Introduction to Psychology: A Comprehensive Guide to Key Concepts and Theories

Posted on Sep 9, 2024 in Psychology and Sociology

Object of Study of Psychology (Session 1)

This is distinguished in three stages:

• Defined as the study of the soul
• Science of the facts of consciousness
• Study of behavior (set of reactions of living organisms to the environment)
• The design of contemporary psychology leads to a concentrated focus that lies not in an individual but in a subject, which involves a social relationship being with others.

• The Problem of Scientific Method in Psychology (Session 2) The scientist carefully rejects metaphysical explanations because they cannot be verified.

The basic aim of science is to explain natural phenomena through theory. The theory is accepted as an ultimate goal of science, therefore, a theory explains phenomena. Because of all this, psychology is a science that uses the scientific method to obtain information about behavior and higher mental processes.

It has specific objectives and specific descriptions and explanations. It uses scientific processes including systematic observation and experimentation to gather data that everyone observes. It seeks to proceed by scientific processes, e.g., care that personal biases do not influence their work.

• The Founding Period (Session 4)

There are five movements that shaped modern psychology. These are:

Structuralism:

Its object of study: Mental processes of consciousness, sensory experiences, their combinations and relations with the structures of the nervous system. Main purpose: They are knowledge. Method of research: The analytical insight. Principal exponent: Wundt, and Titchener.

Functionalism:

Its object of study: Performance of mental processes, helping the person to survive and adapt. Main purpose: They are the knowledge and application of these. Method of research: It is the informal introspection. Home exponent: James Williams.

Behaviorism:

Its object of study: They are observable stimuli and responses, the emphasis is on learning. Research Method Principal objective methods exponent: Watson, Pavlov and Skinner

Gestalt:

Its subject is all subjective human experience, perception, thinking and problem solving. Method of research: It is informal introspection and objective methods.

Psychoanalytic Theory:

Its subject is abnormal and abnormal personality, treatment of abnormal behavior. Methods of research with patients, was the informal introspection to reveal conscious experience of the therapist and a logical analysis and observation to discover material consents. Leading exponent: Freud Sigmun

• Freudian Psychoanalysis (Session 4)

It asks the first structural configuration of the psyche, given the problems of consent, preconscious and unconscious. Unconscious material comes into consciousness in a disguised form that appears in dreams, slips into the language, fundamental errors and for free association.

The personality consists of three main exponents:

The id, the ego and superego

Id: Located in the original nucleus of the personality and is the domain of the drives, has no logical organization, also has no moral value, is dominated by the pleasure principle, constantly demands satisfaction, has to do with love.

Ego: Emerge in growing children, to handle their daily transactions with the environment. One of the main tasks of the self is to locate the real objects that can meet the needs of the id. The ego is controlled, logical and realistic, works as the reality principle, has to do with power.

Superego: Striving for perfection and is the foundation of idealism. The self rewards for good behavior and creates feelings of guilt to punish him when his actions or thoughts contradict moral principles. Then, it presses the I that it forces the animal to inhibit their impulses.

The self occupies a key position in Freud’s”The poor have to serve three harsh masters: the id, the superego and reality and do everything possible to reconcile the interests and demands of the three. To meet these demands, the self develops defense mechanisms that are behavioral patterns that alleviate the tension”

• Concept of Personality in the Type-Logical Theories and Humanist Approach (Session 5)

Humanistic counseling psychologists are united by a common goal, which is to humanize psychology. Psychology wishes to be the study of what it means to be alive as a human being. Its main objective should be service, helping people understand themselves and develop their potential fully. They must study the integral mind of living human beings. The subject of psychological research must be significant human problems, e.g., goals of life, carrying out commitments, etc. The behavioral scientists should focus on the subjective consciousness as the interpretation is fundamental to all human activity. Humanistic psychologists make use of various types of research strategies.

• Paradigms Than Half of the Twentieth Century (Behaviorism and Learning) (Session 6)

Behavioral theories using rigorous scientific methods and experimentation often insist, appeal to the principles of learning and environmental conditions. The behaviors are expressions of personality and influence them.

