“you’ll understand what life is if you think about the act of dying. when i die, how will i be...
TRANSCRIPT
There is no spoon…
Imagine one has died… “You’ll understand what life is if you
think about the act of dying. When I die, how will I be different from the way I am right now? In the first moments after death, my body will be scarcely different in physical terms than it was in the last seconds of life. At that moment, the psyche takes flight in the last breath.”
Aristotle
The Story of Psychology
The word psychology literally means, "study of the soul".
It derives from Ancient Greek: "ψυχή" (psychē, meaning "breath", "spirit",
or "soul"); and "-λογία" (-logia, translated as "study of").
Do you live in the Matrix?
Plato’s Cave
Plato’s Cave…
Ancient Greeks asked big Questions
Is the mind separate from the brain?
Are ideas inborn or is the mind a blank slate filled by experience?
Where does knowledge come from?
What is the source of love?
How do we experience pain?
Ancient Greeks theorized about those questions…
Plato said we are inspired by innate knowledge but Aristotle derived ideas from observations
Aristotle Said that knowledge is not preexisting
Developed ideas about personality, memory, motivation, and emotion
Prescientific Psychology
Scientific RevolutionThe influence of NewtonThe influence of LockeEmpiricismKnowledge comes from experience/observation via the senses
Science flourishes through observation and experiment
The Scientific Revolution led to the use of
science in order to answer the big
questions about who we are.
Psychology’s Roots
Psychological Science DevelopsWundt--German philosopher and physiologist
James--American philosopherPavlov--Russian physiologistFreud--Austrian physicianPiaget--Swiss biologist
These guys all tried to answer questions
about who we are by using scientific
inquiry.
Foundations of Modern Psychology
Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Liepzig (c. 1879)
Definition of Psychology #1
Applying the knowledge of the scientific revolution to the questions of the ancient Greek philosophers
So, what is Psychology,
then?
Definition of Psychology #2
The Scientific Study of the Mind
Definition of Psychology #3
The Study of observable behavior
Our Definition of Psychology
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
The parable of the six blind men and the elephant
Contemporary Psychology
Psychology’s Perspectives A lot depends on your viewpoint
Contemporary Psychology
Psychology’s Perspectives• Biological
Neuroscience Evolutionary Behavior Genetics
• Behavioral• Psychodynamic• Socio-cultural
Take the problem of drug abuse and addiction. Why does it occur?
Modern Perspectives Biological Perspective Explain behavior by describing underlying
biochemical and neurological causes (Neurobiological Psychology)
Explain behavior by attributing it to evolutionary arguments (evolutionary psychology)
Explain behavior by attributing it to family history/genes (genetic psychology)
observable behavior reduced to physiological explanations
“To what extent is the propensity toward addiction inherited?” “Does the tendency to seek stimulation through drug used confer any survival advantage?”
Modern Perspectives
Behavioral PsychologyExplain behavior by assessing the effects of external stimuli
“We do what we do because we have been trained to do it”
B.F. Skinner: most influential behaviorist
“How important are role models in developing addictive behaviors?”
Foundations of Modern Psychology
Behaviorism• Behavior can be
shaped by manipulating and changing the environment
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take anyone at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select; doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant. And yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, tendencies, abilities, and race of his ancestors” Watson-1925
Modern Perspectives Cognitive Perspective
• Study the intervening mental processes between stimulus inputs and response outputs
• exploring internal mental processes. It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems
• Significant contributions made in the areas of language, development, and memory
How did individuals assess the risk of drug use?
Modern Perspectives Psychodynamic perspective
• Human behavior is primarily determined by unconscious processes
• Theory not based on experimental evidence and many aspects are untestable
• Influential to modern psychotherapy
“ Does unconscious conflict manifest itself in the abuse of illegal substances?”
Foundations of Modern Psychology
Psychoanalysis• Developed outside the
university setting• Founded by Sigmund
Freud in 1895• Freud concluded that
unconscious mental forces direct our behavior
• Utilized free-association and hypnosis
Modern Perspectives Social-Cultural
• How behavior and thinking vary across situations and culture
• Recognizes the power of the situation in determining human behavior
• Studies the interaction between the environment and actions
“Why is the rate of alcoholism higher in the United States than in Sweden?”
