Access He Psychology Introduction Welcome Class

Lesson objectives By the end of the lesson, you will be able to: - – Describe what psychology is about – Describe the different approaches to psychology including: - The behaviourist approach The psychodynamic approach The social approach The cognitive approach The biological approach – Evaluate each perspective

What is psychology?

Psychology is not... An easy subject Just common sense Wishy-washy and unscientific All about feelings

Psychologists are not.. All the same Always analysing people Able to read people’s minds

Psychology is... The study of people, behaviour and the mind Scientific and rigorous Not an easy subject A broad subject with many different areas Always changing Fascinating and worthwhile!

Psychological Approaches There are different fields in psychology called approaches (or perspectives), each with it’s own explanation for human behaviour. These include: - The behaviourist approach The psychodynamic approach The Social approach The Cognitive approach The Biological approach

Each perspective has a set of assumptions (beliefs) about the causes of human behaviour. So, each perspective will look at human behaviour from a different view point.

The behaviourist approach Behaviourism looks at how environmental factors shape our behaviour. They view behaviour as a response to something in the environment (stimulus). For example, a child maybe motivated to tidy his bedroom (behaviour) if his parents give him money or sweets (stimulus).

The Psychodynamic approach The Psychodynamic approach, first described by Freud, looks at unconscious thoughts and feelings. Freud believed that our unconscious thoughts and feelings drive our behaviour.

The Social Approach The social approach looks at how we interact with each other, and how these interactions shape our behaviour. So it’s about how we influence each other’s behaviour.

The cognitive approach The cognitive approach looks at internal processes such as how we perceive our environment or remember things. Likens the human mind to a computer system – so uses computer models to help understand the human mind. For example, cognitive psychologists describe memory in terms of ‘input ’ (taking in information from our environment) and ‘output’ (recalling information)

The biological approach According to biological psychologists, human behaviour can be explained in terms of internal, biological processes such as: - – Genes – The brain – Hormones

Any questions?