Cognitive Learning: A Contemporary View of the Past

Chapter 4: p.163

Focus Questions

Why is it important to consider cognition in studies of conditioning?

In the heyday of the view that human behavior and personality could be explained in terms of reinforcement history, there were dissenters who insisted that an understanding of cognition was also essential.

Can learning occur when there is no reinforcement or punishment?

Learning by insight was one early demonstration that trial-and-error learning and stimulus-response associations were adequate in explaining behavior.

Rats’ learning of mazes in the absence of reinforcement was another difficult phenomenon for the strict behaviorists to explain.

What is the modern view of processes in learning and conditioning?

Demonstrations of observational learning by humans and other species also contradicted the idea that learning could be explained solely in terms of reinforcement or punishment; thus, the learning-performance distinction emerged.

Modern civilization and its technology exist because of direct and indirect observational learning.

In addition to being conditioned, we learn cognitive maps and expectancies—in general, knowledge. We are active seekers of learning and not passive pawns of our environment.

 

 

COGNITIVE LEARNING: A CONTEMPORARY VIEW OF THE PAST: DEFINITIONS
Insight	Cognitive learning as a result of problem solving.
Observational Learning	Cognitive learning as a result of watching others performs a behavior. It extends to learning by listening or reading.
Cognitive Map	A mental representation of the spatial features of an environment.

 

    

What is Psychology?

What is psychology was and what it purports to do?

What is Psychology?

(Book) The scientific study of the overt and covert behavior of living organisms—with emphasis on animals and especially humans. (Along with the factors that influence each form of behavior.)

The scientific Study of mental processes, behaviors, and other unseen process that go in inside the organism. (Study Guide and review sheet Number 1)

What are the missions of Psychology?

The field of Psychology as two primary missions:

• To understand behavior in all its forms;
• To predict its (behavior) course;
• And perhaps control behavior.

Know something about the varieties of psychology: both basic psychology and Applied Psychology in its different forms

What is the difference between basic and applied psychology?

Many psychologist are concerned with only basic science , or knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Others are chiefly interested in applied science, or the pursuit of knowledge that has practical uses.

 

 

Basic Science: the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.

Focusing primarily on basic science are:

• Cognitive Psychologist: are interested in the ways humans perceive and understand the world around them and in processes such as learning and memory.
• Comparative Psychologist: concentrate on relating animal behavior patterns to those found in humans.
• Physiological Psychologist: (psychobiologists and neuroscience) study the role of the body and especially brain functions in behavior.
• Developmental Psychologist:
  study how individuals grow and change throughout their lives
  
• Personality Psychologist:
  study how people differ in their enduring inner characteristics and traits.
  
• Social Psychologist: study how people influence and are influenced by others.
  
• Evolutionary Psychologist: focus on psychological tendencies inherent in being human.
  

Applied Science: the pursuit of knowledge that has specific practical uses.

Focusing primarily on applied science are:

• School Psychologist: test and evaluate students, analyze learning problems, and counsel both teachers and parents.
• Educational Psychologist: are concerned with all aspects of the educational process.
• Industrial/organizational Psychologist: work on a wide variety of issues in work settings.
• Environmental Psychologist:
  deal with ecological problems such as pollution and overcrowding.
  
• Community Psychologist: deal with aspects of the social environment and how social institutions could better serve human needs.
  
• Forensic Psychologist: work on behavioral issues important in the legal, judicial, and correctional systems.
  
• Health Psychologist: focus on ways to improve health by altering behavior.

 

1. Academic and Experimental Psychology: in terms of basic psyche

Such as counseling psychology, clinical psychology, school psychology largely concerned with the application of psychological principals

What is the difference between clinical and counseling psychology?

A traditional distinction is between experimental Psychologist and clinical Psychologist, but this distinction has become somewhat blurred.

• Clinical Psychology : the primary endeavor is the diagnosis and treatment of mental and behavioral disorders.
  • Clinical Psychologist help diagnose and treat psychological problems through a general approach known as psychotherapy.
  • Work sometimes with individuals and small groups, including families. Their approach is known as psychotherapy and it can take many forms.
• Counseling Psychology : work with people who have less severe and more specific problems of social and emotional adjustment.

 

1. Early Schools of thought: various approaches: strengths and weaknesses of each who the founders were or important people part of those schools (look at handout)
2. historical context
3. Pavlov and reflexology classical condition
4. Watson’s adoption of classical conditioning and the rise of behaviorism know something about Watson work and ideas
5. Thorndike, the various laws he developed: primacy, recency, over learning, and most important the law of effect: why is said the he preceded Pavlov in that rather important discovery.
6. Thorndike’s known as instrumental learning
7. need to know about skinner, operant conditioning: a method developed by skinner derived from instrumental work by Thorndike for changing voluntary behavior, things we chose to do, the things we decide to do
8. Classical conditioning: largely concern with changing automatic reflex behaviors the involuntary stuff that we do.
9. Freud Sigmund: iceberg metaphor, personality

Methods of psychology

What research methods do Psychologist use?

In studying behavior, Psychologist employ naturalistic observation, interviews, case histories, questionnaires, surveys, standardized tests, physiological measures, correlation, and experiments.

Observation Methods:

• Naturalistic Observation: a method of study in that involves observing behavior in normal, everyday settings.

  Participant observation: Psychologist that take an active part in a social situation, perhaps deliberate role playing to see how other people behave.

• Controlled/ Structured Observation:
  
  

Survey Methods

• Questionnaire: a highly structured pencil and paper interview
  
• Structured Interview: An in-depth question and answer session in which an individual’s life or problems are probed.

  Case Histories: a compilation of the history of an individual based on the interviews and other sources of information.

• Telephone Survey : The administration of a questionnaire to relatively large numbers of people.

Experimental Methods

• Co-Twin Method:
  
• Modern Experimental Method:
  

What is correlation and what does it tell us?

Correlation: a statistical technique for describing the extent and direction of the relationship between pairs of scores on some measure. , does not indiact what causes what

What can psychological experiments tell us?

• Experiments, which is psychology’s most powerful tool, assesses cause and effect through strictly controlled procedures and manipulations.
• Experiment: a careful and controlled study of cause and effect through manipulation of the conditions participants are exposed to.
• Internal Validity: the extent to which an experiment permits statements about cause and effect.
• External Validity: the extent to which an experiment applies to real-life behavior.

