What is Psychology?The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Goals of psychologyDescribe, explain, predict, and control behavior and mental processes

Some Areas of interest in psychology

EmotionMotivationLearningThoughtIntelligenceGrowth and developmentPersonalityStressAbnormal behaviorSexual behaviorSensation and perception

BehavioristsA type of psychologist who

only looks at overt or observable behavior

All actions that behaviorists study are public and can be measured by simple observation.

Ex: observing actions such as pressing a lever, turning right or left, eating, etc…

Cognitive psychologistsFocus on mental representations of the

world, memories, problem solving strategies, biases, and prejudices

Ex: Conducting surveys, analyzing journals, conducting tests

Activity: Cognitive and Behavioral Approaches

For ONE of the scenarios below describe how the two approaches (cognitive and behavioral) could study the situation. Include how they would study the individual, where they would conduct the research, and how they might help the individual.

1. Rupert sees a psychologist for depression.

2. Stuart can barely concentrate at school. Stuart’s parents suspect that he either has a learning disability or is suffering from some form of social anxiety.

3. Spike has a drug addiction. Spike wants to stop using drugs, but feels he cannot stop doing so.

Is Psychology a Science?Yes!

Psychology is not often thought of as a science by the general public. Why?

What makes Psychology a science?Psychologists use the empirical approach

meaning that studies are conducted through careful observations and scientifically based research.

Psychologists also formulate satisfactory theories

Satisfactory theoriesTheories that help predict behavior

Ex: A satisfactory theory of hunger will let us predict when people will eat and not eat

Ex: Actual versus assumed effects of alcohol

If our observations can not be explained by a theory or predicted by the theory we should consider revising our theory.

Psychology and Critical Thinking

Pseudopsychology: phony, unscientific psychology masquerading as the real thing

Activity: Write the following passage on a piece of paperIn a generic sense, everyone is a

psychologist. We all study people, analyze their behavior, try to understand what they are thinking and feeling, and attempt to predict what they do next.

HandwritingMany anglesRhythmic writing

covering the whole pageStrange ending of

letters"Invented" lettersTwisted lettersBroken lettersCorrections, especially

"artistic corrections”Abundance of

punctuation marks or lack of them

Slow writing

Tense handwritingExtremely strong

pressureNarrownessExtremely wide spaces

between words or identical to the spaces between letters

Left slantTense strokesLarge or extreme height

differentialsAt times - a weak strokePeculiarities and

exaggeration

PseudopsychologyExamples: mysterious powers of the mind, supernatural influences, astrology, graphology, fortune telling

Our GoalDistinguish between real and

pseudopsychology

Common sense is not enough

“Common sense has led to the belief in the superiority of racial groups, demonic possessions as causes of mental illnesses, lobotomies, and the idea that there are just bad people and there is nothing that can be done to help these individuals.”

Examples of Pseudopsychology

Does this describe you? Would you want this to describe you?Lives life head first. Noted for courage and leadership

qualities, primarily because you are nearly always ready for action.

The need for excitement pushes you into new territory -- and as long as you are ahead of others while demonstrating confidence, chances are that they will follow you.

As a leader of the pack you fight for what you believe to be important.

Your courage is more of a commitment to face your fears and overcome them.

How can we avoid pseudopsychology?Detect confirmation biases (the tendency

to attend to evidence that compliments and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not)

Analyze methods such as facilitated communication

In other words…Be skeptical, think critically, and ALWAYS seek evidence

Pages 1-2Read the passage on Clever Hans

How has pseudopsychology hurt the field of Psychology?It has diminished public support of legitimate

psychological practices.

In other words, most people don’t know the difference between pseudopsychology and the legitimate practice.

3 branches of Psychological practice (3 way of doing psychology)1. Experimental psychology

2. Teaching Psychology

3. Applied Psychology

Experimental PsychologistsAlso called research psychologists

Job tasks: Conduct the basic research in psychology

Where they work: Typically works at a college or university

Teachers of PsychologyJob tasks: Overlaps with experimental

psychology because most researchers also teach classes at the colleges or universities where they conduct research

Were they work: This group also includes high school teachers, community college teachers, etc… who do not conduct research

Applied PsychologistsJob tasks: Uses knowledge developed by

experimental psychologists to tackle human problems, such as training, equipment design, and psychological treatment.

