Psychology- a Complete Introduction
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PSYCHOLOGY
A Complete Introduction
Sandi Mann
Sandi Mann is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She is Senior Psychology Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire where she has been teaching a range of psychology topics for over 15 years.
Contents
1 Introduction
What is psychology?
The nature–nurture debate
Subfields of psychology
Other psychology professions
2 Psychology research
The hypothesis
The experiment
Correlational research
Observational methods
Reliability and validity
Internal and external validity
Demand characteristics and the Hawthorne Effect
The ethics of research
3 Perception and attention
Visual perception theory
The Gestalt Theory of Perception
Visual attention
Selective attention and hearing
Perception of pain
4 Memory
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
Types of memory
Memory failures
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
Effects on memory: smell, emotions and stress
False memory
5 Learning
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Social Learning Theory
6 Language and thought
Language acquisition
The relationship between language and thought
Non-verbal communication
Reasoning
Problem-solving
Creativity
7 Emotion
How many emotions?
Theories of emotion
Facial expression
Functions of emotions
Emotion regulation
8 Intelligence
Some definitions Models and theories of intelligence
Fluid vs crystallized intelligence
Measuring intelligence
Emotional intelligence
9 Personality and motivation
Defining personality
Theories of personality
Assessment of personality
Motivation
10 Developmental psychology
Attachment Theory
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Vygotsky’s Development Theory
Stages of moral development
Stages of play
11 Gender and sexuality
Sexual identity
Gender socialization: do we treat boys and girls differently?
The rise of non-gendered parenting
Sexual orientation
Transgender and transsexual
12 Social influence
The Bystander Effect
Social facilitation
Compliance and weapons of influence
Obedience
Conformity
Minority influence
13 Social and group processes
Stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination
Attributional bias
Attitudes and attitude change
Group polarization
Groupthink
14 Stress and mental health
Stress
Anxiety
Phobias
Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Depression
Eating disorders
15 Psychological disorders
Bipolar disorder
Schizophrenia
Personality disorders
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)
16 Psychological therapies
Behaviour therapy
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT)
Psychodynamic therapies
Humanistic therapies
ECT (electro-convulsive therapy)
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
Mindfulness therapy
Medication
17 The brain and nervous system
The central nervous system
The peripheral nervous system
The somatic and autonomic nervous systems
Neurotransmitters
The endocrine system
18 Sleep
Why we sleep
Stages of sleep
Dreams
Sleep disorders
Hypnosis
Circadian desynchronization and shift work
References
Answers to fact-checks
1
Introduction
Psychology is the study of human mind and behaviour and consists of various subfields and specialities. Psychology is a science because it uses scientific methods of enquiry to develop theories about how humans think and behave. Different types of psychologist work in different settings and using different techniques and client groups in order to develop their knowledge and apply what they know to help people in various ways.
What is psychology?
This is a question that I encounter more than I ever could have imagined when I began my career. Most people have some vague understanding of what psychology is, but I find that very few can really articulate this into anything meaningful (by which I mean something a bit more than ‘Something to do with the brain’ or even ‘It’s about people, isn’t it?’). In fact, many people seem to see psychologists almost as magicians, capable of reading people’s minds, or even controlling them and making them do things they don’t want to. Ask any psychologist about the most common response they get at social gatherings when they reveal their profession, and I bet it’s this one: ‘Oh gosh, I better be careful what I say’, accompanied by some awkward body movements, as our conversational partner anxiously imagines we will be analysing their every move or comment to discover their deepest, darkest secrets.
It is true, psychology is about the brain and it is about people (but it’s not true that psychologists can uncover your secrets by the way you scratch your nose). In fact, the simplest definition of psychology is that it is the ‘science of the mind’.
But what do we mean by the mind? And for that matter, what do we mean by science?
The mind is the source of a whole range of complex and mysterious functions, including attitudes, thoughts, emotions and behaviour. So, psychology is the study of all that. It is a science because psychologists study the mind using the rigorous methods that any other scientist uses. These include observation, experiments, hypothesis testing and more – all of which will be explained in more detail in Chapter 2. Obviously, we can’t study the mind directly in the same way that physicists can observe neutrons; psychologists can’t exactly cut into the brain to see what is going on, and, even if they could, such an investigation would not reveal much. So, instead, we generally have to study human behaviour in order to test theories about how the mind works. Research in psychology, then, seeks to understand and explain how we think, act and feel. Because psychology is a science, it attempts to investigate the causes of human behaviour using systematic, rigorous and objective procedures for observation, measurement and analysis, all supported by theoretical underpinnings, explanations, hypotheses and predictions.