1. experimental method (3 )
   1. experimental groups: similar and different to
   2. control groups
      1. co-twin method of study: abandoned
      2. modern experimental method:
   3. The universe of potential subjects: all of those people we can draw upon to be apart of our experiment form which we select our population.
   4. Need to know how we select them
   5. stratified random sampling: representative group not just a random group
   6. independent variable
   7. dependent variable
   8. replication
   9. validity
   10. reliability how is it determined
   11. Clinical / case study method (hybrid method) :applied science
   12. Clinical evidence:
   13. Research data:
   14. Clinical interview and structure interview what are the differences?
   15. Chapter 4 Classical and Operant conditioning
   16. Shaping behavior
   17. Primary and secondary reinforcement
   18. Different types of reinforcement schedules
   19. Ratio
   20. Ethical standards

History of psychology like Wundt, James, Watson, Freud, Wertheimer (look at handout)

History of Psychology:

It is important that the history of psychology be reviewed, beginning with the founding of psychology as an independent “scientific discipline” (i.e. formal academic discipline).

 

1879: Wilhelm Wundt: the first Experimental Laboratory in Psychology (at Leipzig University in Leipzig Germany) and the first school of thought in psychology, Structuralism,

• Structuralism: (1^st school of thought is psychology) an approach that emphasized breaking down consciousness and mental activity into structural components and analyzing them individually.

1889: William James established the first American school of psychology at Harvard University, call Functionalism.

• Functionalism: an approach that stressed how modern human thought might result from progressive adaptations our ancestors experienced.

Then psychology was influenced by the foundation of Psychoanalysis, by Sigmund Freud
(Psychoanalytic theory 1^st force in Psychology).

• Psychoanalysis: Analysis of the unconscious motives and conflicts of patients in an attempt to develop insight into their present mental or behavioral problems.

Then Max Wertheimer established the Gestalt school of thought in psychology.

• Gestalt psychology: an approach that examines patterns of thought and behavior, emphasizing the situation or context in which they occur.

Followed by the “shift in focus” in American psychology to the study of observable behavior, resulting from John Watson’s establishment of Behaviorism, and subsequently drawing on the later work of B.F. Skinner.

• Strict Behaviorism: (2^nd force of Psychology) an approach that considers only overt behavior to be appropriate subject matter for psychology.

Still later, Psychology was influenced by two of the most contemporary schools of thought in psychology with the emergence of the Humanistic (3^rd force of Psychology) school resulting from the work of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rodgers
(with its focus on the uniqueness of human beings, and the development of human potentialities);

• Humanistic Psychology: (3^rd force of Psychology) an approach that emphasizes human values, goals, and desire for growth, fulfillment, and peace and happiness.

And the rise of the Cognitive school resulting from the original pioneering work of Jean Piaget

• Cognitive approach: a contemporary trend, based largely on the information-processing model that emphasizes mental and intellectual processes such as learning, memory, and thought.

Study guide and Review Sheet No: 1 (Unit Test No. 1)

Introduction to Psychology:

Although the definition of psychology has changed over the years, first focusing on the study of the mental processes, then on the study of observable behavior, today Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes, behaviors and other unseen processes that go on inside the organism.

History of Psychology:

It is important that the history of psychology be reviewed, beginning with the founding of psychology as an independent “scientific discipline” (i.e. formal academic discipline).

 

1879: Wilhelm Wundt: the first Experimental Laboratory in Psychology (at Leipzig University in Leipzig Germany) and the first school of thought in psychology, Structuralism,

• Structuralism: (1^st school of thought is psychology) an approach that emphasized breaking down consciousness and mental activity into structural components and analyzing them individually.

1889: William James established the first American school of psychology at Harvard University, call Functionalism.

• Functionalism: an approach that stressed how modern human thought might result from progressive adaptations our ancestors experienced.

Then psychology was influenced by the foundation of Psychoanalysis, by Sigmund Freud
(Psychoanalytic theory 1^st force in Psychology).

• Psychoanalysis: Analysis of the unconscious motives and conflicts of patients in an attempt to develop insight into their present mental or behavioral problems.

Then Max Wertheimer established the Gestalt school of thought in psychology.

• Gestalt psychology: an approach that examines patterns of thought and behavior, emphasizing the situation or context in which they occur.

Followed by the “shift in focus” in American psychology to the study of observable behavior, resulting from John Watson’s establishment of Behaviorism, and subsequently drawing on the later work of B.F. Skinner.

• Strict Behaviorism: (2^nd force of Psychology) an approach that considers only overt behavior to be appropriate subject matter for psychology.

Still later, Psychology was influenced by two of the most contemporary schools of thought in psychology with the emergence of the Humanistic (3^rd force of Psychology) school resulting from the work of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rodgers
(with its focus on the uniqueness of human beings, and the development of human potentialities);

• Humanistic Psychology: (3^rd force of Psychology) an approach that emphasizes human values, goals, and desire for growth, fulfillment, and peace and happiness.

And the rise of the Cognitive school resulting from the original pioneering work of Jean Piaget

• Cognitive approach: a contemporary trend, based largely on the information-processing model that emphasizes mental and intellectual processes such as learning, memory, and thought.

 

The three types of research methods that make psychology a “scientific discipline” are:

 

Descriptive Methods:

The descriptive methods include:

• Naturalistic and Controlled observation:
  
• The survey methods (3 types)

  Surveys are widely used, and typically require selection of a sample of participants (subjects) from a larger population of potential subjects. It is important to know how a sample can be selected so that it is representative (i.e. random selection) how questionnaires are use, and why structured interviews often have an advantage because of elaboration of details that is made possible when good “rapport” is established between the subject and the interviewer.

• Clinical/Case study method (the “hybrid” method)

 

Experimental method:

The experimental method is the research method that meets the demand and conditions required to establish whether a cause and effect relationship exists between two (or more) variables.

• All experiments begin with a hypothesis to be tested, about the casual relationship between an independent variable and a dependant variable.
• If an experiment confirms the hypothesis, the next question that must be addressed is whether the same results apply in other situations.
• There are several problems that can occur in an experiment that can influence or bias the results.
  • These problems can include a bias because of how the experimental and control groups are chosen; experimental bias (i.e. the experimenters expectation influences the participant responses, or the study outcomes); the placebo effect (i.e. the subjects behave according to their own expectations, or predispositions about the outcomes of the experiment).

It should also be noted that sometimes the “controls” used in an experiment make the setting or situation seem highly contrived and unnatural (adversely impacting the outcomes).

 

Correlational method:

The correlational method is a research method used to analyze research data to determine the relationship between variables (other than cause and effect relationships).

• When a correlation is high, the presence (or absence) of one variable predicts the presence or absence of another variable.
• Psychological researchers have often used a wide variety of test to collect research data, and many tests are used in correlational research.

Research findings are verified by “replication” of psychological studies. If research findings (results) are valid, the replication of the study will yield the same, or very similar, results.

“Meta-analysis” is a method of combining and integrating the results of a number of research studies.

 

Applied Research:

Basic Research:

Behavioral perspective: maintained that psychology should confine itself to the study of observable behavior, rather than explore a person’s unconscious feelings. The behavioral perspective explains mental illness, as well as all of human behavior, as a learned response to stimuli. In this view, rewards and punishments in a person’s environment shape that person’s behavior. For example, a person involved in a serious car accident may develop a phobia of cars or generalize the fear to all forms of transportation

Behaviorism: an approach to the study of psychology that concentrates exclusively on observing, measuring, and modifying behavior.

