Today's soundtrack is Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp a Butterfly.
Due to an obligation immediately after work today, I'm doing another quick reading this afternoon. Today I'll be reading the introductory chapter of Anne Rooney's The 15-Minute Psychologist.
Rooney introduces her book by asserting that "[t]he human brain is the single most compelling object of study or contemplation" (p. 6). She says that psychology is the study of how and why we think; it explores the mind's workings.
Descartes argued that the body followed certain laws, but could not determine how consciousness fit into the equation. Today, we believe that the brain controls this; the brain is "us".
Psychologists study how the mind works. Psychiatrists apply that knowledge therapeutically. Neurologists study the physical and chemical makeup of the brain. Some of psychology relies on neurology; psychiatry relies on both.
Because mental differences and disorders are often not visible like a broken arm would be, psychologists rely on surveys and observational studies to diagnose mental problems. Such methods are difficult, as people often change their behaviours when they know they are being observed. On the flip side, studies performed without their subject's knowledge are often considered unethical. Some studies have even had psychologically adverse effects on their subjects. Another problem run into is the sample size and composition. Can information learned from one group be used to draw inferences about the larger population? And how much of what is seen is a product of the environment VS the self (nature VS nurture)? And are our reactions the product of free will or determinism?
Interestingly, many experiments have shown through brain scans that the brain unconsciously decides on an action before we are consciously aware of making that decision.