PSY 431: Introduction to Psychology
your reaction to other as well.
UNIT 1: THE SCIENCE OF
PSYCHOLOGY
- Prove an explanation to a behavior in a
scientific basis.
- Psychology started off as a philosophy
- “psyche” – soul
- Soul exists within the body
Enduring issues in Psychology
Nature-Nurture
- Is a person the product of genetics
(nature) or simple the sum of their
experiences (nurture)
Stability-Change
- Are behavior patterns learned in
childhood permanent or do people
change over time?
Diversity-Universality
- How are people similar to others and
how are they unique?
Mind–Body
- What is the relationship between the
mind and the body?
- Brain functioning and body
What Do You Know About Psychology?
- Psychology is the scientific study of
behavior and mental processes.
- It is the study of how people think, feel,
and act in their everyday life.
- Observe behavior
- Examine mental processes, we don’t use
assumptions, but rather investigate using
theoretical basis
So Why Study Psychology?
- Helps you understand why people and
even animals behave the way they do.
- Allows you to understand yourself and
- Makes you understand how your brain
and body are connected to each other
The Goal of Psychology?
- DESCRIBE: What is happening,
observe, and know certain behavior
- EXPLAIN: Why is it happening,
tentative explanation, should be a strong
theoretical foundation
- PREDICT: When will it happen again,
determinE what will happen in the future
- CONTROL: How can it be changed,
change the maladaptive to adaptive one,
to help the person function in a society,
modification
The Growth of Psychology (1/4)
Wilhelm Wundt
- “Father of Psychology”
- Established 1st Ψ laboratory at
University of Leipzig, Germany (1879)
- Experimental psychology
- Focused on sensation and life
Granville Stanley Hall
- Studied with Wundt
- 1st American with PhD in Psychology
- Established 1st psych’l laboratory at
Johns Hopkins University, USA (1883)
James McKeen Cattell
- Student of Wundt
- 1st Ψ professor in the USA at University
of Pennsylvania (1888)
- 16 Personality traits
Sir Francis Galton
- Individual differences
- Why people behave differently in same
situations
Edward Titchener: Structuralism
- Basic elements of mental life
- Introspection (research method) –
process in allowing yourself inquiring or
 asking questions in order to reflect you Concept Map: The history of Psychology
actions.

Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler, &

Kurt Koffka: Gestalt Ψ
- German for “configuration” or “form”
- Organization of mental processes
- “Whole is greater than the sum of its
parts”
- Disagreed to introspection
- Better to understand the entire picture
instead of the tiny little details
- Studying the form/structure

Sigmund Freud: Psychodynamic /

Psychoanalytic Ψ
- Behavior results from forces at work
within the individual, often at an
unconscious level
- Id, Ego & Superego
- Driven by desires that is suppressing us

William James: Functionalism

- “Why” people do what they do
- Functions of mind and behavior
- What triggers them to act in a certain
way
John B. Watson: Behaviorism
- Saw introspection as “unscientific”
- Studied only observable (overt)
behaviors
- S-R Psychology
- Ivan Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning –
bell and food – the dog salivated because
he was already conditioned that if theres
a bell, there’s a food.
- B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning –
focused on reward and punishments
- Tried to understand the relationship
between stimulus and response
Psychology in the Philippines
- 17th century: UST and University of San
Carlos 1st to teach Ψ
- 1926: UP established 1st Dept. of Ψ
- UST: 1st to offer undergraduate,
master’s, & doctoral degrees in Ψ
- Fr. Angel de Blas of UST: 1st and most
diverse Experimental Ψ Lab
Psychology in the Philippines
Sinforoso Padilla
- 1st Filipino Psychologist
Estefania Aldaba-Lim
- Established Philippine Psychological
Corporation (1962)
Jaime Bulatao, SJ
- Established Dept. of Ψ at ADMU
Angel de Blas, OP
- Established Dept. of Ψ at UST
Psychology Now: Modern Perspective
1. Psychodynamic
Major Focus and Concepts: Development of
sense of self, motivation for
social/interpersonal relationships
Major Theorists: Sigmund Freud, Carl
Gustav Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney,
Erik Erikson, Anna Freud
2. Behavioral
Major Focus and Concepts: Classical and
operant conditioning of reinforcement, focus
on observable behavior
Major Theorists: Ivan Pavlov, John B.
Watson, Edward L. Thorndike, B.F. Skinner
3. Humanistic
Major Focus and Concepts: The ability of
the individual to direct and control his or her
own life, free will, self-actualization
- “Third Force”
Major Theorists: Abraham Maslow, Carl
Rogers, Natalie Rogers
Major Theorists: Lev Vygotsky, John
Darley, Bibb Latane, Albert Bandura, Leon
Festiger, Henri Taijfel, Philip Zimbardo,
Stanley Milgram
6. Biopsychological
Major focus and concepts: Influences of
genetics, hormones, and the activity of the
nervous system on human and animal
behavior.
Major Theorists: Paul Broca, Charles
Darwin, Michael Gazzaniga, Roger Sperry,
Carl Wernicke, S. Marc Breedlove, Lisa
Feldman Barett
7. Evolutionary
Major Focus and Concepts: The biological
bases for universal mental characteristics
that are shared by all humans
Major Theorists: David Buss, Richard
Dawkins, Leda Cosmides, Robert Trivers,
David C. Geary, Todd K. Shackelford,
Daved F. Bjorklund, Anne Campbell, Susan
Oyama
Concept Map: Modern Perspectives

