Chapter 1:Psychology is the Study of Human

Behavior1.2 Why should you study Psychology

1.3 How can psychology help you achieve self-

actualization?

1.4 How do psychologists learn about human behavior?

1.5 What are the basic areas of study in psychology?

What is Psychology?Psychology comes from the

Greek word Psyche meaning “soul” and logos which has come to mean “logics or science.”

If you put it together, it means the science of the soul.

Now today, it’s modern definition is the study of human behavior.

How do Psychologists collect data about human behavior?Psychologists use the

scientific method to collect data about behavior.

Using the insights gained through observation, and experiment, they attempt to answer some of life’s most important questions.

Questions often asked:

Why do people act the way they do?

Can behavior be predicted or changed?

Can people’s lives be made happier or

more productive?

What can be done to help people who

have lost touch with reality?

Questions often asked:If human beings were simple

creates like dogs or horses, the

answers to these questions

would be relatively easy. But

our lives are not controlled by

the same instincts and drives

that dominate other forms of

animal life.

Questions often asked:

Human beings are

uniquely gifted with

the power of reason

and language and

the ability to create

a complex culture.

Your assignment is to Observe and write down the answers: (please do not list the person’s name)

Person #1 Person #2 Person #3Why does person #1 act the way they do?

Why does person #2 act the way they do?

Why does person #3 act the way they do?

Can this person’s behavior be predicted or changed? How?

Can this person’s behavior be predicted or changed? How?

Can this person’s behavior be predicted or changed? How?

Can this person’s life be made happier or more productive? How?

Can this person’s life be made happier or more productive? How?

Can this person’s life be made happier or more productive? How?

What can be done to help people who have lost touch with reality?

What can be done to help people who have lost touch with reality?

What can be done to help people who have lost touch with reality?

Lets talk about it…Do not use person’s name

PERSON #1 PERSON #2 PERSON #3Why does person #1 act the way they do?

Why does person #21 act the way they do?

Why does person #3 act the way they do?

Can this person’s behavior be predicted or changed? How?

Can this person’s behavior be predicted or changed? How?

Can this person’s behavior be predicted or changed? How?

Can this person’s life be made happier or more productive? How?

Can this person’s life be made happier or more productive? How?

Can this person’s life be made happier or more productive? How?

What can be done to help people who have lost touch with reality?

What can be done to help people who have lost touch with reality?

What can be done to help people who have lost touch with reality?

Psychology a Young Science

In the beginning,

no one thought too

much about why

people act the way

they do.

Psychology a Young ScienceScene 1: A Cave, 500,000

BC

OLBA: Why is Rad sitting there in

the corner all by himself? It’s

nicer here by the fire with the

others.

KRIK: I don’t know. Forget him.

I’m ready to eat.

Psychology a Young Science

People blamed demons

or spirits for their

behavior they couldn’t

explain it any other

way. If Rad acts

strangely, the wise

ones said, it’s because

an evil spirit has

invaded his body.

Psychology a Young Science

It remained for the ancient

Greeks to study behavior

more carefully. Their

gifted philosophers

understood emotional

states can affect the way

a person feels.

Psychology a Young ScienceScene 2: Greece, Fourth Century B.C.

Phipias: Plato, you’re a philosopher. Do you

think there’s a connection between the mind

and body?

Plator: Whenever the soul within it is stronger

than the body and is in a very passionate

state, it shakes up the whole body from

within and fills it with maladies.

Psychology a Young Science

Insights such as Plato’s

helped teach humanity that

the mind can affect the

behavior of the body. But

until a little over a hundred

years ago, psychology could

not be called an organized

science.

Psychology a Young Science

A 19th century French American

doctor, Edouard Seguin, set

the stage when he wrote, “I look

upon psychology as …a

science of observation , where

things are to be observed and

put in their places, and nothing is

to be created or imagined.”

Psychology a Young Science In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt, a

German professor, established the

first psychological laboratory at

the University of Leipzig. Wundt

believed that he could discover

the nature of the mind by

studying behavior “from the

inside.”

Psychology a Young ScienceScene 3: Leipzig, 1879

Wundt: Tell me again, Herr Professor, exactly what I

should do.

Wundt: I call my method of self observation

introspection. While you take part of my

experiments, you must keep careful records of your

feelings, thoughts emotions,- everything that

happens inside you. From these reports, we will

learn about the structure of the mind and the

nature of consciousness. We’ll see how simple

mental states are built up into complex experiences

such as memory, creativity, and learning.

