Psychology: The Science of Behavior and Human Development

Psychology

Psychology is the science of behavior and activity of organisms and also because of the internal mechanisms...

a) Basic Psychology:

A part of psychology is devoted to the study of basic psychological processes (perception, tension, feeling, emotion...) general memory.

b) Applied Psychology:

Those aspects of psychology take inf. Psicol. basic, applied knowledge to solve specific people's problems.

1.3 Evolutionary Psychology (Study of Human Development):

Concept: Science that collaborates in different stages: adolescence, maturity. Areas: - Biosocial: development of physical and social effects that affect - Cognitive: mental processes, thinking subject, learning, communication. - Psychosocial: emotions, personality traits, relations with others (relating).

Contexts of Development: Historical context, socioeconomic.

Three Controversies: 1. Heritage/Environment. Ex: Homosexuality 2. Continuity/Discontinuity 3. Reversibility/Irreversibility (if life experiences affect life or not).

TEMA2: Great Psychological Theories

Applied to learning.

2.1 Concept and Contemporary Theories of Learning:

Concept: Change in behavior as a result of practice.

Key: Exchange, experience/practice, permanence.

2.2 Contemporary Theories of Learning:

a) Behavioral-(Theories of Stimulus-Response): Classic and Operant.

c) Observational Learning: Observing an indirect model.

Classical Conditioning. Paulov Experimental studied gastric dogs, dog saliva salivation. Before eating, a dog was taken and its saliva was collected. Then, the bell was rung and the dog began to salivate because it associated the bell with food. Bell-dog-saliva. Classical Conditioning Basic Paradigm: Capacity of a neutral stimulus (not causing any response) to become a conditioned stimulus that provokes a response as a consequence of a temporary connection with another stimulus that causes a response. The Fundamental Elements of Classical Conditioning: Unconditioned Stimulus (food), Conditioned Stimulus (bell), Unconditioned Response (salivation), Conditioned Response (salivation when the bell is rung), Neutral Stimulus (hood), and Conditioned Stimulus (salivation2 when the bell is rung). Classical Conditioning Procedures.

Operant Conditioning: a) Background: Thorndike's Law of Effect. Skinner developed it further. A hungry cat is placed in a cage with food and the door is opened by a lever. The cat learns a new behavior: E (food) R (pressing the lever) -> positive consequence (eating). The Law of Effect states that an ER association is strongest when it is followed by a positive consequence. b) Skinner: 2 types of behavior: Respondent (known stimuli, specific) and Operant (unknown stimuli, not concrete). In a Skinner box, an animal presses the lever and receives food.