What Is Psychology?

2. What Is Psychology?

3. How Is Psychology Defined? What is psychology? • ** Psychology is the scientific study of: • Behavior – outward or overt actions and reactions • Mental processes – internal, covert activity of our minds

4. ** What Are the Goals of Psychology? Control How can it be changed? Explanation Why is it happening? Theory-general explanation Prediction Will it happen again? Description What is happening?

5. What Is Structuralism? EXPERIENCE • First psychology lab in Germany (1879) • Mind consists of basic elements analyzed via • ** objective introspection – process of objectively examining and measuring ones thoughts and mental activities THOUGHT EMOTION

6. What Is Structuralism? Edward Titchener • Introspect about physical objects AND thoughts • “Tell me about things that are yellow.”

7. What Is Structuralism? • Margaret Washburn: • First woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (1894) • Author of The Animal Mind

8. What Is Functionalism? William James • “Stream of thought” vs. elements of mind • Focus on adaptation, living, working, playing – functioning in the real world

9. Gestalt Psychology • “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” • ** Gestalt: “An organized whole” • Gestalt psychologists: People naturally seek out patterns (“wholes”) in available sensory information.

10. What Is Psychoanalysis? Sigmund Freud • Neurologist in late 18th century Vienna • ** Psychoanalysis: insight therapy for fear and anxiety • Unconscious • Early childhood

11. Fear is learned when a neutral stimulus is paired with an aversive stimulus like a loud noise. Watson believed fears are learned via experience. Behaviorism - Of Babies and Rats

12. Modern Psychological Perspectives • The seven modern perspectives: Even in the 21st century, there isn’t one single perspective that is used to explain all human behavior and mental processes. Bio-psychological Behavioral Sociocultural Evolutionary Humanistic Psychodynamic Cognitive

13. Psychodynamic Perspective • Focus on the unconscious and early development, not sex Psychodynamic

14. ** Behaviorism- focuses on observable behavior only Focus on operant conditioning, punishment, and reinforcement Behaviorial

15. Humanistic Perspective • People have the freedom to choose their own destiny. Humanistic

16. Cognitive Perspective • Includes: • Memory • Intelligence • Perception • Problem solving • Learning Cognitive

17. Sociocultural Perspective • Relationship between social behavior and culture Sociocultural

18. Biopsychological Perspective • Attributes human and animal behavior to biological events Bio-psychological

19. Evolutionary Perspective • Biological, mental traits shared by all humans Evolutionary Charles Darwin

20. Psychological Professionals and Areas of Specialization

21. Types of Psychological Professionals • Psychiatrist – Medical Doctor who has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders • Medical Model – When in doubt cut it out or drug it. • Psychologist • Psychiatric social worker

22. Work Settings and Subfields of Psychology Source: (a) Tsapogas et al., 2006, (b) Hoffer et al., 2007)

23. The Scientific Method 5 Report, revise, replicate Draw conclusions 4 Test 3 Hypothesize 2 Perceive 1

24. Descriptive Methods • Naturalistic Observation • Laboratory Observation • Involves watching animals or people in their natural environments • Lack of control • Involves watching animals or people in an artificial but controlled situation, such as a laboratory • 1.7 How are naturalistic and laboratory settings used to describe behavior, and what are some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with these settings?

25. Descriptive Methods • Case Studies • Surveys • Detailed investigations of one subject • Information gained cannot be applied to other cases • Ask standardized questions of large groups of people that represent a sample of the population of interest • Respondents may not always tell the truth or remember information correctly • 1.8 How are case studies and surveys used to describe behavior, and what are some drawbacks to each of these methods?

26. From Population to Sample • Representative sample: Randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects Population Representative Sample

27. Education Health Smoking Income Variable 2 Variable 1 Finding Relationships: Correlation Correlation: A measure of the relationship between two variables ** CORRELATION DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION!!!

28. Show graph Finding Relationships: Correlation +.70 A A A A $ $ $ $ Positive correlation: Variables related in same direction

29. Negative correlation: Variables related in opposite direction Show graph Finding Relationships: Correlation -.70

30. Experiments • ** Independent variable (IV) – variable that is manipulated by the experimenter. • Independent and Dependent Variables (e.g., type of dog and level of fear) • Experimental and control groups

31. Experiments • ** Placebo effect • The phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior. • Single-blind • Experimenter effects & “double blinding” • Quasi-experimental designs

32. Ethics in Psychological Research • Protection of rights and well-being of participants • Informed consent • Justification when deception is used • Right of participants to withdraw at any time • Protection of participants from harm • Confidentiality • Debriefing participants at the end of the study • Correcting any undesirable consequences that may result

33. Ethics in Animal Research • Animal research: Answers questions we could never answer with human research • Focus is on avoiding unnecessary pain/suffering • Animals used in approximately 7% of psychological studies

34. Critical Thinking • ** Critical thinking: Making reasoned (logical and well thought out) judgments about claims • “Truths” • Evidence • Authorities • Open minds • - Albert Einstein, 1941 • “science without religion • is lame, religion without • science is blind”