Chapter 1What is Psychology

Hint: It’s the study of behavior and mental processes!!!

1. Identify the goals of psychology, and explain how psychology is a science.

2. Describe the work done by psychologist according to their areas of specialization.

3. Explain the historical background of the study of psychology.

4. Describe the six main contemporary perspectives in psychology.

Why Study Psychology?

• What do you hope to learn from the study of psychology? Perhaps you hope to gain a better understanding of why people act as they do, or more specifically, why you act as you do. Or perhaps you want to learn more about your thoughts and feelings; in doing so, you might discover more effective ways to handle, or help others handle, the stresses of daily life. Whether your reason is general or specific, the study of psychology will give you new ways to look at and interpret your world and the people who inhabit it.

Behavior and mental processes

• Behavior and Mental Processes– Behavior is any observable

and/or measurable activity– Cognitive activity is any

private mental process

• Cognitive Activity affect behavior and behavior can affect cognitive activity

The Goals of Psychology

1. Observe

2. Describe

3. Explain

4. Predict

5. Control

Psychology as a Science

• Social science and a natural science

• Psychological Theories– Statement that

attempts to explain something

• Research methods• Survey • Experiment

Quick Quiz 1

1. What is psychology? What are the 5 goals of psychology?

2. In what way is psychology a social science? How is it also related to the natural sciences?

3. CRITICAL THINKING: What do you think is the main value of psychology? Explain your answer.

Clinical Psychologist

• Largest subgroup of psychologist

• Help people overcome/control problems and continue living life

• They work in a variety of settings

• Not to be confused with Psychiatrist

Counseling Psychologists

• Typically treat people with adjustment problems instead of serious psychological disorders

School Psychologist

• Help students who have a problem that interferes with learning

• Work with staff and parents to hop students reach their potential

• Recommend students for class placement

Educational Psychologists

• Focus on course planning and instructional methods for an entire school system instead of individual

• They are concerned with how people learn and how learning is affected

• Help prepare standardized tests

Developmental Psychologist

• Study changes that occur throughout a persons lifespan

• Nature v. Nurture debate

Personality and Social Psychologists

• Identify characteristics or traits

• Gender roles• Personality

psychologists look within a person to explain behavior Social psychologists look at why people behave in a certain way in a particular setting

Experimental Psychologists

• Conduct lab research• Mostly concerned

with Basic ResearchBasic Research, which adds to the broad field of psychology findings

Other Specialists

• Industrial and Organizational Psychology

• Environmental Psychology

• Consumer Psychology

• Forensic Psychology

• Health Psychology

Quick Quiz 2

1. Which subspecialty makes up the largest group of psychologist?

2. List 3 subspecialties of psychology and describe the works of each.

3. CRITICAL THINKING: If you decided to become a psychologist, what subspecialty of psychology would you prefer and why?

History of Psychology

• People have always been interested in the behaviors of other people, and thus psychology is as old as human history. Interest in the actions, motives, and thoughts of human beings an be traced as far back as the philosopher and scientists of ancient times.

Roots from Ancient Greece

• Plato– 2000 years ago– “Know Thyself”

• Socrates– Introspection

• Aristotle– Peri Psyches

• Hippocrates– Studied medicine and said

abnormal behavior may be caused by medical problems

The Middle Ages

• Psychological problems were caused by the devil

• “Tests” to determine if people were possessed.

Birth of Modern Science

• 1500-1700 society began to move away from beliefs of possession

• Scientific movements lead to advances in psychology

• 1800s modern psychology is born

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

• Structuralism– Basic elements of

conscious experience

• Objective sensations– Reflect the outside

world

• Subjective feelings– Emotional response to

mental images

William James (1842-1910)

• Funtionalism– How mental processes

help an organism adapt to its surroundings

– Successful behavior leads to babits, unsuccessful behavior is dropped

• “Stream of Consciousness”

• First modern text book– The Principles of

Psychology

John B. Watson (1878-1958)

• Behaviorism– The scientific study of

observable behaviors

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

• Behavior is learned through reinforcement

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

• Psychoanalysis– Unconscious impulses

and urges determine human behavior

• Slip of the tongue • Meaning of dreams

The Gestalt School

• Max Wertheimer, Kurt Kofka, and Wolfgang Kohler

• Belief that the whole (Gestalt) is more than the sum of the parts, particularly in human behavior

Quick Quiz 3

1. Describe the main difference between structuralism and functionalism

2. Why do behaviorists object to schools of psychology that study consciousness?

3. CRITICAL THINKING: Identify one example of the influence of Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory on popular culture.

Contemporary Perspectives

• Today we no longer find psychologist who describe themselves as structuralist or functionalists. And although the school of Gestalt Psychology inspired current research in perception and problem solving, few would consider themselves Gestalt psychologists. The number of traditional behaviorists and psycholoanalysts also have been declining. Many current psychologists in the behaviorist tradition have modified the theories of Watson and Skinner. Similarly, many contemporary psycholanalysts do not use the methods Feud did.

• Nevertheless, the historical traditions of psychology find expression in contemporary perspectives on psychology. The most important of these are the biological, cognitive, humanistic, psychoanalytic, learning, and sociocultural perspectives. Each perspective emphasizes different topics of investigation and has different approaches.

The Biological Perspective

• Biology influences our behavior – Brain– Nerves– Hormones– Genes

The Cognitive Perspective

• Role of thoughts in determining our behavior– Mental thoughts– Perceived information – Why is it different for different people?

The Humanistic Perspective

• Self-awareness, experience, and choice permit us to “invent ourselves”

• Says people are naturally good and want to manage their negative impulses, and realize their potential

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Unconscious forces determine human behavior

• Childhood determines behavior

• Venting

Learning Perspective

• Emphasizes the effects of experience on behavior

• Social-learning theory– People can change or create their own

environments

The Sociocultural Perspective

• Ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status impact human behavior and thoughts

Quick Quiz 4

1. How do cognitive psychologists compare people’s mental processes to the working of computers?

2. How would a psychoanalyst explain aggression?

3. Explain how the humanist and social learning perspectives support the view that people are free to make choices.

4. CRITICAL THINKING: How does knowledge of cultural differences enrich the study of psychology?