INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Behavior – any response made by an organism/ anything you do or think

Mental Processes – activities of the mind (analyzing, thinking, calculating, remembering, imagining, etc.)

Etymology

Psychology comes from the Greek words psyche which means soul or mind and logos which means study or discourse.

As a definition of psychology, its etymological meaning is not adapted or accepted for the following reasons:

1. The psyche cannot be directly observed.

2. The scientific process cannot be applied.

Psychology formally became a science when in 1897, Wilhelm Wundt (pronounced Voondt) established the first
laboratory in psychology in Leipzig, Germany.

Classifications of Behavior

1. Overt – readily observable

Covert – hidden (thinking/feeling)
2. Conscious – refers to behavior that you are aware of
Unconscious – refers to behavior that you are unaware of
As described in Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory, the unconscious represents the person’s psyche where
repressed desires, memories, or past experiences.

Conscious

Preconscious

Unconscious

3. Rational – based on reason

Irrational – not based on reason (e.g. phobia – irrational fear of something)
4. Normal – standard
Abnormal – away from the normal or standard behavior
Not all behavior that is not in the range of behavior the society considers normal will be abnormal. There are
four (4) standards for a behavior to be considered abnormal:
a. stress
b. deviance
c. danger
d. dysfunction
 5. Voluntary – something in your control
Involuntary – not in your control (e.g. Tourette’s Tics Syndrome)
6. Simple – utilizes only a few neurons
Complex – utilizes a lot of neurons (multitasking)

Although psychology is considered a science, some of the knowledge we have were derived from pseudoscience.
Pseudoscience is false science. Knowledge is not derived from the scientific method or process.

1. Physiognomy – how a bodily characteristic relates to behavior

William Sheldon’s Somatotypes

a. Ectomorph – cerebrotonic
b. Mesomorph – somatotonic
c. Endomorph – viscerotonic

2. Astrology – the belief that the position of the stars and planets in the time we were born determine our
personality
3. Phrenology - the belief that the bumps and dents in the skull determines personality
4. Graphology - the belief that penmanship determines personality
5. Numerology – certain numbers determine personality (e.g. Triskaidephobia or the fear of number 13)

Trephining/Trepanning – an unethical surgery of the skull in which a hole is opened to treat abnormal behavior

They believed before that a small man resides in the brain who controls the person.

Schools of Thought in Psychology

A. Structuralism – focus is on the study of the elements of behavior

Proponent: Edward Tichener – when he taught structuralism in the US, he added on the teachings of his mentor,
Wilhelm Wundt, in spite of claiming that the ideas he teaches are entirely attributed to Wundt.

In essence, structuralism is also a school of thought espoused by William Wundt.

Elements of Behavior

1. Individual Sensations
2. Individual Feelings

It relies of the method of introspection (self-reporting) for data gathering. One of the limitations of this school of
thought is that the method of data-gathering which is introspection is prone to bias from the respondent. A respondent
can lie or report false data.

B. Functionalism – the focus is on the utility of behavior

Proponent: William James

Pragmatism – each behavior has a function (for example, you experience pain as a mechanism of your body to inform
you that something is wrong/dysfunction in your body)

C. Psychoanalysis – school of thought that derived from the theories of Sigmund Freud

Psyche is tripartite

a. Id – operates on the pleasure principle (present at birth)

b. Ego – operates on the reality principle
c. Superego - operates on the morality principle
The ego and superego are developed later in life. Furthermore, the superego is based on the values that has been taught
to you. To illustrate these parts of the psyche, consider a situation when you have a deep hatred on someone say your
professor to the point you want to kill him/her. Your id will tell you to satisfy the desire to kill your professor. Your ego
meanwhile tells you not yet because there might be people around and wait for the perfect timing when it is dark and
no one’s around. On the other hand, your superego will tell you it’s not right to kill anyone regardless of how you feel
about them.

Psychosexual Development Stages (refer to UTS notes) – in summary, psychosexual development theory states that a
behavior in adulthood could be a result of a fixation in childhood.

D. Gestalt Psychology – the whole is different from the sum of its parts

Proponents: Max Wertheimer, Kurt Kaffka, Wolfgang Kohler

Gestalt psychology stands in opposition to structuralism as it believes that behavior must be treated as whole and not
by its individual parts.

E. Behaviorism – the focus is on the study of readily observable behavior

Behaviorism believes that behavior is a result of or a function of conditioning. Under behaviorism are the fields of SR or
stimulus response psychology and similar areas.

Classical Conditioning by Ivan Pavlov

Classical Conditioning was developed by Ivan Pavlov as a result of studying the salivation of dogs. How the experiment
went are as follows:

1. Dog – food – salivated

The act of presenting food is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and salivation is an unconditioned response (UCR).

2. Dog – ringing of the bell – no salivation

In this part, the dog was made to listen to the ringing of the bell (neutral stimulus - NS) and it elicited no salivation
(neutral response – NR).

3. Dog – ringing of the bell – food (meat powder) – salivation

In this stage the dog was presented food after the ringing of the bell and responded with salivation.

4. Conditioning stage – repetition of step 3

5. Repetition of step 2
6. Dog – ringing of the bell – salivation

In this stage, the dog has associated the ringing of the bell with the presentation of the food which is why it salivated.
The bell has become a conditioned stimulus (CS) now and salivation a conditioned response (CR).

Operant Conditioning by Burrhus Frederick (B.F.) Skinner

Behavior is seen as a function of reinforcement (positive or negative) and punishment (positive or negative).

Reinforcement – anything when delivered contingent to a behavior, increases the likelihood that the behavior will be
repeated or strengthened

Punishment - anything when delivered contingent to a behavior will likely result to the weakening or extinction of the
behavior
Schedules of Reinforcement

1. Fixed Ratio – reinforcement after n number of responses

2. Variable Ratio – reinforcement after varying number of responses
3. Fixed Interval – reinforcement after a fixed time
4. Variable Interval – reinforcement after varying time

Positive Reinforcement – giving the subject something (what they want) when they perform the desired action so they
associate the action with the reward and the action again

Negative Reinforcement – strengthening of a behavior by removing a negative stimuli (for example, you want to go the
beach but you lather on sunscreen to prevent being sun burned or you drink your medicine even if it is bitter because
you don’t want to get sick anymore)

Positive Punishment – delivery of an aversive stimuli to extinguish a behavior (for example, a person is jailed so that he
will not steal again)

Negative Punishment – taking away something precious or valuable from the subject

F. Humanism – views that humans are capable of self-actualization

Proponent: Abraham Maslow – proponent of the Hierarchy of Needs