Learning is a relatively lasting change of behavior caused by experience. Learning is an internal activity of the body that cannot be observed directly. Not all behavior change is attributable to the experience.

• Classical conditioning: –
• Responses: Actions that cause the events that immediately precede ex: emotional relationships, other reactions such as nausea and salivation, involuntary, not appear to be original learning
• Provocative stimuli: An event that causes a response that can be transferred from one situation to another by the following scheme:
• Unconditioned stimulus (U.S.)
• Unconditioned Response (IR)

• 

  Neutral Stimulus (EN) conditioned stimulus (CS)

• Conditioned response (CR)
• Definitions:
• UR: Is the response that causes the unconditioned stimulus automatically.
• Neutral Stimulus: Event object experience that causes the UR to the top
• Conditioned response: This is more moderate and less complete than the unconditioned.
• Termination:

If only the conditioned stimulus is presented, then the conditioned response continues to strengthen and is not likely to decrease their frequency. Even if a conditioned response may disappear in time, it is not completely removed.

• Spontaneous recovery:

Sometimes when re-presenting the conditioned stimulus, the conditioned response reappears extinct.

• Operant Conditioning

The operating are subject to the same conditioned or initiate ex: walking, dancing, talking, etc.

Operant conditioning occurs whenever the consequences that follow an operant increase or decrease the likelihood that such operating or being carried out in a similar situation. The process that augments the probability of a response is called reinforcement or reinforcement.

Positive and negative reinforcement:

Positive Reinforcement: If the presence of an event after an operant increases the likelihood of response or action that occurs in similar situations.

Negative reinforcement: If the removal of a specific subject post-operative increases the likelihood that such operating in similar situations.

It uses the term reinforcement by increasing the frequency of the response that preceded this consequence.

• Social Learning (Session 8)

Punishment is the phenomenon that occurs when a specified operant is followed by a decrease in frequency, resulting in similar situations. There are two types of punishments:

Positive Punishment: When the presence of an event that follows an operant decreases the presence of operating in similar situations.

Negative Punishment: When the removal or deferral of a reinforcer that follows an operant, reduces the frequency of behavior in similar situations. There are two types of negative punishment,”Cost of response: When the frequency of the behavior decreases because it loses the reinforcer. -Training by omission: The probability of a behavior can be reduced, delaying the reinforcer every time you start the action to be removed.

Social learning theory (Albert Bandura central exponent)

This theory emphasizes observation and imitation, planting that reinforcement is a means to ensure learning. This learning takes place in three stages:

• Note: Allows you to acquire new behaviors or change previous behaviors.
• Acquisition: The observer can sometimes learn as much as the performer, sometimes acquires a behavior but does not run forever.
• Imitation: Is defined as the reproduction of a behavior model.

Bandura says:

People do not imitate only react to environmental stimuli if you select them and transform organizations.

Observational learning considers other processes that comprise it:

• Attention: Paying attention to the behavior model.
• Memory: Recall the model behavior.
• Motor reproduction: The playback behavior.

If the model develops a successful conduct, which has been reinforced, is most often imitated. This is called vicarious reinforcement Bandura. It is to receive as its own reinforcement that has received another.

• Memory (Session 9)

Cognitive psychologists argue the following propositions:

• Professionals should consider mental processes behavior.
• Your objective should be to adapt precise knowledge about how these processes operate and how they apply in everyday life.
• His normal method is introspection.

This approach is concerned with how we process, store and retrieve information in emphasis placed on how information is used to reason and solve problems.

Memory:

It operates under the basis of three processes:

Coding: Information of sensory systems is transformed from one energy to another. The information is prepared for storage.

Storage: Information is retained.

The recall process is the recovery of the stored material to be used.

• Systemic Theory (Session 12)

The systems approach considers the influence of four basic movements that occurred in science:

• It incorporates the concepts of general systems theory of Bertalanffy.
• It incorporates elements of the cybernetic theory of Wiener.
• It incorporates elements of information theory.

The definitions of systems:

Inter-related set of elements that make up a body which pursues an identifiable goal or purpose.