4. Cognitive
Major Focus and Concepts: Perception,
memory and intelligence, thought,
processes, problem solving, language,
learning, the role of brain and nervous
system

Major Theorists: Jean Piaget, Noam

Chomsky, Elizabeth Loftus, Howard
Gardener, Fergus I. M. Craik, Raymond
Cattell, Eleanor Rosch Psychological Professionals and Areas of
Specialization
5. Sociocultural
Major Focus and Concepts: Relationship
between social behavior and the contexts of
family, social groups, and culture
 4. Drawing conclusions – discuss the
results, and you come up with an
explanation
5. Report your results – based on
statistical data

The Scientific Methodology: Descriptive

The Fields of Psychology
Methods
Clinical Ψ
1. Naturalistic observation
- Diagnosis and treatment of mental
a. Observers who watch animals or
disorders (i.e., behavioral, emotional,
people in natural environments must
personality disorders)
take into account the observer effect,
- Provide assessments, therapeutic
the tendency of people or animals to
interventions
behave differently from normal when
School and Educational Ψ
they know they are being observed.
- Learning and emotional problems in
b. Researchers may use a technique
schools; organization of educ’l
called participant observation, a
institutions
naturalistic observation in which the
- Guidance counselors, teachers
observer becomes a participant in the
Industrial-Organizational Ψ
group being observed.
- Application of Ψ in workplace to
c. A disadvantage is the possibility of
improve productivity and quality of
observer bias, tendency of observers
work life
to see what they expect to see.
- Works in companies, responsible in
recruitment, HR
2. Laboratory observation
a. In laboratory observation,
Licenses in Psychology
researchers can watch animals or
- Psychometrician - B.S. – can work
people in an artificial but controlled
alongside with a psychologist,
situation.
administer standardized test
b. The main disadvantage is that the
- Psychologists - M.A., Ph.D., Psy.D.
artificial setting may lead to
- Psychiatrists - M.D.
artificial behavior.
- Psychoanalysts - M.D. or Ph.D.
- Social Workers (M.S.W.) - LSW
3. Case studies
- Marriage Family Therapists - M.A.
a. A case study is the study of one
individual in great detail.
The 5 Steps of the Scientific Approach
b. The main disadvantage is that
information gained from case studies
1. Perceiving the question – why do you
may not be applied to other cases.
want to study the behavior
c. Examining in great detail (case
2. Forming a hypothesis – tentative
observation, history, validating the
explanation of a phenomenon base on
results)
your observation, still baseless
3. Testing the hypothesis – strong
4. Surveys
theoretical foundation
a. Surveys involve asking
standardized questions of large
 groups of people, but respondents
may not always tell the truth or
remember information correctly.
b. To conduct a survey, researchers, use
a representative sample, a randomly
selected sample of participants from
a larger population of participants.
The population is the entire group of
people or animals in which a
researcher is interested
5. Standardized Tests
- Respondents answer a series of questions
- Respondent’s score compared with
others (norm)
- A good way to quantify behavior
- Career assessments, personality test
6. Archival Research
- In lieu of actual behavior
- Literature, diaries, paintings, movies,
etc.
- Luma luma na
The Scientific Methodology: Correlation
Methods
1. A correlation is a measure of the
relationship between two or more
variables.
2. A correlation coefficient is a number that
represents the strength and direction of a
relationship existing between two
variables; it is a number derived from the
formula for measuring a correlation.
a) Positive correlations exist when
increases in one variable are matched
by increases in the other variable.
(Directly proportional)
b) Negative correlations exist when
increases in one variable are matched
by decreases in the other variable.
(Inversely proportional)
A. Correlations cannot be used to prove
cause-and-effect relationships.
The Scientific Methodology: Experiment
1. An experiment is a deliberate
manipulation of a variable to see if
corresponding changes in behavior
result, allowing the determination of
cause-and-effect relationships.
(Pre-test, post-test)
2. Selection
3. The variables
a. Operationalization involves specific
description of a variable of interest
that allows it to be measured.
b. An independent variable is the
variable in an experiment that is
manipulated by the experimenter.
c. A dependent variable is the variable
in an experiment that represents the
measurable response or behavior of
the participants in the experiment.
d. The experimental group includes
participants in an experiment who are
subjected to the independent variable,
whereas the control group includes
participants in an experiment who are
not subjected to the independent
variable and who may receive a
placebo treatment.
Experimental Hazards and Controlling
for Effects
- This woman suffers from chronic pain. If
she were given a new pain-killing drug,
the researcher could not be certain that
any improvement in her pain was caused
by the drug rather than by the woman’s
belief that the drug would work. The
expectations of any person in an
experimental study can affect the
outcome of the study, a phenomenon
known as the placebo effect.
4. The importance of randomization - Animals and humans: Ethical
a. Random assignment is the process Consideration
of assigning participants to the - Participants may withdraw
experimental or control groups
randomly, so that each participant
has an equal chance of being in
either group.
b. Randomization is the best way to
ensure control over other extraneous
variables.

