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All of my lecture notes from the course Introduction to Psychological Theories. Also the answers to the example questions.
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Colleges Introduction to Psychological TheoriesCollege 1
Psychology = the study of soul. We humans are intuitive psychologists,
we have emotions etc. we try to understand and experience.
- Heider& Simmel video we can think of a whole story just by
seeing triangles and other shapes. It’s just our interpretation. We are
intuitive psychologists.
Psychological science is the study, through research, of mind, brain and
behaviour. It’s not only a descriptive science but aims also at predicting.
We can predict mental activity and behaviour.
Mind = any stuff of thought. All our mental activity. All of our five senses.
But also, our memories and thoughts and feelings. These processes are
not directly observable. Makes the research challenging.
Behaviour = what we do. This is observable. The main thing a psychologist
studies.
There are many levels at which you can study psychology:
1. Groups vs. individuals.
2. Behaviour vs. brain activity.
3. Nature vs. nurture.
It’s complementary, it builds on each other.
Early roots of psychology are traceable through dualism. It’s about the
separation of soul/mind and body. Mind and body are separated. This held
back psychology.
Nature/ nurture debate.
Structuralism = you can break down complex processes to simpler
processes. You divine the elements. Then you can actually study it.
Methods:
Introspection: to understand it, the researchers tried it with
themselves. Try to analyze your own perspection.
Reaction times: demonstration with naming the color of the word
(stroop test).
Functionalism is a reaction against structuralism. Functionalism is
concerned with the adaptive purpose/function of mind and behaviour. The
mind is more complex than its elements. Stream of consciousness you
can’t just break it into elements.
Evolution = the way we behave has a surviving and reproduction factor.
Evolution has no foresight, it reacts to environmental pressures. Sexual
selection: traits that aid in reproduction. Evolution can provide answers to
the ‘why’ questions.
The different schools of thought after these approaches:
, 1. Psychoanalytical approach (mental processes operate below the
level of conscious awareness. Unconscious drives)
2. Behaviorism (only observable behaviour can be subject of scientific
investigation. Only study behaviour. Other stuff is like a black box)
3. Gestalt (looks mostly at perception, how we perceive things. The
whole is bigger than the sum of its parts perception is how we
perceive it)
4. Humanistic
psychology (focusing on basic goodness in people, achieving goals,
and finding fulfillment positive psychology (values, creativity,
gratitude).
5. Cognitivism (the cognitive revolution. Exploring mental processes
cognitive neuroscience: we can infer how the mind works by looking
at behaviour)
The scientific method:
1. Based on the experience, observation, existing theories etc. come
up with a question and a prediction
2. Test that prediction against real measurement from the physical
world
3. Make conclusions with regard to your questions, show support or
lack of it for your prediction.
There is always a new question that can be asked.
Dunning-Kruger effect thinking you’re better than average.
Optimism bias = we tend to think we are better than others.
Availability heuristic = something is easier to bring to mind if we hear
about it more often. We judge it as more probable.
The birthday paradox = difficulty with exponential growth. Rare events
given importance. Self-identity (feels unique to us). Influence our
perceptions.
Our intuitions and perceptions can be biased. The scientific method can
overcome these problems.
Amiable scepticism = open-minded and at the same time be critical to
explore the quality of the evidence.
What’s new in psychology?
- Biology (evolution)
- Big data, computational modeling, AI
- Culture
, - Interdisciplinary influences.
Quiz:
1. A- structuralism.
2. D- behaviorism
3. B
4. A- availability bias
College 2
Almost anything that leaves a trace in our behaviour is learning. It shapes
our assumptions, beliefs and behaviour. It affects us through our
environment. Our environment is not constant, it always changes. We are
adaptive. We could also unlearn things.
Tapes + pencil. There now is not an association between these two
objects. But years ago, there was the association that you could use
the pencil with the tape to get it back.
Learning is an enduring change in behavior that results from experience.
Nonassociative learning: there is no association. Repeated exposure to
a stimulus that triggers behavior can decease behavior of cause
habituation (used to it). Increase behavior causes sensitization (more
annoyed).
Associative learning: how we can make connection between things. We
scan to see regularities. We associate things that happen close in time.
Stimulus Respons (it’s automatic, there is nothing else needed).
This is classical conditioning. You build new reflexes though classical
conditioning from existing reflexes. When you pair a new neutral
stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus triggering an
unconditioned response The neutral stimulus becomes the
conditioned stimulus, and the unconditioned response becomes a
conditional response. For a stimulus to be conditioned it must have
predictive value. When it’s not anymore predictive, the response
disappears. It does leave a trace in our memory. Repeated exposure
to the conditioned stimulus without unconditioned stimulus may
make the conditioned response disappear.
Generalization and discrimination with the kind of stimulus.
We should be able to learn anything. Any stimulus pair leads to
conditioning equally easily. This is because we as people are born as
a blank state: tabula rasa. The contemporary view doesn’t agree
, with this. Conditioning occurs most easily for stimulus pairs that are
relevant for survival. You easily associate a taste with sickness, a
conditioned taste aversion.
Examples:
Phobias: a phobia is an acquired fear that is out of proportion to
the real threat of an object/situation. They could be random. Little
albert experiment. We can learn fear and generalize that to similar
objects.
Addiction: seeing/ smelling can already cause response. Relapsing
is a problem for people that try to get rid of the addiction.
Environment causes trigger cravings for the addiction. Drug
tolerance can happen because the body is already prepared for the
drug. When not taken in the same conditions, it can cause problems.
Could lead to possible overdose.
Operant conditioning: responding for stimuli (there is something in
between). We also respond for stimuli. We operate something in our
environment (touch the button green light comes). We can
achieve some kind of outcome.
Law of effect:
Behaviors (in a particular situation) followed by a satisfying
consequence are more likely to be repeated in the future.
Behaviors (in a particular situation) followed by a
discomforting consequence are less likely to be repeated in
future.
Build on trial-and-error learning. Operant condition is learning the
consequences of one’s actions.
Consequences can be:
- Reinforcement (reward) A consequence that increases the
chance of a behaviour occurring again in the future. Negative
reinforcement is not a punishment. The addition (+) or
subtraction (-) of a stimulus to INCREASE the chance that the
desired behaviour is repeated again in the future. We want to
increase certain behavior. Could be positive or negative.
Positive reinforcement: The addition of a stimulus
INCREASES the probability that the behaviour will occur in
the future (giving compliments)
Negative reinforcement: The likelihood of particular
behavior occurring again in the future is increased because
of removing/avoiding the negative consequence (stopping
criticizing)
- Punishment A consequence that decreases the chance of a
behaviour
occurring again in the future. The addition (+) or subtraction
(-) of a stimulus to DECREASE the chance that the desired
behaviour is repeated again in the future.
Positive punishment: The addition of a stimulus DECREASES
the probability that the behaviour will occur in the future.
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