In your Interactive Notebook: Unit.Day 1.2

Psychological Perspectives

• Today’s OBJECTIVE(S) -- WRITE THESE DOWN:

– I can distinguish between the biological, cognitive, behavioral, and sociocultural perspectives in psychology

• DAILY COMMENTARY– What makes you you?

Apply your knowledge from last nights reading.

• TURN IN:– Place Discussion Questions in box– Signed Parent letters

ON YOUR DESK: 1) reading journal 2) Daily commentary notebook3) Laptop (at desk but closed)

Unit 1 ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: What is (and isn’t) Psychology?How do psychologists conduct reliable and ethical research?

Today’s Discussion Questions

• Make sure your name is on the questions you submit, and that your question is unique. – This will be factored into your grade.

DQ’S, Updates & Reminders

• BIG PICTURE– Friday Quizzes

• August 30 & September 6

– Projects Due• Thursday, September 5th

– Experiment Project

– Unit Exam: • Monday, September 9th

• Tonight’s Homework: – Reading notes on

“Power of Birth Order” article• Posted to class website• Notify me NOW if you

need a print copy

4

Psychology’s RootsPrescientific Psychology

www.bodydharm

a.org/photo/buddha.jpg

In India, Buddha wondered how sensations and perceptions combined to form ideas.

5

Prescientific PsychologySocrates (469-399 B.C.) and Plato (428-348

B.C.)

Socrates and his student Plato believed the mind was separate from the body, the mind

continued to exist after death, and ideas were innate.

Socr

ate

s

Pla

tohttp

://www.law.umkc.e

du

http

://www.law.umkc.e

du

6

Prescientific PsychologyAristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Aristotle suggested that the soul is not separable from the body and that

knowledge (ideas) grow from experience.

http

://faculty.w

ashington.edu

7

Prescientific PsychologyRene Descartes (1596-1650)

Descartes, like Plato, believed in soul (mind)-body separation, but wondered how

the immaterial mind and physical body communicated.

http

://www.sp

acerad.co

m

http

://ocw

.mit.e

du

8

Prescientific PsychologyFrancis Bacon (1561-1626)

Bacon is one of the founders of modern science, particularly the experimental

method.

http

://www.iep.utm.edu

9

Prescientific PsychologyJohn Locke (1632-1704)

Locke held that the mind was a tabula rasa, or blank sheet, at birth, and experiences

wrote on it.

biografieonline.it/im

g/bio/Jo

hn_Locke

.jpg

10

Psychological Science is BornStructuralism (Wundt & Titchener)

focused on trying to break larger mental processes into component parts to better

understand them

Wu

nd

t (18

32-1

920)

Titch

ner (1

867

-1927)

11

Psychological Science is BornFunctionalism (William James)

• Opposed structuralism; tried to offer systemic explanations of mental processes

• Focused on purposes behind consciousness & behavior

Jam

es (1

842-1

910)

Mary C

alk

ins

12

Psychology Today

We define psychology today as the scientific study of behavior (what we

do) and mental processes (inner thoughts and feelings).

Major Questions in Psychology

• Nature vs. Nurture– Twin & adoption studies

• Stability vs. Change

14

Psychological Science is BornThe Unconscious Mind

Sigmund Freud and his followers emphasized the importance of the

unconscious mind and its effects on human behavior.

Fre

ud

(1856

-1939)

Psychological Perspectives

• Different psychologists take different approaches to explaining human behavior and mental processes. – 4 primary schools of thought:

• Behavioral• Biological• Cognitive• Sociocultural

16

The Behavioral PerspectiveBehaviorism

• Studying behavior is the best way to understand the braino Watson & Skinner are key behaviorists o They applied the scientific method to

understand what causes humans to act in specific ways

Watso

n (1

878-1

958)

Skin

ner (1

904-1

990

)

Behaviorism

Behaviorism

• By the 1950s, Psychoanalysis seemed very unscientific.

