Psychology - is the study of human behavior and mental processes
* derived from two Greek words:
-psyche (soul/mind)
-logos (study/knowledge)
* is the science that studies behavior and mental process
As a Science
* Characteristics
1. objective - conclusions are based on facts not from feelings and prejudice
2. emprical - derived from experiment and observation rather than theory
3. systematic - done in an efficient/methological way.
*Aims to
- explain or understand
It can be done through gathering data objectively and classifying facts into meaningful categories based on slated aspects of similarity
- predict
It is accomplished by identifying consitent relationships between person, events, situations and condition
- control
It is carrried through influencing, manipulating and modifying human behavior for the better
Behavior
* It refers to any observable means by which organisms adjust to their environment
* It is also defined as everything we do that can be directly observed
Classifications of Behavior
-Overt & Covert
Overt behaviors are responses tha are objectively and publicly observable. Covert behaviors (like thoughts & feelings) are not directly and publicly observable.
-Conscious & Unconscious
Conscious behaviors are those that the individual is aware of. Unconscious behaviors are below the level of awareness
-Rational & Irrational
Rational behaviors are responses based on reason while Irrational behaviors are not guided by reason or are illogical
-Normal & Abnormal
Normal behaviors are responses that conform to the norms (standards) of society & do not violate the person`s well-being. Abnormal behaviors violate the norms of society and create problems for the individual & community
Mental Process
It refers to the activities of the nervous system esprcially that of the central nervous system of which the mind belongs. These are thoughts, feelings, motives that each of us experiences privately but that cannot be observed directly.
HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
* epitemology (the philosophy of knowing)
* metaphysics (the nature of ultimate reality)
* religion
* oriental philosophy
From about 600-300 BC, Gree philosophers inquired about a wide range of psychological topics.
Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato & Aristotle
They wrote about pleasure & pain, knowledge, beauty, desire, free will, motivation, common sense, rationality, memory and perception. They also theorized about wether human traits are innate or the product of experience.
Many ancient societies thought that mental illness resulted from supernatural causes, such as the anger of Gods or possession by evil spirits. But Socrates and Plato focused on psychological forces as the cause of mental disturbance.
Example: Plato thought madness results when a person`s irrational, animal-like psyche overwhelms the intellectual rational psyche.
MAJOR THEORISTS & PIONEERS OF THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY AS WELL AS THE APPROACHES
Philosopher Thought / Contribution
Primitive People - Trephining-drilling holes in the skull to drive away evil
Plato - Character and Intelligence are inherited and inborn
Aristottle - He was known as the Father of Psychology
- There is nothing in the mind that does first come from the external world through
senses.
- Identified the heart as the most important part organ of the body
Hippocrates - Personality is made up of temperaments such as sanguine, melancholic, choleric and
phlegmatic
Galen - A Greek physician who lived in the 2nd century AD, echoed this belief in a physiological basis for mental disorders. He thought they resulted from an imbalance of the four bodily humor - black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm.Temperament theory has its roots in one of the ancient four humors theory. It may have origins in ancient Egypt or Mesopotamia,but it was the Greek physician Hippocrates (460-370 BC) who developed it into a medical theory. He believed certain human moods, emotions and behaviors were caused by body fluids (called "humors"): blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Next, Galen (AD 131-200) developed the first typology of temperament in his dissertation De temperamentis, and searched for physiological reasons for different behaviors in humans.
These latter four were the temperamental categories Galen named "sanguine", "choleric", "melancholic" and "phlegmatic" after the bodily humors, respectively.
Activity....Homework...
John Locke - Mind is a blank state at birth, that most knowledge comes from experience
Modern Psychology
A. Structuralism:
Wilhelm Wundt - He was the Father of Modern Psychology.
- He developed the first scientific laboratory in Leipzig Germany
- He studied conscious experience by examining its structure or component parts (sensations orfeelings) using individuals who were trained in introspection.
