Psyc

1010 week 1
Psychology: the study of
mental processes and
behaviour
Dr Stuart Marlin
Course Coordinator

Course structure
Lectures:
Psyc 1010 covers of the basic story
Presentation
prepared by
We look at the inuences
on our behaviour
Development: prenatal, postnatal, childhood etc
Dr
Janet Dickson
Individual dierences:
Personality,
Intelligence
Swinburne
Social/intercultural:
Family, School, University
Friends,
culture, work
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Clinical and Health: what is normal
= 2nd of the textbook

Texts
Burton Weston & Kowalski

4th ed

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology
3rd ed

Texts

Burton

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Texts
Tutorial Workbook
On Blackboard
In secSons

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Assessment
50% FINAL EXAM
3 Hrs (MulSple Choice)
10 quesSons for each
Presentation
by
week of Lprepared
ecture Content
(based on Lectures and
text readings)
= 120
Dr Janet
Dickson
quesSons
Swinburne
University
30 quesSons
based on
Tutorial content &
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assigned readings (about 4
per week of tutorials)

Assessment
50% Assignment based
Quizzes (4) = 20% (5% each)
Summary + Peer Marking = 10%
Presentation prepared by
Major Essay = 10%
Research exercises = 1Dr
0% Janet Dickson

Swinburne University
of Technology

About the course

Why does Psychology (the discipline) strive to be
scienSc.

Presentation prepared by
Because each person in the world is a Psychologist:
Dr Janet
Dickson
We try to understand behaviour
of others
But our brain is designed
to take shortcuts
Swinburne
University
Leaves us open to mistakes
in judgment
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Chapter 1 - Psychology: The study of

mental processes and behaviour
Learning objecFves
Dene psychology
Outline the history of psychology
Presentation prepared by
DisSnguish among the major theoreScal perspecSves in
psychology
Dr Janet Dickson
Understand how to study eecSvely and to succeed in
Swinburne University
the course

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What we will cover this week

1) The principles of scienSc Psychology as opposed
to Para-psychology and Pop-psychology
2) What the main inuences
were on the prepared
formaSon by
of
Presentation
Psychology as a science
3) Early 20th C Psychology Dr Janet Dickson
4) The main approaches Swinburne
today
University

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Psychology
Psychology is dened as the scienSc invesSgaSon of
mental processes (thinking, remembering and feeling),
behaviour and the interac(on
between tprepared
hem.
Presentation
by
Biology and culture provide possibiliSes and constraints
within which people think, Dr
feel Janet
and act. Dickson

Swinburne University
of Technology

Some of the Mistakes made by Amateur

Psychologists
1) ConrmaSon Bias
2) Fundamental AkribuSon error
Personality > SituaSon Presentation prepared by
3) Complexifying / simplifying
4) Grouping / stereotyping Dr Janet Dickson
5) Anthropomorphizing Swinburne University

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Your brain is designed to take shortcuts

Sort through piles of incoming data to focus on
important bits
Remember the important
stu, forget the
rest
Presentation
prepared
by
Make quick decision about a situaSon: harmful or not
Dr Janet
Dickson
Make a decision about a person:

Friend, Foe, potenSal
mate
Swinburne
University

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Uses rules, categorizaSon, heurisScs.. etc

Lecture: What is Psychology

SO: we know we cant always TRUST our percepSons
and Beliefs. HOW can we study People?
Using _____________ Psychology
Presentation prepared by
But what is it and where did it come from?

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Psychology: DeniFon
Psychology is dened as the _________ invesSgaSon of
mental processes
______________ Presentation prepared by
______________
______________ Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
behaviour and
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the ________________ between
them.
Biology and culture provide possibiliSes and constraints
within which people think, feel and act.

Older deniFons
1800s Psychology is the study of _______________
1900-1950s Psychology is the study of observable
___________________ Presentation prepared by
1950-now Psychology is the scienSc invesSgaSon of
mental processes (thinking,
remembering
and feeling),
Dr
Janet Dickson
behaviour and the interac(on between them.
.

