Definition & GoalsSection AModule 1

Definition of Psychology

• Psychology is the systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes

• Behaviors refers to observable actions or responses in both humans and animals (eating, speaking, laughing, running, reading, and sleeping)

• Mental processes are not directly observable (thinking, imagining, studying, or dreaming)

• The current definition is very broad but psychologists usually have four specific goals in mind when they study behavior or mental process

Goals of Psychology

• The psychologists four goals are:• Describe the different ways that organisms

behave• Explain the causes of the behavior• Predict how organisms will behave in certain

situations• Control an organism’s behavior

Modern ApproachesSection BModule 1

More Approaches, More Answers

• Six approaches to reaching goals• Biological approach focuses on how our genes, hormones, and nervous

system interact with our environment to influence learning, personality, memory, motivation, emotions, and coping techniques

• Cognitive approach how we process, store, and use information and how this information influences what we attend to perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel

• Behavioral approach studies how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, depending on whether events in their environments reward or punish these behaviors

• Psychoanalytic approach stresses the influence of unconscious• Humanistic approach emphasizes that each individual has great freedom

in directing his or her future, a large capacity for personal growth, a considerable amount of intrinsic worth, and enormous potential for self-fulfillment

• Cross-cultural approach examines the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on psychological and social functioning of a culture’s members

Biological Approach

• Biological approach is used by researchers called psychobiologists and they use a number of different research methods including computerized photos of brains

• Psychobiologists show that genetic factors influence a wide range of human behaviors

• Genes use a chemical alphabet to write instructions for the development of the brain and body and the manufacture of chemicals that affect everything we do

• Researchers recently developed a test that identified high levels of certain proteins in the blood of infants who later developed autism

Biological Approach

• Why do my hands sweat? (pg 6)

• Why does test anxiety affect our output? (pg 6)

Cognitive Approach

• Psychologists use the cognitive approach to study why autistic individual differ in the development of language and social skills

• Why do autistics have problems acquiring cognitive, language, and communication skills? (pg 7)

• Cognitive Neuroscience involves taking pictures of structures and functions of the living brain during performance of a a variety of mental or cognitive processes, such as thinking, planning, naming, and recognizing objects

• Can you worry too much? (pg 7)

• What are the two components to test anxiety? (pg 7)

• How does women’s test anxiety differ from men? (pg 7)

Behavioral Approach

• A basic example a behavior principle are rewards or punishments that can modify, change, or control behavior

• B.F. Skinner developed the behavioral approach into a major force in psychology

• His ideas stress the importance of environmental reinforces and the exclusion of mental processes

• His ideas are called strict behaviorism

• Albert Bandura develop a behavioral model called social learning approach that stressed that our behaviors are influenced by environmental events, observation, imitation, and thought processes

• Can I redirect my worrying? (pg 8)

• What are the six self management practices that are related to increasing studying time and achieving better scores? (pg 8)

Psychoanalytic Approach

• Psychoanalytical approach would look at why other personalities develop to deal with difficult experiences

• Sigmund Freud treated a number of patients with psychological problems

• Freud believed that the first five years have a profound affect on our lives

• Freud felt that bad thoughts and memories were stored deep in the unconscious

• Dream analysis was one of the ways he brought the unconscious out

• Psychoanalytic approach would search for hidden or unconscious forces underlying test anxiety

• Is test anxiety related to procrastination? (pg 9)

• What type of students are regular procrastinators? (pg 9)

Humanistic Approach

• Developing close personal relationships and reaching true potential is the humanistic approach

• Humanists believe that we may have to struggle to reach our potential but we have control of our fate and are free to become whatever we are capable of being

• It emphasizes the positive side of human nature

• Abraham Maslow was one of the major figures that established humanistic approach

• Many behaviorists regard the humanistic approach as a philosophic way of life because it has a lack of rigorous experimental methods

• How can students reach their potentials? (pg 10)

• What are similar characteristics that successful students share? (pg 10)

Cross-Cultural Approach

• The differences in diagnosing autism in the U.S., China, and Germany show the influence of cultural factors

• How do other cultures deal with test anxiety? (pg 11)

• Cultural plays a big role in determining the intensity and expression of anxiety

• What three countries had the highest test anxiety scores? (pg 11)

• What type of successful students are admired in America? (pg 11)

• By combining all six approaches psychologists stand a better chance of reaching their four goals of describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling behavior