Year 11 Psychology –

UNIT 1 Area of Study 1

Revision!

Psychology: The scientific

study of human

behaviour and mental

processes

Chapter 1: Introduction to

Psychology• Scope of psychology including specialist career fields and fields of application and their contribution to understanding human behaviour

 • Classic and contemporary theories that have contributed to the development of psychology from philosophical beginnings to an empirical science, including the relationship between psychology and psychiatry

 • Differences between contemporary psychological research methods and non-scientific approaches to investigating and explaining human behaviour

 • Major perspectives (biological, behavioural, cognitive and socio-cultural) that govern how psychologists approach their research into human behaviour

  

Chapter 2: Research Methods

• Research methods and ethics associated with the study of

psychology.

Experimental research: construction of hypotheses; identification

of independent, dependent and extraneous variables

Ethical principles and professional conduct: the role of the

experimenter; protection and security of participants’ rights;

confidentiality; voluntary participation; withdrawal rights;

informed consent procedures; use of deception in research;

debriefing

Chapter 3: Visual Perception

• Application of psychological perspectives to explain

visual perception:

- Characteristics of the visual perceptual system

and the visual processes involved in detecting and

interpreting visual stimuli.

- The effect of psychological factors on perceptual

set

- Distortions of visual perceptions by illusions

Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology- Clinical Psychology- Clinical Neuro-Psychology- Community Psychology - Counselling Psychology- Educational and

Developmental Psychology- Forensic Psychology- Health Psychology- Organisational Psychology- Sport Psychology- Biological Psychology

- Cognitive Psychology- Personality Psychology- Social Psychology

Philosophical Roots of Psychology• 1St Philosophers: Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.

• Greek philosophers proposed the mind-body problem (E.g. Do they have a relationship with one another? How do they interact? Is the mind apart of the body or body apart of the mind? Etc)

• Rene Descartes introduced Dualism where he concluded the mind and body both can control and interact with one another. Before this, philosophers thought they could not control one another.

• Psychologists today focus more on the mind-brain problem.• As we know the brain controls the body, therefore: does our

brain interact with our mind?• Neuropsychologists are still studying these answers

CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVES AND THEORIES IN PSYCHOLOGY

Structuralism-Wundt: Focused on the ‘structure’ of consciousness (1st Psych Lab – 1879)

Functionalism- James: Focused on the ‘functions’ of mental processes in different environments.

Psychoanalysis- Freud: Focus on the unconscious thoughts, feelings and inner needs.

Behaviourism – Watson: Focus on observable behaviours. (i.e. Changing environment can alter behaviour)

Humanism – Rogers: Focus on the uniqueness and goodness of each individual

CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES AND THEORIES IN PSYCHOLOGY

• Biological Perspective: Focus on physiological factors

• Behavioural Perspective: Focus on observable behaviour in different environments

• Cognitive Perspective: Focus on how we acquire and process information (i.e Memory)

• Socio-Cultural Perspective: Focus how culture and social factors influence behaviour.

Psychology versus Psychiatry

- Is not able to prescribe medication

- 6 years university study

- Can work in private practices, schools, research labs, government bodies, hospitals, businesses etc

-Can prescribe medication

- Up to 13 years of study and training

- Usually work in a hospital setting

Psychology as a Science

• Collects empirical evidence

• Conducts experimental research follows steps of scientific research.

• Is NOT a pseudoscience such as telepathy or astrology.

Chapter 2: Research Methods

- Hypothesis:It is hypothesised that all

Year 11’s will do wonderfully on their psychology SAC’s

tomorrow.

7 Steps of Psychological Research1. Identification of the research problem

2. Construction of hypothesis

3. Designing the method

4. Collecting the data

5. Analysing the data

6. Interpreting the data

7. Reporting the research findings

Ethical Considerations

Ethical Considerations

Ethical Considerations

Chapter 3: Visual Perception

Visual Perception Process• VISUAL SENSATION => LIGHT =>EYE => RETINA =>

PHOTORECEPTORS => RECEPTION =>TRANSDUCTION => NEURAL ACTIVITY => ELECTRICAL

IMPLUSES

=>OPTIC NERVE => BRAIN => VISUAL CORTEX =>TRANSMISSION

• VISUAL PERCEPTION=> ORGANISATION => INTERPRETATION

Sensation versus Perception

• Visual sensation is the same for everyone

• It is our physiological make up of the eye and the way it functions

• Visual perception differs as everyone perceives and interprets things differently

• When studying Visual Perception it is difficult to say where one starts and the other begins so we see it as an interrelated process.

VISUAL PERCEPTION PRINCIPLES:Rules that we apply to visual information to assist our organisation and interpretation of

the information in a consistent and meaningful way.

• Gestalt Principles: The way in which we organise features of a visual scene by grouping them to perceive a whole, complete form.

• Figure-Ground organisation

• Closure

- Similarity -Proximity

• Depth Principles: The ability to accurately estimate the distance of objects and therefore perceive the world in three dimensions.

-Binocular depth cues (Requiring the use of both eyes)-Convergence-Retinal Disparity.-Monocular depth cues (Requiring the use of one eye only)-Accommodation-Pictorial cues: Linear perspective, interposition, texture gradient, relative size, height in the visual field

Pictorial cues

Interposition!

Texture Gradient

Relative size

Height in the Visual Field

SIZE CONSTANCY

SHAPE CONSTANCY

BRIGHTNESS CONSTANCY

PERCEPTUAL SET

CONTEXT

MOTIVATION

PAST EXPERIENCE

EMOTIONAL STATE

MOTIVATION