Where they work: Work in a wide variety of places such as schools, clinics, factories, social service agencies, airports, hospitals, casinos, etc…

Psychiatry versus Psychology

PsychiatryIs a medical specialty

Psychiatrists hold an MD (Doctor of medicine) degrees and have specialized training in the treatment of mental and behavioral problems.

Licensed to prescribe medication and perform other medical procedures

Use the medical perspective

PsychologyPsychologists work in a much broader field,

ecompassing many different specialties. Most have nothing to do with the

diagnosing and treating of mental disorders.

While many hold doctoral degrees, most have no training in medicine

Industrial and Organizational PsychologistsI/O Psychologists

Where/Who: Specialize in modifying the work environment to maximize productivity

Job tasks: May work with developing interviewing and testing procedures, developing training programs, market research, etc…

Sports PsychologistsW/W: Work with athletes to help maximize

their performance

Job tasks: Work with enhancing motivation, controlling emotions under pressure, and planning practice sessions

Engineering PsychologistsW/W: Work at the interface between people

and equipment

Job tasks: May design devices for easy and reliable human use, or try and detect what went wrong with a piece of equipment (human error)

Usually employed in private industry or by the government

School PsychologistsAre experts in problems with teaching and

learning

W/W: Typically work in school districts, where they diagnose learning and behavior problems by consulting with teachers, students, and parents.

Job tasks: Spend a great deal of time administering, scoring, and interpreting psychological tests

Rehabilitation PsychologistsW/W: Work with physicians, nurses,

counselors, and social workers on teams.

Job tasks: Deal with individuals with both physical and mental disorders (stroke, spinal cord injury, alcohol/drug abuse, amputation)

Clinical or Counseling Psychologists

W/W: Help people with psychological problems adjust to the demands of life (ex: anxiety, depression, etc…)

About ½ of all doctoral level psychologists list this as their specialty.

Job Tasks: The clinician would likely have a private practice involving testing and long-term therapy, while the counselor is likely to work at an agency or school and spend fewer sessions with the client

Other Types of Applied PsychologistsDevelopmental- study changes ( emotional,

physical, cognitive, social) throughout life spans. Tries to answer nature versus nurture question.

Personality- define human traits and influence on human thought process, feelings, and behavior. Explains normal and abnormal behaviors

Social- concerned with nature and causes of individual’s thoughts, feelings, and overt behavior in social situations

Nature versus NurtureNature= heredity, our biological make-

up, elements we have no control over

Nurture= environment, how we have been treated and taken care of, how our environment affects us.

Emerging FieldsClinical Child

Psychologists- help children overcome and adjust to problems

Emerging FieldsForensic

Psychologists- apply psychological expertise within the criminal justice system.( expert witnesses, counsel officers on stress, train police in handling suicides, hostage crises, family disputes, etc…)

Where did Psychology come from?Observing

Questioning

Researching

History ContinuedMost historians

credit Wilhelm Wundt ( 1832-1920) with the birth of psychology in 1879.

Established the first psychological laboratory in Germany

StructuralismWilhelm WundtDevoted to uncovering the basic

structures that make up the mind.D: The mind consists of three basic

elements- sensations, feelings, and images- which combine to form experience

Introspection: Reporting one’s own conscious experience

Example of Application: Present subjects with sights and sounds and describe sensations and feelings

FunctionalismWilliam James felt Wundt’s techniques

were far too narrowD: Emphasized use or function of the

mind rather than elements of experience

Experiences permit us to function and adapt to our environments

Example of application: Studying how/why individuals adapt or fail to adapt

*formed the first type of applied psychology

Gestalt PsychologyMax Wertheimer, Wolfgang KohlerHow does perception influence problem

solving?D: Emphasizes the tendency to

organize perceptions into wholes and to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns.

Learning or problem solving is accomplished by insight or the sudden recognition of perceptions.