Swinburne University
of Technology

What is behavior?
1) is it simply motor output? (FuncFonalist approach)
2) is it the interacSon between sensory sSmuli and
motor output? (Behavioursist
Approach) prepared by
Presentation
3) is it the acSvaSon of groups of neurons in the
presence or absence of sensory
input or Dickson
motor output?
Dr Janet
(CogniFvist Approach)

Swinburne University
of Technology

Describing Behaviour

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Major Themes
Much of Psychology has focused on only a couple of
BIG themes
Presentation prepared by
1)_____________vs ______________
2)Determinism vs Free WillDr Janet Dickson
3)Similarities vs distinctions
between people/groups
Swinburne
University
4)Reductionism vs Interactionism

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Where it all began.

Psychology has its roots in a number of disciplines
It started in Philosophy
Presentation prepared by

Philosophy

Dr Janet Dickson
Psychology
Swinburne
University
of Technology

Philosophy

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Philosophical Issues of Psychology

Free will versus determinism?

Nature (biology) versus nurture (environment)?
Presentation
prepared by
_______________versus
__________________?
Reason versus emoSon?
Dr Janet
ConSnuity versus disconSnuity
with oDickson
ther
animals?
Swinburne University
Individualism versus relaSonality?
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Conscious versus unconscious?
Mental versus physical (mind/body)?

Cartesian Dualism

dominant forces at time

Presentation prepared by
Problem of the day
Dr Janet Dickson
How to study human behavior without ending up
Swinburne University
like Galileo
Descartes theory provided of
a Technology
___________________ to the church

Cartesian Dualism
The _____________ maintains a disSnctly " non-
physical" form
has free will
Presentation prepared by
receives informaSon from the senses and the physical
world via _____________
Dr
Janet
Dickson
theory maintains humans
Swinburne University
________________________________________
The Brain and the Body can bof
e studied
as long as the
Technology
"mind" remains unexplored.

BUT WAIT
Descartes ideas are sSll fairly structured within the
PARADIGM of the Church.

Presentation prepared by
Descartes other _______________________ ideas

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
_______________
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Flip Ideas

BriFsh Empiricism
(early 1600's)

There is no "mind":
all thoughts are the result of _________________
_____________________________
Presentation prepared by
Basic units of thought made from __________
experiences.

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne
University
all behaviors result from the total set of previous
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___________________ experiences
SO they are saying we are the product of experiences = Nurture
But we have no real control over our behaviour = Determinism

Physiology

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Physiology

Nervous System began to be understood as two separate

systems
an ___________ system : Bringing informaSon _____
Presentation prepared by
an ___________system: Bringing informaSon ______ (to
muscles)

Dr Janet Dickson
Galvani (1737-1798) showed that the nervous systems acSon
Swinburne University
on muscles could be imitated by applying an _________
current to the muscle
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Galvani

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Johannes Mller (1801-1858)

Applied experimental procedure to the study of
physiology
removed or isolated animals'
organs aprepared
nd tested their
Presentation
by
responses to chemicals etc
Doctrine of specic energies

Drall Janet
the basic message sent along
nerves is Dickson
the same
________________
Swinburne University

Conclusion: The brain is highly

pecialized
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1st real eld of Psychology =

Biopsychology 1600s to 2015
Progressed from basic physiology to focus on the brain
Biopsychology or Behavioural Neuroscience:
Presentation
prepared by
is the biological boundary
of psychology.
seeks to understand the mind through
Dr Janet
understanding the biological
acSvity oDickson
f the brain.

Swinburne University
LocalisaFon of funcFon is the
that discrete brain
ofnoSon
Technology
regions play a signicant role in discrete aspects of
mental funcSoning.

