ANGELA LOH WAN-YUN      UBID:50293621

Psychology 199
REFLECTION OF WHAT I LEARNT

1.) PSYCHOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS

Psychology = Psyche (mind & soul) + Logo (word)

Various types of psychology perspectives: 

1) Biological Perspective: Explains behaviour in terms of

biological factors such as activities of the nervous system,

drug effects, hormones, genetics and evolutionary

pressures.

2) Cognitive Perspective: Studies thought and knowledge

processes and how cognitive processes influence behavior.

3) Whole Person Perspective: Study into how the

unconscious mind, the way a person thinks and the

emotions. Why it cannot be explained.

4) Behavioral Perspective: Explore into how people learn,

how their emotions, motivation affects the learning behavior

of these people. How behaviour depends on the outcome of

past behaviours and current motivation. 

5) Life-Span Development: Studies how behaviour

changes with age; "From womb to tomb", also looks into

death education

6) Socio-cultural Perspective: Studies how an individual

influences other people and how the group influences an

individual. Study into why people obey instructions, conform

to their peers and the culture in which they reside in.

TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGISTS

Teachers Applied Experimental Pseudo Psychology

Give lectures and Mostly work in HR Do experiments in Erroneous assertions or

conduct seminars to departments and will labs and with the practices that set forth

students at the be present during results they got from as being scientific

university. interviews, observing the labs, they share psychology.

potential employees. the results through

publishing it in

journal articles.

2.) IMPORTANCE OF
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Having and upholding academic integrity allows

people to place their trust with you as they can rely

on you to act honestly and do the right thing in any

situation. Every aspect of our lives relies on our

ability to trust each other. Thus, in developing a

good reputation and ethical habit from being a

trustworthy individual during schooling years will

Possessing academic integrity also adds
aid us when we enter workplaces
value to our achievements and work, letting

us take pride in the collaterals that we

produce. Essentially, offering us a peace of

mind knowing that we did the right thing

and always consistently act in accordance

to our strong moral beliefs. 

 3.) RESEARCH METHODS
Quantitative Research Design: Research
techniques in which events can be quantified for

numerical data to analyze. Designs include

experiments, correlational studies and surveys.

Qualitative Research Design: Research methods

that allow the use of verbal reports such as

interviews, case studies and naturalistic

observations

PROS AND CONS

QUANTITATIVE
Collecting data to be analyzed quickly and can quickly be generalized to the entire

population through survey method. Quantitative research can also be anonymous, which

is useful when dealing with sensitive topics. To discover the correlation and relationship

of independent and dependent variables.

Ecological Validity: Some situations demand real world observation ; Ethics: Participants

treated like objects ; Demand & Volunteer Characteristics: Participants may deliberately

behave a certain manner not normally done in real life ; Experimenter Effects:

Experimenter bias and anxiousness may influence and contaminate true results.

QUALITATIVE
Allows one to explore topics in more depth and detail through in-depth questioning. Can

see the occurrence of behaviour in its natural state and with a human touch in fully

understanding situations. 

Cannot quantify and generalise results to the general population and also takes up a lot

of time. Furthermore, researchers can be overwhelmed with the amount of data and

results can be subject to emotional bias.

4.) LIFESPAN DEVELOPMENT
THEORIES (FREUD, PIAGET,
ERIKSON & KOHLBERG)

Freud - Psychosexual Development & Unconscious

Piaget - Cognitive Development

Erikson - Psychosocial Development

Kohlberg - Moral Development

FREUDIAN UNCONSCIOUS
Unconscious Mind: The psychic domain of which the individual is not aware of but stores repressed

impulses, drives and conflicts unavailable to consciousness.

