Introduction to Psychology PDF

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Class 1-Developmental Psychology Friday, 22 February 2019 12:01 PM Read Chapter 1 and 12 (p451-467) Psychology "The study of mind, behaviour, and the relationship between them"- Sternberg 1988 Key Characteristics Scientific study of behaviour Strong theoretical unde...

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Class 1-Deve 1-Developm lopm lopmen en ental tal Psycho Psychology logy Friday, 22 February 2019

12:01 PM

Read Chapter 1 and 12 (p451-467)

Psychology "The study of mind, behaviour, and the relationship between them"- Sternberg 1988 Key Characteristics Scientific study of behaviour Strong theoretical underpinnings Strong Research Bias Emphasis on empirical evidence Goals of Psychology Describe behaviour- what, where, when Explain behaviour- why Predict behaviour- what will happen next Change behaviour- individuals, group, society

Topics Covered in the Unit Developmental Psychology Learning Memory Personality Social Psychology Motivation Developmental Psychology Domains of human development (Interdependence between the 3) Physical Development (including neural development) Cognitive Development (including intellectual development) Social Development (Including emotional development) Cognitive Development Cognition refers to mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating Cognitive Development- Swiss Developmental Psychologist- Piaget Understanding cognitive development is important? (Piagets stages- copy from last year's notes later) Stage 1- Sensorimotor Birth to 2yrs Infant schemas are simple reflexes and interactions with people and objects Circular Reactions Object Permanence Stranger Anxiety Newborn Primitive Reflexes Stage 2- Preoperational 2-7yrs Child begins to use mental representations but problem solving is limited Child can employ mental symbols (e.g symbolic/fantasy play, defrred imitation, drawing) Language Development Egocentrism Theory of Mind Stage 3- Concrete Operations 7-11yrs Mental operations e.g. conservation Logical thinking Stage 4- Formal Operations 12 onwards Abstract thinking- imagined realities and images Child can use formal problem solving Adolescent egocentrism

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Lecture 1- Developmental Psychology Wednesday, 27 February 2019

10:59 AM

Why is developmental psych important Understanding normal development • Understand how might we work with someone of a particular developmental stage • Understand when things go wrong with development Understanding factors that affect development Understanding continuity and change with development What is developmental psych about "Science of human development seeks to understand how and why people- all kinds of people, everywhere- change and remain the same over time" - Berger 2008 What kinds of development are we interested in Physical - including neural Cognitive- including intellectual Social- including emotional All three are interdependent domains Changes in one likely to cause change in others

Developmental Issues and methods Nature and nurture Sensitive and critical periods Stability and change Continuity and discontinuity Normative vs non-normative events Nature vs Nurture The extent to which development is influenced by nature/and or nurture Nature Via Nurture Ridley 2003 Nature contributes strongly to some characteristics, e.g physical size, appearance More complex traits are influenced by environmental factors as well as genes. e.g intelligence, personality Heredity creates predispositions Environment influences how they develop A Guiding Model- Bronfenbrenner ecological systems theory Relationships between an individual and their environment are bi-directional The microsystem is the most immediate surroundings, for example, family friends and teachers The mesosystem reflects relations between microsystems, for example, the connection between home and workplace The Exosystem comprises social settings that affect the individual without them playing an active role, for example, workplace policies The macrosystem operates at the outer level of the ecology, for example, laws and cultural values Critical Periods of Development The critical period concept suggests that the brain is set to acquire a function during a limited period of time If key experiences do not occur during a critical period, the function may not develop or may not be fully developed Maturation refers to biologically based changes that follow an orderly sequence Stability and Change Change can refer to the acquisition or the loss of a behaviour or function Change can occur as: -Continuous: Refers to a gradual alteration of behaviour -Discontinuous: Refers to stages of growth that are qualitatively different and that are usually ordered in a fixed sequence Continuity in Development -Strong consistencies over time in - Intelligence - Personality - Social skills -Why? - Effects of biological characteristics - Individual shaping their environment and experiences - Cumulative effects of positive (or negative) experiences Normative vs Non-normative events Normative vs non-normative events: how do life events change us Age related normative events are atypical or unexpected events e.g. natural disaster, loss of child, that potentially alter a persons developmental trajectory Differences in Developmental Trajectories -Quantitative Differences - e.g. Individual with a developmental delay or intellectual disability usually go through same stages of development, but at a slower pace -Qualitative differences - e.g. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders develop social and emotional skills quite differently than normally developing peers Growth and decline with development Stereotype

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Fact Many areas of human ability functioning continue to increase with age, or are resistant to decline in normal aging e.g. Crystallised intelligence, vocabulary

Developmental Psychology Research Cross-Sectional Research

Longitudinal Research

Sequential Designs Sequential studies examine different age groups at multiple time points (reduce cohort effects) Combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal

The Periods of Development Prenatal- Conception to birth Infancy and Toddlerhood- Birth to 2 years Early Childhood- 2-6 years Middle Childhood- 6-11 years Adolescence- 11-18 years Physical Development (Birth - 12 months)

Constructivism Through engaging with the world and things in it, children come to construct schema- mental representations that help us understand how the world works (Piaget) Active Thinking (Piaget) Piagets stage model Children's thinking changes qualitatively with age Schemas Organised patters of thoughts and action We acquire new schemas and our existing schemas become more complex Assimilation The process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change Accommodation The process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change Disequilibrium An imbalance between existing schemas and new experiences Development through social interaction- Vygotsky Importance of social interaction in development -Importance of learning from contact with others -Learning scripts for activities in the world