Historical
Gall: Phrenology
Early 1800s
SystemaSc study of anatomy including the skull
Shape of the skull determined by dominant brain
regions related to abiliSes

LocalisaFon of funcFon
(Actual Evidence)
Flip Ideas

Broca 1861
discovered "language area of the brain
= ________________
prepared
did autopsy on man who Presentation
had had a __________
and by
lost the ability to speak

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Fritsch & Hitzig (1870)

Introduced the experimental use of electrical
sSmulaSon for _____________" the brain

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Historical

Flip Ideas

(back to Pseudoscience)

Vaught: Phrenology
Early 1900s
SystemaSc study of face and head type
Manual for idenSfying your friends
PERSONALITY TYPE

The SCIENCE of Intelligence

1850 to 1940s
PoliScal Agenda
Social Agenda
Racial Agenda

Morton (1840s)
Race
Cranial
Capacity
Mongolian
Malay
NaSve
American
Caucasian
African

All related to Darwins ideas of Evolution and Survival of the fittest

2nd real eld of Psychology =

PercepFon 1800s to 2015
Progressed from basic Physics to focus on the brain
and how we perceive the world
Psycho-Physics
Presentation prepared by
Structuralism
Dr Janet Dickson
FuncFonalism
Gestalt
Swinburne University

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Flip Ideas

Hermann von Helmholtz

Mental phenomena can be explained by combinaSon

of physiology and physics

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Psycho - Physics

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Weber
Perceptual phenomena follow ordinary _________ and
can be studied like biology & physics
Follows Webers Law (ie tPresentation
here is a _______________
prepared by
that predicts our perceptual responses to sSmuli.

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Early Psychology

Presentation prepared by
Flip Ideas

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
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Flip Ideas

Wilhelm Max Wundt

Presentation prepared by
rst laboratory of experimental psychology in Leipzig,
Germany (1879)
Dr
Janet
Dickson
founding father of modern psychology.
Swinburne
Wundt developed psychology
as an empirically bUniversity
ased
discipline.
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Used the method of ___________________ to

uncover the basic elements of consciousness

Titchener

Flip Ideas

Structuralism
sought to analyze the adult mind (dened as the
sum total of experience from birth to the present)
Presentation
prepared
by
in terms of the ___________________________
and then to nd the way in which these
components t together in complex
forms. Dickson
Dr Janet

Swinburne
Developed techniques in introspecSon
to study University
percepSon and thought.
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Flip Ideas

William
James

FuncSonalism
The Principles of Psychology
(1890), treated
Presentation
prepared by
thinking and knowledge as instruments in
the struggle to live.
Dr
Janet
Dickson
Leader of the FuncSonalist movement
Swinburne
empirical, raSonal thought
over an University
experimental trial-and-error
hilosophy.
ofpTechnology
emphasized __________________
behaviour and not private mental events

PerspecFves in psychology
Any psychological issue can be approached using a number of
perspecSves.
We can be biased in our perspecSves.
Presentation prepared by
A ___________________ is a broad system of theoreScal
assumpSons employed by a scienSc community.(Kuhn)
Dr Janet bDickson
Psychology lacks a unied ________________
ut has a number
of _____________ of thought
or isms
Swinburne
University
LocalisaSonism FuncSonalism
GestalSsm of Technology
Structuralism
Behaviourism

Flip Ideas

Psychodynamic
perspecFve: early 20th C

The psychodynamic view posits that

___________ and ____________
forces interact to control oPresentation
ur
prepared by
thoughts and behaviours.
Behaviour is an interplay between
Dr
Janet
Dickson
thoughts, feelings, and wishes.
Swinburne
University
Some mental events are
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unconscious.
Mental processes can be in
___________, resulSng in anxiety.

