Psychology

Unit 1 Review

Psychology

• The scientific study of human thought processes and behavior

Goals of Psychology

• Describe, predict, explain, and control behavior

Empirical Science

• A science in which assumptions are supported by evidence

Behavioral Psychology

• Only looks at overt or observable behavior

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

Cognitive Psychologist

• Focus on mental representations of the world, memories, problem solving strategies, biases, and prejudices

• Ex: Conducting surveys, analyzing journals, conducting tests

Satisfactory Theory

• A theory that helps predict behavior

Clinical psychologist

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

Educational psychologist

• employed by school systems to identify and assist students who encounter problems learning ( ex: dyslexia)

Developmental psychologist

• Studies changes ( emotional, physical, cognitive, social) throughout life spans. Tries to answer nature versus nurture question.

Personality psychologists

• Define human traits and influence on human thought process, feelings, and behavior. Explains normal and abnormal behaviors

Social psychologists

• Concerned with nature and causes of individual’s thoughts, feelings, and overt behavior in social situations

Environmental Psychologists

• Study how buildings and cities can be designed to better serve human needs

Ex: working with city planners

Clinical child psychologists

• Help children overcome and adjust to problems ( much different from those who help adults). Works with parents and teachers.

Forensic 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…)

Nature

• Heredity

• Biological makeup

Nurture

• Environment

Pseudopsychology

• phony, unscientific psychology masquerading as the real thing

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

Confirmation Bias

• The tendency to attend to evidence that compliments and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not.

Experimental psychology

• Does basic research on psychological processes

Teaching psychologists

• Psychologists whose primary job is teaching typically at high schools, colleges, or universities

Applied psychologists

• Psychologists who use the knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems.

Wilhelm Wundt

• Credited with the “birth of psychology”

Aristotle

• First author of a book about psychology

Structuralism

• Wilhelm Wundt• Devoted to uncovering the basic structures that

make up the mind.• 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 Research: Present subjects with sights and sounds and describe sensations and feelings

Functionalism

• Emphasizes use or function of the mind rather than elements of experience

• Experiences permit us to function and adapt to our environments

• Looks at how individuals adapt or fail or adapt

Behaviorism

• Limits studies to measurable events

Focuses on…

• Response- a movement or other observable reaction to stimuli.

• Stimuli- something causing or regarded as causing a response

Gestalt Psychology

• 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.

Ex: Man running in a dark alley vs. on a track

Psychoanalysis

• School of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud that emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives, past experiences and conflicts as determinants of human behavior.

Biological View

• Behavior is determined by brain structure and chemicals, and by inborn responses to external cues for survival and reproduction.

Developmental View

• Behavior is determined by the interaction of nature and nurture

Cognitive View

• Behavior is a result of mental interpretations of our experience

Psychodynamic View

• Sees behavior as arising from unconscious needs, conflicts, repressed memories, and childhood experiences.

Humanist View

• Focuses on self-concept, perceptions, and interpersonal relationships, and on the need for personal growth

Behavioral View

• Believes we respond to stimulus cues and to our history of rewards and punishments

Sociocultural view

• Sees behavior as heavily influenced by culture, by social norms and expectations, and by social learning

Evolutionary/Sociobiological View

• Sees behavior as determined by natural selection

Trait View

• Behavior results from each person’s unique combination of traits

The Scientific Method

1. Formulate a question

2. Hypothesis

3. Test Hypothesis

4. Analyze Results

Naturalistic Observation Method

• A scientific method that observes organisms in their natural environments

• Use unobtrusive, or non-interfering measures

The Survey Method

• A method of scientific investigation in which a large sample of people is questioned about their attitudes and behaviors.

-questionnaires-interviews-examine public records

• “Know thyself”

Blind Experiments

• Subject unaware if he or she has received or not received treatment

Double Blind Experiments

• Neither the subjects nor the persons measuring the results knows who received the treatment

Stump the Chump?