Introduction to PsychologyDefinition

Goals

A brief history

Contemporary perspectives

Psychologists at Work and Subfields

Definition of Psychology

What is Psychology? Psychology is the scientific study of

human or animal behaviour and mental processes

Psychologists investigate what people think, feel and do

“Psych” = mind, soul, breath, life “logy” = “to speak of”; “examine”;

“the study of”

Psychologists study OVERT and COVERT Behaviours Overt behaviour (OB) is anything a person

does that you can see. Covert behaviour (CB) is internal or hidden

from view. It is those mental processes that are not observable by others.

Examples:

Watching: Blinking:

Thinking: Imitating:

Being sad: Remembering:

Wondering: Reasoning:

Psychology is a science! Psychologists test these processes

through systematic, scientific research.

This involves: the scientific method, collecting data, experimentation, and research.

The Goals of Psychology

The Four Goals of Psychology Psychologists want to better understand

human beings, their behaviour and mental processes.

They gather information (data) in order to accomplish one or more of the following goals:1. Description2. Explanation3. Prediction4. Influence/Change/Control

1. Description Making a detailed record of behavioural

observations and organizing the information for future research. This involves observing, gathering, recording, and presenting facts.

Must attempt to remain objective, and must not make inferences or interpretations from a personal view point

They person was smiling = objective description VS The person is happy = subjective description

Uses methods such as case studies, observation, surveys, testing and correlational studies

2. Explanation Being able to identify the causes of behaviour, and

why people (or animals) do as they do Examples: Why do you laugh at certain events and not at

others? Why do some people get good grades in Psychology while others don’s?

Psychologists look for regular patterns in behaviour and mental processes to explain why a given event or behaviour occurred. They attempt to eliminate or rule out other explanations.

Explanation cannot occur until their results have been tested, retested and confirmed.

Explanation is often determined through qualitative and quantitative observation, including experimentation.

3. Prediction Being able to forecast, as a result of

accumulated knowledge, what people will do, think or feel in a variety of situations

By studying descriptive and theoretical accounts of past behaviours, psychologists can predict future behaviours

4. Influence/Change/Control Psychologists alter conditions that influence behaviour in

helpful ways. They attempt to prevent unwanted occurrences or to bring about desired outcomes.

They attempt to use what we know about people to benefit others.

Within ethical constraints, psychology attempts to voluntarily encourage individuals and groups to modify behaviour for long-term healthy gain.

Some psychologists seek to influence through BASIC SCIENCE: research/the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake (ex: studying the ability of infants to perceive visual patterns)

Others seek to influence through APPLIED SCIENCE: discovering ways to use scientific findings to accomplish practical goals (ex: applying the above findings to the design of a crib)

A brief history of psychology

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: When, Where and How Psychology Began

5th/6th centuries B.C. – the Greeks began to study human behaviour and decided that people’s lives were dominated not so much by the gods as by their own minds

Psychology started in the mid 1800s, by defining itself as the science of consciousness; phrenology became an important practice in the US

Phrenology Originated by Francis Gall, a theory based on the

assumption that bumps on the skull reflects a person’s character or personality traits.

Gall believed the brain areas should grow when exercises, like muscles. The skull was mapped and numbered.

Thought it was a false science, phrenology foreshadowed modern psychology where it is believed that different brain region have distinct skills or functions. It may have inspired scientists to consider the brain, instead of the heart, as responsible for human behaviour.

WHO: Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) was the first professional to call himself a psychologist. He founded the first psychological lab. He is acknowledged as establishing modern psychology as a separate, formal field of study. He was the first to attempt to use systematic research to study human behaviour.

WHERE: Leipzig, Germany WHAT: Structuralism attempts to understand the mind by breaking it

down into its basic elements. It focuses on the immediate, conscious experience (sensations, feelings); on the “what” of thinking, and not the “why” or “how”.

Wundt developed the method of INTROSPECTION, a method of self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings

In carefully controlled situations, trained participants reported their thoughts.

