Introduc)on to Psychological Theories
Lecture 1: The Science of Psychology, 10-09-2024
The mind/body problem
Structuralism
The nature/nurture debate
Dualism
Psychology → study of the soul
Humans are ‘intui<ve psychologists’ → we try to understand/reason every observable ac<on
Psychological science is the study of mind, brain, and behavior → aimed at understanding
and predic<ng behavior (ac<ons) and mind (mental ac<vity)
- Mind → stuff of thought, mental ac<vity, perceptual ac<vi<es, memories, thoughts,
and feelings
o Not directly observable
There are many levels at which you can study psychology
- Groups vs individuals
- Behavior vs brain ac<vity
- Nature vs nurture → gene<cs vs upbringing/environment
History of psychology
Dualism: idea that mind and body are separated, Descartes
Nature/nurture debate: what can be affected by nurture and what is set by gene<cs
Structuralism: Complex mental processes can be reduced to simpler processes, what creates
our percep<on
- e.g., percep<on of an orange reduced to the colour and shape
o methods used are reac<on <mes and introspec<on
§ problema<c about making conclusions about your own percep<on
(introspec<on) is that you induce confounding variables
FuncDonalism: Concerned with the adap<ve purpose/func<on of mind and behavior. Mind is
more complex than its elements
- A house is more than a brick and windows → home, safe, cozy, etc.
EvoluDon: Focus on the func<ons of behavior, the ways our behavior helps us to survive and
reproduce. Evolu<on can give answers to the ‘why’ ques<ons
- Gene<c diversity, muta<on = varia<on, benefits of sexual reproduc<on
- Environmental pressures → evolu<on has no foresight
Schools of thought
,PsychoanalyDcal approach: Mental processes operate below the level of conscious
awareness, unconscious drives
- Freud puts more aUen<on to unconsciousness
Behaviorism: Only observable behavior can be subject of scien<fic inves<ga<on, building on
work of Pavlov, Psychology’s focus should be on how environment affects observable
behavior
- Watson, Skinner
Gestalt: A few basic principles guide visual percep<on, these explain how visual input is
grouped into a coherent whole, we perceive things based on proximity, similarity, figure-
ground, con<nuity, closure, connectedness
‘The whole is bigger than the sum of its parts’
HumanisDc psychology: An approach focusing on basic goodness in people, achieving goals,
and finding fulfilment, looking at the goodness of humans, basic values, posi<ve psychology,
looking into values, crea<vity, quality of friendships, gra<tude, faith
CogniDvism: The Cogni<ve Revolu<on, exploring mental processes, influenced by the
progress of the computer science
- Cogni<ve neuroscience: We can infer how the mind works by looking at behavior
The ScienDfic method:
1. Based on the experience, observa<on, exis<ng theories, etc. come up with a ques<on
and a predic<on
2. Test that predic<on against real measurement from the physical world (all types of
studies, like MRI, diary studies, etc.
3. Make conclusions with regard to your ques<ons, show support or lack of if for your
predic<on
4. Make new ques<ons and predic<ons based on the conclusions you have made
(bordering condi<ons like age, gender, race, etc.)
OpDmism bias: We tend to think we are beUer than others/beUer than average
- Vast majority of drivers rated themselves as beUer than the median (“average”) driver
(Svenson, 1981)
, Dunning-Kruger effect: a cogni<ve bias in which people with limited competence in a
par<cular domain overes<mate their abili<es.
