What is Psychology

Psychology Psychology Contents Module 1: Introduction Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 What is Psychology? Different Approaches to Psychology Research in Psychology Module 2: Emotion Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 6 Signs of Emotion Theories of Emotion Stress and Anxiety ACPD Assignment 1 Module 3: Perception Unit 7 Unit 8 Sensation and Perception Factors Affecting Perception Module 4: Memory Unit 9 Unit 10 Unit 11 Why Do We Remember? Remembering and Forgetting The Reliability of Memory ACPD Assignment 2 Module 5: Learning Unit 12 Unit 13 Unit 14 Classical and Operant Conditioning Applications of Classical and Operant Conditioning Other Kinds of Learning Module 6: The Development of Social Behaviour Unit 15 Unit 16 Unit 17 Parent–Child Interaction Attachment and Separation Sexual Development and Gender Identity ACPD Assignment 3 1 Learn4u Module 7: Social Perception Unit 18 Unit 19 Unit 20 Impressions of People Prejudice and Discrimination Reducing Prejudice Module 8: Social Influence Unit 21 Unit 22 Unit 23 Social Pressure on the Individual Group Norms and Conformity Conformity to Roles and Obedience Research Methods ACPD Assignment 4 Glossary 2 Psychology Diploma in Psychology Unit 1 What Is Psychology? Aims The aims of this Unit are to enable you to: • • • • • define psychology look at the way human actions can be explained on a number of different levels show how the concerns of psychologists mix and overlap with other sciences distinguish between a psychologist and a psychiatrist compare a common-sense approach with psychological approaches to problems Context The first Unit answers some of the basic questions about psychology. You will learn about the psychological approach and, in the next Unit, you will explore different branches of the subject. What is Psychology? Psychology is about understanding people – what they think, say and do, and why these things happen. Here is a definition that you can work with: Psychology is the science of mind and behaviour. In a way, there are two stages to psychology. The first is the understanding of thought and action. But understanding is not much use by itself. The second stage is the application of that understanding to human problems, a way of helping us solve those problems. Although we have defined ‘psychology’ as the study of mind and behaviour, there are many who would simplify it to ‘the study of behaviour’. Why? – because it is so difficult to study the mind itself. Physiologists and cellular biologists have looked at the brain as a physical object, but we still only have a limited understanding in this area. For most psychologists, the best way (or only way) of understanding the mind is to see it in action, i.e. in our behaviour. Having said that, you will need to know a little bit about the physiological processes that lie behind some aspects of human behaviour. 3 Psychology Diploma in Psychology Unit 4 Signs of Emotion Aims The aims of this unit are to enable you to: • • distinguish between emotional experience, expression and physiological responses describe the workings of the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system insofar as they are linked to emotion (the physiological correlates of emotion) look at the use of self-reports, facial expressions and physiological measures of arousal as measures of emotion examine the problems in using such measures look at the effects of sympathetic and para-sympathetic nervous actions throughout the body explain the adaptive significance of the fight-or-flight response • • • • Context This is the first of three units on emotion, a subject we all think we know something about. But emotion is a tricky concept for the psychologist and needs to be approached carefully. The Definition of Emotion How can we define emotion? And what distinguishes emotion from thought and other psychological processes? First, we will start with a basic working definition: Emotions are psychological feelings, such as anger, fear and happiness that affect both the mind and the body. The last six words are important there. Emotions are a combination of mind and body and you will need a basic understanding of how the two interact when specific emotions are experienced. To put it another way, emotions are both biological and psychological, and this is the part of the course in which we will be most concerned with human biology. 47 Learn4u Activity 1 Tears are a fairly obvious physical sign of one emotion: sadness. See if you can think of some other physical signs of emotional states. What emotion do they indicate? Physical Signs of Emotion Here are a few physical signs that you might have thought of: • • • • • a smile, to indicate happiness butterflies in the stomach – fear or trepidation a red face – embarrassment sweaty palms – various emotions, including fear a pounding heart and rapid pulse – again, various emotions You will probably have noticed that a number of physical signs could be indications of different emotions. Butterflies in the stomach may be a sign of nervousness, but they are also associated with falling in love. Love might produce any of the signs named above, but it might also lead to dryness of the throat or the need to urinate frequently. Yet a negative emotion like fear might have many of the same signs. We can cry tears of happiness as well as sadness. Some signs are more specific – a red face (caused by a rush of blood to the head) can often be a very unambiguous indication of embarrassment. Very often the number of symptoms is an indication of the intensity of the emotion rather than a clue to exactly which emotion it is. Bodily signs of feelings are often called the physiological correlates of emotion. 48 Psychology Self-Assessment Test 1 In your own words, define an emotion. What Is Happening to the Body to Cause These Signs? The brain is not the only vital organ involved in emotion but it is sometimes the most important one. There are centres in the brain that control pleasure, pain, aggression and other motivational conditions. It is even possible to locate these centres. In the past, experiments on animals helped to reveal exactly which part of the brain was involved in different kinds of emotion. If an animal received electrical stimulation in an aggression centre, the animal would show signs of aggression, and so on. But, as we have seen, most emotions involve the brain and other organs simultaneously, and it is the linkage between the two that holds the key. This linkage is the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is a system of nerves that controls functions of the body without voluntary control (autonomous means ‘involuntary’). This system sends messages, rather like electrical impulses, to a number of different organs at once. The stronger the emotion, the more organs will react at the same time. 49 Learn4u Eye Salivary glands Sweat glands Brain Blood vessels Heart Lungs Spinal cord Liver Stomach Adrenal glands Kidneys Small intestine Colon Figure 4.1. The autonomic nervous system Bladder Figure 4.1 The autonomic nervous system The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is made up of two branches: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic branch is the one we are most concerned with because it is the one that takes over at those times when the body needs to use its reserves of energy, for instance in emergency situations. It is also called the sympathetic nervous system (sympathy = suffering together). The parasympathetic, on the other hand, is dominant when the body is at rest, when those reserves of energy are being built up. You will need to be aware of some of the major sympathetic and parasympathetic reactions throughout the body, so if you have not studied human biology, you would be well advised to learn some of the detail in the following table: 50 Psychology Table 4.1. The parasympathetic and sympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system Organ or function affected 1. Heart rate 2. Blood pressure 3. Secretion of saliva 4. Pupils 5. Limbs (and trunk) Sympathetic reaction Increases Increases Suppressed (mouth feels dry) Dilate (to aid vision) Parasympathetic reaction Decreases Decreases Stimulated Contract Contraction of these Dilation of blood vessels of the voluntary vessels muscles (to help us run faster, for example) Slows down (you don’t feel hungry in an emergency) Decreases (owing to increased sweating, associated with increased anxiety) Relaxed (there may be temporary loss of bladder control) Stimulated to secrete more adrenaline and noradrenaline Increased (through dilation of bronchi) Glucose (stored as glycogen) is released into the blood to increase energy Experience of strong emotion Speeds up 6. Peristalsis (contraction of stomach and intestines) 7. Galvanic skin response (GSR) (measure of the electrical resistance of the skin) 8. Bladder muscles Increases Contracted 9. Adrenal glands Reduced secretion 10.Breathing rate 11.Liver Decreased Sugar is stored 12.Emotion Less extreme emotions 51