PSYC1003 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1,4,5,7: Implicit Cognition, Procedural Knowledge, Pragmatics
Psychology
Understanding a person requires attention to the individual's biology, psychological
experience and cultural context
Positive psychology focuses on understanding and harnessing positive emotions and
actively stimulating conditions that produce valued, subjective experiences that help
people flourish
Biopsychology (behavioural neuroscience) examines the physical basis of
psychological phenomena such as motivation, emotion and stress
Structuralism attempted to uncover the basic elements of consciousness through
introspection
Functionalism attempted to explain psychological processes in terms of the role, or
function, they serve
A paradigm is a broad system of theoretical assumptions employed by a scientific
community that includes shared models, metaphors and methods
Perspectives
oThe psychodynamic perspective proposes that people's actions reflect the
way thoughts, feelings and wishes are associated in their minds. Primary method
is case studies but are using more experimental methods to alleviate the criticism
that they are non-empirical and unreliable.
oThe behaviourist perspective focuses on learning and studies in the way
environmental events control behaviour. Reject the concept of 'mind', viewing
mental events as the contents of a black box that cannot be known or studied
scientifically.
oThe humanistic perspective emphasises the uniqueness of the individual and
focuses on the person's immediate experience. People have free will and are
motivated to achieve personal goals so that they can fulfil their true potential
oThe cognitive perspective focuses on the way people perceive, process and
retrieve information. Interested in how memory works, how people solve
problems and make decisions. Mind as a computer.
oThe evolutionary perspective argues that many human behavioural
tendencies evolved because they helped our ancestors to survive and reproduce.
Methods were deductive and comparative, but more so experimental now.
Perspective Key figures Basic principles Metaphors Methods
Psychodynami
c
Sigmund Freud Behaviour is
largely the
result of
unconscious
processes,
motivation and
early
experiences.
Consciousness is
like the tip of an
iceberg, the
mind is like a
battleground for
warring factions.
Interpretation of
verbal discourse,
slips f the
tongue, dreams,
fantasies, actions
and postures;
case studies;
limited
experimentation
Behaviourist B.F. Skinner Behaviour is
largely learned
and selected by
its
environmental
Humans and
other animals
are like
machines, the
mind is like a
Experimentation
with humans and
other animals
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consequences. black box.
Humanistic Carl Rogers Behaviour and
experience are
shaped by the
need to self-
actualise, to
fulfil one's
inner potential.
Life is like a
bottle of milk-
the cream is
always rises to
the top. This is
an optimistic
view of
behaviour,
emphasising
that everyone
aims to be the
'best' person
they can be.
People-centred
therapeutic
approach that
emphasises
empathy,
acceptance and
respect for the
individual
Cognitive Rene
Descartes (his
early
philosophical
questions led
many cognitive
psychologists
to emphasise
the role of
reason in
creating
knowledge
Behaviour is
the product of
information
processing:
storage,
transformation
and retrieval of
data.
The mind is like
a computer;
enduring
patterns of
thought are like
software.
Experimentation
with humans;
computer
modelling
Evolutionary Charles Darwin Psychological
processes
reflect
evolutionary
processes of
natural
selection
Life is like a race
for survival and
reproduction.
Deduction of
explanations for
traits and
behaviours;
cross-species and
cross-cultural
comparisons;
limited
experimentation
Sensation and perception
From the optic nerve, visual information travels along two pathways
oTo the superior colliculus in the midbrain, involved in eye movements
oTo the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus and on to the visual cortex
Feature detectors in the primary visual cortex respond only when stimulation in their
receptive field matches a particular pattern or orientation
Perception involves the organisation and interpretation of sensory experience
Form perception refers to the organisation of sensations into meaningful shapes and
patterns (percepts)
Recognition-by-components argues that people perceive and categorise objects by
first breaking them down into elementary units
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The brain's efforts to organise percepts can sometimes produce perceptual illusions
Depth perception is the organisation of perception in three dimensions- based on
binocular and monocular visual cues
Motion perception relies on motion detectors from the retina through the cortex
and involves two systems- the first calculates motion from the changing image on the
retina, and the second uses information from eye muscles about the movement of the
eyes
Perceptual constancy refers to the organisation of changing sensations into percepts
that are relatively stable. Three types of perceptual constancy are colour, shape and
size constancy.
Perceptual interpretation means generating meaning from sensory experience
Direct perception- the meaning or adaptive significance of a percept is often
obvious, immediate and innate
The nervous system has innate potentials that require environmental input to
develop
Bottom-up processing- begins with raw sensory data that feed 'up' to the brain
Top-down processing- begins with the observer's expectations and knowledge
Schemas- enduring knowledge structures
Consciousness
Consciousness refers to the subjective awareness of mental events
States of consciousness are qualitatively different patterns of subjective experience,
including ways of experiencing both internal and external events
Functions of consciousness:
oMonitoring the self and the environment
oControlling thought and behaviour
Consciousness highlights or inhibits information based on its relevance to adaption
and its emotional consequences
Attention refers to the process of focusing conscious awareness, providing
heightened sensitivity to a limited range of experience requiring more extensive
information processing
Functions of attention:
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Document Summary
Understanding a person requires attention to the individual"s biology, psychological experience and cultural context. Positive psychology focuses on understanding and harnessing positive emotions and actively stimulating conditions that produce valued, subjective experiences that help people flourish. Biopsychology (behavioural neuroscience) examines the physical basis of psychological phenomena such as motivation, emotion and stress. Structuralism attempted to uncover the basic elements of consciousness through introspection. Functionalism attempted to explain psychological processes in terms of the role, or function, they serve. A paradigm is a broad system of theoretical assumptions employed by a scientific community that includes shared models, metaphors and methods. The psychodynamic perspective proposes that people"s actions reflect the way thoughts, feelings and wishes are associated in their minds. Primary method is case studies but are using more experimental methods to alleviate the criticism that they are non-empirical and unreliable. o. The behaviourist perspective focuses on learning and studies in the way environmental events control behaviour.
