Year 11 Psychology –
UNIT 1 Area of
Study 1 Revision!
Psychology: The
scientific study of
human behaviour
and mental
processes
Chapter 1: Introduction to
Psychology
• Scope of psychology including specialist career fields and fields
of application and their contribution to understanding human
behaviour
• Classic and contemporary theories that have contributed to the
development of psychology from philosophical beginnings to an
empirical science, including the relationship between psychology
and psychiatry
• Differences between contemporary psychological research
methods and non-scientific approaches to investigating and
explaining human behaviour
• Major perspectives (biological, behavioural, cognitive and sociocultural) that govern how psychologists approach their research
into human behaviour
Chapter 2: Research Methods
• Research methods and ethics associated with the study of
psychology.
Experimental research: construction of hypotheses; identification
of independent, dependent and extraneous variables
Ethical principles and professional conduct: the role of the
experimenter; protection and security of participants’ rights;
confidentiality; voluntary participation; withdrawal rights;
informed consent procedures; use of deception in research;
debriefing
Chapter 3: Visual Perception
• Application of psychological perspectives to explain
visual perception:
- Characteristics of the visual perceptual system
and the visual processes involved in detecting and
interpreting visual stimuli.
- The effect of psychological factors on
perceptual set
- Distortions of visual perceptions by illusions
Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology
-
Clinical Psychology
- Cognitive Psychology
Clinical Neuro-Psychology
- Personality Psychology
Community Psychology
- Social Psychology
Counselling Psychology
Educational and Developmental
Psychology
Forensic Psychology
Health Psychology
Organisational Psychology
Sport Psychology
Biological Psychology
Philosophical Roots of Psychology
• 1St Philosophers: Plato, Aristotle and Socrates.
• Greek philosophers proposed the mind-body problem (E.g. Do
they have a relationship with one another? How do they interact?
Is the mind apart of the body or body apart of the mind? Etc)
• Rene Descartes introduced Dualism where he concluded the mind
and body both can control and interact with one another. Before
this, philosophers thought they could not control one another.
• Psychologists today focus more on the mind-brain problem.
• As we know the brain controls the body, therefore: does our
brain interact with our mind?
• Neuropsychologists are still studying these answers
CLASSICAL PERSPECTIVES AND
THEORIES IN PSYCHOLOGY
Structuralism-Wundt: Focused on the ‘structure’ of consciousness
(1st Psych Lab – 1879)
Functionalism- James: Focused on the ‘functions’ of mental processes
in different environments.
Psychoanalysis- Freud: Focus on the unconscious thoughts, feelings
and inner needs.
Behaviourism – Watson: Focus on observable behaviours. (i.e.
Changing environment can alter behaviour)
Humanism – Rogers: Focus on the uniqueness and goodness of each
individual
CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVES
AND THEORIES IN PSYCHOLOGY
• Biological Perspective: Focus on physiological
factors
• Behavioural Perspective: Focus on observable
behaviour in different environments
• Cognitive Perspective: Focus on how we acquire
and process information (i.e Memory)
• Socio-Cultural Perspective: Focus how culture
and social factors influence behaviour.
Psychology versus Psychiatry
- Is not able to
prescribe medication
- 6 years university
study
- Can work in private
practices, schools,
research labs,
government bodies,
hospitals, businesses
etc
-Can prescribe
medication
- Up to 13 years of
study and training
- Usually work in a
hospital setting
Psychology as a Science
• Collects empirical evidence
• Conducts experimental research follows
steps of scientific research.
• Is NOT a pseudoscience such as
telepathy or astrology.
Chapter 2: Research Methods
- Hypothesis:
It is hypothesised that all Year 11’s
will do wonderfully on their
psychology SAC’s tomorrow.
7 Steps of Psychological
Research
1. Identification of the research problem
2. Construction of hypothesis
3. Designing the method
4. Collecting the data
5. Analysing the data
6. Interpreting the data
7. Reporting the research findings
Ethical Considerations
Ethical Considerations
Ethical Considerations
Chapter 3: Visual Perception
Visual Perception Process
• VISUAL
=>OPTIC NERVE
SENSATION
=> BRAIN
=> LIGHT
=> VISUAL CORTEX
=>EYE
=>TRANSMISSION
=> RETINA
=> PHOTORECEPTORS
=> RECEPTION
• VISUAL
=>TRANSDUCTION
PERCEPTION
=> NEURAL ACTIVITY => ORGANISATION
=> ELECTRICAL
=> INTERPRETATION
IMPLUSES
Sensation versus Perception
• Visual sensation is the
same for everyone
• It is our physiological
make up of the eye and
the way it functions
• Visual perception differs
as everyone perceives
and interprets things
differently
• When studying Visual
Perception it is difficult
to say where one starts
and the other begins so
we see it as an
interrelated process.
VISUAL PERCEPTION PRINCIPLES:
Rules that we apply to visual information to assist our
organisation and interpretation of the information in a
consistent and meaningful way.
• Gestalt Principles: The way in which we organise
features of a visual scene by grouping them to
perceive a whole, complete form.
• Figure-Ground organisation
• Closure
- Similarity
-Proximity
• Depth Principles: The ability to accurately
estimate the distance of objects and therefore
perceive the world in three dimensions.
-Binocular depth cues (Requiring the use of both
eyes)
-Convergence
-Retinal Disparity.
-Monocular depth cues (Requiring the use of one
eye only)
-Accommodation
-Pictorial cues: Linear perspective, interposition,
texture gradient, relative size, height in the
visual field
Pictorial cues
Interposition!
Texture Gradient
Relative size
Height in the Visual Field
SIZE
CONSTANCY
SHAPE
CONSTANCY
BRIGHTNESS
CONSTANCY
MOTIVATION
CONTEXT
PERCEPTUAL
SET
MOTIVATION
PAST
EXPERIENCE
EMOTIONAL
STATE