Sunday, June 7, 2009
Experimental Psychology
Just the thought of it makes me conjure up images of long needles, electroshock therapy etc... yeh yeh I know these things have nothing to do with psychology however I do remember some study in the mid 20th century psychologists performed on chimps - which made me cry - so here I go, lets jump into the deep end and hope i don't find human psych experiments...cross fingers ;/
In the beginning - a reflection so far
So in the beginning we have connections of psychology in the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Greece, China and India and also in the Medieval Middle East.
Modern psychology was founded in 1879 by German Wilhelm Wundt - who set up the first lab - concentrating efforts on developing experimental psychology.
Two branches of modern psychology include experimental psych and applied psych.
Modern psychology was founded in 1879 by German Wilhelm Wundt - who set up the first lab - concentrating efforts on developing experimental psychology.
Two branches of modern psychology include experimental psych and applied psych.
So we have a few types of psychology facets:
Experimental
Applied
Clinical
Now we are getting somewhere with the research. Lets just get a definition for each then post by post look more closely at each one.
Experimental psychology is considered a natural science and focuses on the underlying processes of behaviour and cognition. It is a methodological approach to psychology.
Applied psychology is based on psychological principles
Clinical psychology is a branch of applied psych and focuses on the well-being and personal development of inividuals - probably the more common of the psych fields that I am familiar with - often asociated with the types of psychologists portrayed in movies and sit coms.
Since reading I am begining to think that psychology is under two headings - Applied and experimental and the sub headings of clinical, educational etc fall under applied psychology. Im also beginning to think that psychology is based in methods and processes each inter-relating nd changing from one sub form of psychology to another.
Experimental
Applied
Clinical
Now we are getting somewhere with the research. Lets just get a definition for each then post by post look more closely at each one.
Experimental psychology is considered a natural science and focuses on the underlying processes of behaviour and cognition. It is a methodological approach to psychology.
Applied psychology is based on psychological principles
Clinical psychology is a branch of applied psych and focuses on the well-being and personal development of inividuals - probably the more common of the psych fields that I am familiar with - often asociated with the types of psychologists portrayed in movies and sit coms.
Since reading I am begining to think that psychology is under two headings - Applied and experimental and the sub headings of clinical, educational etc fall under applied psychology. Im also beginning to think that psychology is based in methods and processes each inter-relating nd changing from one sub form of psychology to another.
The history of Psychology
So where to start with the research on the history of psychology? what could be a better place to start with other than Wikipedia...cough cough ;/
What I learned through Wikipedia:
Something I already knew - Psychology's historical birth place is Ancient Greece/Greek culture, with psych thought evidenced in Ancient Egypt - something I didn't know (hard to believe since I have a strong passion for everything Egyptian)
Something I didn't give much though too until now is the connection between the disciplines of psychology and philosophy (just between you and I, I get the terminology mucked up from time to time) In fact Philosophy dates back to the ancient Greeks and since then to 1879 Psychology was considered a branch from Philosophy. Apparently it was the German's and the American's in 1879 which considered the Psychology it's own discipline.
Something I had never really considered is everyday life and human behaviours of past civilisations - how they may have suffered from the same types of issues we currently deal with today - and I guess that because of modernity, industrialisation and more recently the information age, they morethan likely would of dealt with issues that we would not even dream about or experience today. For example what the community may have done in ancient Egypt, Greece, China, India in regards to mental illness
So obviously the issue of mental illness and associated behaviours were apparent in ancient cultures and there answer and contingency was clear and logical consideration to humaln psychology. (Makes me wonder what ever the hell happened in the Middle Ages - it's like all humans becamse dumb and thoughless (Ah! control by religion may of been reflected like this on the middle age society)
Talking about the middle ages it was at this time that the middle east practiced clinical and experimental forms of psychology - well apparently they practice what we would call today clinical phsycology and had infastrucuture which would compare to mental hospitals of today.
AH finally getting somewhere with wikipedia... So we have learned that the psychology that we practice today owes it's roots to the realisation in 1879 that it was a discipline to it's own and the German feller Wilhelm Wundt founded the first lab dedicated to the disciplin. (Somewhere in Leipzig.
Wikipedia also lists "other important early contributors to the field include:
Hermann Ebbinghaus (a pioneer in the study of memory)
William James (the American father of pragmatism)
Ivan Pavlov (who developed the procedures associated with classical conditioning). I know this name and associate it with the behavioural experiments he conducted with dogs, and of course the connections of this type of behavioural theory and learning. The other two - wouldn't have a clue!
What I learned through Wikipedia:
Something I already knew - Psychology's historical birth place is Ancient Greece/Greek culture, with psych thought evidenced in Ancient Egypt - something I didn't know (hard to believe since I have a strong passion for everything Egyptian)
Something I didn't give much though too until now is the connection between the disciplines of psychology and philosophy (just between you and I, I get the terminology mucked up from time to time) In fact Philosophy dates back to the ancient Greeks and since then to 1879 Psychology was considered a branch from Philosophy. Apparently it was the German's and the American's in 1879 which considered the Psychology it's own discipline.
