PSYC 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Canadian Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, Brenda Milner

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Gerry Goldberg

Document Summary

Themes related to psychology as a field of study: Theme 1: psychology is empirical: empiricism: knowledge should be acquired through observation. Psychologists base their conclusions on observation through research rather than reasoning, speculation, traditional beliefs or common sense. Theme 2: psychology is theoretically diverse theories: psychologists explain and understand what they observe by constructing. Theories link unrelated observations and try to explain them: trends, issues and values in society influence what goes on in psychology. Theme 3: psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context and vice versa. Theme 4: behaviour is determined by multiple causes: most aspects of behaviour are influenced by complex networking of interacting factors. Theme 5: behaviour is shaped by cultural heritage. Theme 6: heredity and environment jointly influence behaviour. Theme 7: people"s experience of the world is highly subjective: see what they want to see or what they expect to see. Therefore, these continuous thoughts must be certain functions that help us survive.