1015HSV

scientific investigation of mental processes (thoughts & feelings) and behaviour (actions)

involves testing hypothesis

not observable, can be inferred & tested, behaviour is observable and can be tested

i)biology ii) cultural context iii) psychological experience

determines capacity & limits your experiences

group of values, beliefs & norms- gives meaning to behaviour

influenced by biology & cultural context- interprt own experiences

focus on biological studies & factors that influence psychological experiences

• Biology- mircro level
• Culture- macro level

psychiatrits prescribe medication

• bio
• conginitive
• councelling
• developmental
• clinical
• educational
• forensic
• health
• industrial
• personality
• social
• sports

• stem from philosophy
• reasoning and arguning

• 1- do people make free choices or are their actions determined by forces outside tehir control?
• (Free will vs determainism)

• 2- to what extent do psychological processes reflect biological or environmental influences?
• (Nature vs Nurture debate)

• 3- to what extent does knowledge about the world come from logic & reasoning or from an observed experience?
• (rationalism vs emircism)

• 4- to what extent are people guided by their knowledge or by their feelings?
• (reason vs emotion)

• 5- to what extent is human psychology similar to the psycology of animals?
• (continuity vs discontinuity with other animals)

• 6- to what extent are humans fundamentally self-interested or orientated towards relating to & helping people ?
• (individualism vs collectivism)

• 7- to what extent are people concious of their mind and causes of behaviour?
• (concious vs unconcious)

• 8- to what extent can we understand psychological events without understanding biological functioning?
• (mind/body problem?)

Founder of psychology

The mass nerve fibres connecting the two hemispheres of the cerebrum

Region of the brain located above the lateral fissure and in front of the central sulcus; involved in motor control and cognitive activities.

Region of the brain behind the frontal lobe and above the lateral fissure; contains somatosensory cortex.

Rearmost region of the brain; contains primary visual cortex

Region of the brain found below the lateral fissure.

The brain structure that regulates motivated behaviour (such as eating and drinking) and homeostasis

Constancy or equilibrium of the internal conditions of the body

The region of the brain that regulates higher cognitive and emotional functions

The outer surface of the cerebrum

The two halves of the cerebrum, connected by the corpus callosum

The region of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour, basic motivational urges and memory, as well as major physiological functions.

The region of the brain stem that connects the spinal cord with the brain and links parts of the brain to one another

The region of the bran stem that alerts the cerebral cortex to incoming sensory signals and is responsible for maintaining consciousness and awakening from sleep

The brain structure that relays sensory impulses to the cerebral cortex

The brain structure that regulates the body’s basic life processes

The region of the brain stem that regulates breathing, waking and heartbeat

The region of the brain attached to the brain stem that controls motor coordination, posture and balance and the ability to learn control of body movements

The subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s involuntary motor responses

The subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that deals with emergency responses and the mobilisation of energy

The subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that monitors the routine operation of the body’s internal functions and conserves and restores body energy

The subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that connects the central nervous system to the skeletal muscles and skin

The part of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord

The part of the nervous system composed of the spinal and cranial nerves that connect the body’s sensory receptors to the CNS and the CNS to the muscles and glands.

the process of paying attention to and reflecting upon one’s thoughts andfeelings

• credited as the founder of structuralism because:
• of his singular emphasis onexperimentation to uncover the basic elements of consciousness;
• rigorousexperimentation allows researchers to verify the output of introspection

is a school of thought that argues that human consciousness can be reduced tosmaller parts or elements, and that there are identifiable structures in thebrain responsible for those elements or units of consciousness

is a school of thought that emerged as a reaction to structuralism, and arguesthat consciousness cannot be reduced to smaller parts because the partsthemselves have not function on their own

structuralism helps identify what structures in the brain areresponsible for different parts of the human experience, and functionalismhelps identify the purpose of different parts of the human experience

• (i)psychodynamics
• (ii) behaviourism
• (iii) humanism
• (iv) cognitive psychology
• (v) evolutionary psychology
• each has strengths and weaknesses and so arebest used in conjunction with one another

argues that people’s actions are influenced by their thoughts, feelings and wishes, but that because these may conflict with one another, they are often outside our conscious awareness of them

asserts that unconscious thoughts, feelings and wishes can be uncoveredusing psychoanalysis because they are inferable from verbalised thoughts andfeelings, and observable behaviours

the process of paying attention to and reflecting upon one's thoughts and feelings

Wundt's students- founded structurlism

argues that human conciousness canbe reduced to smaller parts or elements, and that are identifiable structures in the brian responsible for those elements or units of conciousness.

emerged as a reaction to structulism and argues that conciousness canotbe reduced to smaller parts themselves have not function on their own.

Structuralism- helps identify what structures in the brian are responsible for different parts of the human experience

Functionalism- helps identify the purpose of different parts of the human experience