Psychology is a ScienceOr is it?Kevin Standish

ObjectivesBe familiar with the definition of Psychology /

CounsellingTo understand the “Scientific Method”Understand why Psychology is a science and

evidence based practice for counselling Be familiar with the historical roots of Psychology &

CounsellingUnderstand the different research methods used by

psychologists

What is Psychology?Psychology comes from the root words psyche, or

mind, and logos, or study

Psychology is defined as the ‘scientific study of behavior and mental processes’.

What is Counselling? McLeod (2003, p6)defines it as “Counselling

is a purposeful private conversation arising from the intention of one person to reflect on and resolve a problem in living, and the willingness of another person to assist in that endeavour.”

Why is Psychology a Science?

Psychology is an objective and systematic study of how people behave and think.

Its goals are to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior and mental processes.

Historical Origins of ψ from Philosophy

Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)

Historical Origins of ψ from PhilosophyRene Descartes

Beliefs Rationalist: True knowledge comes through

reasoning Nativist: Heredity provides individuals with inborn

knowledge and abilities and we use this to reasonWe are to doubt everything – that’s the only

way we can be certain about anythingI think, therefore I am.

Historical Origins of ψ from Philosophy

John Locke (1632 – 1704)

Historical Origins of ψ from PhilosophyJohn Locke

Saw the mind as receptive and passive, with its main goal as sensing and perceiving

Tabula rasa – we are born as a blank slate, everything we know is learned

This is in direct contrast to the rationalist Descartes

Psychology Becomes More Scientific

Hermann Helmholtz (1821 – 1894)

Psychology Becomes More ScientificHermann Helmholtz

He was a mechanist – he believed that everything can be understood with basic physical and chemical principles

He pushed for the need to test and demonstrate things.

Psychology Becomes More Scientific

Gustav Fechner (1801 – 1887)

Psychology Becomes More ScientificGustav Fechner

Psychophysics – he pushed to investigate the relationship between the physical world and our conscious psychological world

He thought it possible to measure the perceived as well as the physical intensities of sensory stimuli and to determine a mathematical relationship

Just noticeable difference (JND) approach

The Father of PsychologyWilhelm Wundt

The Father of PsychologyWilhelm Wundt

1st ψ lab (1879) University of Leipzig, Germany

Focus on consciousness Find basic elements of conscious processes Discover how elements (sensations and feelings)

are connected Specify laws of connection

Introspection Self-observation: ‘seeing’ mental processes in

immediate experience

The First Schools of ψStructuralism

Lots of work on sensation & perception and breaking those down into minute detail

Three basic mental elements Images, feelings & sensations

Titchner Found 43,000 elements associated with sensory

experiences 30,000 associated with visual 11,000 associated with auditory 4 associated with taste (was correct with this one)

The First Schools of ψFunctionalism

Focus on adaptation Applying Darwin’s theory of natural selection to

mental processes

William James Stream of consciousness Consciousness is personal/selective, continuous

(can’t be ‘cut up’ for analysis), and constantly changing Structuralism was foolish to search for common

elements to all minds

The First Schools of ψBehaviorism

Focus on observable behaviorJ. B. Watson

Felt that the main goal of psychology should be the prediction and control of behavior

Stimulus-response theory We respond to stimuli with our behavior, not

thoughts Pavlov’s dog studies

Reinforcement for behavior If our behavior produces rewarding consequences,

then we will do it again

Subsequent Schools of ψGestalt psychology

Wholes vs. multiple individual elements You shouldn’t dissect an experience into

separate elements to discover truths – instead, look at the ‘whole’

Subsequent Schools of ψ Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory

Conscious vs. unconscious conflicts Unconscious: motivations and memories of which

we are not aware Mental illness arises from being overwhelmed by

which of these is ‘in control’Psychoanalysis as therapy: tell me about your

childhood….

Western History of PsychologyEarly dates Greek philosophers:

(Socrates, Plato, Aristotle)

Studied the nature of the mind, the soul, the body, and human experience

17th Century Rene Descartes Nativist View:some ideas are innate

John Locke Empiricist View:Knowledge is acquired through experiences & interactions with the world

1869 Sir Francis Galton of England

Studied individual differences> dev’t of intelligence tests

1879 Wilhelm Wundt Father of PsychologyEstablished the first psychological laboratory (Germany @ Leipzig Univ. )Research: senses (vision), attention, emotion and memory

History continues…1883 Granville Stanley

HallFirst American to finish doctoral studies in psychologyEstablished the 1st psychological laboratory (US @ John Hopkins Univ)Founded the 1st American Journal of psychology

1888 James McKeen Cattell

1st psychology professor in the US

19th Century Titchener Structuralism:Specified mental structures & analyzed the basic elements of mental life.Introspection: the examination of one’s own emotional states & mental processes.

