PSYC340 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Experimental Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Extrasensory Perception
9 Jun 2018
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Psychology 290
Unit 1: The Evolution of Psychology
Theme 1: Psychology is empirical. It is important to understand the need to acquire
knowledge through systematic observation rather than through intuition, common
sense, or speculation. Understanding this concept will allow you to recognize the
problems some psychologists have with such topics as extrasensory perception (ESP) or
with psychoanalytic suppositions.
Theme 2: Psychology is theoretically diverse. This is an important concept because
many studets of psholog epet lak ad hite solutios to thei uestios
about psychology. The fact is that, in many areas, one of several theoretical
explanations can be correct.
Theme 3: Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context. Unless you accept this
concept, it is all too easy to ridicule or disparage previous discoveries. For example,
students often mock behaviourism in favour of cognitive psychology because a strict
ehaiouisti itepetatio of the old sipl aot e ight. Without
understanding the context of behaviourism and its once dominant position in
psychology, it is far too easy to be deprecating. Simply stated, no single theory can easily
explain everything that is known about behaviour.
Theme 4: Behaviour is determined by multiple causes. It is common for introductory
students to believe that there is a cause for a behaviour, rather than accepting that
complex behaviours are more typically a function of multiple causation. The last 30
years have seen an increasing tendency for psychologists to accept this truism and to
investigate several factors that might affect behaviour within the design of a single
experiment.
Theme 5: Behaviour is shaped by cultural heritage. Although a common definition of
psholog is the siee that studies ehaiou, a oe auate peeptio is that,
until recently, it has been largely the science of Caucasian male behaviour. Much of the
early experimental psychological research was based on the findings derived from a
restricted population: undergraduate students who were usually male.
Theme 6: Heredity and environment jointly influence behaviour. While this statement
may seem obvious, there was, in previous years, a tendency to believe that behaviour
could be either 100% genetic or 100% environmental. For example, it used to be asked
whether instinct could be described as completely genetic. Now it is recognized that all
behaviours are a function of both environmental and genetic factors.
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Thee 7: People’s eperiee of the world is highl sujective. Students of psychology
often believe that their own interpretation of the world is the correct one and that
everyone else either does or should interpret the world in this way. Only when one
appreciates the need to overcome subjectivity can one really understand the research
approaches highlighted in Chapter 2 of the text that are referred to throughout the
course.
Key Terms and Concepts
• applied psychology (p. 15):The branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and
treatment of psychological problems and disorders.
•
behaviour (p. 7):Refers to any overt observable response or activity by an organism
behaviourism (p. 7):A theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should
study only observable behaviour
biological psychology (p. 15.
clinical psychology (p. 15): ):The branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of
psychological problems and disorders
cognition (p. 16): Refers to the mental processes involved in acquiring knowledgecounselling psychology
(p. 27): Overlaps with clinical psychology in that specialists in both area engage in similar activities
interviewing, testing, and providing therapy however, counselling psychologists usually work with a
somewhat different clientele, providing assistance to people struggling with everyday problems of
moderate severity. Thus, they often specialize in family, marital or career conselling
critical thinking (p. 38): Is the use of cognitive skills and strategies that increase the probability of a
desirable outcome
culture (p. 29): Refers to the widely shared customs beliefs, values,norms, institution and otherproducts
of a community that are transmitted socially across generations
developmental psychologist (p. 26): Looks at human development across the life span. Developmental
psychology one focused primarly on child development but today devotes a great deal of research to
adolescent, adulthodd and old age.
empiricism (p. 28): The premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation
ethnocentrism (p. 18): The tendency to view one s own group as superior to others and as the standard
for judging the worth of foregh ways,
evolutionary psychology (p. 20): Examines behavioural processes in terms of their adaptive values for
members of species over the course of many generations
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experimental psychologist (p. 26): Encompasses the traditional core of topics that psychology focused
on heavely in its half century as a science sensation perception learning conditioning, motivation and
emotion. The name experimental psychology is somewhat misleading as this is not the only area in
which experiments are done psychologists working in all the area listed here conduct experiments.
functionalism (p. 6): Was based on the belief that psychology should investigate the function or purpose
of consciousness, rather than its structure.
humanism (p. 12): A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans especially
their freedom and their potential for personal growth
industrial/organizational psychologist (p. 27): Psychologist in this area perform a wide variety of tasks in
the world of business and industry
introspection (p. 6) *(see the comment below): It is easy to define introspection as a method of self-
report, but it is much more difficult to carry out the procedure of introspection. Wundt (1879) set down
some rather rigid rules for its proper use, including the following: The observer/introspectionist must be
in a state of "strained attention." The observation must be able to "repeat several times." The stimuli
must be manipulable. (as cited in Fuchs & Milar, 2003, p. 5). Additionally, Titchener (1909) would not
allow his self-reporting subjects to use common, everyday words. For example, if the subject was to
describe the hues, brightness, and spatial characteristics of a new automobile, words describing the
object itself, such as "Ford" or "Chevrolet," were not acceptable. According to Titchener, anyone who
used these eeda ods oitted hat he alled the stiulus eo as ited i “hultz & Schultz,
2011, pp. 94, 99). This rather contrived structuralist technique fell out of favour early in the
development of psychology as a discipline.
natural selection (p. 6): Heritable characteristics that provide a survival or reproductive advantage are
more likely than alternative characteristics to be passed on to subsequent generation and thus come to
be selected over time
personality psychology (p. 26):Is interested in describing and understanding individuals consistency in
behaviour which represents their personality. This area of interest is also concerned with the factors
that shape personality with personality assessment
positive psychology (p. 22): Uses theory and research to better understand the positive adaptive
creative and fulfilling aspects of human existence
psychiatry (p. 26): A branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological
problems and disorders
psychoanalytic theory (p. 9): Attemps to explain personality, motivation and mental disorders by
focusing on unconscious determinants of behaviour
psychometrics (p. 26): ): Is concerned with the measurement of behaviour and capacities, ususally
throught the development of psychological tests psychometrics is involved with the design of tests to
assess personality, intelligence and a wide range of abilities. It is also concerned with the development
of new techniques for statistical analysis
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Document Summary
It is important to understand the need to acquire knowledge through systematic observation rather than through intuition, common sense, or speculation. Understanding this concept will allow you to recognize the problems some psychologists have with such topics as extrasensory perception (esp) or with psychoanalytic suppositions. This is an important concept because many stude(cid:374)ts of ps(cid:455)(cid:272)holog(cid:455) e(cid:454)pe(cid:272)t (cid:862)(cid:271)la(cid:272)k a(cid:374)d (cid:449)hite(cid:863) solutio(cid:374)s to thei(cid:396) (cid:395)uestio(cid:374)s about psychology. The fact is that, in many areas, one of several theoretical explanations can be correct. Theme 3: psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context. Unless you accept this concept, it is all too easy to ridicule or disparage previous discoveries. Simply stated, no single theory can easily explain everything that is known about behaviour. Theme 4: behaviour is determined by multiple causes. It is common for introductory students to believe that there is a cause for a behaviour, rather than accepting that complex behaviours are more typically a function of multiple causation.