Biological perspective: Psychiatry has increasingly emphasized a biological basis for the causes of mental illness. Studies suggest a genetic influence in some mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, although the evidence is not conclusive.

Cognitive Psychology: the scientific study of cognition. Cognition refers to the process of knowing, and cognitive psychology is the study of all mental activities related to acquiring, storing, and using knowledge. The domain of cognitive psychology spans the entire spectrum of conscious and unconscious mental activities: sensation and perception, learning and memory, thinking and reasoning, attention and consciousness, imagining and dreaming, decision making, and problem solving. Other topics that fascinate cognitive psychologists include creativity, intelligence, and how people learn, understand, and use language.

Cognitive perspective: The cognitive perspective holds that mental illness results from problems in cognition—-that is, problems in how a person reasons, perceives events, and solves problems. American psychiatrist Aaron Beck proposed that some mental illnesses—such as depression, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders—result from a way of thinking learned in childhood that is not consistent with reality. For example, people with depression tend to see themselves in a negative light, exaggerate the importance of minor flaws or failures, and misinterpret the behavior of others in negative ways. It remains unclear, however, whether these kinds of cognitive problems actually cause mental illness or merely represent symptoms of the illnesses themselves.

Correlational method

Critical thinking: type of critical analysis: disciplined intellectual criticism that combines research, knowledge of historical context, and balanced judgment

Descriptive research:

Double Blind Study
In a blind trial, patients do not know whether they receive the new drug or a placebo. In a double-blind trial, neither patients nor physicians know who is receiving the new treatment. This secrecy is important because patients who know they are taking a powerful new drug may expect to feel better and report improvement to doctors. Researchers who know that a patient is receiving the test treatment may also see improvements that really do not exist.

Evolutionary perspective:

Experimental method:
– Control Group
– Experimental Group

Experimental bias

Humanistic Psychology Humanistic psychology was born out of a desire to understand the conscious mind, free will, human dignity, and the capacity for self-reflection and growth. An alternative to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, humanistic psychology became known as “the third force.”

Humanistic perspective:
Both the humanistic and existential perspectives view abnormal behavior as resulting from a person’s failure to find meaning in life and fulfill his or her potential. The humanistic school of psychology, as represented in the work of American psychologist Carl Rogers, views mental health and personal growth as the natural conditions of human life. In Rogers’s view, every person possesses a drive toward self-actualization, the fulfillment of one’s greatest potential. Mental illness develops when circumstances in a person’s environment block this drive. The existential perspective sees emotional disturbances as the result of a person’s failure to act authentically—that is, to behave in accordance with one’s own goals and values, rather than the goals and values of others.

Hypothesis
a preliminary assumption or tentative explanation that accounts for a set of facts, taken to be true for the purpose of investigation and testing; a theory.

Independent variable the factor that an experimenter varies (the proposed cause) is known as the independent variable and the behavior being measured (the proposed effect) is called the dependent variable. In a test of the hypothesis that frustration triggers aggression, frustration would be the independent variable, and aggression the dependent variable.

Levels of analysis
– Micro
– Molecular
– Molar

Meta-analysis a method designed to increase the reliability of research by combining and analyzing the results of all known trials of the same product or experiments on the same subject

Naturalistic Observation Naturalistic observation is also common among developmental psychologists who study social play, parent-child attachments, and other aspects of child development. These researchers observe children at home, in school, on the playground, and in other settings.

Neuroscience
scientific study of nervous system: a scientific discipline that studies nerve cells or the nervous system, e.g. neuroanatomy or neurophysiology, or all such disciplines collectively 2. molecular and cellular neurology: the scientific study of the molecular and cellular levels of the nervous system, of systems within the brain such as vision and hearing, and of behavior produced by the brain

 

Predisposition factors
– Dispositional factors
– Situational factors

Placebo an inert substance, such as sugar, that is used in place of an active drug. In testing new drugs, placebos are used to avoid bias. That is, in a blind test, patients do not know if they have been given the active drug or the placebo; in a double-blind test, physicians observing the results also do not know. Placebos may be administered to some patients who have incurable illnesses in order to induce the so-called placebo effect: an improvement, at least temporarily, of the patient’s condition.

Placebo effect
Some researchers suggest that all therapies share certain qualities, and that these qualities account for the similar effectiveness of therapies despite quite different techniques. For instance, all therapies offer people hope for recovery. People who begin therapy often expect that therapy will help them, and this expectation alone may lead to some improvement (a phenomenon known as the placebo effect).

Population

Psychoanalysis a psychological theory and therapeutic method developed by Sigmund Freud, based on the ideas that mental life functions on both conscious and unconscious levels and that childhood events have a powerful psychological influence throughout life.
2. treatment by psychoanalysis: treatment by psychoanalysis, interpreting material presented by a patient in order to bring the processes of the unconscious into conscious awareness

Psychoanalytic perspective psychodynamic perspective views mental illness as caused by unconscious and unresolved conflicts in the mind. As stated by Freud, these conflicts arise in early childhood and may cause mental illness by impeding the balanced development of the three systems that constitute the human psyche: the id, which comprises innate sexual and aggressive drives; the ego, the conscious portion of the mind that mediates between the unconscious and reality; and the superego, which controls the primitive impulses of the id and represents moral ideals. In this view, generalized anxiety disorder stems from a signal of unconscious danger whose source can only be identified through a thorough analysis of the person’s personality and life experiences. Modern psychodynamic theorists tend to emphasize sexuality less than Freud did and focus more on problems in the individual’s relationships with others.

Psychology the scientific study of behavior and the mind. This definition contains three elements. The first is that psychology is a scientific enterprise that obtains knowledge through systematic and objective methods of observation and experimentation. Second is that psychologists study behavior, which refers to any action or reaction that can be measured or observed—such as the blink of an eye, an increase in heart rate, or the unruly violence that often erupts in a mob. Third is that psychologists study the mind, which refers to both conscious and unconscious mental states. These states cannot actually be seen, only inferred from observable behavior.

Random selection Random selection is how you draw the sample of people for your study from a population

Reliability

Replication the process of repeating, duplicating, or reproducing something

Representative sample

Sample

Selection bias

Socio-cultural perspective

Survey method

Structuralism

Functionalism

Gestalt

Psychodynamic

Theory

Validity

 

 

Prof. Tharney’s PSY101 Unit I: Chapter One Notes

Chapter 1: The Scope of Psychology: p3

Focus Questions

What is Psychology?

The scientific study of the overt and covert behavior of living organisms—with emphasis on animals and especially humans. (Along with the factors that influence each form of behavior.)

Scientific: Psychologist go about their studies in an orderly and systematic way, with careful attention to gathering objective evidence that others can evaluate for themselves.

