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Title: Introduction to Psychology
Description: The notes consist of lecture notes as well as self-made notes from the textbook by Robert A. Baron. It an undergraduate level Introduction to Psychology.
Description: The notes consist of lecture notes as well as self-made notes from the textbook by Robert A. Baron. It an undergraduate level Introduction to Psychology.
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Unit 1 – baron - notes
Definition and goals of Psychology,
Role of a psychologist in society,
Modern perspectives-Biological, Psychodynamic, Behaviouristic, Gestalt, Cognitive, Cross cultural, Humanistic and
Evolutionary perspective, Brief introduction to Indian Psychology
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Connections and emergence of psych
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By late 19th century – philosophers turned attention to questions about human mind
Philosphers tried to answer such questions through careful reasoning (rationalism)
Rene Descartes – French philosopher – mind and body are distinct entities & interact through pineal gland in
brain – dualism
Interactionism – mind and body can influence each other
By the end of 19th century – reached concl
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F
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Sigmund freud - role of unconscious and hidden elements
1950s – humanistic psych – advocacy of free will
Ultimate challenge – cognitive revolution – renewal of interest in all aspects of cognition
Modern psych no longer restrined by boundaries imposed by various schools or isms
Psych in india
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Has strong and variegated tradition of reflective scholarship w/ rich insights into human psyche and
behaviour much before advent of scientific psych
Experience-based accounts of mental states and activities
Goal was to alleviate suffering and self-realisation
Holistic and central vision – central
Vedic and upanishadic knowledge – emphasises spiritual transcendence that connects indiv w/ totality
Indiv growth achieved through seeking unity w/ greater reality/consciousness
One needs to strive to experience spirit by transcending ones limited bodily identity since spirit moves
beyond individuality
Indian thought systems diverse in orientation
Rich source remained neglected due to colonial exploitation
Modern psych : grand issues, key perspectives
• Issues
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Nature & nurture question – to what extent does each dominate
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Behavioural - Focuses on overt behaviour
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Biological - the biological events and processes that underlie behaviour
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Psychodynamic - personality and on the role of hidden, often unconscious processes on behaviour
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clinical
counselling
developmental
educational
experimental – studies basic psych processes – perception, motivation, learning
cognitive – memory, thinking, reasoning, lang
industrial/organisational – all aspects of behaviour in work settings
biopsychology – biological bases of behaviour
social
psych & the scientific method
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knowledge gathered by psychologists is diff from intuition & common sense
it is more accurate and acquired from formal means
rely on scientific method in quest of understanding
basic nature of scientific method
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term refers to an approach of acquiring knowledge
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adherence to certain values & standards
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objectivity
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open-mindedness
adoption of scientific method makes psych a science
theories
o involves construction of theories to explain why something happens (events & processes)
o scientific steps
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hypothesis
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results
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theory
theories organise existing knowledge & make predictions about how events/processes will occur
once theories are formulated, hypothesis derived from them are tested through research
advantages of scientific method
o common sense paints a confusing, contradictory and inconsistent pic of human behaviour
o our thinking is subject to several forms of errors, we’re not perf info-processing machines
sources of potential error
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confirmation bias - we tend to notice & remember info that supports our views, info that confirms what we
already believe
availability heuristic – designed to save mental effort, suggest that the easier it is to bring something to
mind, the more frequent or imp it is
mood effects
scientific method in everyday life
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critical thinking – avoids blind acceptance of conclusions/arguments, closely examines all assumptions,
mirrors key values of scientific method
guidelines to critical thinking
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open mind
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be sceptical
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observation
• naturalistic
• case studies
• surveys – self report
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Experimentation/experimental method
• Involves 2 key steps
▪ Presence / strength of some variable believed to affect behaviour is systematically
altered
▪ Effects of alterations carefully measured
• If the systematically changed variable influences some aspect of behaviour, then individuals
exposed to diff amounts of it should lead to diff behaviours
• Factor systematically varied by researcher is independent variable
• Behaviour studied is dependent variable
• In a simple experiment – diff groups of participants are exposed to contrasting levels of
independent variable
• 2 conditions for concluding that independent variable caused changes in a dependent variable
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All other factors (apart from the independent variable) that might affect the participants
behaviour need to be held constant
• Independent variable should not be confounded or the findings of the experiment
may be largely meaningless
• Researcher’s biases may bring about subtle changes in results – experimenter
effects (unintended effects, caused by researchers on participants behaviour)
• Double blind procedure employed to avoid such a potential prob – researchers who
have contact w/ participants do not know the hypothesis under investigation –
likelihood that they will influence results in subtle ways is reduced w/ this method
Interpreting research results : statistics as a valuable tool
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Study need to be repeated to be confident about the results, but it is costly in terms of time and effort
Another approach: inferential statistics
o Special form of maths
o Evaluates the likelihood that the findings is due to chance alone
o If the analyses suggest that the likelihood of the findings being due to chance is low, the results are
described as significant
o Likelihood of chance never 0, can be very low
Replication of study still imp, since there are chances of the findings being a result of chance
Meta-analysis and the search for an overall pattern
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A statistical technique used to combine the results of many diff studies to estimate the direction and
magnitude of the effects of the independent variables
Are mathematical in nature – eliminate sources of errors
Largely eliminates the human tendency to seek confirmation for our views and preferences
Ethical issues
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Psych research performed in accordance to strict ethical standards designed to ensure the safety, privacy,
and well-being of all research participants
Standards developed by govt agencies and APA
2 issues
o Deception
o Animal research
Deception
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the temporary withholding of information about a study from the persons who participate in it
The participant is temporarily not informed about the true hypothesis(or even given misleading info) of the
study to avoid it influencing/changing the behaviour and thus invalidating the study
Is permissible on 2 conditions/principles:
o Informed consent of the participant to involve himself/herself in the study- requires research
participants to be provided with info about all events and procedures of the study before they agree
to participate; need to be informed they are free to leave at any time
o Debriefing – requires participants be given full info about all aspects of a study after they have
participated; ensures that they understand the purpose of the study and retrieve any info
temporarily withheld from them
Existing evidence suggests that informed consent and thorough debriefing go a long way toward eliminating
any adverse effects of temporary deception
However, despite such findings, and despite the fact that most persons who have experienced temporary
deception as part of research projects feel that it is justified (e
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, Smith & Richardson, 1983), some
psychologists still object to its use
Research w/ animals
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Reasons it is done
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Want to determine whether certain principles of behaviour apply to diff species
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harsh and cruel procedures are virtually never used in research - such conditions are more
frequently found in medical studies
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Qualitative methods
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Interpretive study of a prob or issue
Subjectivity plays a key role - makes interpretation and reflection possible
Approach to understanding and description is context dependent
Goal is to enable holistic view
Challenges the objectivist view that a concrete knowledge reality exists independently of our thought
processes
Ethical issues in practice of psych
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Confidentiality
Professional relationship
Title: Introduction to Psychology
Description: The notes consist of lecture notes as well as self-made notes from the textbook by Robert A. Baron. It an undergraduate level Introduction to Psychology.
Description: The notes consist of lecture notes as well as self-made notes from the textbook by Robert A. Baron. It an undergraduate level Introduction to Psychology.