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SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY:

Theory & Research

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What do psychologists do?

• Stereotype -- Fix mental illness

Sigmund Freud

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• Half true, but........on what basis?

• Need a database of research:

• BASIC RESEARCH:

–Try to understand human behavior and mind

–Why do people act, think, and feel the way they do?

• APPLIED: Solve specific problems

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Our textbook:The Adaptive Mind

• Q: What is the function of the mind ?

• A: helps us adapt to our environment

• How do (or did) psychological processes contribute to survival?– e.g.– How do you recognize and avoid danger?– How do we procreate in the optimal way?

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Meaning of the term

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Defining Modern Psychology

• The scientific study of behavior and the mind that causes it

• Scientific: systematic observation

• Behavior: Observable actions

• Mind: Subjective experiences such as sensations, thoughts, and emotions.

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What Psychologists Do

• Clinical Psychologists

• Psychiatrists

• Counsellors

• Applied Psychologists

• Research Psychologists

• Teach

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Clinical Psychologists

• Main Goal:

– diagnose and treat severe psychological

problems (schizophrenia, depression)

– PhD in psychology

– work in clinics and private practice

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Psychiatrists

• Medical doctors who specialize in diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems.

• Have to have an M.D.

• Licensed to prescribe drugs.

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Counsellors

• Provide some sort of therapy or support to clients,

• Deal with everyday problems: – family disputes– Career advice

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Applied Psychologists

• Main Goal:– Apply psychology to practical problems in

the real world– Examples:

• School psychologists• Industrial/organizational psychologists• Human factors psychologists

• Not involved with psychological disorders

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Research Psychologists

• Main Goal:– Conduct experiments to acquire new knowledge

about behavior and the mind

• Work in universities, colleges, research institutes• Specialties:

– Bio-psychologists– Personality psychologists– Cognitive psychologists– Social psychologists

THE BIG ISSUES

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HOW Can We Study The Mind?

• Metaphor: Mind is a “Black Box”– Can observe what it does, how it responds,

but can’t see it

• Approaches– Self-report– Find a way to open it– Study how it behaves

• Example: How long does it take to respond to different stimuli?

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Three Methods

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WHERE is the mind ?

Answer has varied over history of psychology

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WHAT Determines Behavior?

1. Mind or Body?

2. Nature or Nurture?

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1. Mind or Body ?

• Roots of modern psychology lie in the disciplines of philosophy and biology

• Descartes: Two Separate entities– Mind controls body through pineal gland– If so: impossible to scientifically study the mind.

• Psychologists today: One and the same– Mind arises from brain activity– “The mind is what the brain does” – Steven Pinker

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2. Nature or Nurture ?

• To what degree are we shaped by innate/inherited tendencies, environment?

• NATURE: – Babies are born with a set mental structure, know

certain things- Natural selection for certain adaptive traits (Darwin)

• NURTURE:– We are shaped by our environment– That is, our personal experiences

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The Modern View:Nature + Nurture

• Most characteristics do have a genetic (inherited) component– Examples: personality, intelligence

• Experience shapes how these traits develop– Example: educational experiences, traumatic

experiences

• both matter; both necessary

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Details Depend on Theory

• Freud’s psychoanalysis

• Skinner’s behaviorism

• Maslow’s humanistic psychology