Behavior: is anything an organism does.

Overt behavior: Observable or otherwise measurable behavior.

Covert behavior: Behavior that cannot be directly observed or measured and must be inferred.

Prof.Tharney’s Definition of Psychology: the scientific Study of mental processes, behaviors, and other unseen process that go in inside the organism. (Study Guide and review sheet Number 1)

 

What are the missions of Psychology?

The field of Psychology as two primary missions:

To understand behavior in all its forms;

To predict its (behavior) course;

And perhaps control behavior.

What disciplines are included in the Behavioral and Social Sciences?

Behavioral and Social Sciences: a family of sciences that all study behavior, from differing perspectives and with different methods.

Psychology: the scientific study of the human mind and mental states, and of human and animal behavior.

Physiology: the study of biological functions and activities of living organism.

Neuroscience: the study of the nervous system and relationships between brain activity and behavior.

Cognition: mental and intellectual processes, including memory.

Motivation: the why of behavior.

Genetics: the study of hereditary mechanisms and cellular functioning at the molecular level.

Biochemistry: the scientific study of the chemical substances, processes, and reactions that occur in living organisms

Anthropology: anthropology the study of humankind in all its aspects, especially human culture or human development

Physical Anthropology: the study of the evolution of humans with emphasis on physiology, and cultural anthropology

Cultural Anthropology: the study of different cultures and ethnicities.

Sociology: the study of large-scale social institutions and of social problems.

Linguistics: the systematic study of language.

Education: the imparting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and learning, especially at a school or similar institution.

Economics: the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

Political science:

Chapter 1: The Varieties of Psychology and Psychologist: p6

Focus Questions

How many psychologists are there and what do they do?

The number of psychologist –especially health service providers—continues to increase.

What is the difference between basic and applied psychology?

Many psychologist are concerned with only basic science , or knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Others are chiefly interested in applied science, or the pursuit of knowledge that has practical uses.

 

 

Basic Science: the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake.
Focusing primarily on basic science are:

Cognitive Psychologist: are interested in the ways humans perceive and understand the world around them and in processes such as learning and memory.

Comparative Psychologist: concentrate on relating animal behavior patterns to those found in humans.

Physiological Psychologist: (psychobiologists and neuroscience) study the role of the body and especially brain functions in behavior.

Developmental Psychologist:
study how individuals grow and change throughout their lives

Personality Psychologist:
study how people differ in their enduring inner characteristics and traits.

Social Psychologist: study how people influence and are influenced by others.

Evolutionary Psychologist: focus on psychological tendencies inherent in being human.

 

Applied Science: the pursuit of knowledge that has specific practical uses.
Focusing primarily on applied science are:

School Psychologist: test and evaluate students, analyze learning problems, and counsel both teachers and parents.

Educational Psychologist: are concerned with all aspects of the educational process.

Industrial/organizational Psychologist: work on a wide variety of issues in work settings.

Environmental Psychologist:
deal with ecological problems such as pollution and overcrowding.

Community Psychologist: deal with aspects of the social environment and how social institutions could better serve human needs.

Forensic Psychologist: work on behavioral issues important in the legal, judicial, and correctional systems.

Health Psychologist: focus on ways to improve health by altering behavior.

What is the difference between clinical and counseling psychology?

A traditional distinction is between experimental Psychologist and clinical Psychologist, but this distinction has become somewhat blurred.

Clinical Psychology : the primary endeavor is the diagnosis and treatment of mental and behavioral disorders.

Clinical Psychologist help diagnose and treat psychological problems through a general approach known as psychotherapy.

Work sometimes with individuals and small groups, including families. Their approach is known as psychotherapy and it can take many forms.

Counseling Psychology : work with people who have less severe and more specific problems of social and emotional adjustment.

Chapter 1: The Methods Psychologist Use: p11

Focus Questions

What research methods do Psychologist use?

In studying behavior, Psychologist employ naturalistic observation, interviews, case histories, questionnaires, surveys, standardized tests, physiological measures, correlation, and experiments.

Observation Methods:

Naturalistic Observation: a method of study in that involves observing behavior in normal, everyday settings.

Participant observation: Psychologist that take an active part in a social situation, perhaps deliberate role playing to see how other people behave.

Controlled/ Structured Observation:

Survey Methods

Questionnaire: a highly structured pencil and paper interview

Structured Interview: An in-depth question and answer session in which an individual’s life or problems are probed.

Case Histories: a compilation of the history of an individual based on the interviews and other sources of information.

Survey (Telephone): The administration of a questionnaire to relatively large numbers of people.

Experimental Methods

Co-Twin Method:

Modern Experimental Method:

What is correlation and what does it tell us?

Correlation: a statistical technique for describing the extent and direction of the relationship between pairs of scores on some measure. , does not indiact what causes what

What can psychological experiments tell us?

Experiments, which is psychology’s most powerful tool, assesses cause and effect through strictly controlled procedures and manipulations.

Experiment: a careful and controlled study of cause and effect through manipulation of the conditions participants are exposed to.

Internal Validity: the extent to which an experiment permits statements about cause and effect.

External Validity: the extent to which an experiment applies to real-life behavior.

STUDY CHART

Methods Used in Psychological Research

Observation: a research method in which events are observed and recorded as they occur; with out intervention.

Naturalistic Observation: Observing behavior in everyday settings or in a laboratory; the observer attempts to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Participant observation: Taking an active part in a social situation and observing the behavior of others in that situation.

Interview: a research method in which clients or research participants are questioned about their life experiences and their ideas and feelings about them.

Case history: a compilation of significant experiences in a person’s life.

Questionnaire: a set of written questions that each participant answers in the same order.

Survey: a research method in which a questionnaire is administered to a large number of people in a short period of time.

Standardized test: a test that has been developed to assess human abilities, achievements, and traits. (such as personality characteristics)

Physiological measures: methods for measuring any form of physiological functioning that is related to behavior.

Correlation: a mathematical way of determining the relationship between two pairs of scores.

Experiment: a careful and controlled study of cause and effect in which participants or subjects are exposed to differing conditions (independent variable) and any corresponding differences in behavior (dependant variable) are assessed; experiments may be conducted in a laboratory (controlled observation) or naturalistic settings.

Chapter 1: Conducting Good Experiments: p18

Focus Questions

What differences are there between experiments with individuals and experiments with groups?

Experiments may focus on individuals or on the averaging and comparison of behavior of groups.

What factors must be considered in conducting meaningful, conclusive experiments?

Experiments begin with a prediction about conditions that will cause the participants’ behavior to differ.

Independent Variable: a potential “cause” in an experiment; the way in which participants are treated differently by an experimenter.

Dependent Variable: a potential “effect” in an experiment; a measure of the behavior of participants as a result of the independent variable.

Operational definition: the “translation” of an independent or dependant variable into what is actually done or measured. are crucial to the value of an experiment.

