning abilities can only be developed after previous ones have occurred (e.g. You need to learn words before you can learn sentences.

Socio-Cultural Perspective

• This is a combination of two different but related areas of psychology Social psychology and Cultural psychology.

• Social Psychology: how people think about, interact with, influence and are influenced by the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of others.

• Cultural Psychology: the ways in which culture can influence people and their lives.

– Solomon Ash?– Stanley Milgriim?– Phillip Zimbardo?

One limitations of each perspective

• This is on your posters!!!!!!!• You all have the RIGHT ANSWERS!!!!

Pseudo-psychology. Why psychology is considered a

science, why astrology is not considered a science

• Pseudoscience is a claim, belief, or practice which is presented as scientific. Pseudoscience is often characterized by the use of vague, exaggerated or unprovable claims

• They do not adhere to a valid scientific method. Lacks supporting evidence or plausibility, cannot be reliably tested, or otherwise lacks scientific status.

Astrology

• Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world.

• Looking at the stars.• Barnum Effect: the tendency to agree with

statements that are general and vague.

Psychologists use the scientific method which is a controlled approach to planning, conducting and reporting research.

Refer to handout.....

The scientific method involves1. gathering and interpreting empirical evidence

(data/information collected through observation and measurement) This helps psychologists draw conclusions.

2. Reporting the findings.

Chapter 3: Visual

Perception

Detecting and Focusing Light

In order for vision to occur 2 things need to happen:1. Light needs to travel through the eye and

produce a focused image on the retina which is a light sensitive layer of tissue located at the back of the eye.

2. The retina needs to convert this image into a neural impulse which can be sent to the brain to be interpreted.

Rods Cones (clear vision)

•125mill rods in each retina•Help us see in dim light•Assist our vision at night•Found in the outer regions of the retina•Responsible for peripheral vision•Detect less detail •Takes 30min to adapt to dark conditions

•6.5mill cones in each retina•Enable us to see colour•Work best during the day•Operate poorly in dim light•Found in the centre of the retina•Also found in the fovea (located in the centre of the retina and only contains cones (50,000)•Cones enable visual acuity (detection of fine detail)

Visual Perception Process.Page 88-90

Reception Transduction Transmission Selection Organisation Interpretation

Refer to text book and handout.

Gestalt Principles

1.Figure ground2.Similarity3.Proximity4.Closure

Difference between sensation and perception.

• Sensation: when your sensory organs detect stimuli from the environment and transmit it to the brain in a form that the brain can understand.

• Perception: when the stimuli is given meaning as the brain organises and interprets it.

Depth Perception

Pictorial Depth Cues

Name the depth cue...

Constancies.

1) Size constancy:Even though the size of the object changes on

the retina it doesn’t mean that the actual size of the object changes.

The size of an image remains the same and stable even though the size on the retina changes.

2) Shape constancy:Even though the

shape of the object changes on the retina, it doesn’t mean that the actual shape of the object is changing.

3) Orientation constancy:Perceiving an objects true

orientation despite changes in the orientation of the object on the retina.

Eg: when you watch TV upside down you don’t believe that the world has turned upside down.

Muller-Lyer Illusion

• Which line is longer

Muller-Lyer Illusion

Both lines are of equal length.It occurs because the eyes look at the wrong

spot. They look at the ends rather then the lines.

How different perspective explain Visual Perception.

Biological: explains visual perception in terms of the

physical structures associated with vision. Does not intend to explain individual difference in perception.

Cognitive:Explains perception in terms of our mental processes to

explain the workings of the mind and brain.Describes visual perception with regards to the way we

select, organise and interpret information. The also look at how we apply perceptual principles to see a whole/ complete image.

Behavioural: Explains visual perception according to what is

observable. Does not consider mental processes as important when studying visual perception because they cannot be observed. Behaviourists look at methods that can be observed when trying to describe the workings of the mind and perception.

Socio Cultural:Describes visual perception in terms of how we

are influences by society and out culture.We form an expectation (perceptual set) to see

the world in a particular way that is consistent with social and cultural beliefs.