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Lecture notes Introduction to Psychological Theories RuG
These are detailed lecture notes from all 7 lectures for the course "Introduction to Psychological Theories" at the University of Groningen.
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Lectures Introduction to Psychological TheoriesUniversity of Groningen
INHOUD
Lecture 1 – The Science of Psychology ..................................................................................................... 2
Lecture 2 – Learning ................................................................................................................................ 9
Lecture 3 – Thinking, Decisions & Intelligence ........................................................................................ 18
Lecture 4 – Emotion & Motivation ........................................................................................................... 26
Lecture 5 – Social Psychology ................................................................................................................ 37
Lecture 6 – Health & Well-being ............................................................................................................. 48
Lecture 7 – Psychological Disorders & Treatment ................................................................................... 56
1
,LECTURE 1 – THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY
Levels of psychology:
- Biological
- Individual
- Social
o How we behave in groups compared to how we behave when we are on our own
- Cultural
Warm up!
Every evening Laura plays classical music for her unborn baby to hear. She hopes that providing her baby
with this type of stimulating environment will help to develop strong cognitive skills. Her partner thinks
that playing music is a waste of time, because the baby’s intelligence will be based only on how smart the
parents are.
What age-old issue are Laura and her partner rehashing?
A. The mind/body problem
B. Structuralism
C. The nature/nurture debate
D. Dualism
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE?
- The study of the Soul
o Spiritual exploration, meditation, going on adventures trips to find your inner self, writing
a diary → all these things could be studying ‘soul’
- From Greek: Psykhe (‘Soul’) & Logia (‘Study of’)
- We, humans, are ‘intuitive psychologists’
Heider & Simmel (1944) video
This video tries to explain behavior.
A video of triangles and a circle in and out of a box. We can interpretate this in many ways.
Psychology is a Science
- Psychological science is the study, through research, of mind, brain and behavior (Phelps,
Berkman & Gazzaniga, 2022)
o Aimed at understanding and predicting
▪ Behavior (actions)
▪ Mind (mental activity)
o High quality research is able to predict mental activity and behavior. There is so much
input, but we try to isolate factors in research.
What is Mind?
- Stuff of thought
- Mental activity
- Perceptual experiences (sights, smells, tastes, sounds and touches)
- Memories (long-term, short-term, working memory), thoughts and feelings
➔ Not directly observable
o This makes the research challenging.
2
,What is behavior?
- What we do
o Easier for research
- The observable tip of the iceberg
Psychological science
- There are many levels at which you can study psychology, e.g.,
o Groups vs. individuals
▪ Social psychology → groups
o Behavior vs. brain activity
o Nature vs. nurture
▪ Genetic influences
▪ Learning, training
- These are complementary (it builds on each other), resulting in fascinating insights
WHAT ARE THE FOUNDATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY?
Short journey through history of psychology
- Dualism
o Descartes
o Separation of soul/mind and body
▪ ‘mental activity can’t be a topic of science’
o Nature/nurture debate
▪ Nature: genetic parameters we can’t affect
- Structuralism
o Complex mental processes can be reduced to simpler processes
▪ E.g., perception of an orange reduced to the color and shape
▪ What makes that you perceive it as an orange? What creates our perception?
o Methods used:
▪ Reaction times
• Stroop task: name the color of the word
o It’s used to give people cognitive load and see how they cope.
o What could we do better in real research:
▪ Show the columns one by one
▪ The order of things. Use a larger group so not everyone
starts with the congruent words.
▪ Use an experimental group and a control group. You
can compare the groups.
▪ Introspection
• Record your own perception to gain understanding of the psychological
processes
• Bias, confounding variables → it’s hard to make conclusions
- Functionalism
o Concerned with the adaptive purpose/function of mind and behavior
o Mind is more complex than its elements
3
, The first psychologists
- Wilhelm Wundt (1832)
o Prof of physiology
o Structuralist
o Introspection and early reaction time studies.
o How mental activity can be understood in terms of the element
- William James (1842-1910)
o Prof of philosophy
o Functionalist
o Was interested in the experience.
▪ The mind is more than its components
▪ Answers questions ‘why’ and ‘how’
- First psychology labs date from 1875/1879
o Leipzig/Harvard
Evolution
- Focus on the functions of behavior
- The ways our behavior helps us to survive and reproduce
- Darwin, on the origin of Species (1859)
- Genetic diversity
o Mutation = variation
o The benefits of sexual reproduction
- Environmental pressures
o Evolution has no foresight
o If certain traits become important in society, chances are high that these traits will be
passed on. This process is always changing.
- Sexual selection
o Traits that aid in reproduction (e.g., bird songs and ‘dance’, peacock’s tail)
Psychology and evolution
- Psychology is about behavior and the brain
- How does evolution come into play?
o Evolution can provide answers to the ‘why’ questions → functionalism
▪ What is the function of elephants ears?
• To sharpen the senses, regulation, cool down etc.
▪ What is the function of a wolfs howl?
• Social purposes, create a common experience, easy to recognize their
social group/pack
▪ What could be a function of being disgusted?
• Avoiding bacteria, viruses that could make us ill. Bad associations can
protect ourselves. Disgust can be a powerful emotion to protect us.
▪ Why do humans laugh?
• Social contact
4
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