Systematic replication: reproducing experiments with variations designed to make conclusions about behavior more general. Is needed for results of an experiment to be generalized beyond the specifics experimental procedures employed.

Why is replication of experiments important?

Replication is needed for results of an experiment to be generalized beyond the specific experimental procedures employed.

Chapter 1: Psychology’s Rich History and Promising Future: p22

Focus Questions

How did scientific psychology begin?

Psychology was founded in 1879, when the first laboratory was established by WILHELM WUNDT at Leipzig University, in Leipzig Germany; some early psychologist who followed, including WILLIAM JAMES (the founder of modern psychology), were chiefly interested in studying human functioning via introspection.

SIGMUND FREUD had a profound impact on psychology as we know it today; although many of his ideas about human nature and behavior have not survived the test of time and research, psychoanalytic theory
(1^st
force in Psychology) has become known as the first force in psychology.

Strict Behaviorism: (2^nd force in Psychology) a rebellion against introspection and other approaches, limited its study to overt behavior; it began with the work of THORNDIKE and PAVLOV and has become known as the second force in Psychology.

WATSON was a spokesperson for strict behaviorism; he proposed that all human and other animal behavior is a series of actions that can be explained in terms of specific stimuli and response.

BF SKINNER agreed that human beings are creatures of their environment, whose behavior depends on the contingencies they are subjected to.

Gestalt psychology: took the position that the whole is more than the sum of the parts; thus in studying any psychological phenomena –from perceptual to more general cognitive processes—Psychologist must consider the phenomena themselves and the context in which they occur as a whole.

Humanistic psychology: (3^rd force in Psychology) started as a rebellion against psychoanalysis and strict behaviorism; because it stresses the unique qualities of being human, it has become the third force of psychology.

Positive psychology: is a more recent development; it stresses that theory and research should focus on adaptive and healthy behavior, not just maladaptive behavior.

Cognitive psychology: focuses on mental and intellectual processes, such as the ways people and other animals learn about their environments, organize and store the knowledge in memory, think about it, and use it to act.

Much if cognitive psychology is based on the informational-processing model adapted from computer science, although the study of cognition has diverse roots in the history of psychology

What are the major approaches taken by psychologist in the past?

Structuralism, Functionalism, Strict Behaviorism etc

What are the major approaches in psychology today?

A growing number of Psychologist today focus on psychobiology, the study of how various facets of behavior are associated with processes in the body; psychobiology includes cognitive and behavioral neuroscience.

Psychobiology: a general term for the study of how behavior is associated with bodily processes.

Cognitive and behavioral neurosciences: in psychology, the study of relationships between brain functioning and physical or psychological behavior.

STUDY CHART

Approaches and Schools of thought in Psychology

Functionalism: an approach that stressed how modern human thought might result from progressive adaptations our ancestors experienced.

Structuralism: (1^st school of thought is psychology) an approach that emphasized breaking down consciousness and mental activity into structural components and analyzing them individually.

Psychoanalysis: Analysis of the unconscious motives and conflicts of patients in an attempt to develop insight into their present mental or behavioral problems.

Strict Behaviorism: (2^nd force of Psychology) an approach that considers only overt behavior to be appropriate subject matter for psychology.

Gestalt psychology: an approach that examines patterns of thought and behavior, emphasizing the situation or context in which they occur.

Humanistic Psychology: (3^rd force of Psychology) an approach that emphasizes human values, goals, and desire for growth, fulfillment, and peace and happiness.

Positive Psychology: an approach that calls attention to positive aspects of human behavior, such as happiness, satisfaction, and personal well-being.

Cognitive approach: a contemporary trend, based largely on the information-processing model that emphasizes mental and intellectual processes such as learning, memory, and thought.

Psychobiological approaches: the study of how various facets of behavior are associated with processes in the body especially the brain.

Chapter 1: Key Issues in Psychology—Yesterday and Today: p30

Focus Questions

What roles in heredity and environment play in behavior and development?

There is a continuing debate (historically called the nature-nurture controversy) over the relative importance of heredity and environment in development and behavior.

Is developmental change gradual or abrupt?

Human development is a mix of both continuities (gradual and cumulative changes) and discontinuities (dramatic, often sudden changes).

Why is it important to consider the context in which behavior occurs?

Human behavior may not be as consistent as was once believed; often a person’s actions depend on the context in which behavior occurs.

Why is it important to consider culture and ethnicity in understanding behavior?

Of the foremost importance in modern psychology is coming to grips with differences in human behavior attributed to culture, ethnicity, and other sources of diversity and thereby avoiding ethnocentrism; of particular interest is the impact of individualist versus collectivist cultures on behavior.

 

Culture: the composite of norms, practices, beliefs, attitudes, arts, and heritage.

Ethnocentrism: An outlook bound by one’s own culture and perhaps ignorant of or even disrespectful toward the cultures of others.

Individualist culture: a culture that is characterized by independence and typically values the good of the individual over the good of the group.

Collectivist culture: a culture that is characterized by interdependence and typically values the good of the group over the good of the individual.

Diversity: Group differences in culture, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and other characteristics.

 

Chapter 1: Psychology’s Ethical Standards: p34

Focus Questions

How do psychological researchers protect the rights and safety of human participants?

The code of ethics developed by the APA and enforced by law requires that researchers who use human participants pay particular attention to such issues as informed consent and protection of participants from physical or psychological harm.

 

Informed Consent the ethical requirement that research participants be told in advance what will happen and participate voluntarily throughout.

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) decide whether psychological research may be conducted.

How do psychological researchers protect the rights and safety of laboratory animals?

The APA and public law also require that researchers take special care in the use of animals in psychological research, avoiding needless harm and exploitation; the use of animals in scientific research remains controversial.

 

Focus Questions

What is classical conditioning and how did Pavlov study it?

Ivan Pavlov is the originator of what is now called classical conditioning, a form of learning base primarily on stimuli that causes reflexes, such as salvation in response to food.

 

Conditioning: the establishment of a relationship between stimuli and responses, or vice versa.

Learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior potential as a result of experience..

Reflexes: a built-in or otherwise automatic response to a specific stimulus.

What basic procedures are involved in classical conditioning?

In classical conditioning, the stimulus that naturally produces the reflex response is the unconditional stimulus (UCS), which is repeatedly paired with an initially neutral stimuli until the latter becomes the conditional stimulus (CS). What is learned in classical conditioning is a CS-UCS association; the original reflex response is the unconditional response (UCR), and the response produced by the CS is the conditional response (CR).

 

Classical Conditioning: The establishment of a relationship between two stimuli, typically one that evokes a reflex response and one that is initially neutral with regard to this response.

 

Unconditional stimulus (UCS):
Any stimulus that automatically and reliably produces a particular response, such as a reflex.

