Kalat, Cacioppo, Freberg, & Cacioppo. Brain and Behavior, 4th customized edition
2023 (5e druk) . Cengage Learning.
Samenvatting en voorbereiding
Week 1: pag.3-32, 34-45, 134-148
Eerst een stukje inleiding op pag. 3 over waarom we bitter sterker proeven dan zoet →
vanuit overlevingsinstinct (gif is bitter dus daarom is lichaam alert) (wel interessant maar niet
belangrijk)
Pag. 4
Introspection → is the personal observation of our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Because we are not perfect observers of the operations of our own minds, psychologists
developed other methods that provide scientific insight into the mind.
Different perspectives of psychology:
● Developmental perspective → Over de ontwikkeling van kind naar volwassen
● Biological perspective → Over zenuwen etc.
● Sociaal perspectief → Kijkt naar sociale factoren zoals cultuur etc.
Geen enkel perspectief geeft ons een compleet antwoord. Het beste antwoord komt van het
bekijken van meerdere perspectieven.
What is Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, which includes: thought, behavior and
emotion.
Literally translated, therefore, psychology means “the objective study of the mind.”
Behavior → actions we can observe.
Psychology is a hub science. In almost all occupations an understanding of people and their
behavior is required. (As an architect you have to consider how people feel in certain spaces
Ex.)
Benefits of studying psychology:
● You get a better understanding of yourself and others
● Psychology provides many opportunities to improve critical thinking
● You can contribute to solving major issues (pandemic, social injustice etc.)
,Willehelm Wundt → The first psychologist (pag.10)
Wundt saw mental experience as a hierarchy. The mind constructs an overall perception (the
food I’m eating tastes good) out of building blocks made up of separate sensations, such as
taste and vision, and emotional responses.
Structuralism, in which the mind could be broken down into the smallest elements of mental
experience.
The Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking a “whole” perception into its building
blocks, as advocated by the structuralists, would result in the loss of important psychological
information.
Functionalism viewed behavior as purposeful because it led to survival. Instead of restricting
themselves to exploring the structure of the mind, functionalists were more interested in why
behavior and mental processes worked in a particular way.
Clinical psychology
Freud: Freud's ideas influenced not just psychology, but culture as well. He nearly
single-handedly founded the study of personality in psychology. He developed the
techniques of psychoanalysis for treating mental disorders.
Our enthusiasm for Freud is tempered by a number of valid concerns. Freud’s theories do
not always lend themselves to experimentation, an essential requirement for any scientific
theory.
Pag. 15 → the humanistic therapist Carl Rogers (1902–1987) developed a new approach
called client-centered therapy. In this type of therapy, the people receiving treatment are
called clients rather than the more medical term, patients, reflecting their equal standing with
the therapist and their active role in the therapy process.
Psychologists following the approach of behaviorism concentrated on observable,
measurable behaviors instead.
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849–1936) had a particularly significant impact on behaviorism and
psychology. Pavlov is known for the concept of classical conditioning.
Watson is responsible for the way we advertise → a product should be associated with an
appealing image.
Edward Thorndike (1874–1949) proposed the law of effect, which suggested that behaviors
followed by pleasant or helpful outcomes would be more likely to occur in the future,
whereas behaviors followed by unpleasant or harmful outcomes would be less likely to
occur.
,Behaviorism Set the Stage for Behavioral Neuroscience. Strict behaviorists often referred to
a “black box” model, in which stimuli enter and responses exit, but you don’t need to know
much about what the box is doing to the data. When psychologists began substituting what
they learned about the brain for the inner workings of the black box, this led to the
development of the biological psychology perspective, also known as behavioral
neuroscience.
Summary on pag. 20/21
What are the five perspectives of psychology: fig.1.8 pag. 23
● Biological psychology → also called behavioral neuroscience, focuses on the
reciprocal relationships between mind and behavior and their underlying biological
processes, including genetics, biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology
- Evolutionary psychology (branch of biological psychology)→ attempts to
answer the question of how our physical structure and behavior have been
shaped by their contributions to our species’ survival.
● Cognitive psychology → focuses on the processing of information. Because our
ability to remember plays an integral part in the processing of information, a cognitive
psychologist is likely to have a great deal to say about the storage and retrieval of
memories
● Developmental psychology → explores the normal changes in behavior that occur
across the lifespan.
