Introduction to Approaches in Psychology Kevin Silber University of Derby

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Introduction to Approaches in PsychologyKevin
SilberUniversity of Derby
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Before Psychology

• Philosophers asked questions about the mind
• Plato (427-347 BC) Does perception accurately
  reflect reality?
• Aristotle (384-322 BC) Logic forms the laws of
  thought
• Descartes (1596-1650) I think therefore I am

Problematic - No scientific way of studying
problems

• Scientific Method
• Predict what will happen
• Systematically observe events
• Do events support predictions

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The beginnings of Psychology.
This is Marko Marulic (1450-1524) Croatian
humanist and poet, born in Split He probably
studied in Padua First use thought to be around
1506 Title of work was Psichiologia de ratione
animae humanae No actual manuscript exists but
the work is listed in a list of his works (Life
of Marko Marulic from Split) by his contemporary
and friend, Franjo Bozicevic
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The beginnings of Psychology.
First Experimental Psych Lab (1879)

• Focuses on the scientific study of the mind.
• Wundt insists that Psychological methods be as
  rigorous as the methods of chemistry physics.

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
Wundts students start labs across USA (1880-1900)
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Founding Fathers of Psychology

• Focus of Experiments
• Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
• Physiologist Perceptual Psychologist
• Founder of Psychology as a Science

• Focus on Introspection
• Edward Titchener (1867-1927)
• Student of Wundt
• Developed Y at Cornell

• Focus on understanding Mental Processes
• William James (1842-1910)
• Philosopher Psychologist
• Formed Y at Harvard

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Structuralism vs Functionalism
Structuralism (Wundt)

• Analyze consciousness into basic elements and
  study how they are related using Introspection
  (self-observation of ones own conscious
  experiences)

Functionalism (James)

• Investigate the function, or purpose of
  consciousness rather than its structure.
• Leaned toward applied work (natural surroundings)

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Behaviorism
Scientific Psychology should focus on observable
behaviour.
Y the study of observable behaviour
Mental Processes cannot be studied directly
John Watson (1878-1958)
Stimulus Response Psychology
Black box theory
OR
Ivan Pavlov
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Psychology (1920s-1960s)

• Behaviourism
• Science of Observable Behaviour

• John B. Watson (1878-1958)
• Behaviour without Reference to Thought
• S-R Psychology
• Little Albert

• B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)
• Behaviour modification
• The Pigeon
• The Skinner Box

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Psychology (1960s onwards) Gestalt Psychology
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

• Phi Phenomenon (Max Wertheimer (1880-1943))
• Illusion of movement created by presenting visual
  stimuli in rapid succession.

WHY?

• A reaction against Structuralism.
• An attempt to focus attention back onto
  conscious experience (the mind)

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Phi Phenomenon
Do you see a ball moving back and forth at the
top? Would it surprise you if I said that the
moving ball is really one ball presented first on
the left and then one on the right? This is true
even though it appears like a ball moving across
the screen.
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Kaniza Triangles
The images physically consist of 3 circles with
pie shaped wedges removed and 3 angles formed
from straight lines. When you look at the images,
you will probably see one triangle on top of
another. The top triangle typically appears
lighter, although the background is physically
uniform. The triangular forms and the apparent
lightness of the top triangle in comparison with
the bottom one are subjective.
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Freud Psychoanalysis
The idea of the UNCONSCIOUS

• Thoughts, memories desires exist below
  conscious awareness and exert an influence on our
  behaviour

• Unconscious expressed in dreams slips of the
  tongue

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

• Psychoanalytic Theory attempts to explain
  personality, mental disorders motivation in
  terms of unconscious determinants of behaviour

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(Some) CURRENT Approaches to Psychology
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Psychobiology and Neuroscience
the study of the brain and how it causes or
relates to behaviour (Wickens, 20003)

• Brain and behaviour are linked
• behaviour may shape brain activity
• brain activity may shape behaviour

• Biological psychologists use a number of
  techniques to study this relationship
• healthy human participants
• brain damaged patients

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Social Psychology
The scientific study of the effects of social
and cognitive processes on the way individuals
perceive, influence and relate to others (Smith
Mackie, 2000)
Social Psychologists seek to develop theories to
explain social behaviour using the same
principles, laws and conventions that bind other
scientific disciplines.

• Emphasis on scientific theories to explain social
  behaviour
• Theories provide general explanations for social
  behaviour

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Cognitive Psychology
How people perceive, learn, remember and think
about information (Sternberg, 1996)

• Cognitive psychologists are interested in
  structures and functions of mind
• Assumption - mind is a set of processes that rely
  on the brain
• Assumption - mental processes are linked with
  observable behaviour
• Takes a scientific perspective
• Perform controlled experiments testing theories
  about inner mental processes. Observe the effects
  of these processes on outward measurable
  behaviour
• Mind cannot be directly studied - but observable
  effects can be
• Cognitive Psychology the study of mental
  processes via measurable behaviour

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Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychologists study both the
similarities and the differences among people as
they develop and change over the course of their
life (Carlson et al., 2004)
Many developmental theories involve
characterisations of the stages of development
that children and adults go through (e.g. Piaget,
Erikson). Some theories concentrate on certain
aspects of development (e.g. Kohlbergs theory of
moral development) Many theories have been
influential in shaping the way learning is
organised in schools (e.g. Piaget,
Vygotsky) Developmental psychology also takes
account of adulthood, old age and even death
(e.g. McCrae, Salthouse, Kübler-Ross)
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Health Psychology

• The aggregate of the specific educational,
  scientific and professional contributions of the
  discipline of psychology to the promotion and
  maintenance of health, the prevention of illness,
  and the identification of etiological and
  diagnostic correlates of health, illness and
  related dysfunction (Matarazzo, 1980).

• Biopsychosocial (mindbody) perspective
• The view that health is determined by the
  interaction of biological mechanisms,
  psychological processes, and social influences

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Learning and Conditioning

• Learning is an adaptive process in which the
  tendency to perform a particular behaviour is
  changed by experience. As conditions change, we
  learn new behaviours and eliminate old ones (
  Carlson et al, 1997).

• Habituation Simplest form of Learning
• Learning not to respond to unimportant events
  that occur repeatedly
• Classical Conditioning learning about the
  conditions that predict a significant event
• Pavlovs Dogs

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In Summary.

• Psychology is Empirical
• Knowledge acquired through observation
• Psychological conclusions based on research NOT
  tradition or common sense
• Psychology develops in both a social historical
  context
• Behaviour is shaped by genes and environment
  (nature nurture)
• Psychology is theoretically diverse (different
  approaches)