Note 1 What is Psychology

8/21/2019 Note 1 What is Psychology

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Note 1: What is psychology?

The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are

afected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external

environment.

Empirical: Relying on evidence gathered by careul observation,

experimentation, or measurement

Learning objectives

. ! "ow #psychobabble$ difers rom serious psychology

.% ! &hat’s wrong with psychologists’ non'scienti(c competitors, such as

astrologers and psychics

Which is correct?

)nhappy memories can be #repressed$ and then accurately recalled years later,

as i they had been recorded in perect detail in the brain.

• True

• *alse

&hich is correct+ost women sufer rom the emotional symptoms o -.

• True

• *alse

&hich is correct+-olicies o abstinence rom alcohol reduce rates o alcoholism.

• True

• *alse

&hich is correct+/ -laying classical music to an inant will ma0e the child become

smarter.

• True

• *alse

Learning objectives

.1 ! &hat it means to thin0 critically

.2 ! &hy not all opinions are created e3ual

.4 ! 5ight guidelines or evaluating psychological claims

Thin0ing critically about -sychology/ 6ritical thin0ing



The ability and willingness to assess claims and ma0e objective judgments on

the basis o well'supported reasons rather than emotion and anecdote

6ritical thin0ing guidelines

7s0 3uestions8 be willing to wonder

9e(ne your terms

5xamine the evidence

7naly:e assumptions and biases

7void emotional reasoning

9on’t oversimpliy

6onsider other interpretations

Tolerate uncertainty

Thin0ing critically ! *ind the ;aw

<n a research proposal, a student said that he was going to do research on

#meditation and mental illness.$

7s0 3uestions8 be willing to wonder

9e(ne your terms

5xamine the evidence

7naly:e assumptions and biases

7void emotional reasoning

9on’t oversimpliy

6onsider other interpretations

Tolerate uncertainty

Apply what you know

=ecause we have never been visited by extraterrestrials, and have had no

communication rom outer space, we can saely assume that intelligent lie

exists only on our own planet.

• >iolates critical thin0ing guidelines

• 9oes not violate critical thin0ing guidelines

Apply what you know

<t is pretty obvious that smo0ing marijuana causes people to crave more potent

drugs, such as cocaine or heroine. tatistics show that almost all the people who

become addicted to drugs smo0ed marijuana beore they began using more

potent drugs.

• >iolates critical thin0ing guidelines

• 9oes not violate critical thin0ing guidelines

Learning objectives

.? ! The lesson o phrenology or modern psychology



.@ ! "ow and when psychology became a ormal discipline

.A ! Three early schools o psychology

*orerunners o modern psychology

=irth o modern psychology/ <n A@B, the (rst psychological laboratory was

oCcially established in Leip:ig, Dermany, by &ilhelm &undt.

<ntrospection/ ethod by which individuals careully observe, analy:e, and

describe their own experiences

-sychology’s past/ Three early psychologies

1. tructuralism!. "unctionalism

#. $sychoanalysis%. tructuralism

5arly approach that emphasi:ed the analysis o immediate experience into basic

elements

<nterested in what happens

"unctionalism

5arly approach that emphasi:ed the unction or purpose o behavior and

consciousness

<nterested in how and why something happens.*unctionalists broadened (eld opsychology to include the study o children, animals, religious experiences, and

stream o consciousness.

$sychoanalysis

7 theory o personality and a method o psychotherapy, originally ormulated by

igmund *reud

5mphasi:es unconscious motives and con;icts

Learning objectives

.B ! The (ve major perspectives in psychology

.E ! &hy the psychodynamic perspective is the #thumb on the hand o

psychology$

. ! "ow humanism and eminism have in;uenced psychology

ajor psychological perspectives

=iological perspective

Learning perspective

6ognitive perspective

ociocultural perspective



-sychodynamic perspective The biological perspective

-sychological approach that ocuses on how bodily events afect behavior,

eelings, and thoughts

&his perspective involves

"ormones

=rain chemistry

"eredity

5volutionary in;uences

The learning perspective

-sychological approach that is concerned with how the environment and

experience afect a person’s For nonhuman animal’sG actions

This perspective involves

'ehaviorism

ocial'cognitive learning theories

The cognitive perspective

-sychological approach that emphasi:es what goes on in people’s heads


ocial'cognitive learning theories

The sociocultural perspective

-sychological approach that emphasi:es social and cultural orces outside the

individual


ocial psychology or the study o rules, roles, groups, and relationships

6ultural psychology or the study o culturalnorms, values, and expectations

&hat do you thin0+

elissa is a psychologist who studies the phenomenon in which people are less

li0ely help out in situations when they are in groups rather than by themselves.

&hat type o psychologist is she+

Learning

6ognitive



ociocultural

The psychodynamic perspective

-sychological approach that emphasi:es unconscious dynamics within the

individual, such as inner orces, con;icts, or the movement o instinctual energy


)nconscious thoughts, desires, con;icts

"umanist psychology

-sychological approach that emphasi:es personal growth and the achievement

o human potential, rather than the scienti(c understanding o behavior

This approach

Rejected behaviorism and psychoanalysis

5mphasi:ed creativity and achieving potential

&hat do you 0now+

&hich psychological approach emphasi:es personal growth and creativity+

ociocultural

6ognitive

-sychodynamic

"umanistic

*eminist psychology

-sychological approach analy:ing the in;uence o social ine3uities on gender

relations and on the behavior o the two sexes

This approach

Recogni:ed years o male bias in data collection and psychotherapy

Huestions the use o research in justiying women’s lower status or elevating

women’s status Female biasG

Iour turn



The psychological perspective that emphasi:es the deep, internal causes o

people’s behavior is/

. =iological perspective

%. Learning perspective

1. 6ognitive perspective

2. -sychodynamic perspective

4. ociocultural perspective

Iour turn

The psychological perspective that emphasi:es the deep, internal causes o

people’s behavior is/

. =iological perspective

%. Learning perspective

1. 6ognitive perspective

2. -sychodynamic perspective

4. ociocultural perspective

Learning objectives

.% ! &hy you can’t assume that all therapists are psychologists, or that all

psychologists are therapists

.1 ! The three major areas o psychologists’ proessional activities

.2 ! The diference between a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist

7cademicJresearch psychologists

Research in areas o basic or applied psychology

5xamples/

5xperimental psychologists



5ducational psychologists

9evelopmental psychologists

<ndustrialJorgani:ational psychologists

-sychometric psychologists

&hat 9o Iou Know+

-sychological practitioners/ 6ounseling psychologists help people deal with

problems associated with everyday lie.

chool psychologists wor0 with parents, teachers, and students to enhance

student perormance.

6linical psychologists diagnose, treat, and study mental or emotional problems.

6linical psychologists are not

-sychotherapists

7nyone who does any type o psychotherapy

$sychoanalysts

<ndividuals who receive training in psychoanalysis

-sychologists in other settings

ports,6onsumer issues,7dvertising,Mrgani:ational problems,5nvironmental

issues,-ublic policy,Mpinion polls,ilitary training,7nimal behavior

Legal issues

&hat areas do -sychology undergraduates pursue+

&hat -sychology can do or you

a0e you a more inormed person

• atisy your curiosity about human nature

• "elp you increase your control over your lie

• "elp you on the job

• Dive you insights into political and social issues

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Note 1 What is Psychology