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Class 2- Developmental Psych Wednesday, 6 March 2019

10:57 AM

Psychosocial Theory of Development- Erik Erikson Approx. Age

Stage

Description of Crisis

Infancy (Birth-1)

Trust vs Mistrust

If needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust

Toddler (1-3)

Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt Toddlers learn to exercise will and do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities

Pre-schooler (3-6) Initiative vs guilt

Pre-schoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans, or they feel guilty about efforts to be independent

Primary (6Puberty)

Industry vs Inferiority

Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks or they feel inferior

Adolescence (Teens to 20s)

Identity vs Role Confusion

Teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused about who they are

Young Adult (20s Intimacy vs Isolation to early 40s)

Young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain the capacity for intimate love, or they feel socially isolated

Middle Adult (40s Generativity vs Stagnation to 60s)

The middle-aged discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose

Late Adult (late 60s and up)

Integrity vs Despair

When reflecting on his or her life, the older adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure

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Lecture 2- Temperament and Attachment Wednesday, 6 March 2019

10:56 AM

Temperament Individual style and frequency of expressing needs and emotions - Biologically and genetically based - Influenced by parental expectations and interactions - Cultural differences and influences Reasonable stability over childhood Classifying Infant Temperament Thomas and Chess 1977 Easy - Regular routines for eating, sleeping etc, mild emotional reactions, easily soothed, readily adaptable to new people and situations Difficult - Does not easily settle into biological routines, intense emotional reactions, not easily soothed, less adaptable Slow to warm up - Just as the name suggests- wary to new situations, requires time and support to settle and adapt Attachment Enduring and selective emotional bond between two individuals, characterised by mutual affection and desire to maintain proximity (Bowlby, 2012) The basis of attachment Harlow's Surrogate Mother Experiments Monkeys preferred contact with the comfortable cloth mother, even while feeding from the nourishing wire mother Importance of a 'secure base' Lack of a secure relationship with a caregiver in the early months of life can impact on brain development and result in long term emotional and cognitive problems Attachment Theory 3 theorists proposed very influential view of infant attachment 1. Freud emphasised that infants became attached to the person or object that provides oral satisfaction 2. Erikson- first year of life represents the stage of tryst vs mistrust- sensitive care and comfort are key to establishing basic trust in infants 3. Bowlby- Infants and parents are biologically predisposed to form attachments. Attachment is based on parent responsiveness and interaction between infant and parent The importance of a first relationship Human Babies Turn head towards human voices Recognise own mothers voice and smell Gaze at face like displays longer

Is there a critical period for attachment to occur Lorenz- "imprinting" - geese study Children who have been raised in orphanages show less capacity to attach to care givers the later they are adopted Bowlby's Attachment Theory

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Bowlby- drawing on work on imprinting and on the separation of children from parents during the blitz of London in WW2 Assessing Attachment Mary Ainsworth- Types of Attachment Her 'strange situation' is used with 12-18 months old babies to assess security of attachment - Mother and baby playing in room - Stranger enters - Mother leaves - Stranger attempts to engage with baby - Mother returns Classification of attachment styles A. Avoidant (25% of babies) B. Secure (60%) C. Anxious/Ambivalent (10%) D. Disorganised (>10%) Factors affecting caregiver responsiveness Likely to be more responsive if Good support from partner and others Good knowledge and confidence in parenting role Low/manageable stress levels Likely to be less responsive if Parental mental illness or substance- use problem Chronically high levels of personal and family stress Low levels of support Low knowledge and/or confidence in parenting role Early intervention programs invest resources in developing positive attachment relationships to promote infant, child, and adult mental health Parenting Styles Baumrind, 1971; Maccoby and Martin, 1983 Authoritarian Parents impose rules and expect obedience "Don’t interrupt" "Why? Because I said so" Authoritative Parents are both demanding and responsive Set rules, but explain reasons Encourage discussion Permissive Submit to children's desires Make few demands Use little punishment Rejecting-Neglecting Disengaged Expect little Invest little Cultural differences in parenting styles "Best parenting style" for the "best outcomes" differ according to cultural values

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Why caregiver behaviour is important Infants develop internal working models of the social world through the ways in which their caregivers interact with them These models form the basis of their self-concept and all later social relationships Children learn important emotional regulation skills through interactions with their parents These skills are important for later social and emotional competence Possible Implications of Attachment Willingness to engage in help-seeking Trust in the professional Openness and assertiveness of communication of needs and wants Willingness to ask questions and provide feedback Availability and use of social support Willingness to try new things Self-confidence and self esteem

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Class 3- Learning: Classical Conditioning Tuesday, 12 March 2019

11:50 AM

Classical Conditioning Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)- e.g. food - Elicits unconditioned response (UCR)-e.g. salivation Pair UCS (food) with another stimulus (e.g. a tone) - The tone becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) that signals the arrival of the UCS (food) Over time the tone (CS) elicits salivation Salivation in response to the tone is now a conditioned response (CR) Classical conditioning not choice, not deliberate Classical conditioning an automatic response Music- Feeling Jaws get out of the water scene UCS- Sharks UCR- Fear CS- Music CR- Fear Disgust Clearly the association principle is everything when it comes to food. The idea that something disgusting has been near a favourite dish puts most people off, even when the food is germ-free Rozins Results Clean flyswatter soup: 82% rated...