PSYCH1010 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Short-Term Memory, Metacognition, Habituation

• School: University of Newcastle
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH1010
• Professor: Dr Stuart Marlin

Document Summary

Psychology: the scientific investigation of mental processes (thinking, remembering, feeling), behaviour and the interactions between them. Biology/culture = constraints within the way people think/feel/act. Mistakes by amateur psychologists: confirmation bias theories/assumptions not properly tested, fundamental attribution error judging someone"s behaviour as personality, not environment, complexifying/simplifying, grouping/stereotyping, anthropomorphising. Psychology themes: nature vs nurture, determinism vs free will, similarities vs distinctions, reductionism vs interactionism. Philosophy: cartesian dualism mind no physical form and has free will. Humans distinctly different from animals: british empiricism no mind; thoughts result of brain and cns, product of experiences (nurture)/no free will (determinism) Perspectives: ethology natural behaviour (observation of animals), developed out of darwinism, gestalt whole more than sum of parts, ie. attributes of the whole are not deducible from analysis of the parts in isolation. Explaining the function or purpose of certain forms of behaviour- consciousness or our internal mental states. Seeks causal relationships between internal states (such as being happy) and external behaviours (such as laughter).