Chapter 1 Psychology: The Science of Behaviour

Psychology the scientific study of behaviour and the mind.

It is the study of the soul
o Psyche = soul, logos = study
Arose from physiological and philosophical roots
Behaviour observable actions of human beings and non-human animals
Mind private inner experience.
o Internal states and processes that cannot be observed directly and that
must be inferred from observable, measurable responses
We study behaviour as it is difficult to study the mind.
The Goals of Psychology
1. to describe how people and other animals behave
2. to explain and understand the causes of these behaviours
3. to predict how people and animals will behave under certain conditions
4. to influence or control behaviour through knowledge and control of its causes
to enhance human welfare
*note that prediction can have important uses that do not require complete
understanding
basic research the quest for knowledge purely for its own sake
- describe and identity the cause (1 and 2)
applied research the application of knowledge derived from basic research to
solve practical problems
Mind and Behaviour
Subjective Experiences arise from objective chemical processes in the brain
how it feels to be a brain
Mind-body interactions the relations between mental processes in the brain and
the functioning of other bodily systems
Example:
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) -- a neuroimaging technique which
allows one to see which parts of the brain are active during a given task
A novice pianist will have different activity within the brain than an expert
pianist
Why is it important to have subjective experience?
William James said that Thinking is for doing
Our subjective experience/mind allows us to carry out adaptive behaviours
There is no useless mental process. We need all of our basic mental processes
Think of anxiety -> seems useless, but it really isnt
o There was a kid called Elliot who didnt have anxiety. As a result, he
couldnt prioritize tasks well as he didnt have the motivation to do it.

In other words, EMOTIONS ARE IMPORTANT

Why, then, do people behave differently?

Different people have different subjective experiences. We have so called bugs
that liven up our behaviour
Our mind is like a machine. It can sometimes trade accuracy for speed.
o Think of mundane mental slips like accidently putting a remote in the
fridge.
If it wasnt for mistakes, we wouldnt be able to study the mind. MISTAKES HELP
STUDY THE MIND.
Humans have always desired to understand their selves (think of the philosophers)
Nativism The philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are
innate/inborn
Plato
Nature
Linguists
Philosophical Empiricism The philosophical view that all knowledge is acquired
from experience
Aristotle
Nurture
o Tabula Rasa
blank slate
Behaviourists
Philosophers based their ideas on personal observation, intuition, and speculation.
They did not test their theories
Mind- Body Dualism -- the belief that the mind is a spiritual entity not subject to
physical laws that govern the body
Rene Descartes proposed that the mind and body interact through the
brains tiny pineal gland.
o In reality, the pineal gland actually produces melatonin which is
used for sleep.
The body acts like a machine. It is subject to physical laws and mechanical
principles
The mind is god-like. It is like a spiritual entity that is a source of free will
and voluntary behaviour.
Descartes also believed that animals did not have a mind and that only
humans did
Reflex action for every action of the body, a stimulus made it happen.
o Descartes believed that this stimulus came from animal spirits
(which we now know is just neurotransmitters) and that the mind
could intervene to alter a reflex
No amount of research on the brain or body can tell us anything about the
mind.

Monism
separate

the view that the mind and body are one and that the mind is not a
spiritual entity.
Thomas Hobbes The mind IS what the brain DOES
Empiricism the mind can be studied by measuring physical processes
within the brain
o Was influenced by the studies of Darwin who had used evidence
Franz Joseph Gall believed that the mind and brain were linked by size
rather than by glands (as Descartes had thought) (Still a dualist thought)
o Phrenology a defunct theory that thought specific mental
abilities and characteristics were localized in specific regions of the
brain.
Got blown out of proportion. People thought bumps on the
brain could contribute to specific characteristics
Bigger parts of the brain = bigger mental ability
Pierre Flourens was galled by gall
o Used rigious methods and surgical removal of brain areas to provide
evidence
Paul Broca worked with a brain-damaged patient with trauma to the left
frontal lobe
o The patient couldnt speak but could understand.
o This area of the brain is now known as Brocas aphasia/area
Broca and Flourens helped demonstrate the mind-brain connection
(Monism)

Eventually, psychology moved away from philosophical approaches to more

physiological approaches
Physiology the study of biological processes, especially in the human body
Nicholas Tinbergen was an etiologist and had four why questions:

Proximate
(HOW)
Ultimate
(WHY)

Dynamic (Historical
Sequence)
Ontogeny (Developmental)
Phylogeny (evolution)

Static (Current Form)

Mechanism (causation or
structure)
Function

Structuralism the analysis of the mind in terms of its basic elements

Wilhelm Wundt opened the first lab in Germany
o founded psychology as a scientific discipline
o Studied the relationships between basic elements
Edward Titchener -- brought psychology to America
o Studied just the basic elements
In their experiments, they used the method of introspection (looking
within or the subjective observation of ones own experience) to study
sensations (the basic elements of consciousness)

Consciousness a persons subjective experience of the world and the

mind
Subjects reported their raw sensory experience or sensation rather than
their interpretation
Faded as it was too subjective. There was a need for replication,
consistency, and verification.