Characteristics of a system:

• Elements, components and relationships.
• Order and structure.
• Purpose and objectives.
• Dynamics and processes.
• Complexity.
• Whole.
• Environment.
• Average.
• Definition of a system.
• Limitation of a system.
• Level of integration.
• Hierarchy of systems.
• Internal dynamics.

Put in output processing.

• Stress and Coping (Session 15)

Stress voltage means so upset. In any case wrong. Any interference that alters the state of mental and physical well-being of a person.

Summary

• Following the Psychoanalyst current disagreements are generated which are characterized by being focused on two main points about the method and theory. Rank, Sullivan and Reich, and Jung, Adler respectively.
• Mainly the difference is generated between Jung and Freud.
• On the one hand, Jung considers sexuality as an instance of human development, in contrast to Freud that, in designing the human being as a hedonistic character, ascribes the libido as a concept that covers the discharge of sexual energy.
• Freud developed psychoanalysis while Jung considers an analysis.
• The unconscious for Freud’s general conception, following the structure of the psyche, while Jung believes that the unconscious is given to development.
• Jung considered a type of psychology geared to life in its concepts. In which we find ways (sensitivity) and hunches (intuition).
• Animo Animus is female and is male.

Adler

The relationship of human beings is determined by the influence of family on the individual.

• Apply feelings of inferiority, they are innate to human beings, to which humans must develop feelings of superiority to remove the former. This process determines personality.
• The school develops individual psychology, in this family is conceived as a core factor in the personality.

Criticisms of Freud’s method is developed on how psychoanalysis. It is postulated that the patient should be more independent.

Rank

• Apply the trauma of birth. The highest amount of anxiety is the time of separation at birth.
• Neurosis is developed separation anxiety.
• The psychoanalyst should promote patient independence.

Sullivan

• And anxiety neurosis lie in not having been accepted as children.
• The relationship between the analyst and the patient must be bidirectional in nature. Development of both sides (patient-psychoanalyst).

Reich

• The panic and anxiety is related to how society affects the determination of the individual.
• Depending on how the individual takes the social pressure is how you develop your personality.

Cultural School

• Developed by Karen Horney and Erich Fromm, who specializes in women’s psychoanalysis.
• The psyche is determined by the culture.
• Society affects the individual.
• Feminist psychology of character.
• The social concept is the hypercompetitive, born with a violent impulse that generates anxiety in relation to being successful.
• Proposed work in terms of social competence.

Erich Fromm

• He argues that humans have a fear of freedom.
• Love is continuous and this continuity is lost.

Anna Freud

• Create psychoanalyst I school, which is an extension of classical psychoanalysis.
• Its main focus is with children.
• It is characterized by strengthening the self.

Melanie Klein and Otto Kenberg

• Create the object relations school, which is an extension of classical psychoanalysis.
• Significant figure is the mother. Relationship between mother and child.
• Link is between the”good breas” and”bad”
• This is subsequently converted into the school of psychopathology, Otto Kenberg being the prime example.

Humanism

• The human being is driven to self-realization.
• Life is the process in which we strive to fulfill our potential.
• Personality is an aspect of the efforts we make to develop and implement.
• Abraham Maslow, father of humanism, an investigation into human beings that have made author.
• Some examples of Einstein, Gandhi.
• They had certain abilities, for example, were focused on reality, false differed from reality, focused on confronting these problems and their solutions under.
• The end does not justify the means, if the media cannot be ends in themselves, so the media is more important than the end.
• They needed privacy, they were well on their own, independent of culture and relied on their own experiences and judgments, were resistant to enculturation.
• Were susceptible to name, had democratic values and were open to ethnic and individual variety.
• Sense of humor preferred not hostile jokes about themselves and not make fun of others.
• They accepted the man as he was, not wanting to change, were imaginative and original subject.
• Vivian life intensely.
• Maslow makes a hierarchy of needs.

Being Needs

Auto – Update

Esteem needs

Belonged Needs

Security needs

Physiological needs

Deficis Needs

• Physiological needs: Hunger, thirst, sleep, Etc.
• Security needs: To feel secure and safe.
• Membership Requirements: Need to belong to a group, be accepted and to belong to this.
• Need for esteem: Achieving respect, be competent and gain knowledge.