3 Components: Id, Superego and Ego

Id - primitive, unconscious portion that houses the most basic drive and stores repressed memories 
Superego - Mind's storehouse of values that arises from socialization that transmits behavioral rules
Ego - Conscious rational part that carries out actions in order to satisfy impulses in a socially
acceptable and correct manner

FREUDIAN PSYCHOSEXUAL
Libido - tension built up (energy from Eros- unconscious sex drive)
Oral Stage (birth-18months): Libido centered in mouth; oral fixation leads to oral
personalities in later life such as smoking and gullibility

Anal Stage (18 months-4 years old): Libido focused on bowel movements; Conflict relates
to child's relationship with all forms of authority--anal retentive or anal repulsive

Phallic Stage (4-6 years old): Libido concentrated in genital area; Becomes aware of
anatomical sex differences and experiencing sexual feeling towards opposite sex parent

(oedipus complex-castration anxiety and electra complex- penis envy)

Latency Stage (6 years old to puberty): Libido is dormant and sexual energy is channelled
towards identification

Genital Stage (onset of puberty): Libido linked to heterosexual pleasure and interest in
welfare of others develops 

Defence Mechanisms : Denial, Repression, Reaction Formation, Regression, Projection,

Rationalisation, Sublimation and Compensation
 PIAGET COGNITIVE 
Development of thought processes from childhood through adulthood. Schemata, Assimilation and

Accommodation.

1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years old): Learn to coordinate sensory experience and motor behavior

2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years old): Illogical operations, egocentrism but lack of conservation

3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years old): Performs mental operations on concrete objects but

not abstract ideas. Developed theory of mind and understands conservation

4. Formal Operational Stage (11 onwards): Develops abstract thinking and hypothetical deductive

reasoning

ERIKSON'S LIFE STAGES

Is a dynamic concept that constantly changes based on expectations from others and self

throughout life cycles.

Infancy Stage (birth-1 year old): Trust vs Mistrust - Parents play a large role in developing a
sense of security in children

Early Childhood (1-3 years old): Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt - Child wants to be independent
but if parents never let them develop independent skills, child will doubt their ability in the future

Preschool (3-6 years old): Initiative vs Guilt - Child wants to try new things and initiate but if
parents are overprotective, child will develop guilt and self-blame.

School Age (6-12 years old): Industry vs Inferiority - Child is subjected to comparison socially
and academically, can develop inferiority complex when informed of lacking areas

Adolescence (12-20 years old): Identity vs Role Confusion - Time of 'finding oneself' and role
confusion happens when unable to discover purpose in life

Young Adulthood (20-40 years old): Intimacy vs Isolation - Develop relationships and make
decisions about career, marriage and children. Lack of identity results in failure to maintain

relations

Middle Adulthood (40-65 years old): Generativity vs Stagnation - Productivity in family and
career, reassessing goals, setting new goals and preparing for the rest of life. No accomplishment

leads to midlife crisis.

Maturity (65-death): Ego Integrity vs Despair - Satisfaction in life experiences determines

depression or ego integrity. 

KOHLBERG MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Pre-conventional Morality
Stage 1: Punishment Orientation - obedience to power is emphasized, actions are evaluated in terms

of possible punishment

Stage 2: Pleasure-seeking Orientation - proper action is determined by one's own needs and

concern for the needs of others is largely a matter of exchange

Conventional Morality
Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships - Good behaviour from individuals in order to be seen as

being a good person by others

Stage 4: Authority Orientation - Individuals become aware of the wider rules of society so

judgments are concerned with obeying the rules to uphold law and avoid guilt

Post-conventional Morality
Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation - Individuals aware that laws might exist for the greater good

but there are times when they will work against the interest of particular people

Stage 6: Morality of Individual Principles - Behaviour is directed by self-chosen ethical principles that

tend to be general, comprehensive or universal which may not fit the law.

5.) TIME MANAGEMENT

1. Create a semester schedule

2. Assess and plan your workload each week

3. Adjust your plan each day

4. Evaluate your schedule

 6.) LEARNING
Learning occurs when there is a permanent change

in behaviour and/or mental processes that results

from experience.