Wundt tried to map out the basic structure of their thought processes based on their reports

Example 1: Picture a blade of grass. Structuralists would focus on the intensity of the green colour, the type of texture and the shape. This would determine the conscious experience.

Example 2: Picture a house. Structuralists focus on the components of the house (the walls, doors, mortar, etc.) to try to understand it.

Structuralism

Wilhelm Wundt

Functionalism WHO: William James(1842-1910), often called the “father

of psychology” taught the first class in psychology at Harvard University in 1875. It took him 12 years to write the first textbook of psychology. James proposed that all activities of the mind serve one function: to help us survive as a species.

WHERE: United States WHAT: Functionalism studies the function or purpose

(rather than the structure) of the consciousness (thinking, feelings, memories, etc.), and how this consciousness helps animals and people adapt to their environment; the “why” or “how” of thinking, as opposed to the “what”

Example 1: Picture a blade of grass. Functionalists would focus on “why” or “how” we interpret the blade of grass.

Example 2: Picture a house: Functionalists search for the purpose or goal of the house to try to understand it.

William James

Gestalt Psychology WHO: Max Wertheimer (1880-1943),

Wolfgang Köhler (1887-1967), and Kurt Koffka (1886-1941)

WHERE: Germany WHAT: Gestalt means “whole pattern” in

German. Gestalt psychologists argue that perception is more than the sum of its parts – it involves a “whole pattern”. They study how sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences.

Example 1: When people look at a chair, they recognize the chair as a whole rather than its legs, its seat and its other components.

Autumn by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593): How does this image represent the ideas of Gestalt Psychology?

Contemporary Perspectives1. The Biological Perspective2. The Behavioural Perspective3. The Cognitive Perspective4. The Sociocultural Perspective5. The Humanistic Perspective6. The Psychodynamic Perspective

1. The Biological Perspective Often referred to as “behavioural

neuroscience” Focuses on how internal physical,

chemical, and biological processes affect behaviour.

Human genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters in the brain affect human thinking and behaviour.

Common tools of psychobiologists are PET, CT, fMRI, and MEG/MSI scans.

2. The Behavioural Perspective Focuses on how the environment shapes

and controls observable behaviour. Human thought and behaviour are explained in terms of conditioning.

Examines how organisms learn or modify their behaviour based on their response to events in the environment.

Key psychologists: Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), John B. Watson (1878-1958) and B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

B.F. Skinner

3. The Cognitive Perspective Focuses on how mental processing of information

influences behaviour, thinking, language, problem solving, and creativity. This involves how we interpret, process, store, remember and use information.

The rules that we use to view the world are important to understanding why we think and behave the way we do.

Behaviour is more than a simple response to a stimulus; it is influenced by a variety of mental processes, including perceptions, memories and expectations.

Key psychologists: Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky, Leon Festinger

Jean Piaget

4. The Sociocultural Perspective Focuses on the impact of a culture's beliefs,

values, and customs on behaviour and thinking. There is an emphasis on the influence that culture

and ethnic similarities and differences have on how we think, act and function socially.

Example: Leaonard Doob (1990) illustrated the cultural implications of a simple reflexive behaviour – a sneeze!

Concerned with issues such as the impact and integration of immigrants, attitudes towards various racial and ethnic groups, and the influence of gender and socioeconomic status

5. The Humanistic Perspective The humanistic perspective focuses on how self-image and

perceptions guide behaviour. There is a belief that we choose most of our behaviours and that each person has freedom in directing his or her future and achieving personal growth.

These choices are guided by physiological, emotional, or spiritual needs.

Each person is unique and has a self-concept and potential to develop fully.

Humans are not helplessly controlled by events in the environment or by unconscious forces; instead, the environment and other outside forces serve as background to our own internal growth.

Criticism: Too optimistic? Devalues the role of the environment. The concept of self-actualization is vague.

Key psychologists: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May

Abraham Maslow

6. The Psychodynamic Perspective The psychodynamic perspective focuses on

how behaviour comes from hidden or unconscious motives and conflicts of the mind.

