Define psychology
Psychology is a discipline, a science and a profession. Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and the factors that influence it. Psychologists use the term behavior very broadly to refer both to actions that we can observe directly and to inner processes – mental events – such as thoughts, feelings, images and physiological reactions.

What is the difference between basic and applied research?
Basic research is the quest for knowledge purely for its own sake.
Applied is designed to solve specific practical problems.

What are the main goals of psychology?

Describe, understand, predict/control
A. To describe how people and other animals behave
B. To understand (explain) the causes of these behaviors
C. To predict how people and animals will behave under certain conditions
D. To control, or influence, behavior through knowledge and control of its causes

Theoretical Perspectives

Give a brief description of how each of the following manor perspectives in Psychology would view human behavior.

Perspectives are vantage points for analyzing behavior and its biological, psychological and environment causes. Thinking about a behavioral phenomenon from different perspectives can enrich our understanding of its diverse causes.

Cognitive perspective views humans as information processors and problem solvers, whose actions are governed by thought and planning. Today’s cognitive perspective is concerned with ageless questions about How information is perceived and then organized in our minds, as well as how that information is combined with other contents of the mind to create memories, problem-solving strategies and creative thoughts. How mental processes influence our motives, emotions and behavior.

Biological perspective
Focuses on the physical side of human nature. It emphasizes the role of our highly developed brain; the biochemical processes that underlie our every thought, emotion and action and the manner in which genetics factors influence the development and behavior of human organisms.

Evolutionary perspective - Darwin
Is an emerging discipline that focuses on the role of evolution in the development of human behavior? Psychologists in this field stress that an organism’s biology determines its behavioral capabilities, and its behavior (including its mental abilities) determines whether or not it will survive.

Functionalism
Held that psychology should study the functions – the whys- of consciousness, rather than its structure the what’s, influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary theory which stressed the importance of adaptive behavior in helping organisms to respond successfully to their environment and survive. Much of the early research on the nature of learning and problem solving in humans and animals was done by functionalists. Functionalism endures in modern day psychology an emphasis on how the mind possesses information and directs behavior. Also seen in evolutionary psychology’s focus on the origins of adaptive behavior.

Structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt models the study of the mind after the physical and biological sciences.i.e. Analyzing materials with their new scientific tools such as the microscope and chemical analysis. Structuralism the analysis of the mind in terms of its basic elements. Believed that sensations are the basic elements of consciousness and they set out to study sensations through the method of introspection (looking within) participants were exposed to lights, sounds and tastes and were trained to describe their inner experiences. Left an important mark on the study of cognition that persists today.

Modern Cognitive Science
Artificial intelligence develops computer models of complex human thought, reasoning and problem solving. Researchers reason that by developing computer models that seems to duplicate natural cognitive processes they will have a better understanding of how humans things.

Gestalt psychology
The word gestalt may be translated as “whole” or “organization” and Gestalt psychology was concerned with how elements of experience are organized into wholes. Was the opposite of that taken by the structuralists? Instead of trying to break consciousness down into its basic elements, the Gestalt psychologists argued that our perceptions and other mental processes are organized so that the whole is only greater than, but also quite different from the sum of its parts. I.e. perception

Piaget Cognitive development in children
A zoologist by training – developed a remarkably influential theory of cognitive development. Like the functionalists, Piaget was concerned with how the mind and its development contribute to our ability to adapt to our environment.
His primary technique was to carefully observe children as they tried to solve problems. He then tired to imagine how they must have experienced the situation in order to respond as they did. Concluded that new and specific stages of cognitive development unfold naturally as children mature and threat these abilities cannot be explained by the accumulation of past exerperiences.

Social Constructivism perspective
Is a highly influential viewpoint within the cognitive perspective Gergen, 2000
Its proponents maintain that we consider “reality” is in large part of our mental creation. According to these theorists little shared reality exists apart from what groups of people socially construct through the subjective meaning they give to their experiences. I.e. those male and female sex roles are created not by “nature” but by the shared world view that exists within social groups.

Psychodynamic perspective
Searches for the causes of behavior within the workings of our personality, emphasizing the role of unconscious processes and unresolved conflicts from the past. First psychodynamic theory was Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis – he called it the analysis of internal psychological forces. Started to focus his attention on the treatment of hysteria, a psychological disorder in which physical symptoms such as blindness, pain or paralysis develop without any apparent organic cause. Study females by hypnosis consistently reported and relived painful and long forgotten childhood sexual experiences, after reliving these experiences Freud report that the patient’s symptoms often showed considerable improvement. Freud proposed that much of human behavior is influenced by forces of which we are unaware (he termed them unconscious forces)
Speculated that early sexual desires and needs are punished we learn to fear them and become anxious when we are aware of their presence. On of the most important defense mechanisms is repression.

Behavioral perspective
Focuses on the role of the external environment shaping and governing our actions. People’s behavior is jointly determined by learned habits fashioned by their previous life experiences and stimuli in their immediate environment. Particular emphasis is placed on the effect of rewards and punishments in shaping behavior.
Origins of the behavioral perspective - British empiricism which held that all ideas and knowledge are gained empirically – that is through the senses.
Behaviorism a school of thought that emphasizes environmental control of behavior through learning emerged as an alternative to the cognitive and psychodynamic perspectives – John Be Watson leader in the new movement. Argued that proper subject matter of psychology was observable behavior, not unobservable inner consciousness. Human beings are products of their conditioning experiences and their behavior can be controlled completely by manipulating their environment.

Cognitive behaviorism
Is an attempt to bridge the gap between the behavioral and cognitive perspectives and to combine them in a more comprehensive theory?
Cognitive behaviorists also stress that we can learn new behaviors by observing the actions of others and storing this information in memory. We can then imitate and reproduce these behaviors when we believe they will work for us.

