ChapterS 1 & 2

1. ChapterS 1 & 2 Introduction to Psychology & Research Methods

2. Learning Objectives • Define and Describe Psychology • Understand the modern definition • Distinguish types of psychologists • Understand the history of scientific psychology • Mind-body problem • Contrast different viewpoints in the origin of knowledge • Explain development of schools of psychology • Understand modern psychology • Understand how research is conducted

3. What Is Psychology? • Book definition: • The scientific study of behavior and the mind • The scientific study of the behavior of individuals and mental processes. • Behavior • Mind and body

4. Science Of Psychology • Psychological knowledge is based on the scientific method • Emphasis on observable data • Mental processes - observable? • Black box analogy • Ask – reliability • Open – parts not mechanism • Observe - bias

5. Goals Of Psychology • Describe • Observe and describe • Objectivity • Operational definition • Many terms lack scientific precision • Operational = measurable

6. Goals Of Psychology • Explain • Hypotheses • Inferences or logical assumptions • Intervening variables • Requires a test • Revise hypotheses

7. Goals Of Psychology • Predict • Important and also source of criticism • Theory • Never completely proven • Enough evidence to support

8. Goals Of Psychology • Control • May frighten some people • Clinical psychology – therapy • Marketing, and applied fields

9. What Do Psychologists Do? • Clinical psychology • Majority of psychologists • Apply psychological theory to mental problems • Diagnosis and treatment • Counseling psychology • Clinical psychology • Psychiatry

10. What Do Psychologists Do? • Applied psychology • Not involved with psychological disorders • Apply psychological knowledge in the real world • Industrial-Organizational psychology • School psychology • Human factors psychology

11. What Do Psychologists Do? • Research psychology • Conduct experiments to learn about behavior and the mind • Work mainly in research and educational settings • Biopsychology • Cognitive psychology • Developmental psychology

12. Roots of Psychology • Relatively young field • No clear record from ancient past • Ancient Greece • Not to say that other civilizations did not have this knowledge

13. Roots of Psychology Philosophy • Plato • Introspection • Rationalism • Arguments and reason to explain human behavior

14. Roots of Psychology Physiology • Aristotle • Observation and study of function of human body • Empiricism • Currently: Balance

15. Schools of Psychology • Structuralism • Wilhelm Wundt • Physiologist • First psychology lab in Leipzig • Introspection • Elements of immediate experience • Table of elements

16. Schools of Psychology • Functionalism • William James – American • Also introspective but functional • Adaptive nature of psychology • Influenced by Darwin

17. Schools of Psychology • Behaviorism • Self-observation is unreliable • Science requires objectivity • Emphasis on the environment

18. Schools of Psychology • Psychoanalysis • Sigmund Freud • Unconscious • Humanism • Positive aspects • Motivated to do better

19. Modern Perspectives • Biological Perspective • Brain function • Biochemical activity • Evolutionary psychology • Chapters 3, 6, 5

20. Modern Perspectives • Cognitive Perspective • Mental processes = thoughts, perceptions, and memories • Structuralism (components of thought) • Functionalism (adaptive purpose of thought) • Chapters 7, 8, 9

21. Modern Perspectives • Behavioral Perspective • More emphasis on environment, consciousness is not directly observable • Learning and reinforcement • Determinism • Chapter 7

22. Modern Perspectives • Sociocultural Perspective • Influence of others and culture • How does our behavior depend on the society we belong to? • Cross-cultural • Chapter 13

23. Modern Perspectives • Personality/Clinical Perspectives • Psychoanalytic • Unconscious motives and conflict • Humanistic • Emphasis on human ability • Healthy urges and strive for self-actualization • Chapters 6, 12, 14, 15