Thus, a better definition of psychology is probably this: ‘the scientific study of mind and behaviour’.
‘Psychology is the study of the mind
and behaviour. The discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience – from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged. In every conceivable setting from scientific research centres to mental healthcare services, “the understanding of behaviour” is the enterprise of psychologists.’
Definition of psychology as provided by the American Psychological Association (APA)
Interestingly, psychology evolved from the disciplines of philosophy and biology, both of which date back as far as the early Greek thinkers, including Aristotle and Socrates. The word ‘psychology’ is derived from the Greek word psyche, literally meaning ‘life’ or ‘breath’, and the Greek word logia, meaning the study of something. The groundwork for the study of psychology was laid by the behaviourists, who relied on controlled laboratory experiments to identify the causes of human behaviour. Later, cognitive psychologists adopted this same rigorous, laboratory-based scientific approach too, with an emphasis on how thought processes play a role in explaining behaviour. Psychologists today explore a wide range of constructs such as perception, thinking, attention, group processes, learning, emotion, motivation, brain functioning, personality, behaviour and interpersonal relationships.
Spotlight: The first psychology laboratory
The German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920) opened the first experimental psychology laboratory in Leipzig in 1879.
The nature–nurture debate
One of the major debates underlying psychology is the so-called ‘nature–nurture’ one. Put simply, a lot of psychology is concerned with the degree to which our behaviour, attitudes and traits are determined by inherited traits (nature) and the degree to which they are shaped by other influences throughout our lives (nurture). On one side of the debate you have the biological approach, which focuses on physiological processes and structures to explain behaviour. On the other side, there is the behaviourist perspective that states that all behaviour is learned through conditioning. In general, those behaviours or attributes that emerge the earliest are most likely to be hereditary rather than learned. Those that emerge later in life, as a result of maturation, are more likely to be learned.
Those who adopt the most extreme hereditary perspectives are known as nativists. Their basic assumption is that the characteristics of the human species as a whole are a product of evolution and that individual differences are due to each person’s unique genetic code. At the other end of the spectrum there are the empiricists who believe that all behaviour is shaped by experience. For them, maturation applies only to biological processes rather than to the development of such things as personality. For example, Bowlby’s (1969) Theory of Attachment (discussed in Chapter 10) takes a nativist perspective, whereby the bond observed between mother and baby is an innate process that is there to ensure the infant’s survival. Likewise, Chomsky (1965) proposed that language is gained through the use of an innate (i.e. inborn) language acquisition device (see Chapter 6).
In contrast to Chomsky, the empiricist B. F. Skinner (1957) believed that language is learned from other people via behaviour-shaping techniques (we will come across Skinner more in Chapter 5). Another empiricist approach is Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning Theory that states that aggression is learned from the environment through observation and imitation. This is seen in his famous ‘Bobo doll’ experiment (Bandura 1961), outlined in Chapter 5.
Spotlight: Nature and nuture
Although the phrase ‘nature and nurture’ had been used by Shakespeare in his play The Tempest (1610–11), it was first used in its modern sense by the English Victorian scientist Francis Galton (a cousin of Charles Darwin) in discussions about the influence of heredity and environment on social advancement.
Case study: Identical twins
Thomas J. Bouchard, a professor of psychology, is well known for his valuable work as director of the Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption Research, which, by examining twins adopted and brought up by different families, has shed important light on the nature vs nurture debate. One particular story of identical twins reared apart is so remarkable that it is known simply as the story of the ‘two Jims’ (Bouchard et al. 1990).
In 1979 Bouchard came across an account of twins, both named Jim (Jim Springer and Jim Lewis) who had been separated from birth and reunited at age 39. Both Jims grew up not even knowing of the other. The twins were found to have both married women named Linda, then divorced and married a second time to women named Betty. One named his son James Allan, the other named his son James Alan, and both named their pet dogs Toy. They shared interests in mechanical drawing and carpentry; their favourite school subject had been maths, their least favourite spelling. They smoked and drank the same amount and got headaches at the same time of day. Jim Lewis and Jim Springer finally met on 9 February 1979 after 39 years of being separated.
