SAT1A GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY I Unit : I - V

SAT1A GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY I Unit : I - V

UNIT I INTRODUCTION Definition of Psychology Psychology as a science Research Methods Modern perspectives Sub-fields of psychology SAT1A- General Psychology 2

What is Psychology? The scientific study of behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism s physical, state, mental state, and external environment. Scientific study requires several things: 1. Theoretical framework 2. Testable Hypotheses 3. Empirical evidence SAT1A- General Psychology 3

History of Psychology SAT1A- General Psychology 4

History of Psychology Structuralism Functionalism Psychoanalysis Behaviorism Gestalt Psychology Humanistic Psychology SAT1A- General Psychology 5

Psychology as a Science A body of systematized knowledge gathered by carefully measuring and observing events SAT1A- General Psychology 6

What are the goals of Psychology? SAT1A- General Psychology 7

Evolution of Psychological perspectives SAT1A- General Psychology 8

Research Methods in Psychology https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfv71qpvx2i SAT1A- General Psychology 9

1. Experimental method Experiment on human learning Test the hypothesis that letting people know how well they are doing as they are learning improve their performance SAT1A- General Psychology 10

2. SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION METHOD Differs from casual observation Has a specific purpose Collect data about clients Targets certain behaviors Records behaviors systematically Has concerns of reliability & validity SAT1A- General Psychology 11

3. Clinical Method It involves the following steps : - 1. Interview 2. Information gathering 3. A hypothesis formulate 4. Diagnoses are made 5. Planning a treatment programme SAT1A- General Psychology 12

Nature vs Nurture in Psychology This debate within psychology is concerned with the extent to which particular aspects of behavior are a product of either inherited (i.e. genetic) or acquired (i.e. learned) characteristics. SAT1A- General Psychology 13

Sub Fields of Psychology content: font size 20 SAT1A- General Psychology 14

UNIT II SENSATION AND PERCEPTION General Properties of Senses Sensory thresholds Perception Principles of Perceptual Organization. SAT1A- General Psychology 15

Sensation Vs Perception All outside information comes into us through our senses. Sensation the process of detecting, receiving, converting and transmitting information resulting from stimulation of sensory receptors. Perception the process of selecting, identifying, organizing and interpreting sensory input into a useful and meaningful mental representations of the world in the light of relevant memories from past experiences. SAT1A- General Psychology 16

Vision (sense of sight) sensitive to LIGHT ENERGY Auditory (sense of hearing) stimulated by SOUND ENERGY Olfaction (sense of smell) stimulates our nostrils by CHEMICAL ENERGY Gustation (sense of taste) Tactile (skin senses for pressure, temperature, pain) SAT1A- General Psychology 17

Parts of brain simulated by senses SAT1A- General Psychology 18

Threshold Threshold refers to a point above which a stimulus is perceived and below which it is not perceived. It determines when we first become aware of a stimulus. SAT1A- General Psychology 19

The word perception comes from the Latin perception-, percepio, meaning "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n46umya_4dm SAT1A- General Psychology 20

Principles of Perceptual Organization SAT1A- General Psychology 21

Bottom-up Processing and Top-down Processing Bottom-up processing is the processing of sensory information as it enters the sensory structures and travels to the brain Top-down processing is the brain s use of existing knowledge, beliefs, and expectations to interpret the sensory stimulation Perception is subjective because of top-down processing Perceptual set occurs when we interpret an ambiguous stimulus in accordance with our past experiences SAT1A- General Psychology 22

Perceptual Organization: Depth Perception Depth Perception ability to see objects in three dimensions allows us to judge distance SAT1A- General Psychology 23

Pictoral Cues for Depth (a) Linear perspective. (b) Relative size. (c) Light and shadow. (d) Overlap. (e) Texture gradients. Drawings in the top row show fairly pure examples of each of the pictorial depth cues. In the bottom row, the pictorial depth cues are used to assemble a more realistic scene. SAT1A- General Psychology 24

Perceptual Constancy Perceptual Constancy perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal image change color shape size SAT1A- General Psychology 25