Humanistic perspective
Arose largely our of philosophical schools that emphasize free will, innate tendencies toward growth and the attempt to find ultimate meaning in one’s existence. Contrast to psychoanalytic emphasis on unconscious determinants of behavior, humanists stresses the importance of conscious motives, freedom and choice. Believe that in every human being there is an active force toward growth and self-actualization the reaching of one’s individual potential. Human misery and pathology, in contrast, are fostered by environments that frustrate the innate tendencies toward self-actualization.

Sociocultural perspective
Focuses on the manner in which culture is transmitted to its members and on the similarities and differences that occur among people from diverse cultures. Culture refers to the enduring values, beliefs, behaviors and traditions that are shared by a large group of people and are passed on from one generation to the next.
Norms are rules that specify what is acceptable and expected behavior of members of that group. Cultures introduce order and a particular world view into a social system, thus creating predictability, guidelines for thought and behavior and a kind of map for living our lives.

What are some of the strengths or limitations of these theories?

Discuss the nature/nurture controversy?
The behavioral and sociocultural perspectives emphasize the role of the environment in the development of behavior. They tell us that we are molded by our unique learning histories and shaped by the culture into which we are born. Our learning and cultural experiences influence not only our behavior but also how we view ourselves and the world. Which is it that determines our behavior: nature (our biological endowment) or nurture (our environment and learning history?)
Nature emphasis predominated; many scientists believed that human characteristics are genetically determined
Nurture believed that humans are largely a product of their environment.
The task for psychological science is to discover the ways in which nature and nurture combine to influence our behavior.

Biological level of analysis
We can analyze behavior and its causes in terms of how brain processes, hormones and genetic factors contribute to it.

Psychological level of analysis
A cognitive perspective and analyze the role of thought, memory, planning and problem solving in the behavior of interest.

Psychodynamic and humanistic perspectives
Lead us to the psychological level of analysis and take account of the motivational, emotional and personality processes that influence how people respond to their environment.

Take account of the environment, past and present, personal and cultural that helps shape and stimulate our behaviors, thus the behavioral and social-cultural perspectives focus our attention on a third level of analysis the environmental level of analysis.

How would you use the integrated Biopsychosocial (i.e. biological/psychological/environment) approach to explain the development of depression?

Biological
Loss of appetite and sleep difficulties usual normal responses to negative events. Genetic factors appear to be involved in at least some of these cases. Depression is also related to biochemical factors and sleep/wakefulness rhythms in the brain. Certain chemicals (neurotransmitters) that are involved in the transmission of nerve impulses with the brain. Most effective antidepressant drugs seem to operate by restoring a normal balance of neurotransmitters.

Psychological level
Many studies have shown that depression is associated with a particular thinking style in which the person interprets events in a pessimistic way. Depressed people can find the black cloud that surrounds every silver lining. Are there personality patterns more prone to depression than others? Psychodynamic Theorists believe that sever losses or rejections in childhood help to create a personality style that causes people to overreact to future losses, setting the stage for later depression.

Environmental level of analysis
Reveals several factors that play in major role in depression, according to the behavioral view, depression is a reaction to a non rewarding environment. As depression intensifies, such people feel so bad that they stop doing the things that ordinarily give them pleasure, a pattern that decreases environmental rewards till further. To make matters worse depressed people complain a good deal, seek excessive reassurance and support from others and generally become less likeable. Alienate themselves from others – net result is a worsening environment with few rewards, a reduction in support from others and the unhappiness and hopeless pessimism that characterize chronic depression.
Soci-cultural environment also affects depression; both its symptom pattern and its causes may reflect cultural differences. i.e. feelings of guilt and personal inadequacy seem to predominate in North American and western European countries, whereas bodily symptoms of fatigue, loss of appetite and sleep difficulties are more often reported in Latin, Chinese and African cultures. Cross-cultural studies have shown that in developed countries such as the US, Canada women are about twice as likely as men to report feeling depressed whereas no such sex difference is found in developing countries.

Depression differs from case to case, but they can also combine or interact with one another in ways that vary according to the person and situation, Interaction means that the presence or strength of one factor can influence the effects of other factors i.e. a person who has a strong biological predisposition to depression may become depressed when faced with a relatively minor setback in life that would barely phase a second person who does not have that predisposition.

Major Themes in psychology
Psychology is empirical, meaning that it favors direct observation over pure intuition or reasoning as a means of attaining knowledge about behavior.

Our experience of the world is subjective and that we respond to psychological reality created by our own thought processes, motives and expectations.

Behavior is determined by multiple causal factors that can interact with one another in complex ways.

Nature and nurture not combine to shape our behavior but also influence one another.

Behavior is a means of adapting to environment demands and psychological capacities have evolved during each species history because they facilitated adaptation and survival.

Behavior and mental processes are strongly affected by the cultural environment in which they develop.

What are some of the major specialty areas within psychology?

Clinical – diagnosis and treatment of emotional disorders, research

Counseling – personal adjustment, vocational and career planning

Educational – curriculum and instructional research, teacher training

Experimental – laboratory settings

Industrial – behavior in work settings

Development – study of physical, mental, emotional and social development across the entire life span

Social – all aspects of social behavior and the conditions that affect it

Personality – individual differences in personality and their effects on behavior, factors involved in personality development and change

Physiological – biological foundations of behavior, brain/behavior relationships, genetic processes and the functioning of sensory and motor systems

Quantitative – measurement and data analysis; development of mathematical models of behaviors; computer science

What types of settings do psychologists work?
Hospitals, schools, industry and government, clinics, counseling centres, private practice and colleges and medical schools