Behaviourist PerspecFve
Flip Ideas

Early Behaviourism
All behaviours are complex ___________ (sSmulus-
Presentation prepared by
response)
there is no need for the physiologist to have
Dickson
recourse to Psychology Dr
Ivan Janet
Pavlov (means..
)

Swinburne University
of Technology

Behaviourist PerspecFve
The behaviourist view is that environmental
sSmuli control behaviour through learning.
Pavlov was saying.The
behaviour of prepared
humans (and
Presentation
by
animals) can be understood without reference to
internal states such as tDr
houghts
or feelings.
Janet
Dickson
SSmuli become associated through ___________
Swinburne University
Classical
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Operant

Behaviourism
InteracSon between the environment and behaviour
Thorndike - Cats in a box
"learning by trial and accidental
success" prepared by
Presentation
Law of eect

Pavlov - salivaSng dogs

Dr Janet Dickson
Watson - Likle Albert Swinburne University
B.F. Skinner - AssociaSve condiSoning
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learned associaSons between two external sSmuli

Ethology = Natural Behaviour

Flip Ideas

Presentation prepared by

Dr Janet Dickson
Swinburne University
of Technology

Behaviourists vs Ethologists
Ethologists study an animals Natural behaviour (usually
in nature).

Presentation prepared by
Behaviourists study an animals Behaviour PotenSal
(learning) usually in a lab Dr Janet Dickson

Swinburne University
Both developed out of Darwinism
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Other areas of
Flip Ideas
Psychology
Gestalt (1920s to 2015)
Emerged out of Germany
Presentation
prepared by
Combination of Physics
and Ethology
Stressed the _________________
Dr Janet Dickson
Whole is more than the sum of the parts

Swinburne University
of Technology

Flip Ideas

CogniFve perspecFve

The cogniSve view focuses on how people

____________,
Presentation prepared by
_____________
_____________
Dr Janet Dickson
The metaphor for the cogni(ve perspec(ve is that the
Swinburne
University
mind is like a __________(informa(on processing
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model).
Uses experimental methods to infer mental processes
at work

HumanisFc perspecFve
(Carl Rogers)
Flip Ideas
The humanisSc perspecSve focuses on the ________
_________________ and that people are moSvated to
reach their full potenSal Presentation

prepared by
(self-actualisa(on).
The metaphor for the humanis(c
perspec(ve
is that
Dr Janet
Dickson
people are innately ________ and will strive to realise
goals and ambiSons. Swinburne University
of
Technology
The humanisSc perspecSve is
person-centred

EvoluFonary perspecFve
(Stephen Pinker)
Flip Ideas
EvoluSonary view is that human behaviours
___________ because they helped our ancestors
survive and reproduce. Presentation prepared by
Some behaviours are biologically determined (e.g., the
impulse to eat, sexual impulses).
Dr Janet Dickson
Sociobiology:
Swinburne University
Natural selecSon operates on psychological func(ons
of
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and social behaviour as well as physical funcSons.

EvoluFonary perspecFve (Richard Dawkins)

The metaphor for the evolu(onary perspec(ve is that
we are all runners in a race, compeSng for resources
Gather informaSon through
deducSve mprepared
ethods with
Presentation
by
more recent use of experimentaSon.
O{en start with a known bDr
ehaviour
in a Dickson
species and
Janet
akempt to explain it on the basis of evoluSonary
Swinburne University
principles.

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ContribuFons of the psychological

perspecFves
Psychodynamic psychology: focus on _______
processes, conict, and early experiences
Behavioural psychology: Presentation
focus on ___________
prepared by
(behaviour modied by consequences)
Humanis(c psychology: focus on the unique individual
Dr Janet Dickson
and moSvaSon to __________
Swinburne
University
Cogni(ve psychology: focus
on _______and
_______
Evolu(onary psychology: focus
why we _____, _____
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or _______

ContribuFons of the psychological

perspecFves
Psychodynamic psychology: focus on unconscious
processes, conict, and early experiences
Behavioural psychology: Presentation
focus on learning
(behaviour
prepared
by
modied by consequences)
Humanis(c psychology: focus on the unique individual
Janet Dickson
and moSvaSon to achieve gDr
oals
Swinburne
Cogni(ve psychology: focus
on thought aUniversity
nd memory
Evolu(onary psychology: focus
why we feel, think or
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behave