Need for self-actualization: Using the car full recognition of one’s talent and potential.

Carl Rogers

• He had a vision of human beings are good in essence, people so good and healthy n but never evil.
• It has an anthropocentric view, a person fully functioning.
• Q says that there live in the here and now, for which we must rely on the self.
• Liberta experience, we feel free when we provide opportunities (science, parental love, etc..) Possibilities which allow me to feel good.
• A guideline to improve our social relationships.
• Listen.
• Reflect.
• Clarify.
• Positive appreciation.
• Theoretical Concepts.
• Theory of personality (as we are).
• Development of self (as you develop as a person).
• Need for positive regard (value conditions set by others).
• Theory of therapy (as it is unconditional acceptance).
• The nature of man is reliable, sensitive, independent, adaptable, creative, self-control, can differentiate and develop.
• Concept of human development.
• Are the inter-relationship (with another chance to develop).
• Human development values (consider the person in the magnitude and complexity of its manifestations).
• Look for the realization of the individual on a personal level.
• He is confident that human beings have a conscience constructive for himself.
• Foundations for human development.
• Everyone lives in ever-changing experiences and the body reactions to the environment as experienced and conceived (human behavior is basically the agency’s intentional effort to meet your needs as experienced).
• The structure of the self itself is the result of interaction with the environment.
• Indispensable elements for change.
• Change awareness.
• Basic attitudes necessary.
• Involvement in the processes.
• Evolution.
• Feedback.
• He has a number of premises (Principles).
• Nothing changes without personal transformation (to understand you must have a personal change).
• Profound change is an organizational change that combines internal modifications of people, their aspirations and behaviors with external variations, practical strategic processes and systems. (So that there is an apprenticeship when I combine the values and aspirations that I have with the outside).

CURRENT COGNITIVE

• Cognitive paradigm that is in engineering in robotics and psychology.
• In 1948 there is a cognitive movement which is based on three theoretical models.
• Information theory (development of linguistics, where the plant that absolutely everything is information which is encoded and decoded to switch from one material to another mind setting material device which encodes and decodes information).
• Theory of computation (the basics to buy a human being with a computer where we compare the hardware and the mind and brain and software cognitive and affective processes).
• Theory of cybernetics (retro body and feed [enters information which modifies behavior] and this is the basis of systemic theories).
• Here is the Skinner black box which says we are active subjects, we process information.

Basic Principles

• The behavior is explained by the mediation of the cognitive variable.
• The body responds to cognitive representations of the environment.
• Interdependent cognitive processes (thoughts and behaviors are causally inter-relationship).
• Cognition involves the ability to signify to the world and make sense.
• The subject is an active being, the protagonist of their own learning and responsible for their own behavior and is conscious.

Cognitivist theories

• Observational Learning Bandura find here, he is the first psychologist who studies cognitive processes (we return to the Skinner box), the part of operant conditioning, this dare realize, experienced not only learn but also watching.
• Observational theory says we learn by observing and reciprocal determinism and criticized the model of Skinner that gives too much emphasis on external factors and does not consider the observation to be criticized for doing psychoanalysis circular processes that remove the possibility to decide human being, posits that most behavior is learned (as I learn by imitating models).
• The powers of observation may be intentional or accidental.

INFLUENCES ON THE INDIVIDUAL

• Rewarding consequences associated with behavior.
• Model Features (if it seems to us or if we find attractive).
• Attribute of the observer (self-esteem and motivation).
• According to Bandura there are four types of reinforcement.
• Intricately (regulation of internal pleasure).
• Extrincico (is a reinforcer and regulates social external mind).
• Vicarious reinforcement (successes or failures we see in others).
• Auto reinforcement (the actual process control).
• Bandura points out that human behavior is reciprocal determinism, which says that there is an interrelationship between the individual number and conduct various explicit.
• The behaviors and actions of the subject are governed by its consequences.
• The individual variable involves cognitive factors such as beliefs and expectations.
• Reciprocal determinism says that people act in a reflective rather than automatic way, so we are implementing our own changes.
• Self-efficacy is a model that works with the self-esteem of the people who have these beliefs about their capabilities to organize and implement ways for the required action in situations expected.
• The sources of self-efficacy are:
• Build skills experiences.
• Vicarious experience.
• Verbal persuasion or other types of social influence.
• Physiological and affective states.

