Prince Rahul's Key Ideas from Introducing Psychology
by Nigel C. Benson

1. The Law of Exercise– repetition strengthens learning. (Or, “Practice makes perfect”.) Learning by repetition is called Rote Learning or “Parrot Fashion”.
2. The Law of Effect– the effect of reward is to strengthen learning. (Or, “If it’s pleasurable, it will be repeated”.).

It’s found reward (law 2) to be more effective than mere repetition (law 1). 

• Aversion Therapy is replacing “nice” with “nasty”.

Ex: to stop habits such as smoking or alcoholism… 

• “Psychodynamic” means “active mind” - There is mental struggle– especially in the hidden unconscious mind. 
• The Libido- “sex drive” is the ENERGY we have that motivates and enables us to survive– sexual activity is one manifestation. 
• Intelligence is adapting quickly. 
• Reductionism: Reduce propositions to simple facts.

Natural Selection comes in two parts.

1. First, changes can occur from one generation to the next. This is now known to be random “mutations” in the genes.
2. Second, there is the meaning of “Selection”: Changes that are beneficial give the new individual a better chance to survive.

Where animals fit into the environment in this way is called Survival of the fittest. 

• ……These are ways to unconsciously protect ourselves from unpleasant ideas. In small doses, they help everyday survival.
• It’s natural to seek situations that give comfort, especially when under stress. Sucking a finger, thumb, pencil, sweet, cigarette, drink etc, is Oral Regression. However, over- use causes problems.

…..Because,

• It causes the individual to AVOID BEING PUNISHED rather than stop the undesired behavior. ex: a person avoids getting caught etc..
• It can cause the individual to associate the punishment with the PUNISHER, rather than the BEHAVIOUR. 
• It may train an individual about what NOT to do, but it doesn’t train WHAT to do. 

• It’s found that the optimum period between response and reinforcement is about half a second, i.e. almost immediately. This is very important. For example, if a parent wants to reward or punish a child, then to be effective it should be done straight away. 
• It’s better to use a combination of reward (Positive Reinforcement) and withdrawal of reward (Non- Reinforcement). 

• “Cognitive” basically means “Thinking”– perceiving, memory, language, problem- solving, and so on. 
• The mind is ACTIVE and constantly looking for MEANINGS. They especially studied this in relation to visual perception, e.g. recognizing a human face. 
• Principles of Perception: Perception involves both the sense organs (e.g. seeing) and the brain (thinking). 
• When we perceive an object, we experience the WHOLE EFFECT or PATTERN– not just a collection of separate sensations. 

1. Proximity– because the dots are close together, they are perceived together as a line.
2. Continuity– we tend to perceive two lines crossing rather than two V- shapes.
3. Similarity– vertical columns are perceived rather than horizontal rows.
4. Closure– missing parts are assumed to be hidden or accidental.
5. Pragnanz- A sense of “goodness” or “rightness” is often experienced when objects are symmetrical, simple, stable…
6. Figure/ Ground Illusions- We tend to perceive some items in the foreground and others in the background.

• SELF- ACTUALIZATION: the innate human motivation to ACHIEVE OUR POTENTIAL by using and developing our talents and abilities. Each time we experience such a sense of fulfillment is called a PEAK EXPERIENCE. 
• In order to reach Self- Actualization, we have to satisfy lower “needs” that exist at different levels.
• The Hierarchy of Needs: This is like a ladder where, starting from the bottom, each Need must be satisfied before the next Need up can motivate us.(👆)

1. An openness to all experience.

2. An ability to live fully in every moment.

3. The will to follow their own instincts, rather than the will of others.

4. Freedom in thought and action, e.g. spontaneity, flexibility

5. Much creativity.

• People are so familiar with their own upbringing and way of life that they often forget just how different it can be– not just in other countries but even next door! 
• “Socialization”– the process of learning the “norms” or rules of society. 
• Culture is the “human- made part of the environment” and comes in two parts: objective (means of transport, cooking equipment, technology) and subjective (beliefs, values, roles). 

1.  Recognition is mainly Assimilation– taking in the surroundings, checking that things are the same, provides comfort and security.
2. Learning, is mainly Accommodation– adding new information to change existing knowledge. 

If there was too much recognition– if everything stayed the same– then life would be boring. If there was too much learning– i.e. constant newness– then life would be confusing. 

The Halo Effect occurs when we generalize a person’s Central Traits. For example, if someone is perceived as basically “good” or “likeable”, then we tend to interpret all their behaviour as such. They can do no wrong! Similarly, someone perceived to be “bad” will tend to be disliked whatever they do!

• The Primacy / Recency Effect refers to whether we discover information about someone earlier (Primacy) or later (Recency). The Primacy Effect–“first impressions count”–occurs from the moment of meeting a person (within seconds), and the effect of the face, clothes, mannerisms, speech..
• It’s found that people judged a person to be basically “introvert” or “extrovert” depending on the information given first, even when it was later contradicted.

1. Compatibility: people tend to “pair off” with those who are generally similar or “matching”.
2. Rewards and Costs: attention, affection, trust, security, sharing, skills, information, status, money, energy, reproduction, sex…
3. Specific Factors

Familiarity and Exposure seems to increase liking (As used in advertising and political campaigning!)–Reciprocal Liking–we tend to like people who we think like us!

An attitude can be divided into 3 aspects:

1. Cognitive–the beliefs (factual & neutral) e.g. “Smoking is a major cause of cancer”.

2. Affective–the emotional feelings e.g. “I hate the smell of cigarettes”.

3. Behavioural–the actions taken e.g. “I only eat in non-smoking restaurants”.

Attitude change can be achieved by working on all three.

• Why do many animals form social groups? In one word: SURVIVAL! This applies to both INDIVIDUAL and SPECIES survival.
• Individual Survival requires protection (including shelter from the weather and getting food).
• Species Survival requires reproduction (involving finding a suitable mate, courtship and bonding, and protecting others (especially the off-spring).