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Psychology
University
Introduction to the Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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What you need to know
Read the full theory →Definition, etymology, and approaches to psychology
- Definition: The science and profession that studies behavior and mental processes.
- Nature: It is not a unitary science; it possesses multiple approaches, currents, and schools.
- Excluding currents: Examples include Watsonian behaviorism and Freudian psychoanalysis.
- Use of the scientific method: Behaviorism applies it to the observable; humanism questions it.
- Applied psychology: Integrates elements from various schools for intervention.
- Key concepts: Perception, attention, motivation, emotion, brain, intelligence, thought, personality, consciousness.
- Methods: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed empirical methods.
- Areas of application: Clinical, human resources, child development, aging, sports, mass media, law, and forensic sciences.
- Physiological psychology: Study of the brain and nervous system.
- Experimental psychology: Use of laboratory techniques for perception and memory.
- Etymology: From the Greek psykhé (soul/mind) and -logia (study).
- First records: Latin (late 15th/early 16th century), German (1590), French (1588), English (1694).
- Popularization: Christian Wolff in 1732 and 1734.
- Spellings in Spanish: «sicología» and «psicología» are both valid.
Scientific scope, research methods, and organizations of psychology
- Areas of study: observable behavior, internal processes, human relations, and unconscious processes
- Areas of Behavioural sciences: behavioral science, cognitive science, and neuroscience
- Dimensions of personality: cognitive, affective, and behavioral
- Quantitative method: based on the positivist paradigm, hypothesis testing, and quantifiable variables
- Specific methods: correlational, experimental, naturalistic observation, case study, and survey
- Historical milestone: first experimental psychology laboratory in 1879 by Wilhelm Wundt
- Qualitative approach: interpretation of complex processes and the real dimensions of the subject
- Sociocultural research: historical-biographical perspective and irreversible processes
- Professional associations: grant licenses, membership, or registration for legal practice
- International requirement: necessity of validating a degree and obtaining a new license to practice in another country
- IUPSyS: world representative entity for psychology
- APA: establishes scientific publication standards
- ULAPSI: founded in 2002 to promote psychology with social commitment and cultural diversity
Chronology and Currents of Psychology
- Associationism: Herbart (1776-1841)
- Experimental psychology: W. Wundt (1879)
- Functionalism: William James (1890)
- Structuralism: Edward Titchener (1898)
- Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud (1896)
- Applied psychology: Hugo Münsterberg (1911)
- Behaviorism: John B. Watson (1913)
- Historical-cultural psychology: Lev Vygotski (1927)
- Gestalt Therapy: Fritz Perls (1940)
- Behavioral Therapy: Lindsley, Skinner, and Solomon (1953)
- Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: Albert Ellis (1954)
- Constructivism: Piaget and Kelly (1955)
- Cognitive Therapy: Aaron T. Beck (1960)
- Humanistic Psychology: American Association (1962)
- Cognitive Psychology: Ulric Neisser (1967)
- Neuropsychology: Alexander Luria (1973)
- Connectionism: PDP Group (1986)
- Positive Psychology: Martin Seligman (1990)
- Evolutionary Psychology: Barkow, Cosmides, and Tooby (1992)
- Functionalism: Study of functions and relationship with the environment
- Behaviorism: Naturalistic discipline, scientific method, cause-effect scheme
- B.F. Skinner: Operant conditioning and reinforcing stimuli
- Behaviorism: Use of computational technology and comparative psychology
- Gestalt: Based on Kantian transcendental idealism
- Gestalt: Perception organized by an a priori framework
- Christian Von Ehrenfels: Introduced the concept of 'form' in 1890
- Gestalt: The structural totality is imposed by the subject
Schools and disciplines of psychology: Cognitive, Humanistic, Psychobiology, and Basic Psychology
- Cognitive psychology: study of mental processes and mechanisms of knowledge construction
- Cognitive origin: successor of Wundt's science (1879)
- Cognitive methodology: use of computational and computer models
- Humanistic psychology: emerged in the 1960s as a reaction to behaviorism and psychoanalysis
- Humanistic focus: non-verbal experience, altered states of consciousness, and existential aspects
- Abraham Maslow: dubbed humanism "the third force"
- Psychobiology: study of mental processes from a biological and neurobiological perspective
- Psychobiological subdisciplines: physiological, psychopharmacology, neuropsychology, psychophysiology, cognitive neuroscience, and comparative psychology
- Factors of study in psychobiology: genetic, ecological, and epigenetic
- Basic psychology: collection and organization of knowledge regarding psychological foundations
- Applied psychology: application of basic psychology knowledge to practical problems
- Nature of psychology: an intermediate field between the biological and the social
Fundamental concepts of psychology and learning psychology
- Attention: mechanism of conscious focusing of mental content.