● Social and personality psychology → describes the effects of the social environment,
including social and cultural diversity, and individual differences on the behavior of
individuals.
● Clinical psychology → perspective seeks to explain, define, and treat psychological
disorders. More recently, the clinical perspective has expanded to include positive
psychology, or the promotion of general well-being and health.
, Hoofdstuk 1: The biological approach to behavior
The mind–brain problem or the mind–body problem is the question of how and why
certain types of brain activity are conscious.
At a microscopic level we find two types of cells in the brain: the neurons and the glia.
(pag.37). The neurons convey messages to one another and to muscles and glands, which
vary enormously in size, shape, and functions. The glia, generally smaller than neurons,
have many functions but they do not convey information over great distances.
Belangrijk om te onthouden uit dit boek:
● Perceptie vindt plaats in het brein (alles wat je voelt in je hand bijv. voel je in je brein
en niet je hand. Je kan ook je hand voelen in je brein als je geen hand meer hebt
(fantoompijn) )
● Mentale activiteit en hersenactiviteit zijn zo ver we weten onafscheidelijk verbonden.
Dit concept noemen we monism. Je moet monism en het bewijs erachter kennen.
(The opposite is dualism, the idea that minds are one type of substance and matter is
another.)
● We moeten voorzichtig zijn met wat we een verklaring noemen en wat niet.
Biological explanation of behaviour
● Commonsense explanation van gedrag: “hij/ zij deed dat omdat ze dat wilde…” We
hebben geen reden om intenties aan te nemen. Mensen weten niet altijd waarom ze
dingen doen of denken. Intenties zijn op z’n best zwakke vormen van een verklaring.
● Biological explanation van gedrag vallen in vier categorieën:
- Physiological explanation → koppelt/ relateerd gedrag aan een hersenactiviteit of
orgaan activiteit.
- Ontogenetic explanation→ omschrijft hoe een structuur of gedrag ontwikkeld.
- Evolutionary explanation→ reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or
behavior. The characteristic features of an animal are almost always modifications of
something found in ancestral species.
2023 (5e druk) . Cengage Learning.
Samenvatting en voorbereiding
Week 1: pag.3-32, 34-45, 134-148
Eerst een stukje inleiding op pag. 3 over waarom we bitter sterker proeven dan zoet →
vanuit overlevingsinstinct (gif is bitter dus daarom is lichaam alert) (wel interessant maar niet
belangrijk)
Pag. 4
Introspection → is the personal observation of our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Because we are not perfect observers of the operations of our own minds, psychologists
developed other methods that provide scientific insight into the mind.
Different perspectives of psychology:
● Developmental perspective → Over de ontwikkeling van kind naar volwassen
● Biological perspective → Over zenuwen etc.
● Sociaal perspectief → Kijkt naar sociale factoren zoals cultuur etc.
Geen enkel perspectief geeft ons een compleet antwoord. Het beste antwoord komt van het
bekijken van meerdere perspectieven.
What is Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, which includes: thought, behavior and
emotion.
Literally translated, therefore, psychology means “the objective study of the mind.”
Behavior → actions we can observe.
Psychology is a hub science. In almost all occupations an understanding of people and their
behavior is required. (As an architect you have to consider how people feel in certain spaces
Ex.)
Benefits of studying psychology:
● You get a better understanding of yourself and others
● Psychology provides many opportunities to improve critical thinking
● You can contribute to solving major issues (pandemic, social injustice etc.)
,Willehelm Wundt → The first psychologist (pag.10)
Wundt saw mental experience as a hierarchy. The mind constructs an overall perception (the
food I’m eating tastes good) out of building blocks made up of separate sensations, such as
taste and vision, and emotional responses.
Structuralism, in which the mind could be broken down into the smallest elements of mental
experience.
The Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking a “whole” perception into its building
blocks, as advocated by the structuralists, would result in the loss of important psychological
information.
Functionalism viewed behavior as purposeful because it led to survival. Instead of restricting
themselves to exploring the structure of the mind, functionalists were more interested in why
behavior and mental processes worked in a particular way.
