Psychology

1. Psychology An Introduction

2. AIMS OF LESSON • To develop an understanding of what Psychology is and what Psychology isn’t • To explore how Psychology has shaped our world

3. Watch the clip and then view the rest of the powerpoint for more detailed information. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfx6k9xiA5Q

4. What is psychology? • Psyche = Mind;Logos = Knowledge or Study • Once defined as study of the mind • Now broader definition to include behaviour too • Psychologists study mind and behaviourscientifically

5. What is the Mind? • Refers to experiences or the mental processes and experiences that cannot be directly observed. • any response that is internal or hidden from view and cannot be directly observed • Psychology relies on inferences, or assumptions, about underlying processes on the basis of observable behaviour. • An inference is a logical conclusion which is based on available evidence.

6. What is behaviour? Behaviour • refers to any observable action made by a living person or animal. • is best described as any kind of response that can actually be seen and measured. Examples of behaviour include: • Eating • Sleeping • Sneezing • Watching T.V. • Running

7. What is Behaviour? Consider each activity listed below and whether or not you think it is a behaviour. Experiencing butterflies in the stomach Dreaming Blinking Heartbeat Toothache Planning an excuse to get out of a date Singing a song aloud Writing a letter Experiencing an itch Reading the time on your watch

9. Ψ is the symbol for Psychology • Ψ is the Greek letter psi and it is the international shorthand symbol for the word Psychology. • You will often see it in text books or anything relating to the subject.

10. Is Psychology just common sense? ΨIt might be common sense to say that some football fans behave badly because they are hooligans…. Ψ How do we know this? Ψ Do we have evidence for this explanation? ΨHas anyone done any research on this topic? - effects of crowds/groups on individuals: deindividuation - Effects of alcohol on individuals

11. Scientific Study Scientific study refers to the approach which is used in psychology. Psychologists use the highly disciplined methods of science e.g. experimentation and carefully controlled observation. Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Psychology differ in what they study, yet each uses the scientific method trying to achieve common goals of: description, prediction, explanation and control

12. ΨResearch is a way of investigating something. We look at it in depth. There are several Research Methods ΨLaboratoryExperiment ΨField Experiment ΨNatural Experiment ΨObservation ΨSurvey Ψ Correlation ΨCase Study What is Research?

13. Some psychological research topics: • Importance of love in childhood • development of language • accuracy of eyewitness testimony • PRO SOciAL HELPING BEHAVIOUR • TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION • causes of ADDICTION

14. Which centre circle is larger?

15. Here are the same circles again.

16. Do you see the flashing dots? The flashing is all in your head.

17. What do Psychologists do? • They explain behaviour • But how do they explain it? • Many different APPROACHES or PERSPECTIVES to explaining behaviour

18. BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH Ψ Perhaps we learn behaviour…. Ψ This explanation is called Learning Theory and is based on Conditioning Ψ There are two types ofConditioning Ψ Classical Conditioning Ψ Operant Conditioning

19. Classical Conditioning. Ivan Pavlov Unconditioned stiumulus ucs (food) Unconditioned response ucr (salivation) Conditioned stimulus cs (bell) Conditioned response cr (salivation) ucs (food) +cs (bell) ucr (salivation)cs (bell) cr (salivation)

20. The dog sees the food and salivates. Then the dog sees the food at the same time as a bell is rung. It salivates. Then the dog hears the bell, associates it with the food, and salivates. The dog has been conditioned to salivate at the sound of the bell.

21. Have you been classically conditioned? • At the dentist …are you frightened as you walk through the door? As you sit in the chair? • Going to the dentist is associated with pain – you expect pain whenever you go to the dentist

22. Operant ConditioningB F Skinner The rat’s behaviour is ‘shaped’ until it ‘learns’ that it will be reinforced (rewarded) if it presses the food lever!

23. Why Operant? When an animal performs a behaviour, it operates on the environment. Possible consequences of behaviour Ψpositive reinforcement..pleasurable reward, so behaviour will be repeated Ψnegative reinforcement..performing a behaviour that will stop an unpleasant stimulus Ψpunishment .. an unpleasant response which will stop the behaviour

24. Little Albert

25. Is your behaviour conditioned or learned? Ψ What do you do when you hear a bell ring? Ψ Could you touch a spider? Ψ Have you ever been rewarded for a behaviour?

26. Psychoanalytic Theory ΨSigmund Freud’s theory of personality (Psychoanalytic Theory) and treatment for abnormal behaviour called Psychoanalysis. Ψ The theory explains human development in terms of an innate drive (something we are born with e.g. pleasure) and early experience (the extent to which the desires were gratified)

27. Structure of the Freudian Personality Ψ Freud assumed that the mind is divided into 3 parts: Id, Ego and Superego

28. Defence Mechanisms ΨRepression: Keep threats out of consciousness. Ψ Displacement: Move target of emotions e.g. aggression to someone/something else. Ψ Projection: Attribute undesirable characteristics to someone else..”it’s not me it’s you”. Ψ Denial: Refuse to accept the reality of an event. Ψ Intellectualisation: Remove emotions from a threatening event.

29. Cognitive /Information Processing Theory Cognitive Psychologists believe it is internal, mental processes that can explain behaviour Began in the 1950s around the time of the first computers

30. Examples of processes • Memory • Attention • Schemas • Thinking • Attribution • Perception • Information processing • Social cognition

31. Biological Approach • All behaviour normal and abnormal, is based in physiological processes, especially the brain but also including other parts of the nervous system and the endocrine (glandular) system. • THIS IS UNDOUBTEDLY TRUE !! • What behaviour can you attribute to biology???

32. Examples • Brain structure – link between Broca’s and Wernicke’s area and language; the pineal gland and biological rhythms • Brain function: electrical activity – EEG stages of sleep • Brain function: neurotransmitters – increase in dopamine activity in schizophrenia, decrease in serotonin in depression, increase in pleasure/euphoria ? • Physiological arousal – skin conductance responses, heart rate, increase with arousal state; hormones (adrenaline)

33. Functional MRI (fMRI) • Applies MRI technique to blood flow in the brain. So can picture the brain ‘in action’, e.g. look for variations in brain activity across different areas during speech and other behaviours • Good spatial resolution (3 mm), no injections or radioactivity; but strong magnetic field, so any metal interferes

34. Positron Emission Tomography • PET: injection of e.g. radioactive glucose; taken up by most active areas, emits radioactivity which can be recorded and built into a picture of brain activity • Uses injections and radioactivity, so number of scans limited and only adults used. • Spatial resolution not as good as fMRI

35. ACTIVITY TIME • Now complete the psychology quiz on this page. • Keep attempting the quiz until you get 100% • We will be discussing what you have read on these slides in the next lesson. • You should now understand what Psychology is and have an overview of the different approaches.