Concept Map: Scientific Research

Concept Map: Ethics of Psychological

Research
- Consent, confidentiality
- Rights of the participants
- Provide briefing to the participants
- Data must remain confidential
UNIT 2: SENSATION 2. An absolute threshold is the lowest
level of stimulation that a person can
How do we get information from the consciously detect 50 percent of the time
outside world into our brain? the stimulation is present (Gustav
1. Sensation is the process that occurs Fechner).
when special receptors in the sense 3. Signal detection theory provides a
organs are activated, allowing various method for assessing the accuracy of
forms of outside stimuli to become judgments or decisions under uncertain
neural signals in the brain. conditions.
2. Transduction is the process of
converting outside stimuli, such as light, Examples of absolute thresholds
into neural activity.
3. Synesthesia is a condition in which the SENSE THRESHOLD
signals from the various sensory organs
are processed differently, resulting in the SIGHT A candle flame at 30 miles on a
sense information being interpreted as clear, dark night
more than one sensation. HEARING The tick of a mechanical watch
20 feet away in a quiet room
Sensory Receptors SMELL One drop of perfume diffused
- Sensory receptors are specialized form throughout a three-room
of neurons, the cells that make up the apartment
nervous system. TASTE 1 teaspoon of sugar in 2 gallons
- These receptors are stimulated by of water
different kinds of energy like light, TOUCH A bee’s wing falling on the
vibrations, pressure, temperature, and cheek from 1 centimeter above
chemical substances.
Signal detection theory: a method assessing
Sensory Thresholds the accuracy of judgement under certain
Weber’s Law (Ernst Weber) conditions
- Conducted studies trying to determine
the smallest difference between two STIMULUS STIMULUS
weights that could be detected. IS IS ABSENT
- States that the difference threshold is a PRESENT
constant proportion of the specific Individual’s Hit False alarm
stimulus response =
- Senses vary in their sensitivity to “stimulus
changes in stimulation present”
Individual’s Miss Correct
What we need to know about the absolute response = rejection
sensory thresholds? “stimulus
1. A just noticeable difference (JND), absent”
also referred to as the difference
threshold, is the smallest difference
between two stimuli that is detectable 50
percent of the time it is present.
Then why are some sensory information Visual: The structure of the eye
ignored?
1. Habituation is the tendency of the brain - Light enters the eye through the cornea
to stop attending to constant, unchanging and pupil. The iris controls the size of
information. The sensory receptors are the pupil. From the pupil, light passes
still responding to stimulation, but the through the lens to the retina, where it
lower centers of the brain are not is transformed into nerve impulses. The
sending those signals to the cortex. nerve impulses travel to the brain along
2. Sensory adaptation is the tendency of the optic nerve
sensory receptor cells to become less
responsive to a stimulus that is
unchanging. Therefore, unchanging
information from the sensory receptors is
effectively ignore.