Clinical psychology
Freud: Freud's ideas influenced not just psychology, but culture as well. He nearly
single-handedly founded the study of personality in psychology. He developed the
techniques of psychoanalysis for treating mental disorders.
Our enthusiasm for Freud is tempered by a number of valid concerns. Freud’s theories do
not always lend themselves to experimentation, an essential requirement for any scientific
theory.
Pag. 15 → the humanistic therapist Carl Rogers (1902–1987) developed a new approach
called client-centered therapy. In this type of therapy, the people receiving treatment are
called clients rather than the more medical term, patients, reflecting their equal standing with
the therapist and their active role in the therapy process.
Psychologists following the approach of behaviorism concentrated on observable,
measurable behaviors instead.
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849–1936) had a particularly significant impact on behaviorism and
psychology. Pavlov is known for the concept of classical conditioning.
Watson is responsible for the way we advertise → a product should be associated with an
appealing image.
Edward Thorndike (1874–1949) proposed the law of effect, which suggested that behaviors
followed by pleasant or helpful outcomes would be more likely to occur in the future,
whereas behaviors followed by unpleasant or harmful outcomes would be less likely to
occur.
,Behaviorism Set the Stage for Behavioral Neuroscience. Strict behaviorists often referred to
a “black box” model, in which stimuli enter and responses exit, but you don’t need to know
much about what the box is doing to the data. When psychologists began substituting what
they learned about the brain for the inner workings of the black box, this led to the
development of the biological psychology perspective, also known as behavioral
neuroscience.
Summary on pag. 20/21
What are the five perspectives of psychology: fig.1.8 pag. 23
● Biological psychology → also called behavioral neuroscience, focuses on the
reciprocal relationships between mind and behavior and their underlying biological
processes, including genetics, biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology
- Evolutionary psychology (branch of biological psychology)→ attempts to
answer the question of how our physical structure and behavior have been
shaped by their contributions to our species’ survival.
● Cognitive psychology → focuses on the processing of information. Because our
ability to remember plays an integral part in the processing of information, a cognitive
psychologist is likely to have a great deal to say about the storage and retrieval of
memories
● Developmental psychology → explores the normal changes in behavior that occur
across the lifespan.
● Social and personality psychology → describes the effects of the social environment,
including social and cultural diversity, and individual differences on the behavior of
individuals.
● Clinical psychology → perspective seeks to explain, define, and treat psychological
disorders. More recently, the clinical perspective has expanded to include positive
psychology, or the promotion of general well-being and health.
, Hoofdstuk 1: The biological approach to behavior
The mind–brain problem or the mind–body problem is the question of how and why
certain types of brain activity are conscious.
At a microscopic level we find two types of cells in the brain: the neurons and the glia.
(pag.37). The neurons convey messages to one another and to muscles and glands, which
vary enormously in size, shape, and functions. The glia, generally smaller than neurons,
have many functions but they do not convey information over great distances.
Belangrijk om te onthouden uit dit boek:
● Perceptie vindt plaats in het brein (alles wat je voelt in je hand bijv. voel je in je brein
en niet je hand. Je kan ook je hand voelen in je brein als je geen hand meer hebt
(fantoompijn) )
● Mentale activiteit en hersenactiviteit zijn zo ver we weten onafscheidelijk verbonden.
Dit concept noemen we monism. Je moet monism en het bewijs erachter kennen.
(The opposite is dualism, the idea that minds are one type of substance and matter is
another.)
● We moeten voorzichtig zijn met wat we een verklaring noemen en wat niet.
Biological explanation of behaviour
● Commonsense explanation van gedrag: “hij/ zij deed dat omdat ze dat wilde…” We
hebben geen reden om intenties aan te nemen. Mensen weten niet altijd waarom ze
dingen doen of denken. Intenties zijn op z’n best zwakke vormen van een verklaring.
● Biological explanation van gedrag vallen in vier categorieën:
- Physiological explanation → koppelt/ relateerd gedrag aan een hersenactiviteit of
orgaan activiteit.
- Ontogenetic explanation→ omschrijft hoe een structuur of gedrag ontwikkeld.
- Evolutionary explanation→ reconstructs the evolutionary history of a structure or
behavior. The characteristic features of an animal are almost always modifications of
something found in ancestral species.
