Introduction to Psychology 2500-PL-PS-OB1Z-1

Lecture 1. Psychology, its historical foundations and contemporary trends
1. Psychology, its objectives and tasks
2. Historical foundations of psychology
3. Contemporary trends in psychology
- biological
- psychodynamic
- behaviouristic
- cognitive
- humanistic
- evolutionistic
4. The research process and main research methods in psychology

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 1. Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life] (2-19) and excerpts from Chapter 2. Metody badawcze w psychologii [Research Methods in Psychology]

Lecture 2. The mind-brain relation
1. From Heraclitus and Plato to a modern approach to the mind-brain relation
2. The nervous system, schematic, functioning
- Central and peripheral nervous system
- Brain stem structures, limbic system, cerebral cortex
- Hemispheric asymmetry
3. Hormonal regulation of behaviour and internal processes
4. Neuronal regulation of behaviour and internal processes

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 3. Biologiczne i ewolucyjne podstawy zachowania [The Biological and Evolutionary Bases of Behavior] (54-91)

Lecture 3. Consciousness, unconsciousness, preconscious, subconscious
1. Consciousness, its structure and functions
2. Unconsciousness, unconscious processes
3. Preconscious memories
4. Subconscious realization
5. States of extended consciousness
6. Sleep and dreams
7. Mind-altering substances

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 5. Psychika, świadomość i odmienne stany świadomości [Mind, Consciousness, and Alternate States] (140-165)

Lecture 4. The senses and reception of sensations, processes that organize perception
1. The human sensory system – main features
2. Absolute thresholds, difference threshold
3. Reception of sensations, sensory adaptation
4. Processes that organize perception. Perceptual constancy
5. Identification and recognition processes
6. Ambiguity and illusions
7. Processes of attention, its functions and mechanisms. The Stroop task

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 4. Wrażenia zmysłowe i percepcja [Sensation and Perception] (92-139)

Lecture 5. Learning predictable signals, learning about consequences, behaviour analysis
1. What is learning?
2. Classical conditioning
3. Instrumental conditioning
4. Correlations between behaviour and reinforcement
5. Features of reinforcing factors. Rules of reinforcement
6. The impact of cognitive processes on learning
7. Connectionist models of learning

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 6. Uczenie się i analiza zachowania [Learning and Behavior Analysis] (166-201)

Lecture 6. Remembering and forgetting
1. Model of the human memory system
2. Sensory memory
3. Short-term memory (encoding, storing, processing, retrieving)
4. Long-term memory
5. Procedural and declarative memory
6. Why do we forget?
7. The neurobiology of memory

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 7. Pamięć [Memory] (202-241)

Lecture 7. The mind and cognitive processes
1. Studying cognitive processes. From introspection to brain imaging
2. Concepts and creation of concepts
3. Schemas and scripts
4. Studies on visual imagination. Mind mapping
5. Reasoning (deductive, inductive) and problem-solving strategies
6. Judging and making decisions
7. Language, language competence and communicative competence
8. Intelligence testing, intelligence theories

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 8. Procesy poznawcze [Cognitive Processes] (242-279) and excerpts from Chapter 9 (289-295)

Lecture 8. Emotions
1. Definitions of emotions
2. The neurophysiology of emotions
3. The dynamics of emotional development
4. James and Lange’s theory of bodily response
5. Cannon and Bard’s theory of central nervous processes
6. Lazarus and Schachter’s cognitive theory of arousal
7. Darwin’s evolutionary theory of emotions
8. Cognitive strategies for stress modification

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 12. Emocje, stres i zdrowie [Emotions, Stress, and Health] (384-425)

Lecture 9. Motivation
1. Understanding motivation. Functions of motivation
2. Instinct theory
3. Drive theory versus learning
4. Arousal theory
5. The humanistic theory of growth motivation
6. Social cognitive theories of motivation
7. The Yerkes-Dodson law
8. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 11. Motywacja [Motivation] (352-383)

Lecture 10. Personality and individual differences
1. Personality and strategies for studying personality
2. Type theories and trait theories
3. Psychodynamic theories. The main ego defence mechanisms
4. Humanistic theories of personality
5. Social learning theories and cognitive theories
6. Theories of the self
7. The self on the Internet

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 13. Osobowość człowieka [The Human Personality] (426-461)

Lecture 11. Development in the human life cycle
1. Periods of development: prenatal, perinatal, postnatal
2. A new-born’s perceptual abilities
3. Cognitive development. Stages of development according to Piaget
4. Contemporary views on perceptual and conceptual development. ToM
5. Stages of moral reasoning according to Kohlberg. The concept of C. Gilligan
6. Stages of psychosocial development according to Erikson
7. Research strategies and methods in developmental psychology

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 10. Rozwój człowieka w ciągu całego życia [Human Development Across the Life Span] (308-351)

Lecture 12. Humans in social situations
1. The power of situations
- Social facilitation
- Social roles and rules: typical prisoner and guard roles
- Social norms
- Conformism or independence
- The influence of authority
2. Constructing social reality
3. Solving social problems
4. Intervention of accidental witnesses in critical situations

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 17. Procesy społeczne, społeczeństwo i kultura [Social Processes, Society, and Culture] (562-597)

Lecture 13. Ethics of psychological research
1. Examples of experiments that do not meet the requirement of ethical perfectionism
2. Ethics of empirical research in psychology. Ten principles of ethical empirical research
3. Problems in research on animals: science, ethics, politics
4. List of critical thinking rules for “consumers” of scientific knowledge
5. How do you become a prudent audience of statistics?

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapter 2. Metody badawcze w psychologii [Research Methods in Psychology] (20-41). Statistical Supplement (42-53).

Lecture 14. Main types of mental disorders
1. Mental norm and pathology
2. Classification of mental disorders
3. Types of mental disorders
4. Therapies of disorders
(psychodynamic, behavioural, cognitive, existential-humanistic, biomedical therapies)
5. Evaluation of therapy efficacy, preventive strategies

Literature: Zimbardo, P.G., Gerrig, R.J., (2012). Psychologia i życie [Psychology and Life]. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN:
Chapters 14-15.

Lecture 15. Theory of Action and related theories
1. Tadeusz Tomaszewski’s Theory of Action
2. Jan Strelau’s Regulative Theory of Temperament
3. Regulative Theory of Personality according to Janusz Reykowski
4. Theory of Action versus Józef Kozielecki’s Psychotransgressionism
5. Theory of Action versus Ida Kurcz’s Theory of Verbal and Communicative Actions

Literature: I. Kurcz, D. Kądzielawa (ed.) (2002). Psychologia czynności. Nowe perspektywy. Psychology of Action. New Prospects] Warszawa: Scholar (excerpts)