Perceptual Organization: Illusion Cultural Experiences affects susceptibility to the Muller-Lyer illusion! In the Ponzo illusion, two horizontal lines are equal in length, but one appears longer than the other SAT1A- General Psychology 26

Plasticity Refers to modifiability or moldability of perception Prolonged changes in sensory input can modify ways in which information is processed in generating perception Nature Vs Nurture SAT1A- General Psychology 27

Selective perception The tendency not to notice and more quickly forget stimuli that causes emotional discomfort and contradicts our prior beliefs Low level Perceptual vigilance High level Perceptual defense SAT1A- General Psychology 28

Cognitive dissonance Cognitive dissonance is a difference between our motives and our actions (psychological inconsistency) People are usually motivated to reduce or avoid psychological inconsistencies SAT1A- General Psychology 29

UNIT III CONSCIOUSNESS Fundamental Process Sleep and Dreams Hypnosis Psi Phenomena Alternate states of consciousness SAT1A- General Psychology 30

What is consciousness? Your awareness of external events your awareness of internal sensations your awareness of yourself as a unique being having experiences your awareness of your thoughts about these experiences The critical element in consciousness is awareness! SAT1A- General Psychology 31

Consciousness involves (1) monitoring ourselves and our environment so that precepts, memories, and thoughts are represented in awareness, and (2) controlling ourselves and our environment so that we are able to initiate and terminate behavioral and cognitive activities SAT1A- General Psychology 32

Automaticity Habituation of responses that initially required conscious attention Dissociation Here the control is still there (we can focus on automatic processes if we want to) but has been dissociated from consciousness. The French psychiatrist Pierre Janet (1889) originated the concept of dissociation, in which under certain conditions some thoughts and actions become split off, or dissociated, from the rest of consciousness and function outside of awareness. SAT1A- General Psychology 33

Biological Rhythms and Sleep Circadian Rhythms 24 hr biological cycles Regulation of sleep/other body functions Physiological pathway of the biological clock: Light levels retina suprachiasmatic nucleus of hypothalamus pineal gland secretion of melatonin SAT1A- General Psychology 34

Sleep Cycle SAT1A- General Psychology 35

Theories of dreams SAT1A- General Psychology 36

Sleep Problems and disorders Insomnia difficulty falling or staying asleep Narcolepsy falling asleep uncontrollably Sleep Apnea reflexive gasping for air that awakens Nightmares anxiety arousing dreams - REM Night Terrors intense arousal and panic - NREM Somnambulism sleepwalking SAT1A- General Psychology 37

Drug induced altered states of consciousness SAT1A- General Psychology 38

Hypnosis: Altered State of Consciousness Hypnosis = a systematic procedure that increases suggestibility Theories of hypnosis Role Playing people act out the role of hypnotized subjects and do what they think hypnotized people should do Altered State of Consciousness people dissociate by splitting awareness into two separate simultaneous streams of awareness Hypnotic susceptibility: individual differences SAT1A- General Psychology 39

Meditation: Altered state of Consciousness Meditation = practices that train attention to heighten awareness and bring mental processes under greater voluntary control Yoga, Zen, transcendental meditation (TM) Potential physiological benefits Similar to effective relaxation procedures SAT1A- General Psychology 40

Altered state of Consciousness To have a summary of altered states of consciousness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pw1fwkjo-y SAT1A- General Psychology 41

Extra Sensory Perception It is a perception without the mediation of the senses. It includes: Clairvoyance is extra sensory awareness of objects. Contact between the mind of the person and on the object. Telepathy is a thought transmission from one mind to another. Precognition is foreknowledge of specific events without any rational means. Psychokinesis (mind over matter) includes mental operations that influences a material body or an energy system. SAT1A- General Psychology 42

UNIT IV LEARNING Definition of learning Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Cognitive Learning Social Learning SAT1A- General Psychology 43

Definition of Learning Learning is: An experiential process Resulting in a relatively permanent change in behavior Not explained by temporary states, maturation, or innate response tendencies. SAT1A- General Psychology 44

Classical Conditioning Pavlov s Conditioned Reflex Conditioning -- a stimulus that initially produces no response can acquire the ability to produce one. Learning occurs through pairing in time and place of one stimulus with another stimulus that produces a response. This is a kind of associative shifting, but the response is involuntary SAT1A- General Psychology 45

