What is Psychology?

What is Psychology?Psychology definedPsychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processBehavior: any action an organism does (observable)Mental process: internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior (perceptions, thoughts, dreams, beliefs, feelings)

Psychology beginningsConfucius: Power of ideas and educated mindSocrates (philosopher) & Plato: The mind is in control and knowledge is innate (born with us)Aristotle (Student of Plato): Used careful observations and believed knowledge is not preexisting and instead it grows from experiences.Descartes: Through dissection of animals, discovered that nerves (he thought was hollow) control our reflexes (animal spirits flowed through nerves)Francis Bacon: Founder of modern scienceResearched the human mind and its failingsNoticing and remembering to confirm our beliefs

John Locke: Mind at birth is a blank slate (tablua rasa)Empiricism: knowledge originates in experience and that science should rely on observation and experimentation.

First Psychological laboratoryWundt: Atoms of the mindFirst PSYCHOLGOICAL Experiment involving reaction time.1 hearing.2 seeing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr7O41r8uEI

Structuralism & FunctionalismStructuralism (Titchener): Using introspection (looking inward) to explore the elemental structure of the mind (describe a rose)Wasnt extremely successful, Often we dont know why we feel the way we feel.Functionalism (William James): How mental and behavioral process functionhow we adapt, survive, and flourishSenses and feelings, emotions, willpower, habits, memoriesWhat are the functions of each body part and how does that help us?

Women Make HistoryMary Calkins: First woman president for the APA (1905). She was denied her Ph. D from Harvard.Margaret Floy Washburn: First woman to officially receive a Ph. D in psychology.2nd female APA president (1921)The Animal MindExperimental psychologist (explore behavior and thinking with experiments)

Psychologys Approaches/PerspectivesBiologicalEvolutionaryPsychodynamicBehavioralCognitiveHumanisticSocial-cultural

Nature vs. NurtureBiology vs. experiencehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwnBj0mk7Y8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd5Y3-F79LY&feature=related

Psychologys SubfieldsPsychometrics Developmental PsychologyEducational PsychologyPersonality PsychologySocial PsychologyIndustrial-organizational PsychologyHuman Factors PsychologyCounseling PsychologyClinical PsychologyPsychiatry