Summary
Summary PYC1502 Psychology in Society study notes
- Course
- Institution
Study notes made in preparation for the exam for PYC1502 Psychology in Society. To be used in conjunction with the approved study guide
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
corinnefielding
Reviews received
Content preview
Psychology in societyPSYCHOLOGY
Def: the science about human beings and the ways in which humans interact with one another and their environments.
3 World Framework – Mouton 2001
1. Everyday life and lay knowledge
2. Science and scientific research – psychology
3. Metaphysical – reflections on scientific practice
Fields:
• Clinical & counselling
• Industrial
• Educational
Contexts:
• Psychobiological context – relationships between neurobiological functions and psychological experiences
• Intraphysic context – Psychological aspects (thinking, emotion, learning, self-reflection).
• Social context – social behaviour of humans in interaction with one another and their environments
• Metaphysical context – philosophical, aesthetic and religious characteristics.
SELF
THE CONCEPT OF THE SELF
Core of our beings & is continuous over time.
Totality of our personal experiences.
The stable self vs the changing self:
• What came first? The stable core or the totality of our experiences.
• Erik Erikson: experience comes before the self and change develops into a stable core. Identity becomes fixed
during the developmental stage of adolescence
• Humanists (Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow): The self comes before experience and a stable core changes.
Personal development – ultimate goal is self-actualisation
The double self:
Philosophical problems of
• Ontology – essence of things, the way things really are
• Epistemology – how we understand things
The self is both the subject and object of thought
Self-awareness
The self is simultaneously constant and it is both the subject and the object of our thoughts.
THE DYNAMICS OF SELF
1
,If the self was only
• A stable core – we would be stagnant
• Totality of our experiences – we would be too fluid
We need to be both in order to accommodate new experiences and to develop a constant manner
• Self-insight vs self-deception:
How much insight one has about oneself
Begs the question of whether one really knows who one is
Have self-insight if we display more self-insight than self-deception
We can only know ourselves in relation to the way in which others know us
High degree of self-insight if what we know about ourselves corresponds to what others know about us
Johari Window:
What I know about myself What I do not know about
myself
What others know about me Open knowledge Blinded knowledge
What others do not know Hidden knowledge Unavailable knowledge
about me
• Self-regard vs self-disregard
Humans have the need to feel worthy in the eyes of others – reflects the way in which we experience ourselves
Self-worth
Lower levels:
Experienced more rejection
Difficulty distinguishing failure in a task and failure as a person
Expect negative outcomes – puts little effort
High levels of anxiety
Performs poorly
Higher levels:
Expectations of success = confirmation of self-worth
Lowered levels of anxiety
Higher probability of success
• Self-identity vs self-alienation
Self-identification – knowing who one is and being satisfied with it
Cognitive component – knowledge about oneself
Emotional component – being content with oneself
Self-alienation – feel you do not really know who you are
Is a process of reflection
Lacan’s Mirror stage theory: development of identity in terms of reflection in one’s image in a mirror. Our self-
identification contains a measure of self-alienation.
Constructing ourselves – we have to be open to what is outside ourselves, but cannot be totally alienated from
ourselves.
Extremes:
Narcissistic – focuses on oneself too much & constructs oneself in isolation (too open to what is outside
Oneself – over dependant on others, anxious, danger of losing perspective on reality
We see ourselves in the remarks others make and through the effects and consequences of our behaviour
• Self-autonomy vs self-collectivity
Autonomous self = independent from others
Collective self = inclusive of others
2
, As group support diminishes individuals become increasingly responsible for their own well being
A healthy self = can function autonomously while acknowledging its dependency on and its responsibility for its
fellow human beings
THE FOUNDATIONS OF SELF
Physical domain – describes the self as the product of a biological process
Intrapersonal domain – describes the self as the product of a process of consciousness
Interpersonal domain – describes the self as the product of a process of symbolic interaction
The process of reflection:
• Self-reflection: process that occurs when we think about ourselves
• 2 components:
Deferred – there is some sort of distance between me and my image
Differed – sense that the image is not really me
• The self is not the source of self-reflection, it is the product
• Kinds of reflection:
The biological foundations of self
- Neural system
- The neurons establish relationships between sensations and actions
- These relationships establish patterns in the organisms behaviour
- Autogenesis of the self(How the self emerges through a process of self-organisation in the neural system):
1. Formation of neural networks
2. The unique way in which neural impulses flow – how individuals act depends on neural impulse patterns
3. Higher-order organisation in the neural networks – patterns are organised as images (including the
image of itself)
4. An even higher order of organisation in the neural system – language is developed.
The foundation of self in consciousness
- Our consciousness is what underlies every thought we can think
- Consciousness as a state of being = state of awareness
- Introspection = process in which I pitch my current state against my potential state
The linguistic foundation of self
- We understand the world in terms of social constructions
- Everything happens in language and you and I are reflected in language
GROUPS
ATTRIBUTES OF HUMAN GROUPS
Def: is a collection of elements that share attributes and or relate to one another in specific ways
Groups differ and have specific characteristics. Can be grouped:
• An element of a larger group
• A group that consists of other groups as its elements (subgroups).
General characteristics:
• Structure – a groups elements & the way they are organised
3
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller corinnefielding. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for CA$4.00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
77764 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now