Image with eyes and mouth upside down looks normal when you look at the image upside
down → we can’t trust our senses, we usually don’t see human’s upside down so we go off
what is ‘normal’
Probability judgement is affected by how oeen we hear about something and how easy it is
to bring to mind/imagine
The Birthday Paradox: we don’t think we will share a birthday with someone in the room, so
we have difficulty with exponen<al growth, “Rare” events given importance, self-iden<ty
Our intui<ons and even percep<ons can be biased, the ScienDfic Method can help to
overcome these problems, this can be done with amiable skepDcism → be cri<cal and
curious
The availability bias
The confirma<on bias
The determinis<c fallacy
Lecture 2: Basic Processes of Learning, 17-09-2024
Main cause of supersDDous behavior: receiving chance reinforcement, posi<ve outcome of
behavior by chance, spread as result of social behavior, are func<onal because the felling of
safety the give
What is learning: anything that leaves a trace from the environment, anything that affects us
through environment → imita<ng, modeling
Environment is never constant, individuals must adapt to ever-changing condi<ons of the
specific environments they live in → Behaviorism, ecological perspec<ve
Learning is an enduring change in behavior that results from experience
Lecture 1: The Science of Psychology, 10-09-2024
The mind/body problem
Structuralism
The nature/nurture debate
Dualism
Psychology → study of the soul
Humans are ‘intui<ve psychologists’ → we try to understand/reason every observable ac<on
Psychological science is the study of mind, brain, and behavior → aimed at understanding
and predic<ng behavior (ac<ons) and mind (mental ac<vity)
- Mind → stuff of thought, mental ac<vity, perceptual ac<vi<es, memories, thoughts,
and feelings
o Not directly observable
There are many levels at which you can study psychology
- Groups vs individuals
- Behavior vs brain ac<vity
- Nature vs nurture → gene<cs vs upbringing/environment
History of psychology
Dualism: idea that mind and body are separated, Descartes
Nature/nurture debate: what can be affected by nurture and what is set by gene<cs
Structuralism: Complex mental processes can be reduced to simpler processes, what creates
our percep<on
- e.g., percep<on of an orange reduced to the colour and shape
o methods used are reac<on <mes and introspec<on
§ problema<c about making conclusions about your own percep<on
(introspec<on) is that you induce confounding variables
FuncDonalism: Concerned with the adap<ve purpose/func<on of mind and behavior. Mind is
more complex than its elements
- A house is more than a brick and windows → home, safe, cozy, etc.
EvoluDon: Focus on the func<ons of behavior, the ways our behavior helps us to survive and
reproduce. Evolu<on can give answers to the ‘why’ ques<ons
- Gene<c diversity, muta<on = varia<on, benefits of sexual reproduc<on
- Environmental pressures → evolu<on has no foresight
Schools of thought
,PsychoanalyDcal approach: Mental processes operate below the level of conscious
awareness, unconscious drives
- Freud puts more aUen<on to unconsciousness
Behaviorism: Only observable behavior can be subject of scien<fic inves<ga<on, building on
work of Pavlov, Psychology’s focus should be on how environment affects observable
behavior
- Watson, Skinner
Gestalt: A few basic principles guide visual percep<on, these explain how visual input is
grouped into a coherent whole, we perceive things based on proximity, similarity, figure-
ground, con<nuity, closure, connectedness
‘The whole is bigger than the sum of its parts’
HumanisDc psychology: An approach focusing on basic goodness in people, achieving goals,
and finding fulfilment, looking at the goodness of humans, basic values, posi<ve psychology,
looking into values, crea<vity, quality of friendships, gra<tude, faith
CogniDvism: The Cogni<ve Revolu<on, exploring mental processes, influenced by the
progress of the computer science
- Cogni<ve neuroscience: We can infer how the mind works by looking at behavior
The ScienDfic method:
1. Based on the experience, observa<on, exis<ng theories, etc. come up with a ques<on
and a predic<on
2. Test that predic<on against real measurement from the physical world (all types of
studies, like MRI, diary studies, etc.
3. Make conclusions with regard to your ques<ons, show support or lack of if for your
predic<on
4. Make new ques<ons and predic<ons based on the conclusions you have made
(bordering condi<ons like age, gender, race, etc.)
OpDmism bias: We tend to think we are beUer than others/beUer than average
- Vast majority of drivers rated themselves as beUer than the median (“average”) driver
(Svenson, 1981)
, Dunning-Kruger effect: a cogni<ve bias in which people with limited competence in a
par<cular domain overes<mate their abili<es.
Image with eyes and mouth upside down looks normal when you look at the image upside
down → we can’t trust our senses, we usually don’t see human’s upside down so we go off
what is ‘normal’
Probability judgement is affected by how oeen we hear about something and how easy it is
to bring to mind/imagine
The Birthday Paradox: we don’t think we will share a birthday with someone in the room, so
we have difficulty with exponen<al growth, “Rare” events given importance, self-iden<ty
Our intui<ons and even percep<ons can be biased, the ScienDfic Method can help to
overcome these problems, this can be done with amiable skepDcism → be cri<cal and
curious
The availability bias
The confirma<on bias
The determinis<c fallacy
Lecture 2: Basic Processes of Learning, 17-09-2024
Main cause of supersDDous behavior: receiving chance reinforcement, posi<ve outcome of
behavior by chance, spread as result of social behavior, are func<onal because the felling of
safety the give
What is learning: anything that leaves a trace from the environment, anything that affects us
through environment → imita<ng, modeling
Environment is never constant, individuals must adapt to ever-changing condi<ons of the
specific environments they live in → Behaviorism, ecological perspec<ve
Learning is an enduring change in behavior that results from experience