Something I had never really considered is everyday life and human behaviours of past civilisations - how they may have suffered from the same types of issues we currently deal with today - and I guess that because of modernity, industrialisation and more recently the information age, they morethan likely would of dealt with issues that we would not even dream about or experience today. For example what the community may have done in ancient Egypt, Greece, China, India in regards to mental illness
So obviously the issue of mental illness and associated behaviours were apparent in ancient cultures and there answer and contingency was clear and logical consideration to humaln psychology. (Makes me wonder what ever the hell happened in the Middle Ages - it's like all humans becamse dumb and thoughless (Ah! control by religion may of been reflected like this on the middle age society)
Talking about the middle ages it was at this time that the middle east practiced clinical and experimental forms of psychology - well apparently they practice what we would call today clinical phsycology and had infastrucuture which would compare to mental hospitals of today.
AH finally getting somewhere with wikipedia... So we have learned that the psychology that we practice today owes it's roots to the realisation in 1879 that it was a discipline to it's own and the German feller Wilhelm Wundt founded the first lab dedicated to the disciplin. (Somewhere in Leipzig.
Wikipedia also lists "other important early contributors to the field include:
Hermann Ebbinghaus (a pioneer in the study of memory)
William James (the American father of pragmatism)
Ivan Pavlov (who developed the procedures associated with classical conditioning). I know this name and associate it with the behavioural experiments he conducted with dogs, and of course the connections of this type of behavioural theory and learning. The other two - wouldn't have a clue!
Where to begin?
So I started my research looking at the UNI's that offer the qualification - which scared me a little bit.
UTAS state that if you are not academically good enough in the first year you will not even progress to the second year in the course...ouch!
Deakin was a lot leaner stating that if you weren't good enough after the first three years, then you wouldn't go on the do the final year, instead opting to give you a degree in Science Psychology or something like that, as apposed to the bachelor of Psychology.
What I did find particularly useful was the Deakin handbook which summarised the year one, first and second semester units.(If you use the previous link, scroll halfway down to see Psych information)
In a nut shell what will start my research begins here:
different aspects of the discipline of psychology
UTAS state that if you are not academically good enough in the first year you will not even progress to the second year in the course...ouch!
Deakin was a lot leaner stating that if you weren't good enough after the first three years, then you wouldn't go on the do the final year, instead opting to give you a degree in Science Psychology or something like that, as apposed to the bachelor of Psychology.
What I did find particularly useful was the Deakin handbook which summarised the year one, first and second semester units.(If you use the previous link, scroll halfway down to see Psych information)
In a nut shell what will start my research begins here:
different aspects of the discipline of psychology
- psychology as a behavioural science
- history of the evolution of psychology
- psychology as a discipline
- fundamental questions that motivate the field
- the major milestones in the development of psychology
- overview of the scientific method and its relevance to psychological research
- ethics and other key issues that arise in the process of acquiring and applying knowledge in this way
- overview of the central mechanisms of human evolution
- overview of behavioural genetics and evolutionary psychology
- the biological bases of behaviour
- the fundamental processes that underlie human experience and behaviour
- introduction to the application of psychology across different fields.
The start of my research...
I have nearly paid off my last degree - BTeach and I really want to continue my education into the wide world of Psychology, eventually specialising in Educational Psych.
Why not I tell myself. I have never been one for doing exceptionally well with studying, therefore only ever achieving credits and distinctions. One would say "They are good results" and I guess they are - if you do not want to be an academic! However I know I can do better. What tends to let me down are a combo of things including:
My last degree taught me how I learn best (Visual Kinaesthetic)however Uni's never teach a student centred approach (one that would benefit my learning style)Therefore I have to find other ways around the learning from text and customise the content to the way which I will make meaning from the learning. (Information processing)
I guess this is why I have opted to use a blog, to help me reflect and gather information together - maybe it will help with my very piss poor efforts at essay writing. (I have since learned that a creative writing style is not the way to go with these types of papers so less adjectives and more nouns and verbs. Also correct paraphrasing, quoting and referencing would be an advantage too.
Lets face it, if I want to spend my hard earned money on educating myself I at least want to top the class. :)and if I am to do this, going into the course with prior knowledge is going to help me tremendously.
Why not I tell myself. I have never been one for doing exceptionally well with studying, therefore only ever achieving credits and distinctions. One would say "They are good results" and I guess they are - if you do not want to be an academic! However I know I can do better. What tends to let me down are a combo of things including:
- Procrastination, leaving things to the last minute
- Not a love for reading
- Exhaustion of mental processes before linking new information to existing information in order to remember it
- Not so strong on the essay writing skills
- Difficulty with translating what I am thinking into a cohesive argument or even conversation.
- Often miss interpretation of conversations, arguments etc
My last degree taught me how I learn best (Visual Kinaesthetic)however Uni's never teach a student centred approach (one that would benefit my learning style)Therefore I have to find other ways around the learning from text and customise the content to the way which I will make meaning from the learning. (Information processing)
I guess this is why I have opted to use a blog, to help me reflect and gather information together - maybe it will help with my very piss poor efforts at essay writing. (I have since learned that a creative writing style is not the way to go with these types of papers so less adjectives and more nouns and verbs. Also correct paraphrasing, quoting and referencing would be an advantage too.
Lets face it, if I want to spend my hard earned money on educating myself I at least want to top the class. :)and if I am to do this, going into the course with prior knowledge is going to help me tremendously.
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