Introduction to Psychology

Chapter 1

Psychology

• The scientific study of human behavior and mental processes

• Behavior- any action that people can observe or measure– includes walking, talking, eating, sleeping, etc.– measured by observation or laboratory

instruments

Cognitive Activities

• Mental processes

• Include dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories

Psychological Constructs

• Theoretical entities, or concepts, that enable one to discuss something that cannot be seen, touched, or measured directly

• Ex: anxiety about presenting a project

Goals of Psychology

• Scientists seek to observe, describe, explain, predict, and control the events they study

• Psychologists observe and describe behavior and mental processes to better understand them

• This allows them to explain, predict, and help clients control their behavior

Explaining Behavior

• Example: Sports psychologists can help athletes improve performance by measuring athletes’ heart rates and other body processes and by interviewing athletes.

• Psychologists explain behavior that might hinder an athlete’s performance.

Mental Processes

• Predicting and Controlling

• Psychologists predict that athletes perform best when anxiety is moderate.

• help athletes control their behavior and mental processes by teaching them how to control anxiety.

• Positive visualization is one method sports psychologists use to help athletes perform better.

• focus on helping people reach their own goals.

Research

• Two widely used research methods are surveys and experimentation.

• Surveys collect data through questions asked of a particular group.

• Experimentation usually involves people or animals. Some psychologists believe animal research can be applied to humans.

Research- Theories

• Psychologists organize research findings into theories.

• A theory is a statement that attempts to explain why things are the way they are and why they happen as they do.

• Theories help psychologists form principles. A principle is a basic truth or law.

Fields in Psychology

Major Fields

Clinical

• Largest group

• help with anxiety, depression, weight control, drugs, relationships, etc.

• use interviews and tests

Counseling

• Usually treat people with adjustment problems rather than serious disorders

• Example– hard to make friends, careers, family– help clarify goals and overcome problems

School

• Identify and help students who have problems that interfere with learning

• Example– peer group, family, learning disorders

Educational

• Focus on course planning and instructional methods for whole school – ways learning is affected by psychological,

cultural, economic, instructional factors

Developmental

• Study changes that occur throughout a person’s life– physical, emotional, cognitive, social– influences of heredity and environment on

development

Personality

• Identify human characteristics and traits and study development

• Look for origins of problems and disorders

Social

• Concerned with behavior in social situations

Experimental

• Conduct research into basic processes such as functions of the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, thinking, motivation

Applied Fields

Industrial and Organizational

• Focus on people and work

• employed to improve working conditions and worker output

Human Factors

• Attempt to find the best ways to design products for people to use

Community

• Study and create social systems that promote and foster individual well-being– mental health centers, hospital programs,

school-based programs

Forensic

• Work within the criminal justice system– testify on competence of defendant, select and

train officers, cope with stress

Health

• Examine ways behavior and mental processes are related to physical health

• preventing and reducing risk of disease

Rehabilitation

• Work with patients that are struggling with the effects of a disability

Cross-cultural

• Study behaviors and mental processes under different cultural conditions

Chapter 1

History of Psychology

Main Idea

• Since ancient times, philosophers and scientists have studied behavior and mental processes. Psychologists throughout history have continued to refine and develop these studies.

Early Views and Beliefs

• Psychology is as old as human history.

• Written account of the interest in people’s actions, motives, and thoughts can be traced to ancient times.

Ancient Greece

• Socrates developed a method of learning called introspection, which means to carefully examine our own thoughts and feelings.

• Aristotle outlined associationism, the theory that association with past experiences is a basic principle of mental activity.

Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism

• Wundt founded a field of psychology known as structuralism.– focused on the basic elements of consciousness.

• Wundt broke down consciousness into objective sensations and subjective feelings.

William James and Functionalism

• Experience is a continuous “stream of consciousness.”

• Functionalism is the study of how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment.

Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis

• psychoanalysis- emphasizes unconscious motives and internal conflicts in human behavior.

• psychodynamic thinking- assumes that most of what exists in an individual's mind is unconscious and consists of conflicting impulses, urges, and wishes.

• the key to human behavior is satisfying desires.

Modern Developments

• John B. Watson and Behaviorism

• Founded the school of behaviorism, which defined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior

• Holds that people can be totally conditioned by external events and that belief in individual choice is just an illusion

The Gestalt School

• Gestalt psychology is an alternative to behaviorism and structuralism.

• It was developed by German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler.

• It is based on the idea that our perceptions of objects are more than the sum of their parts. They are wholes that give shape, or meaning, to the parts.

• Gestalt psychology rejects the structuralist idea that experience can be broken down into individual parts or elements.

• It also rejects the behaviorist idea that only observable behavior is important.

Contemporary Perspectives

The Biological Perspective

• Emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior

• Assume our mental processes--thoughts, fantasies, and dreams-- are made by the nervous system– The Brain

• Focus on the influence glands, hormones, and genes

• Influenced by associationism and neroscience

Evolutionary Perspective

• Charles Darwin• Focuses on the evolution of behavior and

mental processes

• Suggest that many behavior patterns are adaptive

• People learn to act certain ways to survive and pass it down

Cognitive Perspective

• Emphasizes the role thoughts play in determining behavior

• Influenced by Structuralism, functionalism, and Gestalt psychology

• Compare the brain to a computer

• Believe that behavior is influenced by values, perceptions, and choices

Humanistic Perspective• Stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment

and the importance of consciousness, self-awareness, and the capacity to make choices

• Consciousness shapes human personality

• Consider personal experiences most important

• Help people explore feelings, manage negative impulses, and realize potential

Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Stresses the influence of unconscious forces on human behavior

• Influenced by Sigmund Freud– believed that aggressive impulses are common

reactions to the frustrations of daily life and we seek to vent them on other people

Learning Perspective

• Emphasizes the effects of experience on behavior

• Important to observing, describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling behavior

• John B. Watson and Behaviorism– personal experiences and reinforcement guide

individual development

• Social-Learning Theory– people can change their environments and

create new ones– people’s expectations and values influence

whether they choose to do what they have learned

Sociocultural

• Study the influences of ethnicity, gender, culture, and the socio-economic status on behavior and mental processes

• Helps people appreciate cultural heritages and historical issues

• Influenced by Social, environmental, and cross-cultural psychology

Biopsychosocial

• Mental processes are influenced by the interaction of biological processes, psychological dispositions, and social factors

• George Engel used it to explain heart disease– must consider more than just biology