Psychology a Young ScienceWundt’s methods put psychology on a firm

footing as a science but gained little

support in the United States.

Americans were more interested in

behavior that could be observed than in

what the introspectionists claimed to feel.

Philosophers such as William James an John

Dewey studied the way individuals adjust

to their environment. They emphasized

the importance of experience and learning.

Psychology a Young Science

Their followers made studies of

mental illness, animal behavior,

normal and mentally challenged

children, and ways of measuring

intelligence.

Psychology a Young ScienceSo complex is human behavior,

however, that other schools of

psychology also developed.

At the beginning of the 20th century,

Sigmund Freud developed his theory

of psychoanalysis, a method of

analyzing and treating mental

disorders.

Psychology a Young Science

Inspired by Freud’s work,

psychologists began to study

the role of the unconscious in

influencing our behavior.

Psychology a Young Science Scene 4: Vienna, 1900

Patient: But doctor Freud, what

does my relationship with my

father have to do with my

problem?

Freud: Ah, everything! You must

realize the experiences of

childhood, buried deep within your

unconscious, still influences you.

The child is father to the man.

Psychology a Young Science Many psychologists weren’t satisfied with Freud’s emphasis on the

role of the unconscious. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist

who won the Noble Prize in 1904 for his work on the digestive

process, helped prepare the way for a new explanation of behavior.

Psychology a Young SciencePavlov discovered that

dogs could be

conditioned (trained)

to salivate when they

heard a musical tone.

Normally, saliva is

produced only when the

animals, see, smell or

taste food.

Psychology a Young SciencePavlov conditioned this

automatic response by

sounding the tone each

time he fed the dogs a

special meat powder.

He repeated the

process six to eight

times. After that, the

dogs salivated freely

whenever they heard

the tone.

Video Example of Pavlov's Conditioning Another Example of Classic Conditioning

Real Life Classical Conditioning

Real Life Classical Conditioning 2

Real Life Classical Conditioning 3

Classic Conditioning 4

Jim vs. Dwight and the Altoid Conditioning episode

The Office Example

Psychology a Young Science

YOUR FIRST PROJECT!

This project will be focusing on the Pavlov’s general idea of Classical Conditioning.

See the following slides for some ideas.

Classic Conditioning Project

1.You can only work with one to two classmates from class or by yourself.

Classic Conditioning Project

2. You will create your own video recording

an actual concept of classic conditioning

OR create a fake version just to verify that

you understand the concept.

Classic Conditioning Project

3. You must have the ability to record a video

but if you do not, you will have an

alternative instead.

Classic Conditioning Project

4. There is no violence or bullying allowed in

these projects. Use your best judgment to

evaluate if it is acceptable or not. If you are

not sure, please ask me if you need help.

Classic Conditioning Project

Some Examples Include:

Teaching your dog to sit:

1. Open up the drawer that the treat is in.

2. The dog comes running.

3. Pull the treat out.

4. The dog automatically sits.

5. When the dog sits, you then give him/her the treat.

Let’s go over the content again: In psychology “learning” is

defined as a relatively permanent change in, or acquisition of, knowledge or behavior.

The key term here is “relatively” because although we tend to hold onto what we learn, it can be changed a later date.

For example, your friend teaches you how to play tennis, but later you get a qualified instructor who modifies and improves your technique.

http://www.eruptingmind.com/pavlov-classical-conditioning-theory/

Let’s go over the content again:

What we learn can also be forgotten over time, especially if we do not regularly use the skills or knowledge we have acquired.

For example, you may learn to drive a car but if you don’t drive for several years, you will most likely forget what you had previously learnt and so would need to practice again.

In addition to this, in order for us to learn something we first need to experience it at the level of sensation via our five senses. As without our senses learning would be virtually impossible.

http://www.eruptingmind.com/pavlov-classical-conditioning-theory/

Let’s go over the content again:

Classical Conditioning

http://www.eruptingmind.com/pavlov-classical-conditioning-theory/

Classical conditioning is a term used to describe learning which has been acquired through experience.

One of the best known examples of classical conditioning can be found with the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov and his experiments on dogs.

In these experiments, Pavlov trained his dogs to salivate when they heard a bell ring. In order to do this he first showed them food, the sight of which caused them to salivate.

Later Pavlov would ring a bell every time he would bring the food out, until eventually he could get the dogs to salivate just by ringing the bell and without giving the dogs any food.

In this simple but ingenious experiment, Pavlov showed how a reflex (salivation, a natural bodily response) could become conditioned (modified) to an external stimulus (the bell) thereby creating a conditioned reflex/response.