• Behaviorists will bring science back into psychology, even if they overdo it a little.

• Behaviorism is NOT interested in the unconscious mind since it cannot be observed in a laboratory.

Very telling quote!!

• Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select -- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.--John Watson, Behaviorism, 1930

Evolutionary Psychology• Evolutionary psychology examines

psychological traits — such as memory, perception, or language

• It seeks to identify which human psychological traits are evolved adaptations.– functional products of natural selection or sexual

selection– Attractiveness

Biological Perspective

• Most respected right now.• They focus on our brain,

nervous system, neurotransmitters and hormones to explain our behaviors.

Biological Perspective

• “I don’t know why you are depressed or anxious. But here is some medicine!”

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Perspective

• It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.

• Cognitive therapy is about changing the maladaptive thoughts of a person.

Cognitive perspective on depression

• We are depressed because we are irrational. Our expectations are too high and misplaced. We want everyone to love us and accept us. We want every thing to go our way. We stay angry about stuff that happened a long time ago. – WE MUST CHANGE THE WAY WE THINK TO BE

HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL.

Cognitive Therapy

• Cognitive therapy is about changing the maladaptive (bad) thoughts.

• Albert Ellis, Aaron Beck and William Glasser are famous for reality therapy. – They challenged his patients to ask, “Are my

thoughts realistic or rational?” – Cognitive therapy also “educates” the client,

teaches him/her proper behaviors/thoughts

Social-Cultural Perspective

• Says that much of your behavior and your feelings are dictated by the culture you live in.

• Some cultures kiss each other when greeting, some just bow.

• Does your culture place value on individual or the group?

Humanistic• In the 1960s in reaction to

psychoanalysis and behaviorism. • Focused on each individual’s potential

and stressed the importance of growth and self-actualization.

• The fundamental belief of humanistic psychology was that people are innately good.

• We are not rats in a cage! We are not id-driven animals! We are humans with free will.

29

Psychological Science Develops

Humanistic Psychology

Maslow and Rogers emphasized current environmental influences on our growth

potential and our need for love and acceptance.

Masl

ow

(1908-1

970)

Rog

ers

(19

02-1

987

)http

://facultyw

eb.co

rtland.edu

http

://www.ca

rlrogers.d

k

30

Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis

Perspectives Activity

1. Log into edmodo and complete the assignment posted for today. – You may work with a partner

• While online, please also complete the Student information sheet. This is found at www.mrggpsychology.weebly.com

31

Partner Activity

• How might each scenario be interpreted according to the four major perspectives (biological, sociocultural, cognitive, and behavioral)– A repeat drunk driver– A student who is intelligent but does not apply

themself in school– The decision by people to play football despite the

serious threats of brain injury

DQ’S, Updates & Reminders

• BIG PICTURE– Friday Quizzes

• August 30 & September 6

– Projects Due• Thursday, September 5th

– Experiment Project

– Unit Exam: • Monday, September 9th

• Tonight’s Homework: – Reading notes on

“Power of Birth Order” article• Posted to class website• Notify me NOW if you

need a print copy

34

Psychology’s Current Perspectives

Perspective Focus Sample Questions

Neuroscience How the body and brain enables emotions?

How are messages transmitted in the body? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?

Evolutionary How the natural selection of traits the promotes the perpetuation of one’s genes?

How does evolution influence behavior tendencies?

Behavior genetics

How much our genes and our environments influence our individual differences?

To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment?

35

Psychology’s Current Perspectives

Perspective Focus Sample Questions

Psychodynamic

(Freud)

How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts?

How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas?

Behavioral

(Pavlov, Watson, Skinner)

How we learn observable responses?

How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking?

36

Psychology’s Current Perspectives

Perspective Focus Sample Questions

Cognitive How we encode, process, store and retrieve information?

How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Problem solving?

Social-cultural

(Rogers, Maslow, Bandura)

How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures?

How are we — as Africans, Asians, Australians or North Americans – alike as members of human family? As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ?