An introduction to the study of the brain and the mind.

Psychology What is it? The study of our inner feelings and behaviors. Do our feelings match our behaviors? No…Examples: But they might still act tough. (even though they may be crying on the inside, so be gentle). If you call someone a dummy, they may feel sad inside. Ex’s of when feelings match your behaviours? (Wedding day you feel happy and you act in this manner  smiling, dancing, hugging, etc. EITHER OR: Graduation from highschool  happy because you grauated but sad since you’ll miss your friends.  Seem happy outside sad since you won’t see friends, afraid of unknown, etc.

History of Psychology Although the science of psychology started in the late 1800’s, the concept has been around a lot longer. There was evidence of trephination (cutting holes into a skull to let evil spirits out) back in the stone age.

Major Psychological Perspectives Psychodynamic Behavioural Humanistic Cognitive Sociocultural

Psychodynamic Perspective If a man has intimacy issues and cannot form relationships with others. What do you think someone from this school may think? Unconscious drives & experiences from childhood are the root of behaviours We repress many of our true feelings and are not aware of them. In order to get better, we must bring forward the true feelings we have in our unconscious. Perhaps they may delve into the man’s unconscious and discover that he was bullied when he were younger. The bullying may have caused fear in getting close to others. Drive  child may want to continue to use their soother because it comforts them but their parents may take it away. Does this make you want to smoke later in life as a soothing mechanism? Could have been neglected, unloved in past (put up for adoption)

Behavioral Perspective Focuses on observable behaviors while putting feelings to the side. We behave in ways because we have been conditioned to do so. To change behaviors, reinforcement and punishment is used. Pretend that you fail psychology class. You become depressed. In turn, you begin to binge and gain weight. What do you think a behaviorist may do? They would probably ignore the fact that you are depressed and just focus on your overeating. Maybe make you run a mile every time you eat over 2000 calories.

Humanist Perspective Peaked in the late 1960s and 70s….so it focused on spirituality and free will. We have to strive to be the best we can be “self-actualization”. Happiness is defined by the distance between our “self-concept” and “ideal self”. Focus is on the self to develop a positive identity

Cognitive Perspective Focuses on how we think or encode information (expectations) How do we see the world? How did we learn to act to sad or happy events (emotions)? Cognitive Therapist attempt to change the way you think. She rejects you…don’t even get digits. You meet a girl… Hopes are high!!! How do you react to the rejection? Some learn to get back on the horse and try again. Some learn to give up and live a lonely life of solitude.

Social-Cultural Perspective Says that much of your behavior and your feelings are dictated by the culture you live in. Some cultures kiss each other when greeting, some just bow. Does your culture place value on individual or the group? Our Western culture placed value on the individual. Eastern cultures place value on the group and helping each other out. For example if your from a farming community you may all help eachother out by giving eachother crops or seeds and helping with harvesting. For example sharing machinery or equipment

Biological How nervous system, hormones, & genetics affect behaviour Compares mental states to brain, nerves, & hormones You think the way you do based on your brain and physical body If you have aggressive tendencies what would a biological phycologist look at to explain your behaviours? May look at your genes and hormonal balances (i.e. too much testosterone makes you aggressive). family history of these aggressive tendancies.

QUESTION: From a humanistic perspective, how does self-esteem affect school performance? Remember: Happiness is defined by the distance between our “self-concept” (who you think you are) and “ideal self” (who we want to be). Divide class into 2 groups to discuss

QUESTION How would a humanistic therapist and a behavioural therapist treat depression? Divide class into 2 groups to discuss

Humanistic -> Have Client reconnect with their hopes and dreams without worrying about what others think. Focus on helping person reconnect with hidden or supressed wishes or dreams. Don’t focus on past but help develop a healthy mature character from this point on Behaviourist  Wouldn’t focus on cause of depression. Give alternate activities to distract them from their internal problems (have them volunteer at food bank, play their favourite sport, etc. )

QUESTION Bill and Sally are both attending the same Halloween party. Sally is anxious and nervous and doesn’t really want to go. Bill is pumped and cannot wait to attend. How would their experiences differ based on their initial expectations? Even they both at same party, their experiences will differ based on their cognitive thoughts. Thoughts can impact way you act and react to situations. I.E. shy person may not interact to person when they say hi because they are shy so the the other person may think they are a snob and not continue to ineract leaving that person alone. Bill is friendly so ppl love Bill and he has a great time.

Psychologists- Abraham Maslow one of the founders of humanist psychology. known for his Hierarchy of Needs to describe his theory of motivation. He based this theory on observing clients rather than on experimentation. The Hierarchy of Needs explains that basic needs must be fulfilled before higher-order needs become important. What are some basic needs

studied what he called "self-actualizing" people and their "peak experiences" because he wanted to understand how they achieved the status of having reached their full potential

Gardner-Multiple Intelligences

In order to capture the full range of abilities and talents that people possess, Gardner suggests that people do not have just a intellectual capacity, but have many different intelligences Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence - “word smart” Logical-mathematical Intelligence - “number/reasoning smart” Visual/Spatial Intelligence - “picture smart” Bodily/Kinesthetic Intelligence - “body smart” Musical/Rhythmic Intelligence - “music smart” Interpersonal Intelligence - “people smart” Intrapersonal Intelligence - “self smart” Naturalist Intelligence - “nature smart

PAVLOV A psychologist Conducted the first study of basic laws of learning/ conditioning Discovered Classical Conditioning Behaviorist – Studied the behaviour of dogs

PAVLOV Idea: there are some things that a dog doesn’t need to learn. EX. Dogs don’t learn to salivate when they see food, it’s a natural response Unconditioned Stimulus (US)  Food Unconditioned Response (UR)  Salivate

PAVLOV Experiment: Pavlov rang a bell which initiated no response in the dog (he didn’t salivate) Therefore, the bell was the Neutral Stimulus (NS) Pavlov started ringing the bell every time he gave food to his dog After repeating the above procedure multiple times, he tried the bell alone

The bell on its own now caused the dog to salivate Therefore, the dog learned to associate the bell and food and a new behaviour was learnt Since this response was learned (or conditioned), it is called a conditioned response The bell (NS) has now become a (CS)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzI Summary: Before Conditioning: Food (UCS) Salivation (UCR) Initially Bell (NS) No Response (no salivation)  

During Conditioning: Bell + Food (UCS) Salivation (UCR) After Conditioing: Bell (CS) –the dog was now expecting food every time the bell rang Salivation (CR)