Sensory Memory - Sensory register for each sense

Working Memory - Short term memory with
applied strategies for more permanent storage;

information stored for 20sec and capacity of 7

items

Long-term memory - a relatively permanent store

of information

Bottom Up Processing - Perceptual
analysis that emphasizes

characteristics of the stimulus

Top Down Processing - Perceptual

analysis that emphasizes the

perceiver’s expectations,

concept memories and other cognitive

factors

Recall - Technique for retrieving

explicit memories in which one must

reproduce previously presented

information

Recognition -Technique for retrieving

explicit memories in which one must

Classical Conditioning - A learning process through identify present stimuli as having been

which one stimulus comes to predict the occurrence previously presented

of another stimulus and to elicit a conditioned

response similar to or related to the unconditioned

response evoked by the unconditioned stimulus

Operant Conditioning - The process of changing

Reinforcement - Increase in the
behavior by providing a reinforcer after a response.
behaviour because there is a
Reinforcement: the process of increasing the future
rewarded consequence
probability of the most recent response
Punishment - Provided
Punishment: Decreases the probability of a response
something to decrease behavior

REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES
Fixed :
Ratio- Provides reinforcement only after a
certain fixed number

Interval- Provides reinforcement for the first

response after a specific time interval
Reinforcement - Increase in the
behaviour in order to remove

Variable : something

Ratio- Reinforcement occurs after a variable Punishment - Decrease in

number of correct responses
behavior as something has been

Interval- Reinforcement available after a taken away

variable amount of time

7.) ATTACHMENT
It is the enduring socio-emotional relationship

between a child and a parent or other regular

caregiver.

This relationship between child and adult is

important as it lays the foundation for other close

relationships that follow throughout a person’s

lifetime.

Secure Attachment- When child has a secure

feeling in the presence of caregivers and has

confidence that caregiver will come back for

them and ensure safety.

Avoidant Attachment- Indifferent behaviour

and no affection when caregiver leaves and

comes back.

Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment- Child
wants contact with the caregiver, shows

excessive distress when separated from the

caregiver and proves difficult to console even

when reunited with caregiver.

 8.) INTELLIGENCE
The overall capacity to think rationally, act

purposefully and deal effectively with the

environment 

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory

Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligence

STANFORD-BINET GARDNER
Mental Age/Chronological Age x 100 = IQ

Language-- linguistic abilities 

Fluid reasoning- assess reasoning abilities Logic & Math-- Numeric abilities

Knowledge- assess general knowledge  Visual & Spatial Thinking-- Pictorial abilities

Quantitative reasoning- assess ability to solve Music-- Musicial abilities

numerical problems Intrapersonal Skills-- Self-knowledge

Visual-Spatial processing- assess by putting Bodily Kinesthetic-- Physical abilities

picture puzzles together and copying geometric Interpersonal Skills-- Social abilities

shapes Naturalistic Skills-- Ability to understand the

Working Memory- assess ability to use short-term environment 

memory

STERNBERG
Practical Intelligence: "Street-smart"; Ability to adapt in an environment or change it
accordingly to best suit the personal needs

Analytical Intelligence: "Book-smart"; Ability to analyze and solve problems, finding correct
answers

Creative Intelligence: Experiential Intelligence; Ability to invent new ideas and solutions when
dealing with new situations

9.) STRESS
Determined by person; Assessment of whether

personal resources are sufficient to meet the

demands of the environment

Stress is the result from the process of appraising

events as harmful, threatening, challenging and

assessing potential responses to those events

COPING STYLES

Approach Style: Confrontative, vigilant style of gathering information and taking action. Only
successful if individual focuses on information present in the situation and has specific actions

taken to reduce stressor

Avoidant Style: Minimising contact; May effectively deal with short term threat however if it
becomes a persistent issue then the approach fails

Problem-focused coping: Attempt to do something constructive about

the stressful conditions that are threatening

Emotion-focused coping: Efforts to regulate emotions experienced

because of the stressful event. 2 kinds-- Rumination and Emotional

Approach 

SOCIAL SUPPORT
Information from others that an individual is loved and cared for,

esteemed, valued and part of a network of communication and

mutual obligations. From social circles; Can take the form of

tangible assistance, informational support, emotional support

and invisible support