Habituation and sensory adaptation

- This young woman does not feel the
piercings on her ears and nose because
sensory adaptation allows her to ignore a
constant, unchanging stimulation from Refraction
the metal rings. What else is she wearing
that would cause sensory adaptation?

Concept map: The ABCs of sensation

- This photo illustrates an optical illusion

caused by the refraction of light. The
TYPES OF SENSATION straw is not really broken, although it
appears that way
Visual: The visible spectrum
Visual: Nearsightedness and
Farsightedness

- In a process called visual

accommodation, the lens changes its
shape from thick to thin, enabling it to
 focus on objects that are close or far color vision and sharpness of vision.
away. (Distinguish different colors)

Visual: The blind spot

- Hold the image in front of you. Close

your right eye and stare at the picture of Visual: Absorbance of Light from
the dog with your left eye. Slowly bring rods and cones
the image closer to your face. The
picture of the cat will disappear at some
point because the light from the picture
of the cat is falling on your blind spot. If
you cannot seem to find your blind spot,
try moving the image more slowly.
- The blind spot is the area in the retina
where axons of the retinal ganglion cells
exit the eye to form the optic nerve; it is
insensitive to light.
1. Trichromatic theory:
Visual: Crossing the optic nerve - The trichromatic (“three colors”) theory
of color vision proposes there are three
1. Light entering the eye separates into left types of cones: RED, BLUE, and
and right visual fields. Information from GREEN
the visual fields goes to the contralateral
visual cortex. 2. Opponent-process theory
2. Dark adaptation occurs as the eye a. The opponent-process theory of color
recovers its ability to see when going vision proposes that visual neurons (or
from a brightly lit state to a dark state. groups of neurons) are stimulated by
3. Light adaptation is the recovery of the light of one color and inhibited by light
eye’s sensitivity to visual stimuli in light of another color.
after exposure to darkness; it occurs b. Afterimages are images that occur when
more rapidly than dark adaptation a visual sensation persists for a brief
time even after the original stimulus is
Visual: Mixing Light removed.
a. Rods are visual sensory receptors found
at the back of the retina responsible for
noncolor sensitivity to low levels of
light. (black and white)
b. Cones are visual sensory receptors found
at the back of the retina responsible for
Visual: Color Afterimage
Visual: Types of color-deficient Vision
Color blindness: In color-deficient vision
color perception is limited to combinations
of two cones or colors (to yellows/blues or
reds/greens).
Dichromats
- People who are blind to either red-green
or blue-yellow
Monochromats
- People who see no color at all, only
shades of light and dark
AUDITORY: Sound waves and Decibels
a. Two sound waves. The higher the wave,
the louder the sound; the lower the
wave, the softer the sound. If the waves
are close together in time (high
frequency), the pitch will be perceived as
a high pitch. Waves that are farther apart
(low frequency) will be perceived as
having a lower pitch.
b. Decibels of various stimuli. A decibel is
a unit of measure for loudness.
Psychologists study the effects that noise
has on stress, learning, performance,
aggression, and psychological and
physical well-being.
- Sound has three properties: pitch
(frequency), amplitude (volume), and
timbre (richness in the tone of the
sound). Frequency is measured in cycles
or waves per second, or hertz (Hz).
AUDITORY: Perceiving Pitch
1. Pitch is the psychological experience of
sound that corresponds to the frequency
of the sound waves; higher frequencies
are perceived as higher pitches.
2. Place theory: The place theory of pitch
states that different pitches are
experienced by the stimulation of hair
cells in different locations on the organ
of Corti.
3. Frequency theory: The frequency
theory of pitch that states that pitch is
related to the speed of vibrations in the
basilar membrane.
4. Volley principle: The volley principle is
a theory of pitch that states that
frequencies from about 400 Hz to 4,000
Hz cause the hair cells (auditory
neurons) to fire in a volley pattern, or
take turns in firing
AUDITORY: The Structure of the Ear
a. The pinna is the visible part of the ear.
b. The auditory canal is the short tunnel
that runs from the pinna to the eardrum
(tympanic membrane).
c. Hammer, anvil, and stirrup are the
three tiny bones in the middle ear,
collectively referred to as the ossicles;
vibration of these three bones amplifies
the vibrations from the eardrum. The
oval window is a membrane covering the
opening of the inner ear.
AUDITORY: Cochlear Implant for
Hearing Impairment
1. Conduction hearing impairment:
Problems with the mechanics of the
outer or middle ear mean that sound