William James Functionalism:Functions of the mind & behavior to adapt to the environment

1920’s John B. Watson

Ivan PavlovB.F. Skinner

Behaviorism:Only observable behavior should be studiedClassical ConditioningOperant Conditioning

1912 Max Wertheimer Gestalt Psychology:“Gestalt” means form or configuration“the whole is greater than the sum of its parts”

20th Century Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis:Human behavior is deeply influenced by unconscious thoughts, impulses, & desires (sex & aggression)

Recent dev’ts Herbert Simon

Noam Chomsky

Views humans as information processing systemsModern Linguistics: study of how mental structures are required to comprehend & speak a languageNeuropsychology:studies the relationship between neurobiological events & mental processes

Perspectives in Psychology and counsellingPsychodynamic ApproachBehavioral ApproachCognitive ApproachBiological or Behavioral Neuroscience ApproachThe Phenomenological or Humanistic ApproachThe Sociocultural ApproachThe Evolutionary Psychology ApproachSystemic approach

Psychodynamic ApproachDeveloped by Sigmund Freud

States that “much of our behavior stems from unconscious processes, conflict between biological instincts & society’s demands, and early family experiences.

Basis for the therapeutic approach called psychoanalysis

Behavioral ApproachJohn B. Watson: father of Behaviorism

Behaviors are activities of people or other organisms that can be observed by others.

States that “when we attempt to understand an event, we need to look at the observable behaviors & their environmental determinants”.

Little Albert experiment.

Cognitive Approach

Concerned with mental processes, such as perceiving, remembering, reasoning, deciding, and problem solving.

States that “Only by studying mental processes can we fully understand what people do.”

Biological Approach

Concerned with how the brain and nervous system underlie behavior & mental processes.

Attempts to relate behavior to electrical and chemical events taking place inside the body

The Nervous System (brain) and the Endocrine System are studied to determine the biological causes of behavior.

Phenomenological or Humanistic Approach

Focuses on the subjective and personal experience of events (Individual Phenomenology) , and on the need for personal growth.

Concerned with describing the inner life and experiences of individuals, rather than developing theories or predicting behaviors.

Sociocultural Approach

Studies the ways by which social and cultural environments influence behavior

A person’s cultural context should be considered in order to understand behavior.

Focuses on comparing behaviors across countries as well as across cultures within a country.

The Evolutionary PsychologyEmphasizes the importance of adaptation,

reproduction, and survival of the fittest in explaining behavior.

Focuses on the conditions that allow people to fail or survive.

Systemic approachesThese focus on the feedback loops within the

family system that cause “double bind” or “catch 22” situations that cause the presenting problems.

The solution is the problem focusThe Structures (Munichian) or feedback

loops (Milan) cause the issues.

Research Methods of PsychologyExperimental MethodQuasi-experimental MethodCorrelational MethodThe Naturalistic Observation MethodThe Survey MethodStandardized TestsCase StudiesArchival Research

Experimental MethodThe main objective of an experiment is

to discover the effect of an independent variable (IV) on a dependent variable (DV).

IV: variable to be manipulated; independent of what the participant does

DV: variable being measured; depends on the IV

Ex. Effect of Music on Memory

Quasi-Experimental MethodSimilar to the experimental method except that

random assignment of participants is not possible.

Correlational MethodThe objective of this method is to determine whether

two or more variables are associated or related to each other.

The variables are first measured, after which a correlational analysis or technique (e.g. Pearson r) is conducted to determine the relationship.

The Naturalistic Observation Method

Involves observing the phenomenon of interest as it occurs naturally.

Ex. Observing primates in their natural environment, systematically observing the behavior of newborn babies, and observing couple’s public display of affection (PDA) in the school campus.

The Survey MethodEmploys either a written questionnaire or an

interview schedule.

Ex. Political opinions, sexual attitudes, or product preferences

Allows us to gather data about experiences, feelings, thoughts, and motives that are hard to observe directly.

Standardized TestsRespondents are required to answer a series of

questions and their responses scored to reflect something about their persons. A respondent’s score is compared with those of the others who took the same test.

Ex. Otis Test, Stanford-Binet Test (IQ) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)Indigenous Tests: Panukat ng Pagkataong Pilipino

(PPP), Panukat ng Ugali at Pagkatao (PUP)

Case StudiesDescriptive record of an

individual’s experiences or behavior, or both, as kept by an observer.

The main objective is to obtain a case history of the person being studied.

Written records (i.e. public and private documents), statistical archives, and physical traces of human beings are systematically studied in lieu of actual behaviors.

Exs. Diaries, letters, paintings, books, poems, newspaper or magazine articles, movies, and speeches.

Archival Research

Conclusion: Is psychology Scientific? A range of objective approaches are usedVariables are controlledObservation leads induction and

deductionTheories are tested against real world Practice is evidence based on observation“Common factors” evidence base to

counselling.

Readings For Seminar1. Glassman, W & Hadad, M.(2009)

Approaches to psychology (5th edition). Chap 1

2. McLeod J. (2009) An Introduction to Counselling. Chap 1& 2

3. Dryden et al (2000) Counselling in the United Kingdom past, present and future

Advanced reading

1. Feltham, C (2010) Critical Thinking in Counselling

and Psychotherapy. Chap 542. Map of the history of psychology: http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/

1900s.html3. Feltham (2010) chap 54 Is

counselling scientific?