E.B. Titchener - gave Wundt`s approach the lavel of structuralism because of its focus on identifying the structures of the human mind
Structuralism -(study the importance of conscious thought and classification of the mind structure)It recognizes three elements of consciousness namely: sensations, images, and feelings
B. Functionalism:
William James - He established psychology in the U.S.
- He studied the adaptive functions of behavior
G. Stanley Hall - Put up the 1st American psychology laboratory in John Hopkins University. Founded(APA) American Psychological Association. Known as the father of of Developmental Psychology
John Dewey - (Learning by doing perspective). As a functional psychologist and educator explored the problem - solving ability of the conscious mind, as well as of improving teaching
Functionalism - is a theory of the mind in contemporary philosophy, developed largely as an alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviourism. Its core idea is that mental states (beliefs, desires, being in pain, etc.) are constituted solely by their functional role — that is, they are causal relations to other mental states, sensory inputs, and behavioral outputs
C. Behaviorism:
John B. Watson - He focused his study on observable behavior (not on the mind) such as how behavior changes.
BF Skinner - He pionered Radical Behaviorism, which seeks to understand behavior as a function of environmental histories of reinforcing consequences. He is known as the inventor of the operant conditioning chamber
E.L. Thorndike - Conducted the first experiment on animal learning called instruments conditioning
Behaviorism - Behaviorism (or behaviourism), also called the learning perspective (where any physical action is a behavior), is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things that organisms do—including acting, thinking, and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors, and that psychological disorders are best treated by altering behavior patterns or modifying the environment
D. Gestalt Psychology:
Max Wertheimer - started (1880-1943) presented a paper in whic he, Wolfgang Kohler (1887-1967) and Kurt Koffka (1886- 1967) argued that the penomena needed no explanation. Werheimer1`s theory of the mind and brain proposes that with self-organizing tendencies; or, that thw who is different from the sum of its parts.
Gestalt - is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in the 1920s. These theories attempt to describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied. These principles are:
Similarity
Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People often perceive them as a group or pattern.
(http://graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu/tutorials/process/gestaltprinciples/gestaltprinc.htm)
E. Psychoanalytic:
Sigmund Freud - He focused on the unconscious causes of behavior known as the psychoanalytic approach (Refer to his Psychoanalytic)
Psychoanalytic - study of the unconsious, looking beyond not seen.stresses the role of motives and carving often hidden repressesed in the subconscious and conscious mind. Defined psychology as the science of behavior
F. Humanistic Psychology:
Carl Rogers - He believed that humans have free will and ability to make choices
- He and Abraham Maslow emphasized every person`s potential for self-development, as the two key representatives of humanism or humanistic psychology Humanistic psychology
Addresses the nature of the human experience, calling into question the nature of objectivity and the role of objective knowledge in the personal experience:
http://www.ryerson.ca/~glassman/humanist.html#Extending
http://www.ryerson.ca/~glassman/Qsort.html - humanistic activity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs - abraham masholow
Modern Psychology can also be traced to the study of physiology (a branch of biology that studies living organisms and their parts) and medicine.
Alfred Binet Theodore Simon - Devised the first intelligence test
Gustav Fechner - German scientist, studied the relationship between physical stimuli and
our subjective sensations of those stimuli.
Paul Broca - French surgeon, discovered that people who suffer damage to a specific part of the brain`s left hemisphere lose the ability to produce fluent speech, this area of the brain became known as the Broca`s area.
SPECIALIZATIONS: SUBFIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY
1. Clinical Psychology - focuses on the study, diagnosis and treatment of abanormal behaviors
2. Counseling Psychology - aims to assist individuals in coping with their personal difficulties in life.
3. School Psychology - has similar functions as counseling psychologists in school, performs activities and conducts programs, such as psychological testing and assessment of learners with special needs, in educational institutions
4. Educational Psychology - deals with processes involving student-teacher interaction, utilization of teaching methodologies and strategies that foster learning in the classroom, assisting learners experiencing learning difficulties to improve the overall educational processes
5. Industrial and Organizational Psychology - focuses attention on the real world of work, specializing in improving the selection and recruitment processes, employee relations, work motivation, training and development and communication
6.Consumer Psychology - analyzes factors affecting or influencing consumer behaviors and decisions.