Conditional stimulus (CS): An initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response similar to that elicited by a UCS.

Unconditional response (UCR): The automatic response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditional response (CR): the learned response to a conditioned stimulus (CS).

 

Chapter 4: Classical Conditioning Phenomena and Applications: p142

Focus Questions

Why is timing of the CS and UCS important in classical conditioning?

Delayed conditioning is the most effective form of classical conditioning. Less effective are simultaneous conditioning and trace conditioning

After conditioning, extinction of the CR occurs when the UCS is discontinued. Allowing time to pass and returning the subject to the apparatus is typically accompanied by spontaneous recovery.

Why is it important for the CS to “predict” the UCS?

The crucial factor in classical conditioning is the consistency with which the CS predicts the occurrence of the UCS.

How do generalization and discrimination work?

Stimulus generalization occurs when a stimulus similar to the original CS also produces CR. Stimulus discrimination, its complement, occurs when dissimilar stimuli produce lesser CR or none at all.

How does biological predisposition affect classical conditioning?

Biological predispositions are often apparent in classical conditioning. Because of pre-wiring, some CS-UCS associations can be established much more easily that others and some not at all.

Taste aversion experiments provide an example of how biological predispositions affect conditioning. The learning of taste aversion is easy for animals that naturally associate taste with food but difficult to impossible for animals that use other cues, such as visual ones for food.

Experiments:

In the modern view, conditioning can be best explained by the development of expectancies—that is, what animals and humans learn is the expectation that a particular conditioned stimulus (CS) will be followed by an unconditioned stimulus (UCS).

Classical conditioning by past events may account for many of the fears and preferences displayed by human adults—and also for physical symptoms such as unexplained headaches or nausea and the intense desire to return to drug use that is some times displayed by former drug addicts.

In Watson and Rayner’s “Little Albert” experiment, the loud sound was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the rat was the conditioned stimulus (CS), and a fear response was the (UCR), and the (CR).

In the experiment on conditioned illness in rats, the insulin was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the light and syringe were the conditioned stimulus (CS), and the coma was the unconditioned response (UCR), and conditioned response (CR).

In the experiment on conditioning the immune system in rats, the drug was the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the novel taste was the conditioned stimulus (CS), and production of the antibodies was the unconditioned response (UCR), and conditioned response (CR).

In the experiments on conditioning sexual behavior in rats, normal female odors were the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the lemon scent was the conditioned stimulus (CS), and sexual arousal was the unconditioned response (UCR), and conditioned response (CR).

 

Focus Questions

What is operant conditioning and how did Skinner study it?

Operant behavior “operates” on the environment in accord with contingencies. Operant conditioning
is base on contingencies that are arranged in the lab or occur in real life.

Contingency: the relationship between behavior and its consequences.

Operant conditioning: the imposition of contingences, either deliberate or natural.

The controlled environment of the Skinner box revolutionized the study of learning and conditioning.

Parallels between classical and operant conditioning occur in areas extinction and spontaneous recovery, as well as stimulus generalization and discrimination.

Shaping and successive approximations is an efficient procedure for training subjects to perform specific behaviors.

Shaping and successive approximations: a procedure for quickly establishing a contingency, such as bar pressing by rats or key pecking by pigeons, by rewarding successive approximations to the target behavior.

An operant is a class of behaviors—not a specific behavior.

What basic terms and procedures are involved in operant conditioning?

The first half of Thorndike’s law of effect corresponds to positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement: the second half corresponds to positive punishment and negative punishment.

Positive reinforcement: an operant conditioning contingency in which behavior is strengthened because it results in presentation of an appetitive stimulus; also known as reward training.

Negative reinforcement: an operant conditioning contingency in which behavior is strengthened because it results in removal of an aversive stimulus; also known as escape or active avoidance training.

In operant conditioning contingencies, positive means that a stimulus is presented or “added” and negative means that a stimulus is removed or subtracted. The effect on behavior is then determined by whether the stimulus is appetitive or aversive.

Positive punishment: an operant conditioning contingency in which behavior is weakened or suppressed because it results in presentation of an appetitive stimulus; also known as reward training

The Mind as an Iceberg

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, compared the human mind to an iceberg. The tip above the water represents consciousness, and the vast region below the surface symbolizes the unconscious mind. Of Freud’s three basic personality structures—id, ego, and superego—only the id is totally unconscious.

G. Stanley Hall Biography

In 1883 Hall established the first psychological research laboratory in the US, and he was the Head of Psych dept John Hopkins university was the Founder and First President of the American Psychology Association (APA), and in 1909 brought Sigmund Freud to America. At this time: president of Clark University in Massachusetts. 1^st to conduct research with a large group of subjects. Known as the Father of Child psychology and Invented the Questionnaire.

Hall was the first president of the American Psychological Association and also the first president of Clark University.

Inspired by Principles of Physiological Psychology, he earned his doctorate in psychology under William James at Harvard University, after which he spent time at Wilhelm Wundt’s Leipzig laboratory.

 

pedagogics – the principles and methods of instruction

pedagogy, teaching method

method – a way of doing something, especially a systematic way; implies an orderly logical arrangement (usually in steps)

maieutic method, Socratic method – a method of teaching by question and answer; used by Socrates to elicit truths from his students

Hall coined the phrase “Storm and Stress” with reference to adolescence, taken from the German Sturm und Drang-movement. Its three key aspects are: conflict with parents, mood disruptions, and risky behavior. As was later the case with the work of Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget, public interest in this phrase and Hall’s originating role, faded. Recent research has led to some reconsideration of the phrase and its denotation. In its three aspects, recent evidence supports storm-and-stress, but modified to take into account individual differences and cultural variations. Currently, pyschologists do not accept storm-and-stress as universal, but do acknowledge the possibility in brief passing. Not all adolescents experience storm-and-stress, but storm-and-stress is more likely during adolescence than at other ages

In 1887, he founded the American Journal of Psychology. In 1889, he was named president of the newly founded Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Under his guidance considerable work was done in educational research at the university during its first 20 years. Hall was instrumental in the development of the new science of educational psychology. Hall’s pioneering studies, Adolescence (1904) and Educational Problems (1911), described the implications of adolescent development on education. (Meiss)

Eventually Hall was granted his Ph.D. in Psychology under William James and Henry P. Bowditch, the first Ph.D. in Psychology in America. He began as a professor of psychology and pedagogics at Johns Hopkins University in 1882. When Clark University opened in 1889, Hall began as the president, and remained there until his death in 1924. Along the way, Hall founded the first psychological journal in America, the American Journal of Psychology in 1887, along with many to follow in the later years. (Grezlik)

While at Clark University, Hall organized a conference in 1909 for 175 people, 40 of which were American Psychologists. Hall ran the conference as well as arranged the order of lectures and handled the social arrangements. Among the attending psychologists were Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, who are seated respectively to Hall’s right and left in this photo. The Clark Conference, as named, was in celebration of Clark University’s twentieth anniversary. Through all of this, Hall is also important for his work with the child study movement and attained some notoriety with his theory that ontology recapitulates phylogeny. He showed the importance of early childhood through adolescence as a turning point in psychological growth. To him, childhood was merely an extension of embryological development. Hall died in 1924, but still remains an important part of psychology’s history. (Grezlik)

Theory

Hall linked together genetic psychology and education. The theory that Hall is known for is his theory of recapitulation. More simply put as “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny”. This theory explains that each person goes through changes in both the psychic and somatic senses which follow the evolution scale of the mind and body. Hall believed that the pre-adolescent child develops to its best when it is not forced to follow constraints, but rather to go through the stages of evolution freely. He believed that before a child turned six or seven, the child should be able to experience how one lived in the simian stage. In this stage, the child would be able to express his animal spirits.

