Fundamentals of Psychology: An Introduction focuses on issues that cut through the artificial boundaries commonly held in the study of behavior. The book reviews the nature of the organism in terms of basic neurology, including the neurological organization of the central nervous system and the general features of brain development. The author also examines the normal course of development of the visual systems. He discusses fixed patterns of behavior and the developmental processes that include emotional behavior, self-control, language use, perceptual, and cognitive development. The author then explains the use of statistical concept in psychological research, as well as the psychological methods of inquiry that involves variable manipulation and observation of effects. The author also discusses learning and motivation theory including the theories of Pavlov, Skinner, and Premack. He discusses the organism as an information processor using short- and long-term memory, and the mind as having physical aspects such as brain codes and a brain structure known as the corpus callosum. This book is helpful for psychiatrists, psychologists, behavioral scientists, students and professors in psychology.
Inhalt
Preface
Acknowledgments
I. Nature of the Organism
1. Physical Aspects of Behavior: Basic Neurology
Neurological Organization of Central Nervous System
General Features of Brain Development
Summary
Suggested Readings
2. The Course of Normal Development: The Visual System
The Developing Visual System
The Retina
Visual Pathways from the Retina to the Brain
The Visual Cortex
Changing the Normal Brain by Changing the Environment
Some Characteristics of Normal Adult Visual Organization
Implications
Summary
Suggested Readings
3. Fixed Patterns of Behavior
Inborn Behavior
Ethology
The Development and Unfolding of Instinctive Patterns
Inborn Behavior and Learning
Imprinting
Summary
Suggested Readings
II. Developmental Processes
4. Emotional Behavior
Biological Mechanisms
Effects of Stimulation in Infancy
Emotional States
Psychoanalytical View of Sexual Development
Fear
Aggression
Cognitive Control of Emotional Behavior
Summary
Suggested Readings
5. Self-Control
Inculcation of Moral Values
Behavioral Theory and Techniques Used in Gaining Self-Control
Reinforcement and Punishment
Skinner's Définition of Self-Control
Self-Control Viewed as Behavioral Techniques
The Control of Overeating
The Control of Studying
Delay of Gratification
Didactic Self-Control
The Coverant and an Original View of Reinforcement
The Role of Modeling in Self-Control
The Role of Anxiety in Self-Control
Summary
Suggested Readings
6. The Development of Language
Skinner's View of Language
Inadequacy of the Associationistic Model
Chomsky's Description of the Sentence
Psychological Reality of the Transformation
How the Child Acquires Language: Chomsky's Model
Experimental Approaches to Child Language
Development of the Phonological System
Relationship of Babbling to Phonology
The Pivot-Open Grammar; First Sentences
General Principles of Language Acquisition
Language in Animals
Language and the Brain
Summary
Suggested Readings
7. Perceptual and Cognitive Development
Cognitive Development
The Piagetian View of Cognitive Development
Learning
Perceptual Development
Memory
Conceptual Development
Summary
Suggested Readings
III. Measuring Behavior
8. Statistical Concepts in Psychological Research
The Problem
Beyond Common Sense
Three Areas of Measurement
Evaluation of Psychological Measurement
Samples and Populations: Whom Do You Measure?
Sampling Variability
The Kinsey Report: A Survey of Group Characteristics and Differences
Intelligence: Tests of Individual Differences
Heritability of I.Q
Perils of Correlation
ESP: A Case of Experimental Analysis
Summary
Suggested Readings
9. Psychological Methods of Inquiry
Curiosity and Ideas
Real Life Approaches to Research
The Scientific Method: A Simple Experiment
Generalization
Control Group
Simple versus Complex Designs
Problems in Research: Experimenter Effects and Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Ethical Considerations
Summary
Suggested Readings
VI. Sensation and Perception
10. Visual Sensitivity
The Problem of Detecting
Structure and Function
Selective Sensitivity of Receptors
Color Vision
Theories of Color Vision
Summary
Suggested Readings
Legends for Color Figures
11. The Perception of Things
Brightness Contrast
Brightness Constancy
Steady-State Stimulation
The Perception of Pattern
Simplicity, Information Theory, and Pattern Perception
The Nature-Nurture Question
Cortical Analyzers and Form Perception
Summary
Suggested Readings
12. Perception of Space and Movement
The Constancy of Perceived Size
The Perception of Distance
Space and Illusions
The Nature-Nurture Question Again
The Perception of Movement
Summary
Suggested Readings
13. The Auditory Stimulus
Physical Properties
The Ear
The Perception of Sound
Summary
Suggested Readings
14. The Measurement of Sensitivity
Absolute Threshold
Difference Thresholds and Weber's Law
Fechner's Law
Stevens' Power Law
Theory of Signal Detection
Summary
Suggested Readings
V. The Changing Organism
15. Learning and Motivation Theory
Basic Issues in Learning
General Discussion
Vocabulary of Learning Theory
Theories of Learning
Additional Theories
Summary
Suggested Readings
16. The Organism as an Information Processor
The Experimental Analysis of Memory
Short-Term Memory
Short-Term Memory: A Brief Recapitulation
Long-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory: A Recapitulation
Suggested Readings
17. Motivation and Evolution
Motivation Revisited
Functional Evolution: A Perspective
Aspects of Cell Development and Physiology
Origins of the Behavioral Response
Primitive Behavioral Patterns in Man
Regulatory Drives
Innateness of Taste Preference
The Physical Basis of Hunger
Evidence against Drive-Reduction Hypothesis
Evidence for Behavioral Specificity in Hypothalamic Functioning
Brain Stimulation and Reward
Summary
Suggested Readings
VI. Personality and Social Behavior in Perspective
18. Biological Aspects of Personality
Genetic Factors
Personality Correlates of Body Type
Social-Experiential Influences
Summary
Suggested Readings
19. Theory and Measurement in Personality
Freud and the Psychoanalytic Approach
The Mechanisms of Defense
The Learning Theory Approach
Trait Theor…