Examples of application: problem solving through analysis of perception

ExampleThe running stranger

What does Gestalt psychology tell us?The visual world is so complex that the

mind has developed strategies for coping with the confusion.

The mind tries to find the simplest solution to a problem. One of the ways it does this is to form groups of items that have certain characteristics in common.

Studies higher order cognitive processes relative to behaviorism.

“We don’t simply sense the world as it really is, but we perceive it by adding our own interpretations.”

BehaviorismD: Limits studies of humans to solely

observable eventsFocuses on…Response- a movement or other observable

reaction to stimuli.Stimuli- something causing or regarded as

causing a response

Examples of application: simple observation of stimuli and responses

PsychoanalysisD: Founded by Sigmund Freud.

Emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as determinants of human behavior.

Examples of application: hypnosis, free association, talk therapy

ConsciousnessWhat is consciousness?

TheoryThe conscious mind contains information of

which we are aware at any given moment.

Ex: your decision to come to school today was a conscious decision.

Theory continuedOne level down is the pre-conscious ,

which contains the memories and thoughts that are easily recalled, ready to break into consciousness at any moment.

Ex: What is your address?What did you east for breakfast this

morning?What are your parent’s names?

Theory continuedAt the bottom level is the unconscious ,

which contains the personal information of which we are NOT aware: the drives, urges, wishes, and thoughts of all of our past experience, by far the largest receptacle of the psyche.

All these threaten to destabilize the conscious mind if they surface.

Psychoanalytic TechniquesFreud first used hypnosis as a means to find

memories in the unconscious.Some memories were repressed and could

come out under the hypnotic tranceCatharsis: a powerful and often traumatic

transfer of an memory from the unconscious to the conscious.

Psychoanalytic TechniquesFree Association: patients are asked to

continually relate anything which comes into their minds, regardless of how superficially unimportant or potentially embarrassing the memory threatens to be.

This technique assumes that all memories are arranged in a single associative network, and that sooner or later the subject will stumble across the crucial memory.

Psychoanalysis and Freud continuedAddresses popular culture

Ex: emotionally unstable people likely to go on killing spree. A psychoanalyst explains the killing spree as “unconsciously” doing away with mother or father

Ex: Slip of the tongue or Freudian slip

How Psychologists Study BehaviorDoes alcohol cause aggression?What are the effects of aspirin on a fetus?

What are the effects of exercise on anxiety and depression?

Does pornography trigger crimes of violence?

Opinions or Theories?Empirical science- assumptions are

supported by evidence (psychology).

Scientific MethodStep 1: Formulating a Research QuestionDaily observations motivate us to ask these

Step 2: Developing a HypothesisHypothesis- An assumption about behavior

that is tested through research.

Step 3: Testing the HypothesisThrough carefully controlled methods such as

naturalistic observation

Step 4: Drawing conclusions About the HypothesisDrawing conclusions about the accuracy of

the hypothesis with the research findings.

Methods of ObservationCase Study MethodCase Study- A carefully drawn biography

that is done through interviews, questionnaires, and psychological tests

The Survey MethodSurvey- A method of scientific investigation

in which a large sample of people is questioned about their attitudes and behaviors.

-questionnaires-interviews-examine public records

Samples and PopulationsIn surveys and others research methods, the

individuals who are being observed are referred to as a sample. A sample is a segment of a population.

Psychological Research continued

Psychologists also use tests ( intelligence, aptitude, personality) to measure characteristics and traits among the population

These tests can be distorted due to social desirability so psychologists use…

Validity Scales- groups of test items that suggest whether or not the test results are valid ( measure what they are supposed to measure)

The Naturalistic Observation MethodA scientific

method that observes organisms in their natural environments

Use unobtrusive, or non-interfering measures

Blind and Double Blind ExperimentsBlind- Subject unaware if he or she has

received or not received treatment.Ex: Alcohol and aggression- subjects can not

“act” how they think they should.

Double BlindsNeither the subjects nor the persons

measuring the results knows who received the treatment.

Ex: FDA administering new drugs. Some members get placebos, or “sugar pill” while others get actual drug. After trial an impartial panel of judges will decide if there was a difference between the drug and the placebo.