Functionalism the study of the PURPSE mental process serve in enabling people
to adapt to their environment
William James The American Father of Pyschology
o Depression, confusion, world-travelling led him to wanting a
modern, scientific approach to human nature.
o Agreed that using introspection and focusing on immediate
subjective experience were useful in order to study consciousness
o However, he disagreed with the studying of the basic elements.
He believed that consciousness is like a stream there is no
one experience. One experience experienced again will be a
different experience
o Influenced by Charles Darwin
Has now branched into cognitive and evolutionary psychology
STRUCTUALISTS = HOW (PROXIMATE)
FUNCTIONALISTS = WHY (ULTIMATE)
Clinical Psychology the study and treatment of mental disorders (think
therapists)
Charcot and Janet studied patients with hysteria through hypnosis
o Hysteria a temporarily loss of cognitive or motor functions usually
as a result of emotionally upsetting experience
They became blind, paralysed, and even forgetful
o When hypnotized, it was as if the person transformed and became
two different people.
o Structualists ignored hysteria while functionalists were excited
o
Psychodynamic perspective searches for the causes of behaviour within the
inner workings of personality, emphasizing the role of unconscious processes
Psychoanalytic theory an approach to understanding human behaviour that
emphasizes the important of unconscious mental processes in shaping thoughts,
feelings, and actions
Psychoanalysis a therapeutic approach that focuses on bringing unconscious
material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders
Sigmund Freud Believed that hysteria resulted from painful unconscious
experiences
o Unconscious the part of the mind that operates outside of
awareness but influences conscious thoughts, feelings, and actions

Focused mainly on understanding peoples unconscious desires

(either violent or sexual in nature). This was highly controversial at
the time.
pyschodynamic
He worked in clinics and divorced himself from actual research
findings. He didnt test the effectiveness as it is very hard to study
unconscious things.
Jung challenged his ideas and Freud broke off their
relationship

Behaviorial perspective a view that focueses on the role of the external

environment in governing our actions
Our behaviour is jointly determined by habits learned from pervious life
experiences and by stimuli in our immediate environment (Philosophical
Empiricism/Nurture)
John Watson Believed that psychology should focus mainly on what
people DO rather than what they experience. It should examine their
behaviour, which is an observable thing rather than an unobservable
thing.
Monism
Sought to discover laws that govern learning
Brought into account the Goals of Pyschology Predict and control
behaviour in order to benefit society
Studied animals. He didnt know where to draw the line. Do animals have
a mind? (it was previously thought that they didnt [remember Descartes])
Ivon Pavlov Studied the physology of digestion and founded classical
conditions
o The stimulus response; S-R
o Revealed that learning occurs when events are associated with
each other
o Dogs salivate to people that feed them; they learned to associate
the two together
o Stimulus sensory input from the environment
o Response an action or physiological change elicited by a stimulus
o Very PASSIVE experiments
Skinner believed that through social engineering, society could
harness the power of the environment to change behaviour in beneficial
ways
o Radical behaviourism/behaviour modification (free will
controversy)
o Used a chamber box (or operant box) to study learning
Reinforcement: the consequences of behaviour determine
whether it will be more likely that the behaviour will occur
again.
The Law of Effect: responses followed by satisfying
consequences are more likely to occur

Cognitive Behaviourism learning experiences and the environment affect our

behaviour by giving us the information we need to behave effectively (the
consequences of our actions cause us to THINK that maybe doing that action again
isnt such a great idea)
Humanistic perspective emphasized free will, personal growth, and the attempt
to find meaning in ones existence
Rogers and Maslow
Resulted from post WWII
Humanistic psychology an approach to understanding human nature
that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings
o Humans have an inherent need to develop, grow, and attain their
full potential
o Self-actualization reaching ones full potential
o Positive psychology managing stress, increasing optimism.