The child is growing rapidly at this stage and the energy levels are high. The child is unable to use reasoning, show sensitiveness towards religion, or social discernment. By age eight, the child should be at stage two. This, Hall believed, is the stage where formal learning should begin. This is when the brain is at full size and weight. It is considered normal to be cruel and rude to others at this stage for the reasoning skills are still not developed. The child should not have to deal with moralizing conflicts or ideas; his is not yet ready at this stage. The child’s physical health is most important now. In the stage of the adolescent, the child now has a rebirth into a sexed life. Hall argued that at this point, there should no longer be coeducation. Both sexes can’t optimally learn and get everything out of the lessons in the presence the opposite sex. And, this is when true education can begin. The child is ready to deal with moral issues, kindness, love, and service for others. Reasoning powers are beginning, but are still not strong. Hall argued that the high school should be a place similar to a “people’s college” so that it could be more of an ending for those who would not be continuing their education to the next level.

Hall’s specific theory that maturation needs to be tracted, allowing deeper thoughts to be provoked only when the physical aspect of growth is complete, did not greatly influence education. At the same time, he paved the way for future scholars such as Piaget.

Time Line (Grezlik)

1844 Born in Ashfield, Massachusetts

1858 Day long vigil, vowed to leave farm and to be someone in the world

1860 First independent job as a schoolmaster

1862 Left Ashfield for Williston Academy

1863 Left Williston Academy

1866 Began Junto, literary club

1867 Graduated from Williams College

1867 Attended Union Theological Seminary as a divinity student

1868 Studied abroad in Germany

1878 Earned the first Ph.D. in Psychology in America

1882 Left for work at Johns Hopkins University

1883 Established the first psychological research laboratory in the US

1887 Founded the first Psychological Journal is America, the American Journal of Psychology

1889 Became president of Clark University

1892 Founded the American Psychological Association

1894 Founded the Pedagogical Seminary

1904 Wrote Adolescence

1909 Organized the Clark Conference: Brought Sigmund Freud to America

1917 Founded the Journal of Applied Psychology

1924 Died

 

What you need to know for Prof. Tharney’s PSY101 Unit 2 test

Need to know something about the People who were important as an influence on Freud in the developing the kind of ideas that he did.

Charcot: Freud went to Paris, and work there at a time when this new field called physcratry was developing one of the founding fathers was Charcot.

Jozef Breuer: the guy who help him develop the techniques of psychoanalysis the processes of thearapy.

Freudian Slippage: need to know who people are.

Who are these people? Spoke about Freud what did they say about Freud psychoanalytic theory?

Frank Solloway

Thomas Zaas

Peter Gay

Psychoanalytic theory
Need to Know

Topography of the mind

• Conscious,
  
• Preconscious,
  
• Unconscious
  

 

What’s in each of those levels how does it get there, how does it move to from one to another?

How does this model of the model work?

Intrapsychic systems (personality)

• Id
  
• Ego
  
• Superego
  

 

Know which one is biological?

Which one is the social and moral?

Which one is the intellectual component?

What is the principle by which they operate?

What are the functions they each of them carry out in the normal working of our personality?

 

(Diagram) and you need to know which one is:

Which one is mostly conscious?

Which one is mostly unconscious?

Need to know about the motivational elements

Know Freud’s deprivation theory of motivation and that he borrowed that from biology.

And the 2^nd thing is Freud’s theory of “Instincts”, if he used the word instinct is a misnomer, he didn’t use the word instinct.

Inborn physiological needs, know something about Eros and Thanatos, a least have a general idea of what libido is. its In the Handout: “Overview of Psychoanalytic Theory”

 

The Developmental Aspects of Freud’s theory
(The psychosexual stages of development)

• Need to know what those five stages are and the correct sequences in which they are suppose to occur and approx, when
  
• Which are the ones have biological basis
  
• Which are the two that have a psychological basis?
  
• The ones that have a biological basis are broken into two phases know something about those phase and what’s suppose to happen in terms of shaping our personality there its all spell out in the handout. And the chapter.
  

 

Know what fixation and regression are as it pertains to those stages.

 

Freud’s theory of Anxiety the 3 types: moral, reality and moral anxiety.

Each of them deals with or addresses a particular type of conflict that we might experience

Moral Anxiety: conflict between the superego and the ego.

Reality Anxiety: or fear that’s experience within the ego in relationship to something outside of us.

Neurotic Anxiety: the one that Freud dealt with day in and day out with his patients, conflict between the id and the ego.

The causes for fixation, and the mild, moderate and severe regression, we talked about that regressing back to earlier stages.

 

Know Ego defense Mechanisms

Id, Ego, and Super Ego

Intrapsychic System

Superego– Social Moral, Ego – Intellectual, and Id – Biological

Topography of the mind

Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious

SuperEgo: the third structure of the personality to develop; acquired by means of the process of learning; represents the internalization of society’s values and standards; it’s Ego Ideal rewards appropriate behavior and it’s conscience punishes inappropriate or unacceptable behaviors; operates on the basis of the perfection (morality) principle.

Ego: the second structure of the personality to develop; represents rational thought, memory, etc.; attempts to conform to the Id’s mental images to objective reality; operates on the basis of the Reality principle by means of secondary process.

ID: the oldest structure of the personality; innate and physiologically based; provides the psychic energy for all three parts of the system; knows only the inner world of subjective experiences; operates on the basis of the Pleasure Principle by means of reflex action and/or primary process.

Id vs. Ego

Freud’s theory of personality: possible psyhic conflicts among the aspects of personality (images).

Defense Mechanisms

Chapter 12; p482

Focus Questions

What are defense mechanisms?

Defense mechanisms are the unconscious psychological processes that people develop to relieve anxiety.

What are the most common defense mechanisms?