Classical Conditioning SAT1A- General Psychology 46

Operant conditioning Operant conditioning (also called "instrumental conditioning") is a learning process through which the strength of a behavior is modified by reward or punishment. It is also a procedure that is used to bring about such learning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lshjbijk9ti SAT1A- General Psychology 47

Operant conditioning SAT1A- General Psychology 48

Operant conditioning SAT1A- General Psychology 49

Cognitive Learning Cognition refers to the individual s thoughts, feelings, ideas, knowledge and understanding about himself and the environment. Cognitive Learning Theory is based on the cognitive model of human behavior, i.e. it emphasizes on the free will and positive aspects of human behavior SAT1A- General Psychology 50

Cognitive Learning Edward Tolman has contributed significantly to the Cognitive Learning Theory. According to him, individuals not only responds to stimuli but also act on beliefs, thoughts, attitudes, feelings and strive towards goals. SAT1A- General Psychology 51

Cognitive Learning Latent learning is a form of learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt response; it occurs without any obvious reinforcement of the behavior or associations that are learned. SAT1A- General Psychology 52

Cognitive Learning Insight, in learning theory, immediate and clear learning or understanding that takes place without overt trial-and-error testing. Insight occurs in human learning when people recognize relationships (or make novel associations between objects or actions) that can help them solve new problems. SAT1A- General Psychology 53

Social Learning Theory Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modelling. The theory has often been called a bridge between behaviourist and cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory, and motivation. SAT1A- General Psychology 54

Social Learning Theory Albert Bandura's Little Albert Experiment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=128ts5r9nre SAT1A- General Psychology 55

UNIT V MEMORY Meaning and nature of memory Information processing theory Levels of processing theories Long term memory-organizations Forgetting Techniques of improving memory. SAT1A- General Psychology 56

Memory The process of forming a memory involves encoding, storing, retaining and subsequently recalling information and past experiences. Cognitive psychologist Margaret W. Matlin has described memory as the process of retaining information over time SAT1A- General Psychology 57

Memory Processes Encoding--transforming information into a form that can be entered and retained in the the memory system Storage--retaining information in memory so that it can be used at a later time Retrieval--recovering information stored in memory so that we are consciously aware of it SAT1A- General 58

Information Processing Theory Three Stages of Memory Three memory stores that differ in function, capacity and duration Maintenance Rehearsal Sensory Input Sensory Memory Attention Working or Short-term Memory Encoding Retrieval Long-term memory SAT1A- General 59

Maintenance Rehearsal Mental or verbal repetition of information allows information to remain in working memory longer than the usual 30 seconds Maintenance Rehearsal Sensory Input Sensory Memory Attention Working or Short-term Memory SAT1A- General Psychology 60

Chunking Grouping small bits of information into larger units of information expands working memory load Which is easier to remember? 4 8 3 7 9 2 5 1 6 483 792 516 SAT1A- General Psychology 61

Types of Long Term Memory SAT1A- General Psychology 62

Levels of processing theory SAT1A- General Psychology 63

Why do we forget? Forgetting can occur at any memory stage Encoding failure Interference theories Motivated forgetting Decay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvwbrnls-kw SAT1A- General Psychology 64

Forgetting as retrieval failure Retrieval process of accessing stored information Sometimes info IS encoded into LTM, but we can t retrieve it Short-term memory Encoding X Retrieval Long-term memory Retrieval failure leads to forgetting SAT1A- General Psychology 65

Memory Distortion Memory can be distorted as people try to fit new info into existing schemas Giving misleading information after an event causes subjects to unknowingly distort their memories to incorporate the new misleading information SAT1A- General Psychology 66

Two Types of Interference Types of Interference Retroactive Interference Proactive Interference SAT1A- General Psychology 67

Amnesia Amnesia severe memory loss Retrograde amnesia inability to remember past episodic information; common after head injury; need for consolidation Anterograde amnesia inability to form new memories; related to hippocampus damage SAT1A- General Psychology 68

How to improve memory? SAT1A- General Psychology 69