lecture 1 psychology as a science
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Basic introduction to counselling and psychology as a science. Introduction to Counselling Newham University Centre Newham CollegeTRANSCRIPT
Psychology is a ScienceOr is it?Kevin Standish
ObjectivesBe familiar with the definition of Psychology /
CounsellingTo understand the “Scientific Method”Understand why Psychology is a science and
evidence based practice for counselling Be familiar with the historical roots of Psychology &
CounsellingUnderstand the different research methods used by
psychologists
What is Psychology?Psychology comes from the root words psyche, or
mind, and logos, or study
Psychology is defined as the ‘scientific study of behavior and mental processes’.
What is Counselling? McLeod (2003, p6)defines it as “Counselling
is a purposeful private conversation arising from the intention of one person to reflect on and resolve a problem in living, and the willingness of another person to assist in that endeavour.”
Why is Psychology a Science?
Psychology is an objective and systematic study of how people behave and think.
Its goals are to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior and mental processes.
Historical Origins of ψ from Philosophy
Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)
Historical Origins of ψ from PhilosophyRene Descartes
Beliefs Rationalist: True knowledge comes through
reasoning Nativist: Heredity provides individuals with inborn
knowledge and abilities and we use this to reasonWe are to doubt everything – that’s the only
way we can be certain about anythingI think, therefore I am.
Historical Origins of ψ from Philosophy
John Locke (1632 – 1704)
Historical Origins of ψ from PhilosophyJohn Locke
Saw the mind as receptive and passive, with its main goal as sensing and perceiving
Tabula rasa – we are born as a blank slate, everything we know is learned
This is in direct contrast to the rationalist Descartes
Psychology Becomes More Scientific
Hermann Helmholtz (1821 – 1894)
Psychology Becomes More ScientificHermann Helmholtz
He was a mechanist – he believed that everything can be understood with basic physical and chemical principles
He pushed for the need to test and demonstrate things.
Psychology Becomes More Scientific
Gustav Fechner (1801 – 1887)
Psychology Becomes More ScientificGustav Fechner
Psychophysics – he pushed to investigate the relationship between the physical world and our conscious psychological world
He thought it possible to measure the perceived as well as the physical intensities of sensory stimuli and to determine a mathematical relationship
Just noticeable difference (JND) approach
The Father of PsychologyWilhelm Wundt
The Father of PsychologyWilhelm Wundt
1st ψ lab (1879) University of Leipzig, Germany
Focus on consciousness Find basic elements of conscious processes Discover how elements (sensations and feelings)
are connected Specify laws of connection
Introspection Self-observation: ‘seeing’ mental processes in
immediate experience
The First Schools of ψStructuralism
Lots of work on sensation & perception and breaking those down into minute detail
Three basic mental elements Images, feelings & sensations
Titchner Found 43,000 elements associated with sensory
experiences 30,000 associated with visual 11,000 associated with auditory 4 associated with taste (was correct with this one)
The First Schools of ψFunctionalism
Focus on adaptation Applying Darwin’s theory of natural selection to
mental processes
William James Stream of consciousness Consciousness is personal/selective, continuous
(can’t be ‘cut up’ for analysis), and constantly changing Structuralism was foolish to search for common
elements to all minds
The First Schools of ψBehaviorism
Focus on observable behaviorJ. B. Watson
Felt that the main goal of psychology should be the prediction and control of behavior
Stimulus-response theory We respond to stimuli with our behavior, not
thoughts Pavlov’s dog studies
Reinforcement for behavior If our behavior produces rewarding consequences,
then we will do it again
Subsequent Schools of ψGestalt psychology
Wholes vs. multiple individual elements You shouldn’t dissect an experience into
separate elements to discover truths – instead, look at the ‘whole’
Subsequent Schools of ψ Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory
Conscious vs. unconscious conflicts Unconscious: motivations and memories of which
we are not aware Mental illness arises from being overwhelmed by
which of these is ‘in control’Psychoanalysis as therapy: tell me about your
childhood….
Western History of PsychologyEarly dates Greek philosophers:
(Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)
Studied the nature of the mind, the soul, the body, and human experience
17th Century Rene Descartes Nativist View:some ideas are innate
John Locke Empiricist View:Knowledge is acquired through experiences & interactions with the world
1869 Sir Francis Galton of England
Studied individual differences> dev’t of intelligence tests
1879 Wilhelm Wundt Father of PsychologyEstablished the first psychological laboratory (Germany @ Leipzig Univ. )Research: senses (vision), attention, emotion and memory
History continues…1883 Granville Stanley
HallFirst American to finish doctoral studies in psychologyEstablished the 1st psychological laboratory (US @ John Hopkins Univ)Founded the 1st American Journal of psychology
1888 James McKeen Cattell
1st psychology professor in the US
19th Century Titchener Structuralism:Specified mental structures & analyzed the basic elements of mental life.Introspection: the examination of one’s own emotional states & mental processes.