vibrations cannot be passed from the
eardrum to the cochlea.
2. Nerve hearing impairment: The
problem is damage to the inner ear or to
the auditory pathways in the brain.
GUSTATORY: The Tongue and Taste
Buds
1. Taste buds: The common name for the
taste receptor cells, taste buds are special
kinds of neurons found in the mouth that
are responsible for gustation, the sense
of taste.
2. The five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour,
bitter, and umami
- Taste buds are located inside the papillae
of the tongue and are composed of small
cells that send signals to the brain when
stimulated by molecules of food
GUSTATORY: The Gustatory Cortex
- The gustatory cortex is found in the
anterior insula and frontal operculum.
The insula is an area of cortex covered
by folds of overlying cortex, and each
fold is an operculum. In the coronal
section, see Figure 2.5, of a human brain
above, the gustatory cortex is found in
the regions colored a light red.
OLFACTORY: Olfactory Receptors
(Left)
1. Olfactory receptor cells: The ability to
smell odors is called olfaction, or the
olfactory sense.
2. The olfactory bulbs: The olfactory
bulbs are two bulb-like projections of the
brain located just above the sinus
cavity and just below the frontal lobes
that receive information from the
olfactory receptor cells.
- A cross-section of the nose and mouth.
This drawing shows the nerve fibers
inside the nasal cavity that carry
information about smell directly to the
olfactory bulb just under the frontal lobe
of the brain (shown in green). (Right) A
diagram of the cells in the nose that
process smell. The olfactory bulb is on
top. Notice the cilia, tiny hairlike cells
that project into the nasal cavity. These
are the receptors for the sense of smell.
OLFACTORY: Olfactory Receptors
- Detecting common odors - Odorant
binding protein is released and attached
 to incoming molecules. These molecules
then activate receptors in the olfactory
epithelium. Axons from those receptors
project directly to the olfactory bulb
- Women have a better sense of smell than
men
- Anosmia- Complete loss of the ability to
smell
TACTILE: The Sense of Touch
- Somesthetic senses are the body senses
consisting of the sin senses, the
kinesthetic sense, and the vestibular
senses.
- Pain disorders: Pain disorders include
congenital analgesia and congenital
insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis
(CIPA), which are an inability to feel
pain.
- Pain: Gate-control theory. When
receptors sensitive to pain are
stimulated, a neurotransmitter called
substance P is released into the spinal
cord, activating other pain receptors by
opening “gates” in the spinal column and
sending the message to the brain.
- The sense of touch allows individuals
that are blind to “read” a Braille book
with their fingers. The fingertips are
extremely sensitive to fine differences in
texture, allowing readers to distinguish
between small dots representing the
different letters of the alphabet.
SOMESTHETIC: Skin and Its Receptors
- Types of sensory receptors in the skin:
Pacinian corpuscles are just beneath the
skin and respond to changes in pressure.
Visceral pain is pain (and pressure) in
the organs whereas somatic pain is pain
sensation in the skin, muscles, tendons,
and joints.
- The skin is composed of several types of
cells that process pain, pressure, and
temperature. Some of these cells are
wrapped around the ends of the hairs on
the skin and are sensitive to touch on the
hair itself, whereas others are located
near the surface and still others just
under the top layer of tissue.
SOMESTHETIC: Pain Disorders
Congenital Analgesia and Congenital
Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis
(CIPA)
- Characterized by the inability to feel
pain.
- These disorders affect the neural
pathways that carry pain, heat, and cold
sensations.
- Those with CIPA are unable to cool off
the body by sweating because of a
disrupted body’s heat-cold sensing
perspiration system (anhidrosis)
KINESTHETIC: Speed and Direction of
Movement
- Kinesthetic senses provide information
about speed and direction of movement
Stretch receptors sense muscle stretch
and contraction
- Golgi tendon organs sense movement of
tendons
- Proprioception is awareness of where
the body and body parts are located in
relation to each other in space and to the
ground.
VESTIBULAR: Balance, Position, and
Movement
1. Sensory conflict theory offers an
explanation of motion sickness in which
the information from the eyes conflicts
with the information from the vestibular
senses, resulting in dizziness, nausea,
and other physical discomfort.
2. In biofeedback training, feedback about
biological conditions is used to bring
involuntary responses, such as blood
pressure and relaxation, under voluntary
control.
- The vestibular sense is the awareness of
the balance, voluntary control. position,
and movement of the head and body
through space in relation to gravity’s
pull.