What do Psychologists Do?

Clinical Psychologists

Help with anxiety, depression, relationships, drug abuse, weight issues etc…

Help clients overcome and adjust to their problems

Cannot prescribe medicine

Counseling Psychologists

Help people make difficult decisions about their careers or making friends

Help to clarify goals and resolve conflict

School Psychologist

Help students with problems that interfere with learning.

May give tests to identify learning disabled students or academically gifted students

Educational Psychologists

Help with course planning and instructional methods

May help create standardized tests (SAT)

Developmental Psychologist

Study changes that occur throughout a person’s life span. (Physical, emotional, cognitive & social development)

Personality Psychologist

Identify characteristics, or traits

Interested in why people have certain personality traits.

Social Psychologists

Concerned with people’s behavior in social situations

Usually focus on external influences for behavior

Experimental Psychologists

Usually biologically based experiments (nervous system, sensation, & perception)

Others

Industrial/organizational, environmental, consumer, forensic, & health psychologists.

The History of Psychology

Roots from Ancient Greece:Early explanations for behavior: punishment from the gods.Hippocrates:1st to say behavior is caused by abnormalities in our biology.Socrates: Introspection- “looking within” to understand your thoughts and feelings.

Aristotle: Association-experiences often remind us of similar experiences in the past.

Example: Seeing the face of a loved one makes us feel secure

Believed that people were motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain

The Middle Ages

Common belief that mental illness was a sign of being demon possessed.

“Tests” were done to prove thisExample: Water-float tests.

The Birth of Modern Science

Scientific Revolution gave rise to modern psychology.

Using laboratories to study behavior using the scientific method.

Wilhelm Wundt

Founder of structuralism

Structuralism: we experience the world objectively (sight, sound) and subjectively (emotions, thoughts)

William James

Founder of Functionalism

Functionalism: how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment.

John B. Watson

Founder of behaviorism and defined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior

B.F. Skinner

Reinforcement: if an animal is reinforced, or rewarded, for an action, it is more likely to perform that action again in the future

The Gestalt School

Gestalt means “shape” or “form”

Argued that humans see things as a whole not in parts.

Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis: importance of unconscious motives and internal conflicts in determining human behaviorGained understanding of human behavior through patientsBelieved that the unconscious was sexual and aggressive and controlling conscious behavior

Biological Perspective

Emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior.Connection between the events in the brain, behavior, & mental process.Hormones: Affect functions like growth & digestionGenes: deal with heredity, influence personality, traits, psychological health, & various behavior patterns.

Humanistic Perspective

Stresses human capacity for self-fulfillment & the importance of consciousness, self awareness, and the capacity to make choices.Free to choose our own behaviorView people as basically goodExplores feelings, management of negative impulses, & realization of potential.

Cognitive Perspective

Emphasizes the role that thoughts play in determining behavior.

Cognitive psychologists study mental processes to understand human nature.

People’s behavior is influenced by their values, perception, & choices.

Evolutionary Perspective

Focuses on the evolution of behavior & mental processes

Charles Darwin believed physical & behavioral traits can be inherited which can help us to survive.

Evolutionary psychologists believe that our inherited tendencies influence how we act.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Focuses on the thought that human behavior is influenced by unconscious forces & early childhood experiences.

Pent up aggressive impulses demand and outlet. (bottled up anger causes future explosions)

Learning Perspective

Emphasizes the effect of experience on behavior

Environmental influences, learning habits through repetition & reinforcement

Sociocultural Perspective

Studies the influences of ethnicity, gender, culture, & socioeconomic status on behavior & mental processes

Chapter 2

Section 1: Conducting Research

Ask a Question: based on daily experience, psychological theory, folklore and common knowledge.

Form a hypothesis: an educated guess on what you think the outcome will be.

Test the hypothesisGather information, examine info, is info sufficient to test hypothesis?

Analyze results of test: What do the findings mean?

Draw a conclusion: was the hypothesis correct? Can it be replicated?

ACTIVITY

Create a poster that uses the first letter of each step.Create a catchy saying that will help you remember the order.You must take up the entire paper, it must have one drawing relevant to the saying, colorful, no drug or sexual references, write the steps over at the bottom of the page.

Surveys

Gathering Information by asking people directly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pf70HglUMYA

Population and samples

Target population: whole group you want to study or describe.

Sample: only part of the target population is sampled

Random Sample

Random sampling: individuals are selected by chance from the target population.

Stratified Sample

Stratified sample: subgroups in the population are represented proportionally in the sample.

Volunteer Bias

Bias: a predisposition to a certain point of view

Volunteer bias: they often have a different outlook from people who do not volunteer for research studies.

Methods of observation

Testing method: Intelligence, aptitude, & personality tests

Case-study: an in depth investigation of an individual or a small group.

Longitudinal method: researchers select a group of participants and then observe those participants over a period of time.

Naturalistic-Observation Method: studying something in its natural setting.

****This type of method only describes, not explains****

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hISRlatcmX0

Laboratory-Observation method: observe behavior in a lab rather than in the field

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ

Analyzing Observations

Correlation: measure of how closely one thing is related to another.

Positive and Negative Correlations

Positive correlations: as one variable goes up, the other variable also goes up. (also, if both go down)

Negative correlation: as one variable goes up, the other variable goes down.

Correlational Limits

Correlation describes relationships. It does not reveal cause and effect.

Experimental Method

Variables: factors that can vary, or change.

Independent variable: the factor that researchers manipulate so they can determine its effect.

Dependent variable: depends on something----The independent variable.

Experimental and Control Groups

Experimental Group: receive the treatment.

Control group: do not receive treatment.

Placebo Effect

Placebo: substance or treatment that has no effect apart from a person’s belief in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHtSD4oU2Ro

Single-Blind & Double-Blind Studies

Single-Blind: participants do not know whether they are in the experimental group or the control group.

Double-Blind: participants and experimenters are unaware of who receives the treatment.

Ethics

Ethics are standards for proper and responsible behavior.

Confidentiality: records are private between the psychologist and patient

Informed Consent: people agree, or consent, to participate after given a general overview of the experiment.

Research with Animals

No ethical guidelines in place for testing animals.