William James Functionalism:Functions of the mind & behavior to adapt to the environment
1920’s John B. Watson
Ivan PavlovB.F. Skinner
Behaviorism:Only observable behavior should be studiedClassical ConditioningOperant Conditioning
1912 Max Wertheimer Gestalt Psychology:“Gestalt” means form or configuration“the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”
20th Century Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis:Human behavior is deeply influenced by unconscious thoughts, impulses, & desires (sex & aggression)
Recent dev’ts Herbert Simon
Noam Chomsky
Views humans as information processing systemsModern Linguistics: study of how mental structures are required to comprehend & speak a languageNeuropsychology:studies the relationship between neurobiological events & mental processes
Perspectives in Psychology and counsellingPsychodynamic ApproachBehavioral ApproachCognitive ApproachBiological or Behavioral Neuroscience ApproachThe Phenomenological or Humanistic ApproachThe Sociocultural ApproachThe Evolutionary Psychology ApproachSystemic approach
Psychodynamic ApproachDeveloped by Sigmund Freud
States that “much of our behavior stems from unconscious processes, conflict between biological instincts & society’s demands, and early family experiences.
Basis for the therapeutic approach called psychoanalysis
Behavioral ApproachJohn B. Watson: father of Behaviorism
Behaviors are activities of people or other organisms that can be observed by others.
States that “when we attempt to understand an event, we need to look at the observable behaviors & their environmental determinants”.
Little Albert experiment.
Cognitive Approach
Concerned with mental processes, such as perceiving, remembering, reasoning, deciding, and problem solving.
States that “Only by studying mental processes can we fully understand what people do.”
Biological Approach
Concerned with how the brain and nervous system underlie behavior & mental processes.
Attempts to relate behavior to electrical and chemical events taking place inside the body
The Nervous System (brain) and the Endocrine System are studied to determine the biological causes of behavior.
Phenomenological or Humanistic Approach
Focuses on the subjective and personal experience of events (Individual Phenomenology) , and on the need for personal growth.
Concerned with describing the inner life and experiences of individuals, rather than developing theories or predicting behaviors.
Sociocultural Approach
Studies the ways by which social and cultural environments influence behavior
A person’s cultural context should be considered in order to understand behavior.
Focuses on comparing behaviors across countries as well as across cultures within a country.
The Evolutionary PsychologyEmphasizes the importance of adaptation,
reproduction, and survival of the fittest in explaining behavior.
Focuses on the conditions that allow people to fail or survive.
Systemic approachesThese focus on the feedback loops within the
family system that cause “double bind” or “catch 22” situations that cause the presenting problems.
The solution is the problem focusThe Structures (Munichian) or feedback
loops (Milan) cause the issues.
Research Methods of PsychologyExperimental MethodQuasi-experimental MethodCorrelational MethodThe Naturalistic Observation MethodThe Survey MethodStandardized TestsCase StudiesArchival Research
Experimental MethodThe main objective of an experiment is
to discover the effect of an independent variable (IV) on a dependent variable (DV).
IV: variable to be manipulated; independent of what the participant does
DV: variable being measured; depends on the IV
Ex. Effect of Music on Memory
Quasi-Experimental MethodSimilar to the experimental method except that
random assignment of participants is not possible.
Correlational MethodThe objective of this method is to determine whether
two or more variables are associated or related to each other.
The variables are first measured, after which a correlational analysis or technique (e.g. Pearson r) is conducted to determine the relationship.
The Naturalistic Observation Method
Involves observing the phenomenon of interest as it occurs naturally.
Ex. Observing primates in their natural environment, systematically observing the behavior of newborn babies, and observing couple’s public display of affection (PDA) in the school campus.
The Survey MethodEmploys either a written questionnaire or an
interview schedule.
Ex. Political opinions, sexual attitudes, or product preferences
Allows us to gather data about experiences, feelings, thoughts, and motives that are hard to observe directly.
Standardized TestsRespondents are required to answer a series of
questions and their responses scored to reflect something about their persons. A respondent’s score is compared with those of the others who took the same test.
Ex. Otis Test, Stanford-Binet Test (IQ) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)Indigenous Tests: Panukat ng Pagkataong Pilipino
(PPP), Panukat ng Ugali at Pagkatao (PUP)
Case StudiesDescriptive record of an
individual’s experiences or behavior, or both, as kept by an observer.
The main objective is to obtain a case history of the person being studied.
Written records (i.e. public and private documents), statistical archives, and physical traces of human beings are systematically studied in lieu of actual behaviors.
Exs. Diaries, letters, paintings, books, poems, newspaper or magazine articles, movies, and speeches.
Archival Research
Conclusion: Is psychology Scientific? A range of objective approaches are usedVariables are controlledObservation leads induction and
deductionTheories are tested against real world Practice is evidence based on observation“Common factors” evidence base to
counselling.
Readings For Seminar1. Glassman, W & Hadad, M.(2009)
Approaches to psychology (5th edition). Chap 1
2. McLeod J. (2009) An Introduction to Counselling. Chap 1& 2
3. Dryden et al (2000) Counselling in the United Kingdom past, present and future
Advanced reading
1. Feltham, C (2010) Critical Thinking in Counselling
and Psychotherapy. Chap 542. Map of the history of psychology: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/
1900s.html3. Feltham (2010) chap 54 Is
counselling scientific?