7. Social Psychology - focuses on the process or processes by which an individual acquires a repertoire of behavior. Also study such as human social behavior as aggression, competition, helping, cheating, and obedience
8. Developmental Psychology - investigates changes in the behavior of humans which occur in accordance to their chronological age across an entire life span. Developmental psychologists examine, among other things, an individual`s acquisition of language, development of morals, aging, and the effects of puberty among adolescents.
9. Environmental Psychology - deals with how the environement affects social behavior. Environmental psychologist are, thus, concerned with how crowding, migration, heat, noise, or the demographic placement of classrooms and stores each affects behavior.
10. Personality Psychology - focuses on the relatively enduring traits, characteristics, or dispositions of individuals across a continuum.
11. Experimental Psychology - makes use of controlled procedures (in which at least two different treatment conditions are applied to subjects) in comparing behaviors that are manifested or changed after treatment conditions are given.
12. Sports Psychology - is the scientific study of people and their behavior in sports. Sport Psychology identify principles and guidelines that professionals can use to help adults and children participate in and benefit from sport and exercise activitites in both team and individual
13. Forensic Psychology - involves understanding criminal law in the relevant jurisdiction in order to interact appropriately with judges, attorneys, and legal professionals.
14. Health Psychology - seeks to understand how biology, behavior, and social context influence health and illnesses. It also examines how lifestyles, health factors, and diseases affect behavior
15. Neuropsychology - is concerned with the study of the relationship between the brain and behavior. It observes changes in thoughts and behavior that relate to the structural of the brain.
16. Phsysiological Psychology - Study the function of the nervous system and other bodily structures in the behavior of organisms such as the effect the of drugs and alcohol on a person`s behavior
17. Community Psychology - is concerned with providing accessible care for people with psychological problems. Community-based mental health centers are one means of delivering sevices such as outreach programs to people in need, especially those who traditionally have been underserved by mental health professionals.
18. Psychology of Women - studies psychological, social, and cultural influences on women`s development and behavior. This field stresses the importance of integrating information about women with current psychological knowledge and beliefs and applying the information to society and its institutions
19. Personality Psychology - focuses on the relatively enduring characteristics of individuals. Personality chologists study such topics as traits, goals, motives, genetics, personality development, and well-being. Researchers in personality psychology are interested in those aspects of your psychological makeup that make you uniquely you.
20. Motivation and Emotion - Researcheers from a variety of specializations are interested in these two important aspects of experience. Research questions addressed by scientist who study motivation include how individuals persist to attain a difficult goal and how rewards affect the experience of motivation. Emotion researchers delve into such topics as the physiological and brain process that underlie emotional experience, the role of emotional expressions health, and the possibility that emotions are universal.
RESEARCH METHODS
Psychology, as the science of behavior, was the scientific approach in understanding behavior. Our knowledge about psychological process is based on scientific method when we conduct psychological research.
This method involves observation, measurement and experimentation aiding the researcher in coming up with an accurate finding or explanation of a certain phenomena or behavior.
In psychology, basic research uses the scientific method to try to understand fundamental laws of the mind and behavior; applied research tries to solve specific problems by applying scientific principles and knowledge.
Research format
http://psychology.about.com/od/apastyle/ig/APA-Format-Examples/title-page.htm
Methodology
There are basic methods or approaches that are used in gathering data that deserve special attention
These techniques include non-experimental and experimental approaches
Non-Experimental Approaches:
1. Phenomenology is the description of one`s own immediate experience; rather thatn looking at behaviors and events that are external to us, we focus on our own experience as a source of data.
2. Case Study is a descriptive record of an individual`s experience and or behaviors kept by an outside observer. Case studies are good sources of inferences, hypotheses, theories; they may also provide data for developing therapy techniques.
