Complete Summary Introductory
Psychology and Brain &
Cognition
Background to the Study of Psychology.................................................................................................3
Three fundamental ideas for psychology...............................................................................................3
A historical overview.............................................................................................................................3
The idea that the mind and behavior are shaped by experience............................................................5
Section review........................................................................................................................................7
The Scope of Psychology........................................................................................................................8
Section review......................................................................................................................................11
Key terms..............................................................................................................................................12
Methods of psychology........................................................................................................................14
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................15
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................20
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................23
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................26
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................28
Genetics and Evolutionary Foundations of Behavior............................................................................29
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................32
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................35
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................38
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................40
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................43
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................47
Basic Processes of Learning..................................................................................................................48
The Neural Control of Behavior............................................................................................................52
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................57
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................60
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................68
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................71
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................74
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................77
Mechanism of Motivation and Emotion...............................................................................................78
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................80
,Section Review.....................................................................................................................................83
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................86
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................90
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................94
The Psychology of Vision......................................................................................................................95
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................96
Section Review...................................................................................................................................103
Section Review...................................................................................................................................107
Section Review...................................................................................................................................109
,Psychology Chapter 1
Background to the Study of Psychology
Learning outcomes for this chapter:
Summarize three fundamental ideas for psychology
Define psychology and explain how it relates to other scholarly fields
Why do people feel, think, and behave as they do?
Genes or experience? (Nature vs nurture)
Psychology
The science of the mind
Coming:
Brief overview of history + philosophy
Describing the scope of modern psychology
Three fundamental ideas for psychology
A historical overview
Wilhelm Wundt, 1879 opened first university-based psychology lab
Three fundamental ideas of psychology
1. Behavior and mental experiences gave physical causes that can be studied scientifically
2. The way people behave, think, and feel is modified over time by their experiences in their
environment
3. The body’s machinery, which produces behavior and mental experiences, is a product of
evolution by natural selection.
Physical causations of behavior
Dualism: material body, immaterial soul
Focus: what was Descartes’ version of dualism? How did it help pave the way for a
science of psychology?
Soul was responsible for most interesting part of humans.
Descartes challenged this
Human complex meat machine?
, Animals are meat machines without soul? Human with.
Soul = thought
Deliberation and judgement
Soul and physical ‘machine’ interact through the pineal body, buried between the two hemispheres
of the brain.
Nerves/neurons bring sensory information to the brain where the brain conjures a response.
Focus: what reasons can you think of why Descartes’ theory, despite its intuitive
appeal, was unsuitable for a complete psychology?
How can a non-material entity have a material effect?
Thomas Hobbes and the philosophy of materialism
Focus: how did Hobbes materialism help lay the groundwork for a science of
psychology?
Materialism: nothing exists except matter and energy.
Conscious thought is a product of the meat machines and subject to natural law
> Developing the science of physiology.
Increased understanding of reflexes.
Scientist began to understand neural connections and nerves connecting to the spinal cord and
brains.
Focus: How did the nineteenth-century understanding of the nervous system
inspire a theory of behavior called reflexology?
Some physiologist began to suggest that all human behavior occurs through reflexes, even so-called
voluntary activities.
Reflexology
All human actions are initiated by stimuli in the environment
This inspired Pavlov to do his experiments.
Everything’s a reflex.
Psychology and Brain &
Cognition
Background to the Study of Psychology.................................................................................................3
Three fundamental ideas for psychology...............................................................................................3
A historical overview.............................................................................................................................3
The idea that the mind and behavior are shaped by experience............................................................5
Section review........................................................................................................................................7
The Scope of Psychology........................................................................................................................8
Section review......................................................................................................................................11
Key terms..............................................................................................................................................12
Methods of psychology........................................................................................................................14
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................15
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................20
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................23
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................26
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................28
Genetics and Evolutionary Foundations of Behavior............................................................................29
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................32
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................35
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................38
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................40
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................43
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................47
Basic Processes of Learning..................................................................................................................48
The Neural Control of Behavior............................................................................................................52
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................57
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................60
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................68
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................71
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................74
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................77
Mechanism of Motivation and Emotion...............................................................................................78
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................80
,Section Review.....................................................................................................................................83
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................86
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................90
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................94
The Psychology of Vision......................................................................................................................95
Section Review.....................................................................................................................................96
Section Review...................................................................................................................................103
Section Review...................................................................................................................................107
Section Review...................................................................................................................................109
,Psychology Chapter 1
Background to the Study of Psychology
Learning outcomes for this chapter:
Summarize three fundamental ideas for psychology
Define psychology and explain how it relates to other scholarly fields
Why do people feel, think, and behave as they do?
Genes or experience? (Nature vs nurture)
Psychology
The science of the mind
Coming:
Brief overview of history + philosophy
Describing the scope of modern psychology
Three fundamental ideas for psychology
A historical overview
Wilhelm Wundt, 1879 opened first university-based psychology lab
Three fundamental ideas of psychology
1. Behavior and mental experiences gave physical causes that can be studied scientifically
2. The way people behave, think, and feel is modified over time by their experiences in their
environment
3. The body’s machinery, which produces behavior and mental experiences, is a product of
evolution by natural selection.
Physical causations of behavior
Dualism: material body, immaterial soul
Focus: what was Descartes’ version of dualism? How did it help pave the way for a
science of psychology?
Soul was responsible for most interesting part of humans.
Descartes challenged this
Human complex meat machine?
, Animals are meat machines without soul? Human with.
Soul = thought
Deliberation and judgement
Soul and physical ‘machine’ interact through the pineal body, buried between the two hemispheres
of the brain.
Nerves/neurons bring sensory information to the brain where the brain conjures a response.
Focus: what reasons can you think of why Descartes’ theory, despite its intuitive
appeal, was unsuitable for a complete psychology?
How can a non-material entity have a material effect?
Thomas Hobbes and the philosophy of materialism
Focus: how did Hobbes materialism help lay the groundwork for a science of
psychology?
Materialism: nothing exists except matter and energy.
Conscious thought is a product of the meat machines and subject to natural law
> Developing the science of physiology.
Increased understanding of reflexes.
Scientist began to understand neural connections and nerves connecting to the spinal cord and
brains.
Focus: How did the nineteenth-century understanding of the nervous system
inspire a theory of behavior called reflexology?
Some physiologist began to suggest that all human behavior occurs through reflexes, even so-called
voluntary activities.
Reflexology
All human actions are initiated by stimuli in the environment
This inspired Pavlov to do his experiments.
Everything’s a reflex.
