Psychology PY1

Assumption 1 Behaviour is influenced by the three

parts of the mind.

Three parts that develop at different stages in our lives.

• Id-This is the impulsive part of our personality and is present at birth. It demands immediate satisfaction, referred to as the pleasure principle. 

• Ego-This is the conscious, rational part of the mind that

• develops  age of two. 
• work out realistic ways of balancing the demands of the id. 
•  reality principle.

• Superego-

• Forming at age of four.
• child’s sense of right and wrong as well as his or her ideal self. 
• The superego seeks to perfectand civilise our behaviour.
•  It is learned through watching others.

Assumption 2 Behaviour is infl uenced by different levels of consciousness and ego defences

• Mind like an iceberg – much of what goes on inside the mind lies under the surface.The preconscious and unconscious mind.
•  The conscious mind is logical.
•  The unconscious mind is ruled by pleasure-seeking. 
• The unconscious mind expresses itself indirectly through dreams.
•  Confl icts between the id, ego and superego create anxiety. 
• Ego defences-regress to an earlier developmental stage.
• Displacement (transfer of impulses from one person or object to another).
• Projection (undesirable thoughts are attributed to someone else).
• Repression (pushing painful memories deep down into our unconscious mind)

Assumption 3 Behaviour is infl uenced

by early childhood experiences

• In childhood traumas are repressed.
•  For example, a child may experience the death of a parent early in life and repress associated feelings.
•  Later in life, other losses may cause the individual to re-experience the earlier loss, and can lead to depression. 
• Previously unexpressed anger about the loss is directed inwards,towards the self, causing depression.
• There are key developmental stages in early childhood. 
• Fixation on any one of these stages may have a lasting affect on the individual’s personality.

Assumption 1 Behaviour can be explained in terms of

different areas of the brain

• Different areas of the brain have been identified for certain functions.e.g cerebral cortex covers the surface of the brain like a tea-cosy, and is much folded and grey in colour. This is the region of the brain responsible for higher cognitive functions. 
• The cerebral cortex is divided into four lobes. 
• The most important is the frontal cortex or lobe is responsible for fine motor movement and thinking. 
• Other lobes include the occipital lobe, which is associated with vision.
• Underneath the cortex there are various subcortical structures.
•  such as the hypothalamus, which integrates the ANS.

Assumption 2 Behaviour can be explained in terms of

neurotransmitters

• Neurons are electrically excitable cells that form the basis of the nervous system.
• The flexibility of the nervous system is enhanced by having many branches at the end of each neuron so that each neuron connects with many others. 
• One neuron communicates with another neuron at a synapse, where the message is relayed by chemical messengers (neurotransmitters).
• These neurotransmitters are released from presynaptic vesicles in one neuron, and will either stimulate or inhibit receptors in the other neuron. 

Assumption 3 Behaviour can be explained in terms of

hormones

• Hormones are biochemical substances that are produced in one part of the body and circulate in the blood
• They are produced in large quantities but disappear very quickly. Their effects are slow in comparison with the nervous system, but very powerful. 
• testosterone (a male hormone) and oestrogen (female hormone).
•  Some hormones such as adrenaline are also neurotransmitters.

One assumption of the cognitive approach is that mental processes can be studied scientifically.

• Lab Experiments
• Quantitive data 
• measurable

Human mind compared to a computer

• Input--> Process-->Output
• Perception, attention, memory.
• Multistore model of memory-(Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968)
•      Information-->senses-->STM-->LTM-->output

Behaviour can be explained by mental processes

• Perception
• memory
• attention
• language
• Schema-a mental structure that represents an aspect of the world.
• When we see something new we make a new schema.

The behaviourist approach believes that the way a person is and behaves is due to

life experiences. A person may be rewarded or punished for certain behaviour, and this

determines how they behave in future. People might also imitate what they see others

doing.