Crazy Joe's Psych Notes Joseph Eulo

PSY101 First Day Discussion: requirements of the course, what is expected, and what materials are used.

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What is Psychology?

(Book) The scientific study of the overt and covert behavior of living organisms-with emphasis on animals and especially humans. (Along with the factors that influence each form of behavior.)

The scientific Study of mental processes, behaviors, and other unseen process that go in inside the organism. (Study Guide and review sheet Number 1)
What are the missions of Psychology?

The field of Psychology as two primary missions:

* To understand behavior in all its forms;
* To predict its (behavior) course;
* And perhaps control behavior.

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Structuralism: (1st school of thought is psychology) an approach that emphasized breaking down consciousness and mental activity into structural components and analyzing them individually.

Psychology was founded in 1879, when the first laboratory was established by WILHELM WUNDT at Leipzig University, in Leipzig Germany; some early psychologist who followed, including WILLIAM JAMES (the founder of modern psychology), were chiefly interested in studying human functioning via introspection.

A general school of thought that considers psychological phenomena in terms of their role in adaptation to the person's environment.

1889: William James established the first American school of psychology at Harvard University, call Functionalism. Functionalism: an approach that stressed how modern human thought might result from progressive adaptations our ancestors experienced.

Psychoanalysis is a body of knowledge developed by Sigmund Freud and his followers, devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behavior. It has three applications:

1. a method of investigation of the mind;
2. a systematized body of knowledge about human behavior;
3. a method of treatment of psychological or emotional illness.

Under the broad umbrella of psychoanalysis there are at least 20 different theoretical orientations regarding the underlying theory of understanding of human mentation and human development. The various approaches in treatment called “psychoanalytic” vary as much as the different theories do. In addition, the term refers to a method of studying child development.

Freudian psychoanalysis refers to a specific type of treatment in which the “analysand” (analytic patient) verbalizes thoughts, including free associations, fantasies, and dreams, from which the analyst formulates the unconscious conflicts causing the patient’s symptoms and character problems, and interprets them for the patient to create insight for resolution of the problems.

The specifics of the analyst’s interventions typically include confronting and clarifying the patient’s pathological defenses, wishes and guilt. Through the analysis of conflicts, including those contributing to resistance and those involving transference onto the analyst of distorted reactions, psychoanalytic treatment can clarify how patients unconsciously are their own worst enemies: how unconscious, symbolic reactions that have been stimulated by experience are causing symptoms.

"Past, Present, and Promise" is the first program in the DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY series. It provides an introduction to and overview of psychology, from its origins in the nineteenth century to current study of the brain’s biochemistry. You’ll explore the development of psychology in general and some of the paths scientists take to determine relationships among the mind, the brain, and behavior.

Psychology is defined as the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes. Like many sciences, psychology has evolved with technology, giving doctors and researchers new tools to measure human behavior and analyze its causes.

In this program, Dr. Mahzarin Banaji from Yale University uses the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to measure how quickly positive or negative values are associated with white or black faces. Her subjects are shown a series of words and pictures and instructed to respond immediately by pushing a button to indicate their most automatic, reflex-like reactions. For example, they may be told to press a button in their right hand if the automatic association is good and to press a button in their left hand if the association is bad. The speed with which the subjects respond is an important element of the experiment because these quick, unconscious connections can reveal biases that differ from conscious beliefs.

The IAT results are matched against functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data to track activity in the amygdala, the region of the brain that responds to fearful or negative images. By correlating data on the buttons subjects pushed with fMRI information about activity in the amygdala, Dr. Banaji and her colleagues have found some interesting results. The majority of the white American respondents showed an unconscious association of white with good and black with bad, while the African American respondents showed mixed results. Half more quickly associated black with good, and the other half associated white with good.

Tracking brain activity in controlled experiments reveals not only the region of the brain at work, but also the power of images and messages in our culture on the subconscious human psyche, bringing psychologists one step closer to understanding human behavior.


For more info on this topic visit http://psy101.MyUCCedu.com