3. Field Study points to the field or real-life settings as a source of data
4. Naturalistic Observation is the observation of behaviors as they occur, take place or happen in their natural setting or environment (observing children in the park or watching monkey behavior in their natural habitant)
5. Participant - Observer Study refers to a researcher`s part of the group tha he/she studies.
6. Survey Research examines conditions, situations, values, attitudes, preferences or experiences. Examples include telephone surveys, election polls, television ratings, product surveys.
7. Interview and Questionnaire solicit information in generally two ways: 1.) by asking questions answerable by yes or no and 2) by asking open-ended questions.
8. Sampling refers to the selection of respondents from the whole population (e.g. electing a student body to represent teh whole college or department)
9. Cross- Cultural Comparison compares behavior patterns or manifested behaviors of people from different countries or cultures (such as comparing behaviors of Asians and Americans)
10. Longitudinal Study involves studying a set of individuals across a period of time. This technique aims to assess consistencies and inconsistencies of behaviors in a particular group (such as studying prostitutes or migration patterns.)
Experimental Approaches:
1. Quasi- experimental approach which is used to demonstrate behavioral differences associated with different types of subjects.
2. Correlational Study determines teh correlation, degree of relationship between two traits, behaviors, or events
3. Experiment is the most highly controlled, rigorous research method used by psychologists.
3.1. Independent variable is the variable that the experimenter manipulates; the treatment condition that the experimenter incorporates or introduces that creates an effect
3.2. Dependent variable is teh variable that affected when an independent variabl is implemented or introduced.
3.3. Extraneous variable is the variable that is not actually part of the experiment but has an effect on the conditions set upon (e.g. noise, rain, earthquake)
Treatment conditions and groupings
3.4. Experimental group pertains to a group exposed to an independent variable
3.5. Control group pertains to a group not exposed to any treatment condition
Ethics of Animal Research
(American Psychological Association, Belmont Report, Helsinky Declaration)
The researcher`s foremost concern in acquiring research respondents is that be treated ethically and responsibly
APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists Code of Conduct 1992 for the use of Human Subjects in research:
1. Before conducting research, the Insstitutional Review Board (IRB) must conduct a risk/benefit analysis. In the event that respondents are harmed or at risk as specified in the research methodology, it is the IRB that requests for the discontinuation of the undertaking.
2. There must be informed consent from the respondents
3. Psychologist`s use of reasonable language to research participants in obtaining appropriate consent.
4. When psychologists conduct research with individuals such as students or subordinates, psycologists must take special care to protect the prospective participants from adverse consequences of declining or withdrawing from participation.
5. When research participation is a course rerquirement or opportunity for extra credit, the prospective participant is given the choice of equitable alternative activities.
6. For persons who are legally incapable of giving informed consent, psyychologists (1) provide an approprite explanation, (2) Obtain the participant`s assent and (3) Obtain appropriate permission from a legally authorized person, if such substitute consent is permitted by law.
APA Ethical Principles of Pscyhologists Code of Conduct 1992 for the use of Animal Subjects in research: Care and Use of Animals in Research
A. Treat animals under study humanely.
B. Psychologists acquire, care for, use and dispose animals in compliance with government, state, and local laws and regulations, and with professional standards.
C. Psychologists trained in research methods and experienced in care of laboratory animals supervise all procedures involving animals and are responsible for ensuring appropriate consideration for their comfort, health and humane treatment.
D. Psychologists ensure that all individuals using animals under their supervision have received instruction in research methods and in the care, maintenance, and handling of the species being used, to the extent appropriate to their role.
E. Responsibilies and activities of individuals assisting in a research project are consistent with their respective competencies
F. Psychologists make reasonable efforts to minimize the discomfort, infection, illness, and pain of animal subjects.
G. A procedure subjecting animals to pain, stress, or privation is used only when an alternative procedure is unavailable and the goals is justified by its prospective scientific, educational or applied value.
H. Surgical procedures are performed under appropriate anesthesia; techniques to avoid infection and minimize pain are followed during and after surgery.
I. When it`s appropriate that animal`s life be terminated, it is done rapidly, with an effort to minimize pain and with acceptable procedures.
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