- Perception: mind-body cooperation for awareness of the external world and discrimination of elements.
- Memory: process of retention, storage, and retrieval of information.
- Thought: cognitive processes for elaborating information (reasoning and problem-solving).
- Language: a symbolic system of signs and rules for human communication.
- Learning: a change in behavior not attributable to temporal factors or substances.
- Learning: a metaprocess involving attention, memory, thought, and language.
- Behavioral learning: involves a change in behavior.
- Cognitive learning: involves a change in thought.
- Learning processes: vicarious learning, classical conditioning, operant conditioning, habituation, and sensitization.
- Behaviorism: based on the principle of equipotence and the principle of fidelity.
- Constructivism: includes cognitive, sociocultural, and emotional factors.
- Piagetians: learning through the principle of assimilation-accommodation to the prior cognitive structure.
- Key educational factors: motivation, interests, expectations, and needs.
Developmental Psychology, Psychopathology, Psychology of Art, and Personality Psychology
- Developmental psychology: study of psychological changes throughout the life span
- Factors of change (Erikson): continuity vs. discontinuity, heredity vs. environment, normativity vs. ideography
- Developmental contexts: historical, socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic
- Theoretical models: psychoanalysis, genetic psychology, sociocultural model, learning theories, information processing, ecological, and ethological
- Psychopathology: description of behaviors in mental and behavioral disorders
- Art psychology: study of creation, perception, and cognitive processes (imagination, memory, language, creativity)
- Personality: an organized set of permanent and stable traits
- Clinical model: in-depth study of the individual
- Correlational model: individual differences in large samples
- Experimental model: cause-effect relationships through variable manipulation
- Five-factor model: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and conscientiousness
Branches of Applied and Professional Psychology
- Applied psychology: optimization of human processes for professional purposes
- Professional practice generates conceptual and procedural knowledge independent of basic psychology
- Clinical psychology: the primary source of knowledge is the interview
- Educational psychology: study of learning phenomena and teaching techniques
- Child psychology: study from birth to adolescence
- Critical variables in child psychology: environmental-biological interaction and behavioral changes
- Social psychology: analysis of interaction from psychological, social, and symbolic perspectives
- Key processes in social psychology: socialization, culture, perception, attribution, and cognition
- Organizational psychology: systemic and structural approach to institutions
- Work psychology: focus on individual behavior and ergonomics
- Community psychology: management of resources for vital needs (health, housing, work, etc.)
Specialties of Psychology and Professional Training
- Health Psychology: promotion, prevention, and treatment of health and its dysfunctions.
- Emergency Psychology: disaster interventions to mitigate emotional sequelae.
- Forensic Psychology: evaluations of defendants, expert reports, and testimony.
- Criminal Psychology: estimation of psychological profiles of suspects.
- Sports Psychology: study of psychological factors in athletic performance and health.
- Professional requirement: Bachelor's Degree and professional licensure (according to national legislation).
- Academic definition: the scientific study of human behavior.
- Leaders in Psychoanalysis: Argentina, Chile, and Brazil.
- Leaders in Social Psychology: El Salvador, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Mexico.
- Substantive-psychological area: includes history, theories, basic processes, biological bases, developmental psychology, psychopathology, and ethics.
- Methodological area: includes projective techniques, psychometrics, statistics, qualitative/quantitative methods, and experimental methods.
- Applied area: includes work/organizations, clinical, community, educational, forensic, social, and rumor psychology.
Complementary areas, specialties, and differences in psychology
- Complementary areas: Anthropology, Epistemology, Linguistics, Logic, Sociology, Human Sciences Theory, and Neuroeconomics.
- Additional training: Basic sciences and applied sciences depending on the study center.
- Clinical specialization: More than 60% of psychologists work in this area.
- Other specialties: Industrial-organizational and higher-paying areas.
- Current trend: Interdisciplinary integration for the study and intervention in human complexity.
- Key difference from psychiatry: Training received and use of medication.
- Meaning 1: The way of feeling of an individual or collective.
- Meaning 2: The capacity to know and understand the psychology of another person.
- Meaning 3: Synthesis of spiritual and moral characters of a people or nation.
Flashcard preview (6 of 40)
- 01
Etymology of psychology: what does the term literally mean?
The study of the soul.
- 02
In Greek etymology, what symbol did the word ψυχή (psykhé) represent?
A butterfly.
- 03
In the context of psychology, which approach considers that the scientific method is NOT suitable for investigating behavior?
Humanism.
- 04
What types of behaviors can be objectively measured through the scientific method according to behaviorism?
Observable behaviors.
- 05
Difference in object of study: What does physiological psychology study?
The functioning of the brain and the nervous system.
- 06
According to the Behavioural sciences current, what are the three areas of research and action in scientific psychology?
Behavioral science, cognitive science, and neuroscience.
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