INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY:
INTRODUCTION:
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
= wetenschappelijke studie v behavior en mentale processen
Mentale processen = alle interne, covert activity of our minds like thinking, feeling
and remembering
Behavior = includes all of our outward or overt actions and reactions (talking, facial
expressions, movements)
IS PSYCHOLOGY A SCIENCE?
Why not: Why yes:
Lack of scientific method Methods
Lack of definitions Empirically tested
Lack of predictive possibilities hypotheses
Problems of scatterd definitions and cumultative progression : different definitions +
difficult to accumulate new information
YOUNG SCIENCE WITH A LONG TRADITION:
HISTORY:
Ancient Egypt:
Interest + experiments: the brain is the site of mental functions
Every personality has an open and a hidden part that sum up to make the person
They recognize mental disorders
The Greeks:
Aristotele: soul = psyche
Discusses the senses, intellect, soul (only humans can be rational creatures)
Roman period:
Epictetus Enchiridion: recognizes that men are disturbed not by things, but by the
views which they take of things
Stoicism = precursor of mindfulness + cognitive behavioral therapy
,Middle age = dark centuries:
Avicenna: soul + body are separate (Decartes) we have intellect, reason + senses
Albertus Magnus, Tommaso D’Aquino : there was intellectual curiosity often ground in
philosophy
However; the upper class was part of the church : soul is something else
Decartes: part of the brain connecting soul + body (pineal gland)
Elaborated reflex theories
Brain = working machine (works as mathematics)
Empirism: knowledge comes from experience + observation Introduce concepts:
Associations : more complex knowledge develops through the association of simple
ideas
o Experiencing 2 things together binds them
Body + mind = machines can be studied as part of natural sciences
Helmholtz: neural impulse
Measured conduction velocity of hearing and vision
No perfect match between the physics of an impulse and perception
Weber + Fetchner: principles of psychophysics laws to link the external reality +
experience from individual
Darwin : Origin of species: evolution theory Both in terms of knowledge + method :
We have evolved from other living forms humans are sort of animals =
Contextual factors are fundamental comparative psychology
As the best adapted survives = survival of the fittest method: systematic observation,
Natural selection + genetic variation formulation of hypotheses
MODERN PSYCHOLOGY BORN AS DISCIPLINE:
Wundt + structuralism: (1832-1920)
Officially the first psychology lab : promotes psychology as a scientific discipline
Onderzoek naar de elementen vh bewustzijn:
o Elk complex proces kan gereduceerd worden tot combi v elementaire
componenten
Introspection as method to identify elements of consciousness
, o Naar binnen kijken: je eigen innerlijke ervaring/ beschrijven wat ze voelen,
ervaren
Study of mental chronometry (reaction times) = measurement of times: how fast
they respond
Consciousness = total content of our experiences :
Consciousness : everything that you experience on a moment: thoughts, memories,
feelings,…
Theory of mind that supported a welldefined, quantitative and easily reproducible
experimental methodology
Donders: distraction during the appearance of the stimulus is always punished with
prolongation of the process attention important for fast processing
Titchner + structuralism: elements of the conscious experience of adults
Binet + applied psychology:
Educational psychology: intelligence test
o To classify not quantify : the idea was to offer the best education according to
capacities
He saw intelligence as more then only memory and knowledge
o Importancy of good judgment + how memory can be influenced
intelligence can grow
Why applied psychology? Because research aimed to solve problems
William James + principles of psychology: functionalism: against structuralism
Consciousness = continuously flowing, not isolated or reduced to components
Interest more on behavior
Broader populations : people with mental handicap and animals comparative
psychology
Pragmatism = how useful an idea would be (truth is hard to discover)
o The truth is hard to establish definitive , you need to look what works in real
world
o Idea is true as far as it is useful in practice
Freud + the birth of psychoanalysis:
Much of what happens in terms of behavior + thoughts are not conscious
subconscious
Problems as adults start in childhood from repressed experiences
Exploring the unconscious : interpretation of dreams, free associations
, He planned to have a neuroscientific view on some of the theories : did not happen
Functionalism in the VS:
Psychology of individual differences + applied functionalism
Hawtorn effect: how humans change their behavior due to the fact that they are
seen
Behaviorism + Watson and Skinner:
Focus on observable variables behavior
No interest in what is not observable not object of the study
Reaction to structuralism: only behavior can be study and introspection is not a
valid method
Reaction to functionalism: study of the mind is not possible (not even via
behavior)
Pavlov’s conditioned reflex: a reflex (uncons) response is produced in response to
stimulus
Over time, the response to conditioned to different stimulus associated to original
stimulus
Response is then associated to the conditioned stimulus
Watson: behavior is largely learnt : little Albert experiments (trained kid to be scared of
several things by changing conditions: NS = rat + UCS = loud noise + CS = rat)
Skinner: operant conditioning (rewards + punishment) : behavior comes from consequences
of it
Cognitive psychology: return of the mind / mental processes
Metaphor of human as a computer : focus on mental processes (memory, attention,
language,..)
Miller and the magic number : people can hold on average 7 (plus/min 2) in short
memory
Chomsky : universal grammar
o There is a predisposition to learn a language: poverty of the stimulus (with
less input)
o Cannot only happen with rewards and punishments or imitation
o This predisposition is biologically hard-wired
PSYCHOLOGY NOW: SUBDISCIPLINES
INTRODUCTION:
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
= wetenschappelijke studie v behavior en mentale processen
Mentale processen = alle interne, covert activity of our minds like thinking, feeling
and remembering
Behavior = includes all of our outward or overt actions and reactions (talking, facial
expressions, movements)
IS PSYCHOLOGY A SCIENCE?
