Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Understand and explain its subject matter, which implies knowing something of the
causes of affects, behaviors, and cognitions.
The Evolutionary Approach focuses on how behaviors and mental processes promote the
species survival and adaptation to the environment.
The Cognitive Approach focuses on how an organism processes information about itself
and the world in which it lives.
The Developmental Approach looks at the organism as it grows and develops throughout
the lifespan, usually with an emphasis on childhood.
Positive
Psychology
focuses
on
mental
health.
Martin
Seligman
and
Mihaly
Csikszentmihayi introduced this approach. Seligman says that there are three pillars to
positive psychology: the study of subjective well-being, positive individual traits, and
positive institutions.
All of science begins with observation. Before we can explain what organisms do, we must
observe what it is that they do.
Some experiments:
1. The First Psychological Experiment
The experiment, itself, was flawed, but the king deserves credit for his idea that thoughts and
language come from the mind and his ambition to test such an idea. While the experiment failed
to support the kings hypothesis, Morton Hunt (1993) suggests that it does illustrate perhaps the
first evidence in written history that as long as 2700 years ago there was at least one individual
who had the highly original notion that mental processes could be systematically investigated
and studied.
[source: Morton Hunt, The Story of Psychology, 1993, p.1]
2. Research Focus: Unconscious Preferences for the Letters of Our Own Name
A study reported in the Journal of Consumer Research (Brendl, Chattopadhyay, Pelham, &
Carvallo, 2005) [6] demonstrates the extent to which people can be unaware of the causes of
their own behavior. The research demonstrated that, at least under certain conditions (and
although they do not know it), people frequently prefer brand names that contain the letters of
their own name to brand names that do not contain the letters of their own name.
The research participants were recruited in pairs and were told that the research was a taste test
of different types of tea. For each pair of participants, the experimenter created two teas and
named them by adding the word stem oki to the first three letters of each participants first
name. For example, for Jonathan and Elisabeth, the names of the teas would have been Jonoki
and Elioki.
The participants were then shown 20 packets of tea that were supposedly being tested. Eighteen
packets were labeled with made-up Japanese names (e.g., Mataku or Somuta), and two
were labeled with the brand names constructed from the participants names. The experimenter
explained that each participant would taste only two teas and would be allowed to choose one
packet of these two to take home.
One of the two participants was asked to draw slips of paper to select the two brands that would
be tasted at this session. However, the drawing was rigged so that the two brands containing the
participants name stems were always chosen for tasting. Then, while the teas were being
brewed, the participants completed a task designed to heighten their needs for self-esteem, and
that was expected to increase their desire to
something else. In 1877, Eadweard Muybridge invented a technique for taking photographs in
rapid succession, and his photos showed that when horses gallop, all four feet leave the ground.
And that was that. Never again did two riders have the pleasure of a flying horse debate because
Muybridge had settled the matter, once and for all time.
As frames 2 and 3 of Eadweard Muybridges historic photo show, horses can indeed fly,
albeit briefly and only in coach.
Deduction: using logical reasoning and current knowledge as a means of knowing about
the world
Observation: relying on what one observes as a means of knowing about the world
Assumption of science
Testability: the assumption that explanations of behavior can be tested and falsified
through observation
Methods
1. Naturalistic observation involves carefully and systematically watching behaviors as
they occur naturally, with a minimum of involvement by the observer.
It is important that observed organisms do not realize they are being
observed.
One must overcome the observer bias of having ones expectations, motives,
experiences, etc. interfere with ones observations.
Naturalistic observation often takes great patience because the behaviors of interest
may not occur very often.
Surveys amount to systematically asking a large number of persons the same question or
questions.
A sample is a subset of a larger population that has been chosen for study.
To be useful ones sample for a survey needs to be relatively large and representative
of the population of interest.
In a case history approach, a single person, or a small group of persons, is studied in
considerable depth.
The method is retrospective, reviewing what has happened in the past.
It was the method most often used by Sigmund Freud.
2. Correlational Research
Correlational research involves measuring two or more variables and looking for a
relationship or association between them.
Differences in methods
Lab Experiment
Case Study
Interviews
Field Experiment
Correlation
Questionnaire
Observations
Observations
History
Philosophy
Physiology
Psychology
ofBehavioral
Psychology.1913Carl
G.
Jung departed
from Freudian
views and developed his own theories citing Freud's inability to acknowledge religion
and spirituality. His new school of thought became known asAnalytical Psychology.
1942Carl Rogers published 'Counseling and Psychotherapy' suggesting that respect and a
non-judgmental approach to therapy is the foundation for effective treatment of mental
health issues.
1942Jean
Piaget published
'Psychology
of
Intelligence' discussing
his
theories
of cognitive development.
1954Abraham Maslow helped to found Humanistic Psychology and later developed his
famousHierarchy of Needs.
1961John Berry introduced the importance of cross-cultural research bringing diversity
into the forefront of psychological research and application.
1963Alfred Bandura introduced the idea of Observational Learning on the development
of personality.1963Lawrence Kolberg introduced his ideas for the sequencing of morality
development.
1997Deep Blue, the supercomputer at the time, beats the World's best chess player,
Kasparov, marking a milestone in the development of artificial intelligence.