Foundations of Psychological Concepts and Theories-I

Common Sense Psychology

Stereotypes

  • Definition: Oversimplified and generalized beliefs about groups of people.
  • Significance: Often arise from common sense reasoning but can lead to misjudgments and reinforce biases.

Confirmation Bias

  • Definition: The tendency to favor information that confirms existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.
  • Significance: A common error in reasoning that can distort perception and hinder objective analysis.

Availability Heuristics

  • Definition: A mental shortcut where individuals judge the likelihood of events based on how easily examples come to mind.
  • Significance: This heuristic can lead to skewed perceptions of reality, often overemphasizing recent or vivid experiences.

Cognitive Functions of the Mind

Perception

  • Definition: The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information to understand the environment.
  • Function: Essential for interaction with the world, enabling recognition of objects, sounds, and other stimuli.

Attention

  • Definition: The cognitive process of selectively focusing on specific information while ignoring other stimuli.
  • Function: Crucial for learning and memory, attention determines what information enters our awareness.

Memory

  • Definition: The faculty of the mind that allows for the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information.
  • Function: Enables the retention of experiences and knowledge over time, forming the basis of learning.

Early Thinkers in Psychology

Aristotle

  • View: Proposed that mind and body are not entirely separate; he believed in the unity of soul and body.
  • Contribution: Emphasized empirical observation and the study of nature, laying the groundwork for future scientific inquiry.

Plato

  • View: Advocated for dualism, asserting that the mind and body are different entities that interact.
  • Contribution: His ideas influenced philosophical and psychological thought, particularly concerning the nature of knowledge and reality.

Hippocrates

  • View: Suggested that mental illnesses have physical causes, contrasting with supernatural explanations.
  • Contribution: Pioneered the understanding of health and illness in a more scientific manner, emphasizing the biological basis of behavior.

Modern Philosophical Perspectives

Immanuel Kant

  • View: Proposed that humans possess innate faculties—sense, understanding, and reasoning—that work together.
  • Contribution: His work emphasized the importance of these faculties in linking the mind and body, influencing both philosophy and psychology.

Major Psychological Theories and Figures

J.B. Watson

  • Role: Founder of behaviorism, focusing solely on observable behavior.
  • Contribution: Advocated for the study of behavior without reference to mental processes, emphasizing the role of the environment.

Ivan Pavlov

  • Role: Discovered classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs.
  • Contribution: Demonstrated how learning can occur through associations, influencing behavioral psychology.

B.F. Skinner

  • Role: Developed the concept of operant conditioning, building on Watson’s work.
  • Contribution: Highlighted the effects of reinforcement and punishment on behavior, shaping modern behavioral therapy.

Gestalt Psychology

  • View: Focuses on perception as an organized and structured whole, rather than isolated parts.
  • Contribution: Emphasized the holistic nature of human perception and cognition, influencing fields like cognitive psychology.

Language Acquisition

Noam Chomsky

  • View: Argued for the biological basis of language, proposing that humans are born with innate linguistic capabilities.
  • Contribution: Introduced the concept of Universal Grammar, asserting that all human languages share a common structural basis.

Key Psychological Laws

Edward L. Thorndike

  • Law of Effect: States that behaviors followed by satisfying outcomes are likely to be repeated, while those followed by unpleasant outcomes are less likely to recur.
  • Contribution: Laid the foundation for future learning theories, particularly in operant conditioning.

Psychological Approaches

Behaviorism

  • View: Rejects introspection and focuses on observable behavior as the primary subject of psychology.
  • Implication: Emphasizes environmental influences on behavior, minimizing the role of free will and internal mental states.

Structuralism

  • Definition: Aimed to analyze the structure of the mind through introspection and subjective reports.
  • Limitations: Often criticized for its reliance on subjective experience, making it less scientific.

Functionalism

  • Definition: Focuses on the purpose of mental processes and behavior in adapting to the environment.
  • Implication: Emphasizes the role of mental processes in facilitating adaptation and survival.

Evaluating Scientific Theories

Karl Popper’s Philosophy

  • Falsifiability: Asserts that for a theory to be scientific, it must be testable and refutable.
  • Testing: Each genuine test is an attempt to falsify a theory rather than confirm it, ensuring scientific rigor.

Identity Theories in Philosophy of Mind

Token Identity Theory

  • Definition: Proposes that specific mental events correspond to specific neurological events.
  • Implication: Each instance of a mental state is tied to a particular brain state, offering a bridge between psychology and neuroscience.

Type Identity Theory

  • Definition: Asserts that types of mental states are identical to types of brain states.
  • Contrast with Token Identity: Token identity focuses on individual instances, while type identity looks at broader categories of mental events.