Recap 3 ½ minutes of
awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCOgKozCq1Q
Psychology’s Major Perspectives
A Story;
On June 20th, 2001, after her husband had left for work, Andrea Yates, drowned her 5 children in the family bathtub. She told the police that she drowned the children to save them from burning in hell. A jury rejected her insanity defense, and she was sentenced to serve life in a psychiatric prison…
The Andrea Yates Story…In January 2005, a Texas Appeals Court Overturned
her conviction because a psychiatrist for the prosecution had falsely testified that he had consulted for a Law and Order episode.
The Appeals Court stated that the false testimony may have contributed to the jury’s rejection of Yates insanity defense. Prosecutors declined to discuss whether Yates would be retried. Her defense attorney said he would not seek her immediate release, because she was receiving “excellent mental health care.”
She was found “not guilty by reason of insanity”
What Do You Think?
Why do you think Andrea Yates murdered her
children?(write it down )
Yates- 60 Minutes
Perspectives Is the cause in her private mental
functioning (cognitive perspective)?• She clearly had low self esteem• She believed she was possessed and that
her scalp was marked with a 666.• She told the police that her children were
not “developing correctly” and that drowning them was the only way to save them.
Perspectives Do we find the cause in her mental disorder
that may have a biological basis? • Mood disorders run in families and did in
Andrea’s.• A sister and two brothers were on
antidepressants• Research indicates that brain chemistry
plays a role in psychological disorders.• Serotonin appears scarce in depression and
Andrea took herself off of her medicine about a month before the murders.
• Andrea’s husband claimed he had been pleading with doctors to prescribe his wife Haldol, used to treat individuals who hear voices or have delusional thoughts.
Perspectives Do we find the cause in her social
environment (behavioral and socio-cultural perspectives)?• Why did her doctor take her off of anti-
psychotic medicine?• Was it a family issue?• Andrea’s in-laws report that her husband
Russell was not socially supportive. He claimed he had never changed a diaper.
• How could he leave her alone with 5 children when she could barely take care of herself?
• Why, after doctors strongly recommended no more children, did he continue to get her pregnant again?
• Where was her extended family while all of this was going on?
Perspectives Was it because she had inner voices
telling her to do things? Was she abused as a child and did
she repress certain emotions that came out on her children?
That would be the psychoanalytic perspective…i.e. Freud!
Perspectives Was it because she has been
rewarded when she does crazy things and therefore she has been “programmed” to do crazy things?
That would be the behavioral perspective
What important idea does this case convey?
Many factors shape human behavior!
Are things Biological, Psychological, Social?
What is the number one health threat in the United States?
Obesity Two-Thirds of American adults are
considered overweight and over half of them obese, double the rate of 40 years ago.
Are things Biological, Psychological, Social?
The biology of obesity questions the notion that being overweight is simply a matter of weak will.• Evolutionary advantage?• Early humans who could store the most food
were the most likely to survive. Was this passed on in genes?
• “Hardwired to expend as little energy as possible.” (Psychologist Paul Rozin)
• Genetics influence the number of fat cells
Are things Biological, Psychological, Social?
A variety of Psychological factors may also contribute to obesity.• Clean our plate! “Eyes rule our bellies.”
(Barbara Ralls)• Eat until it’s gone? M&M’s study. Small vs.
Jumbo pack?• The more we restrain ourselves from eating,
the more we will eat when we become anxious, depressed, or break a diet. We then binge.
Are things Biological, Psychological, Social?
Finally, socio-cultural factors contribute to overeating as well. • America: “A culture of bigness.” “When
someone comes to your house, the worst thing you can do is not give them enough food.” (Paul Rozin)
• Quantity, not quality• Compared to the French, Americans eat much
more, but enjoy it much less, often hurrying through every meal.
• What kind of food is the most easily accessible? Healthy or unhealthy?
So…Are things Biological, Psychological, Social?
“Everything is related to everything else.”
Examples? ….Test Anxiety?