Information processing

• Theoretical model that compares the human being with a computer (hardware & software).
• It is understood that the human being is capable of reproducing reality in his mind, is a computer model and pragmatic.
• Integrated theory posits that humans interpret and evaluate the reality in his mind, which is why they respond differently compared to the same stimulus (range in clinical context, takes irrational ideas).
• Constructionism that is divided into two: social constructionism and constructivism.
• In the constructionist theory, it says that everything is in our minds, beliefs and the capacity to symbolize, is subjective, what makes us human is language.
• Social constructionism is shared symbolic universes, dare we move from shared languages that create shared worlds (first things are the ideas and construct shared realities). It is a process of objectification in things (I start I do when someone called) and as I learn things, and then internalize objectivist.
• Constructivism is the subjective (that is what I ideo of things) (all what the media is constructivism).

Last class

• Premiere says that human nature is matter which is divided into two systems.
• Central nervous system.
• Peripheral nervous system.
• The human being is made up of matter and this matter is a biological basis, which allows us to contain cognitive and affective.
• In the cognitive process is thought, are the basic and higher.
• Basic sense memory persuasion.
• Higher: Reasoning and language awareness (is given to the psychological dynamics which determines the personality and this in turn is attributed to the behavior).
• Affective processes needs and motivations, emotions, feelings and passions.
• Intelligence and learning are the result of all concepts and their relationship to the environment.
• Basic cognitive processes have to do with maintenance to understand the world and adapt in a primary (on these processes are built higher processes).
• Sensation process of knowledge equivalent to dare the senses (they are in direct connection with the environment, collect information in the world). Each sense has specific receptors for each specific information collection, so it is the perception that enables us to integrate information (the organization collects the information and interpret).
• Delirium is a misperception in order.
• The hallucination is the misperception without the object.
• The stable Gestal all human beings organize the collection organized under rules that are:
• The law of closure: Complete information with previous experiences.
• The law of continuity: Organizing information in continuation to the elements and space background allows him to things.
• The law of constancy.
• Law group: Can generate bias.

MARR

• We perceptions of upright and inverted.
• Bottom-up: They are pure perceptions are when we are small because harmonized ideas from sensation and from the experience sensations.
• Top: Here and there prior experience.
• The focus enables us to filter information that comes from senses to consciousness and acts as a central executive that makes decisions regarding the information that is important to the conscience to be used at the time, and which must wait to be saved and use at other times (mean priority). Affective processes affect care (care is accompanied by a process called concentration that differs from the atensión means focusing on a stimulus and the concentration is the time I spend focused on this stimulus.
• Two slaves.
• Verbal articulatory loop (the language).
• Spatial working memory subsystems (say what needs to be done).
• Memory Types.
• Long-term memory.
• Working memory.
• Memory of the senses.
• Episodic memory.
• Semantic memory.
• Procedural memory.
• Emotional memory.
• Long-term memory is the process that stores and retrieves information from long-standing, two theories to explain this memory.
• Everything we think we experience is recorded live and feel in our brain and although we are not able to retrieve this information, it is there.
• Information that does not deal with time away so not everything that we lived experience this in this report.
• All that store are the perceptual facts, we store the perception.
• Working memory: For a desk, because it is used in the here and now to co-ordinate with the environment, and to coordinate with the environment I can learn (the problems in this report trigger learning disabilities).
• Episodic memory relates to events in the life.
• Semantic memory memory of meanings, tieneque do with language.
• Procedural memory has to do with what visioespacial quinestecico.
• Emotional memory has to do with somatic that the visions are of a physiological.
• Memory of the ways this takes split seconds and allows information to be maintained in the brain and is used by the perception.
• Memory problems has to do with:
• Storage Problems.
• Neurological level problems.
• Brain damage or genetic.
• Emotional problems.