It is important to note that there were also big differences between the pair, too. For example, one Jim had married a third time (to Sandy) and they wore their hair in different styles. However, the case study does suggest the paramount importance of genetics (nature) over environment (nurture).
Subfields of psychology
With its broad scope, psychology covers a wide range of the human experience, such as learning and memory, sensation and perception, motivation and emotion, thinking and language, personality and social behaviour, intelligence, child development, mental illness, and much more. Psychologists can investigate these topics from a variety of different perspectives. Each psychological perspective is underpinned by a shared set of assumptions about what is important to study and how to study it. Some psychologists conduct detailed biological studies of the brain using a range of contemporary tools and techniques; others explore how we process information; still others look at human behaviour from the perspective of evolution, while others study the influence of culture and society on how we behave and think. The different disciplines of psychology described below are thus extremely wide-ranging and examining these can give you a good idea about what psychology is, and what you are likely to learn if you decide to study the subject.
Abnormal psychology: this is the study of people who are different from the ‘normal’ range in a population and who exhibit abnormal behaviour. Much hinges, of course, on what exactly is meant by ‘abnormal’. This speciality is focused on research and treatment of a variety of mental disorders and is linked to psychotherapy and clinical psychology. Clinical psychology is the applied field of abnormal psychology that attempts to assess, understand and treat psychological conditions and mental disorders in clinical practice (such as hospital settings), although clinical psychologists are unlikely to use the term ‘abnormal’ when they refer to their patients.
Neuropsychology: sometimes called clinical neuropsychology, neuropsychology studies the structure of the brain and its functions, as they relate to specific psychological processes and particular behaviours. This area is closely linked to neuroscience and uses tools such as MRI and PET scans to look at brain injury or brain abnormalities. It thus specializes in looking at how studies of brain injury and disease can shed light on normal as well as abnormal functioning.
Neuropsychologists often work in research settings (universities, laboratories and research institutions), although they may also be found in clinical settings (involved in assessing or treating patients with neuropsychological problems), forensic settings (assessing criminals, for example) or, occasionally, in industry (where their neuropsychological knowledge might be applied to product design or research for drug efficacy).
Clinical psychology: this field is focused on the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems. Clinical psychology tends to be underpinned by one of several main theoretical approaches:
• The cognitive behavioural perspective: this approach to clinical psychology developed from the behavioural and cognitive schools of thought, so involves examining how a client’s feelings, behaviours and thoughts interact.
• The psychodynamic approach: this perspective was developed by the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who believed that the unconscious mind played a central role in our behaviour. Techniques such as free association can be used to investigate the client’s underlying, unconscious processes that may influence their behaviour.
• The humanistic perspective: this approach has its roots in the work of humanist thinkers such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. This perspective looks at the client holistically and helps people overcome their problems by using approaches such as self-actualization.
These approaches will be examined in more detail in Chapter 16.
Spotlight: A definition of clinical psychology
The American psychologist Lightner Witmer first introduced the term ‘clinical psychology’ in a 1907 paper. Witmer, a former student of the founder of modern psychology Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920), defined clinical psychology as ‘the study of individuals, by observation or experimentation, with the intention of promoting change’.
Cognitive psychology: the term ‘cognitive psychology’ was first coined by Ulric Neisser in 1967 with the publication of his book of the same name, and is the study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, thinking, attention, learning and decision-making. This branch of psychology is closely related to other disciplines, such as neuroscience, philosophy and linguistics. The discipline grew out of a cognitive shift away from the behaviourist approaches of the 1950s that focused on outward behaviour (that can be seen and thus easily measured) to a more processing approach focusing on internal thoughts to explain that behaviour.
Comparative psychology: this is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behaviour in order to develop a deeper and broader understanding of human psychology. The comparative method involves comparing the similarities and differences among species to gain an understanding of human behaviour. Areas such as heredity, adaptation and evolutionary processes can be studied using the comparative approach. Examples of how the study of animal behaviour can lead to a deeper and broader understanding of human psychology include Ivan Pavlov’s research on classical conditioning (see Chapter 5) and Harry Harlow’s work with rhesus monkeys that led to the development of Attachment Theory (see Chapter 10).