AP Psyc - Module 2 Notes
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little.aanyaAP Psyc - Module 2 Notes
Uploaded by
little.aanya17/08/24
Psychology Notes - Grade 11
Module 2
Pages 13 - 23
Today’s Psychology and its Approaches
⋆ Psychologists in the 1960s pioneered a cognitive revolution which later
evolved into cognitive psychology
⋆ Psychology was derived from earlier established fields of science of biology
and philosophy
↪ Pioneers of Psychology
● Wilhelm Wundt
- Father of psychology, was the first to study the field
officially
● William James
- Proposed the functionalism theory (inspired by Darwin's early
school of thought.)
● Sigmund Freud
- Studied psychoanalytic psychology
● Ivan Pavlov
- Russian physiologist who pioneered the study of learning
● Jean Piaget
- Swiss biologist who was the last century’s most influential
observer of children
- Cognitive psychology: study of mental processes such as when we learn, perceive, think,
remember, communicate, and problem-solve
- Functionalism: A theory based on the idea that all aspects of society serve a purpose and
are indispensable for our society to function.
Nature-Nurture Issue
⋆ The nature-nurture issue has been a long-standing debate from Ancient Greece
● Socrates and Plato believed that ideas are inherited and at times
inborn, Aristotle argues that the mind is completely blank when first
born.
⋆ Debate rekindled during the 1600s
● Locke argued that the mind would be completely blank of values when
born, and Descartes said the mind would inherit some ideas.
Darwin
⋆ Charles Darwin proposed the idea of natural selection and the Theory of
Evolution.
- Natural Selection: A mechanism of evolution in which organisms adapt and change to the
environment around them.
- Theory of Evolution: A theory that states that new species come from preexisting species, and
that all species share a common ancestor
Cross Culture and Gender Psychology
⋆ Studies are usually done in WEIRD countries:
W – Western ⋆ Culture Affects:
• Standards of promptness/frankness
E - Educated • Thoughts on premarital sex
• Varying body shapes
I - Industrialized • Standards of causality/formality
• Willingness to make eye contact
R - Rich • More
D - Democratic ⋆ Shared Heritage Affects:
• People with dyslexia when reading
different languages with the same alphabet
• Same/similar grammar principles •
Facial expressions (nodding means yes, shaking head
means no, etc.)
Positive Psychology
⋆ Psychology was initially focused on humanity’s troubles such as anxiety,
depression, abuse, disease, prejudice, and poverty- however, Martin Seligman
called to study “human flourishing” as well.
The Biopsychosocial Approach and Psychology’s Theoretical Perspective
⋆ Discussing what circumstances cause people to act the way they do.
⋆ You can study emotions from different perspectives:
Perspective Focus Sample Questions
Behavioral How to learn observable How do we learn to fear
responses particular objects or
situations? What is the
most effective way to
alter our behavior?
Biological How the body and brain How do pain messages
enable emotions, memories, travel from the body to
and sensory experiences; the brain? How is blood
how genes and our chemistry linked with
environment influence our moods and motives? How are
differences certain psychological
traits a product of our
genes?
Cognitive How we encode, process, How do we use information
store, and retrieve in remembering, reasoning,
information problem-solving, etc.?
Evolutionary How the natural selection How does evolution
of traits has promoted the influence behavior
survival of genes tendencies?
Psychodynamic How behavior springs from How can someone’s
unconscious drives and personality traits and
conflicts disorders be explained by
unfulfilled disorders and
childhood trauma?
Social-cultural How behavior and thinking How are we affected by
vary across situations and the society and culture
cultures that surrounds us?
⋆ Psychology influences modern culture
⋆ Learning psychology is important because it normalizes being kind to women,
children, and those with mental health issues
Lecture Notes
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
↪ Behavior or Mental Process
⋆ Biological
● Natural selection of adaptive traits
● Genetic predispositions when responding to environment
● Brain mechanisms
● Hormonal influences
⋆ Psychological
● Learned fears and other learned expectations
● Emotional responses
● Cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations
⋆ Socio-cultural
● Presence of others
● Cultural, societal, and family expectations
● Peer and other group influences