The unconscious mind (the part that we don’t have control over or access to) controls many of our thoughts, actions and feelings.

Key psychologist: Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Sigmund Freud

A timeline… 1920s-1950s: the behavioural era dominated the

field of psychology; a truly scientific psychologist should report only the data that is actually observed

1960s: Humanistic psychology emerged as a reaction to the neglect of the mind

1970s: Cognitive psychology began as computers provided a way to look at mental processing and human information processing

1980s: Neuroscience emerged as an important source of information about behaviour and mental processes

And today…

Today: An eclectic approach No one perspective can answer all of the

questions that psychology addresses as each examines behaviour and mental processes from a different point of view.

Today, the 6 major approaches (perspectives; schools of thought) co-exist giving way to an eclectic view.

Most modern-day psychologists choose to view behaviour from more than one perspective.

Summary of Contemporary ApproachesApproach What influences

our behaviour?Sample research question

1. The Biological Perspective

Biological factors Do genes affect your intelligence and personality?

2. The Behavioural Perspective

Events in the environment (rewards and punishments)

Can good study habits be learned?

3. The Cognitive Perspective

How we process, store, and retrieve information

How does caffeine affect memory?

4. The Sociocultural Perspective

Ethnicity, gender, culture, socioeconomic status

How do people of different genders and ethnicities interact with each other?

5. The Humanistic Perspective

Individual or self-directed choices

Do I believe I can prepare for and pass the test?

6. The Psychodynamic Perspective

Unconscious motivations How have negative childhood experiences affected the way I handle stressful situations?

Psychologists at Work

Studying Psychology A psychologist is a scientist who studies the mind and behaviour of humans and

animals. They have been trained to observe, analyze and evaluate behaviour.

When you go to university and study psychology, you can get an undergraduate (bachelor’s) degree in psychology. This can be very useful because students with this degree may obtain graduate degrees in fields like business, law, and social work in addition to psychology.

But in order to become a psychologist a graduate degree is required. This means that after your undergraduate degree you must continue studying at the University. There are three common graduate degrees.

Masters degree (MA) Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

*NB: Psychologists are not the same as psychiatrists. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in psychiatry, a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional or behavioural disorders. Only psychiatrists, not psychologists, can prescribe drugs.

The Major Subfields of Psychology

Specialty Typical Activities Clinical Psychology Providing therapy, researching, teaching, writing,

diagnosing and treating people with behavioural or mental disorders.

Counseling Psychology Helping people with problems of everyday life such as marital problems, school problems, and family crises.

  Educational Psychology Teaching and research on teaching and learning in

educational systems, concerned with helping students learn.

School Psychology Testing and diagnosing gifted and learning disabled students, mostly in the school setting.

Social Psychology Teaching and research about social influences on individuals.

Industrial/Organizational Teaching, research or program design concerning business and industry; seeks to make the workplace a

more satisfying environment for employees and managers

 

The Major Subfields of Psychology cont…Specialty Typical Activities Experimental and Cognitive Teaching and research on human information

processing such as perception, learning, motivation, language, and memory.

Engineering Psychology Researching about the interactions between humans and tools, equipment, and systems.

  Community Psychology Providing activities in the community that will

benefit the community; may work in a mental health or social welfare agency.

  Developmental Psychology Studying human development (physical, emotional,

cognitive, and social changes) from conception to death.  Physiological Psychology, Examining biological approaches to psychology. Biopsychology,Neuroscience

Health Psychology Relating to health and medicine or taking place in hospitals.

 

The Major Subfields of Psychology cont…Specialty Typical Activities Comparative and Involving the analysis of animal Animal Psychology behaviour and the comparison of different species.

Forensic Psychology Involving the legal system, prisons, and court systems.

Methodologists and Conducting experiments and analyzing Statistical Consultants data in research settings.

Sports Psychology Applying principles to athletic activity and exercise.

Personality Psychology Focusing on the traits that differentiate one person from another.