Among questionable forms of coping are the defense mechanism described by Freud. These are unconscious psychological processes, mental of symbolic, developed to relieve anxiety. They include the following:

Most Common Defense Mechanisims
Repression (The Primary Mechanism)	The person tries to banish offending desires from conscious thought to the point of being totally unaware of the original desires. (Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious)
Rationalization	The person attempts to deal with a stressful situation by claiming that the stressor was of minimal importance and may even have had beneficial effects. (Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior)
Sublimation	The person unconsciously transforms conflict and anxiety into different but related desire that is more acceptable to society and to him/her self.
Identification	The person attempts to take on the virtues of an admired person. (Bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group)
Reaction Formation	The person pretends to possess desires that are the opposite if the desires that are causing conflict and anxiety. (Behaving in a way that is exactly the opposite of one’s true feelings)
Projection	The person attributes to others the desires or thoughts that have caused personal conflict. (attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another)
Denial	The person attempts to dispel anxiety by refusing altogether to accept reality.
Displacement Substitution Sublimination	The person tries to escape the discomfort of unwanted ideas or feelings by transferring them onto another person. (diverting emotional feelings, usually anger, from their original source to a substitute target)
Regression	The person retreats toward behaviors that usually characterize a lower level of maturity. ( a reversion to immature patterns of behavior)
Introjection	Identifying with some idea or object so deeply that it becomes a part of that person. One example often used is when a child envelops representational images of his absent parents into himself, simultaneously fusing them with his own personality.
Compensation Direct Compensation Overcompensation	Encountering failure or frustration in some sphere of activity, one overemphasizes another. The term is also applied to the process of over-correcting for a handicap or limitation. Examples: (1) a physically unattractive adolescent becomes an expert dancer. (2) a youth with residual muscle damage from poliomyelitis becomes an athlete. (3) Demosthenes.
Intellectualization	(isolation). Concentrating on the intellectual components of the situations as to distance oneself from the anxiety provoking emotions associated with these situations. Intellectualization is a defense mechanism where reasoning is used to block confrontation with an unconscious conflict and its associated emotional stress. It involves removing one’s self, emotionally, from a stressful event. Intellectualization is often accomplished through rationalization; rather than accepting reality, one may explain it away to remove one’s self.
Fixation	Fixation in human psychology refers to the state where an individual becomes obsessed with an attachment to another human, animal or inanimate object

 

 

Common Defense Mechanisms (12 of 25)

 

Repression: (The Primary Mechanism):
The person tries to banish offending desires from conscious thought to the point of being totally unaware of the original desires.
(Keeping distressing thoughts and feelings buried in the unconscious)
Ex. A traumatized soldier has no recollection of the details of a close brush with death.

Rationalization: The person attempts to deal with a stressful situation by claiming that the stressor was of minimal importance and may even have had beneficial effects.
(Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior)
Ex. a student who cheats on an exam may rationalize the action with the claim that everybody cheats, which makes cheating easier to accept.

Sublimation: The person unconsciously transforms conflict and anxiety into different but related desire that is more acceptable to society and to him/her self.

Identification: The person attempts to take on the virtues of an admired person.
(Bolstering self-esteem by forming an imaginary or real alliance with some person or group)
Ex. An insecure young man joins a fraternity to boost his self-esteem.

Reaction Formation: The person pretends to possess desires that are the opposite if the desires that are causing conflict and anxiety. (Behaving in a way that is exactly the opposite of one’s true feelings)
Ex. A parent who unconsciously resents a child spoils the child with outlandish gifts.

Projection: The person attributes to others the desires or thoughts that have caused personal conflict. (attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, or motives to another)
Ex. A person who does not want to recognize his/her inadequate tennis skills blames all bad shots on a flawed racquet.

Denial: The person attempts to dispel anxiety by refusing altogether to accept reality.

Displacement (Substitution and Sublimination): The person tries to escape the discomfort of unwanted ideas or feelings by transferring them onto another person. (diverting emotional feelings, usually anger, from their original source to a substitute target)
Ex. After failing a important exam, a student takes her anger out on her little brother.

Regression: The person retreats toward behaviors that usually characterize a lower level of maturity. ( a reversion to immature patterns of behavior)
Ex. An adult has a temper tantrum when he doesn’t get his way.

Introjection: Identifying with some idea or object so deeply that it becomes a part of that person.
One example often used is when a child envelops representational images of his absent parents into himself, simultaneously fusing them with his own personality.

Compensation (Direct Compensation, Overcompensation): Encountering failure or frustration in some sphere of activity, one overemphasizes another. The term is also applied to the process of over-correcting for a handicap or limitation. Examples: (1) a physically unattractive adolescent becomes an expert dancer. (2) a youth with residual muscle damage from poliomyelitis becomes an athlete. (3) Demosthenes.

Intellectualization :( isolation). Concentrating on the intellectual components of the situations as to distance oneself from the anxiety provoking emotions associated with these situations.

Intellectualization is a defense mechanism where reasoning is used to block confrontation with an unconscious conflict and its associated emotional stress. It involves removing one’s self, emotionally, from a stressful event. Intellectualization is often accomplished through rationalization; rather than accepting reality, one may explain it away to remove one’s self.

Fixation: in human psychology refers to the state where an individual becomes obsessed with an attachment to another human, animal or inanimate object.

 

Positive growth: Humanistic theories of personality

Chapter 9: p343

Focus Questions

According to humanistic psychology, what lies at the core of personality?

Humanistic theories hold that human nature is basically good and that the core of personality is the desire to perfect our skill and find peace and happiness.

Roger’s humanistic theory stresses the self-image, or phenomenological self, in conjunction with unconditional positive regard and avoidance of conditions of worth.

What is unconditional positive regard and how is it important?

To be happy and to develop normally, we must grow up in a family and social environment that treat us with what Rogers calls unconditional positive regard. That is, we must be valued and trusted for ourselves and accepted unconditionally as worthwhile human beings. Out opinions and behaviors must be respected. We must be accepted and loved for who we are, even when we do things of which others disapprove.

What is self-actualization?

Self-actualization is a humanistic view that people will pursue the highest and most idealistic aims unless their development is thwarted by a malevolent social environment.

 

Rogers and Self-Worth

Both the humanistic and existential perspectives view abnormal behavior as resulting from a person’s failure to find meaning in life and fulfill his or her potential. The humanistic school of psychology, as represented in the work of American psychologist Carl Rogers, views mental health and personal growth as the natural conditions of human life. In Rogers’s view, every person possesses a drive toward self-actualization, the fulfillment of one’s greatest potential. Mental illness develops when circumstances in a person’s environment block this drive. The existential perspective sees emotional disturbances as the result of a person’s failure to act authentically—that is, to behave in accordance with one’s own goals and values, rather than the goals and values of others.

BIO Carl Rogers

In the 1940s and 1950s American psychologist Carl Rogers developed a form of psychotherapy known as person-centered therapy. This approach emphasizes that each person has the capacity for self-understanding and self-healing. The therapist tries to demonstrate empathy and true caring for clients, allowing them to reveal their true feelings without fear of being judged.