Psychology and Buddhism
Min-Ju Liao
Outline
I. Introduction of Psychology II. Cognitive Psychology III. Psychology vs. Buddhism
I. Introduction of Psychology
What is psychology?
Psychology is the science of behavior and the mind
psychologists often use behavioral data to make influences about the mind
Early approaches in psychology
Laboratory dissection of the mind (Wilhelm Wundt, 18321920) Complex mental processes can be understood as sequences of more elementary processes
Structuralism (Titchener, 1867-1927)
Learning the structure of the mind through analyzing elementary conscious experience Introspection: to look inward to examine one’s own conscious experience
e.g., a flash of light is sensed as blue, strong, brief, and clear
Functionalism (William James, 1842-1910)
Purposes or goals are the most important aspects of human consciousness and actions Introspection (e.g., examine one’s own emotional states)
Major approaches in psychology
Studying basic psychological processes Functionalist perspective Evolution(natural selection) and learning - Behavioral psychology Physiological perspective Neurobiological psychology Information-processing perspective Cognitive psychology Studying the whole person and the person’s relationships to the social environment Developmental perspective Social perspective Personality and disorders Psychoanalysis Humanities
Approaches in Psychology
Behavioral psychology (Pavlov, Watson, Skinner):
Stimuli -> Response Basic learning process: classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning (Pavlov’s discovery)
bell -> no response Food -> salivation
bell + food -> salivation
bell -> salivation
Law of association by contiguity Operant conditioning: the consequence of behavior affects the likelihood of the recurrence of the behavior A starving rat in a box -> accidentally press a level -> food or water (reinforcement) -> keep pressing the level Law of effect
Training and behavioral therapy
Approaches in Psychology
Neurobiological psychology:
Understanding the physiological mechanism in the brain that organizes and controls behavior
e.g. use fMRI to examine brain activities while people are engaging in different behaviors
e.g. Dr. Richard Davidson studies brain activities during six different meditations – meditation on visualization, compassion, one-pointedness, devotion, fearlessness, openstate (see “The Lama in the Lab” by Daniel Goleman)
Approaches in Psychology
Cognitive psychology:
Influenced by computer evolution Using the concept of “information processing” to study mental processes such as attention, perception, memory, thinking, problem solving, and decision making
Approaches in Psychology
Psychoanalysis (Freud, Erikson):
Unconscious mind Conflict between biological instincts and society's demands Early childhood experiences id, ego, superego
Id: most primitive portion of the personality (basic biological urges) Ego: ego is derived from the id, but it obeys reality principle Superego: represents the internalized rules and admonitions of the parents and society – judge ego has been good or bad
Psychotherapy: regression therapy
Approaches in Psychology
Humanistic psychology (Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow):
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Self, self-concept, self-worth - unconditional positive regard Self-actualization: a desire to realize one’s potential, to fulfill oneself Psychotherapy: “client center”, full acceptance, no judgment
II. Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology
attention resources Sensory register
perception thought decision making working memory
response selection
response execution
long-term memory
From “introduction to human factors engineering”, by Wickens, C. D., Gordon, S. E., Liu, Y, 1998
Cognitive psychology
Sensory processes:
Senses: vision, hearing, smell, taste, kinesthesis and vestibules, skin Psychophysics – relations between the characteristics of physical stimuli and our sensory experience e.g.
psychological magnitude
Stimulus magnitude
Cognitive psychology
Perception:
Attention Visual perception: eye -> visual cortex in the brain perceptual phenomena (color, form/shape, feature-ground, motion, depth, etc.) Top-down vs. bottom-up processes
Cognitive psychology
Perception
Stroop effect
Green Blue
Red Green
Blue Red
Cognitive psychology
Perception
Illusion
Cognitive psychology
Perception
Illusion
Cognitive psychology
Perception
Figure-ground perception
Cognitive psychology
Memory: Short-term (working) memory vs. long-term memory Encoding & retrieval Encoding: the process that controls the movement of information from working memory to long-term memory e.g. rehearsing Retrieval: the process that controls the movement of information from long-term memory to working memory e.g., recall, recognition Explicit memory (declarative, conscious)
episodic memory semantic memory procedural memory
Implicit memory (unconscious)
Cognitive psychology
Thinking
Mental activities that are utilized whenever we plan actions, solve problems, evaluate things, or make decisions. Main elements of thought: mental representation e.g., analogical vs. symbolic representation
Work at NASA (Cockpit display)
Work at NASA (Cockpit display)
Work at NASA (Cockpit display)
III. Psychology vs. Buddhism
五蘊
色(form): 物質基礎
色因: 地, 水, 火, 風 色相: 五感官, 五塵
樂受, 苦受, 不苦不樂受; 身受 & 心受 眼觸所生想, 耳觸所生想, … 五十一心所 (e.g., 記憶,…) 所有複雜之心理作用 六識, 染識, 阿賴耶識
受(feeling): 領納, 對色蘊的覺受
想(perception): 取像, 認識
行(volition): 造作, 心採取行動; 意志作用
識(consciousness): 了別(明瞭及識別)現象之真實意義
Psychology vs. Buddhism
Behavioral psychology: 色(物質) & 行為的關係 Neurobiological psychology: 身 (brain) & 受,想,行的關係 Cognitive psychology: - psychophysics: 色(物質) & 受的關係 - attention: 作意 - perception: 想 - memory, thinking: 行 Psychoanalysis: 潛意識 Humanities: 自我
佛法概論 第四章 有情與有情的分析
佛法以有情為本，那就應該認識有情是什麼。佛常用「三 處觀」去觀察有情，分別有情的真相。但有情的分別觀察 ，要從有情的流轉相續中，與身心的相依中去考察，不可 為靜止的、孤立的機械分析…這有情中心論的觀察，都說 到了心與色，即證明了有情是色心平等和合相應的存在者， 不能偏重於物質或精神。
Psychology vs. Buddhism
Final notes: 西方心理學或是從不同的角度研究個別的五蘊、心所及它們 之間的對應關係; 或是從自我及實我出發來探討心理問題
佛法提供的則是一個拓展在時間和空間上的全觀分析 – 在時間上, 有情自無始以來即在流轉輪迴 在空間上, 有情是五蘊身心交感, 相互依存的和合個體 佛法更進一步教我們看到此五蘊有情的究竟本質其實是苦, 空, 無常, 無我, 而一切煩惱的根源是我們的貪瞋痴, 是我們的 執取 佛法給我們的才是究竟的了解及究竟的解脫