PSY 3171 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Latency Stage, Social Cost, Phallic Stage

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 3171
• Professor: Terry Howard

Document Summary

Theories with a cause of behaviour as a result of a single factor (e. g. : a genetic disposition only or a traumatic experience only) are limited in their power to explain behaviours. Most current theories consider multiple factors as influences on human behaviour (i. e. interactionist explanations) Research has demonstrated that biological factors and experience interact. Changes in behaviour may change biological functioning and vice versa. Biology plays a big role in abnormality, but there is also a social component. E. g. : we share 90-95% of our dna makeup with worms, so there must be more to it than just our biology. Biology can influence behaviour; behaviour can influence biology. E. g. : stress on the immune system of hiv patients causes seroconversion to. Environmental conditions can trigger cancer, especially with genetic predisposition: testing (testing models / theories) To disprove a theory, it requires the most rigorous tests of its values.