Components Involved In Classical Conditioning

We can gain a better understanding of classical conditioning by looking at the various components involved in his experiment;

◦ The unconditioned stimulus. ◦ The conditioned stimulus. ◦ The unconditioned reflex.◦ The conditioned reflex.

So let’s look at each of these classical conditioning components in more detail now.

Note : In its strictest definition classical conditioning is described as a previously neutral stimulus which causes a reflex (stimulus means something which causes a physical response).

The Unconditioned Stimulus (food)

An unconditioned stimulus is anything which can evoke a response without prior learning or conditioning.

For example, when a dog eats some food it causes his mouth to salivate.

Therefore the food is an unconditioned stimulus, because it causes a reflex response (salivation) automatically and without the dog having to learn how to salivate.

Unconditioned Stimulus – This causes an automatic reflex response.

Conditioned Stimulus (bell)

The conditioned stimulus is created by learning, and therefore does not create a response without prior conditioning.

For example, when Pavlov rang a bell and caused the dogs to salivate, this was a conditioned stimulus because the dogs learnt to associate the bell with food.

If they had not learnt to associate the bell with food, they would not have salivated when the bell was rung.

Conditioned Stimulus – You need to learn first before it creates a response. It is an acquired power to change something.

Unconditioned Reflex (salivation)

An unconditioned reflex is anything that happens automatically without you having to think about it, such as your mouth salivating when you eat.

Unconditioned Reflex – Reflex that happens automatically and you didn’t have to learn how to do it.

Conditioned Reflex (salivation in response to bell)

A conditioned reflex is a reflex which you have learnt to associate with something.

For example, the dogs salivated when Pavlov rang a bell, when previously (without conditioning) the bell would not cause the dogs to salivate.

Conditioned Reflex – A reflex that can be evoked in response to a conditioned stimulus (a previously neutral stimulus)

Important Features Of Classical Conditioning

The word conditioning is used to mean a type of learning that occurs without you having to think about it, almost like an automatic type of learning. Although later on this learning may be reinforced by reflecting upon that experience.

For example, sometimes you will see a dog flinch when you raise your hand. This flinching is a conditioned reflex, and can be seen in dogs that have been mistreated by their owners. The same can be found in women who are abused.

This later example shows that classical conditioning is not solely confined to animals, as it can just as easily occur in humans.

Finally, conditioned reflexes are involuntary, which means they occur automatically and without you having to think about it.

Summary

• Classical conditioning occurs when a previously neutral stimulus causes a reflex.

• Ivan Pavlov is most famous for his work on dogs and classical conditioning.

• The unconditioned stimulus causes an automatic reflex response without prior learning (e.g.

food in mouth causes salivation).

• The conditioned stimulus is created by learning, whereby a stimulus becomes associated with

something else (e.g. dog associates bell with food, and ringing bell causes dog to salivate).

• The unconditioned reflex is a reflex that happens automatically (e.g. salivation is an

unconditioned reflex, because it happens automatically when you put food in your mouth).

• The conditioned reflex is a learnt response pattern (e.g. dog salivating to sound of bell).

• Conditioning takes place automatically and without you having to think about it, and the

conditioned reflexes are involuntary.

Psychology a Young ScienceJohn Watson, an American

Psychologist saw the value of

Pavlov’s work. Son after World War

I, Watson announced that

psychology should deal only with

behavior that can be observed and

measured. Watson was not interest

in Freud's studies of the unconscious

or in Wundt’s introspection.

The only task of psychology,

Watson proclaimed, was to

“predict and control behavior”.

This approach is known as

behaviorism, now ranks as one

of modern psychology’s most

important concepts.

Psychology a Young Science

Psychology a Young ScienceSince the 1960s, humanist

psychology has emerged as a

contrasting school of thought to

both psychoanalytic and

behaviorists theories. Humanist

psychologists, who emphasize the

study of having healthy,

productive emotions, believe that

people can take responsibility for

their own lives.

Psychology a Young ScienceCarl Rogers, a leading American psychologist,

summed up the humanist philosophy when he

said, “The aim is ….to cope with the present

problem and with later problems in a better

integrated fashion.”

Section Check up page 8

Section check up:

1. Why has the study of human behavior attracted so much attention over the centuries?

2. How does Sigmund Freud’s belief in the power of the unconscious differ from John Watson’s behaviorist ideas?

3. What do the humanist psychologists see as the goal of psychology?