Why not: Why yes:
Lack of scientific method Methods
Lack of definitions Empirically tested
Lack of predictive possibilities hypotheses
Problems of scatterd definitions and cumultative progression : different definitions +
difficult to accumulate new information
YOUNG SCIENCE WITH A LONG TRADITION:
HISTORY:
Ancient Egypt:
Interest + experiments: the brain is the site of mental functions
Every personality has an open and a hidden part that sum up to make the person
They recognize mental disorders
The Greeks:
Aristotele: soul = psyche
Discusses the senses, intellect, soul (only humans can be rational creatures)
Roman period:
Epictetus Enchiridion: recognizes that men are disturbed not by things, but by the
views which they take of things
Stoicism = precursor of mindfulness + cognitive behavioral therapy
,Middle age = dark centuries:
Avicenna: soul + body are separate (Decartes) we have intellect, reason + senses
Albertus Magnus, Tommaso D’Aquino : there was intellectual curiosity often ground in
philosophy
However; the upper class was part of the church : soul is something else
Decartes: part of the brain connecting soul + body (pineal gland)
Elaborated reflex theories
Brain = working machine (works as mathematics)
Empirism: knowledge comes from experience + observation Introduce concepts:
Associations : more complex knowledge develops through the association of simple
ideas
o Experiencing 2 things together binds them
Body + mind = machines can be studied as part of natural sciences
Helmholtz: neural impulse
Measured conduction velocity of hearing and vision
No perfect match between the physics of an impulse and perception
Weber + Fetchner: principles of psychophysics laws to link the external reality +
experience from individual
Darwin : Origin of species: evolution theory Both in terms of knowledge + method :
We have evolved from other living forms humans are sort of animals =
Contextual factors are fundamental comparative psychology
As the best adapted survives = survival of the fittest method: systematic observation,
Natural selection + genetic variation formulation of hypotheses
MODERN PSYCHOLOGY BORN AS DISCIPLINE:
Wundt + structuralism: (1832-1920)
Officially the first psychology lab : promotes psychology as a scientific discipline
Onderzoek naar de elementen vh bewustzijn:
o Elk complex proces kan gereduceerd worden tot combi v elementaire
componenten
Introspection as method to identify elements of consciousness
, o Naar binnen kijken: je eigen innerlijke ervaring/ beschrijven wat ze voelen,
ervaren
Study of mental chronometry (reaction times) = measurement of times: how fast
they respond
Consciousness = total content of our experiences :
Consciousness : everything that you experience on a moment: thoughts, memories,
feelings,…
Theory of mind that supported a welldefined, quantitative and easily reproducible
experimental methodology
Donders: distraction during the appearance of the stimulus is always punished with
prolongation of the process attention important for fast processing
Titchner + structuralism: elements of the conscious experience of adults
Binet + applied psychology:
Educational psychology: intelligence test
o To classify not quantify : the idea was to offer the best education according to
capacities
He saw intelligence as more then only memory and knowledge
o Importancy of good judgment + how memory can be influenced
intelligence can grow
Why applied psychology? Because research aimed to solve problems
William James + principles of psychology: functionalism: against structuralism
Consciousness = continuously flowing, not isolated or reduced to components
Interest more on behavior
Broader populations : people with mental handicap and animals comparative
psychology
Pragmatism = how useful an idea would be (truth is hard to discover)
o The truth is hard to establish definitive , you need to look what works in real
world
o Idea is true as far as it is useful in practice
Freud + the birth of psychoanalysis:
Much of what happens in terms of behavior + thoughts are not conscious
subconscious
Problems as adults start in childhood from repressed experiences
Exploring the unconscious : interpretation of dreams, free associations
, He planned to have a neuroscientific view on some of the theories : did not happen
Functionalism in the VS:
Psychology of individual differences + applied functionalism
Hawtorn effect: how humans change their behavior due to the fact that they are
seen
Behaviorism + Watson and Skinner:
Focus on observable variables behavior
No interest in what is not observable not object of the study
Reaction to structuralism: only behavior can be study and introspection is not a
valid method
Reaction to functionalism: study of the mind is not possible (not even via
behavior)
Pavlov’s conditioned reflex: a reflex (uncons) response is produced in response to
stimulus
Over time, the response to conditioned to different stimulus associated to original
stimulus
Response is then associated to the conditioned stimulus
Watson: behavior is largely learnt : little Albert experiments (trained kid to be scared of
several things by changing conditions: NS = rat + UCS = loud noise + CS = rat)
Skinner: operant conditioning (rewards + punishment) : behavior comes from consequences
of it
Cognitive psychology: return of the mind / mental processes
Metaphor of human as a computer : focus on mental processes (memory, attention,
language,..)
Miller and the magic number : people can hold on average 7 (plus/min 2) in short
memory
Chomsky : universal grammar
o There is a predisposition to learn a language: poverty of the stimulus (with
less input)
o Cannot only happen with rewards and punishments or imitation
o This predisposition is biologically hard-wired
PSYCHOLOGY NOW: SUBDISCIPLINES
