Psych 101 Chapters 1 and 2 1 Prologue to Chapter 1 Our text surveys the basics of psychological principles and shows how these principles can be applied

Psych 101 Chapters 1 and 2 1

Prologue to Chapter 1

Our text surveys the basics of psychological principles and shows how these principles can be applied to solve human problems.

You will find the text covering most areas in psychology but, as this is an introductory course, we will not be able to go into extreme depth with any particular topic.

If you have any questions, ask them!


Psyche and Science = Psychology Definition of psychology

Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes What is science?

realizing problems, making initial observations, hypothesizing, testing hypotheses

What is behavior? any activity which is directly observable

What are mental processes? not directly observable: e.g., thinking, motivation


Psyche and Science = Psychology Goals of psychology

To describe human and animal behavior and mental processes

To understand human and animal behavior and mental processes

To predict human and animal behavior and mental processes

To influence/control human and animal behavior and mental processes


The Many Faces of Psychology

The Early “Psychologists” Although Wilhelm Wundt is usually credited

with formally establishing psychology as a separate scientific discipline, many individuals with diverse interests and talents helped to “found” psychology.

We will look at some of these individuals now



Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchener: The structure of the mind They sought to determine the structure of the

mind through use of analytic introspection Their school of thought is called

“Structuralism” Wundt at the University of Leipzig in 1879;

Titchener in America Structuralism vs Functionalism



William James: The “functions” of consciousness James interested in the functions of

consciousness wrote the first “psychology” textbook in 1890 may have had the first psychology laboratory

in America circa 1876 established “functionalism” as a school of

thought in psychology



Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson: Behaviorism Pavlov received Nobel Prize in 1905 for his work on

salivating dogs and the serendipitious discovery of “classical conditioning”

Watson established “radical behaviorism” circa 1912 in the United States

Both interested in behavior and its precise measurement rather than “consciousness” of Wundt and James



Hermann Ebbinghaus: Studies of Memory Ebbinghaus used experimental methods to

measure memory in the late 1800’s interested in how memory works, how it is

established, how does forgetting happen, how memories deteriorate with interference, and other facets of memory



Max Wertheimer: Gestalt Psychology Interested in perception, I.e., how do we

make sense out of the world around us Gestalt, a German word, means: “The whole

is greater than the sum of its parts.” He believed the mind must be studied in

terms of large meaningful units instead of the small units of structuralism

Why do we see things the way we do?



Alfred Binet: Measuring intelligence Binet sought to establish methods whereby

the mind’s intellectual capacities could be measured

Developed the first IQ test, used to assess how well students would do in academic settings, in France circa 1905

The “Standford-Binet IQ Test” is, along with collaborative efforts of others, Binet’s test



Sigmund Freud: The Psychoanalytic School Established “psychoanalysis” via work with female

clients in Vienna, Austria, circa 1910 Believed roots of psychological problems were

motives that reside in the part of the mind of which we are unaware called the “unconscious”

His over-emphasis on sex resulted in the “Neo-Freudians”, e.g., Erikson, Jung, Sullivan, Horney, Adler, and others.



Pioneers of psychology include people from Europe and America, as well as African-Americans, Latins, and other ethnic minorities, both male and female.

Your text articulates information about some of these individuals.

We will now look at contemporary perspectives in psychology.


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology Contemporary Behaviorism and Social Learning

Theory Behaviorism still generally rules out the study of

“mental processes” because these are unobservable Social Learning Theory believes that “mental

processes” can be subjected to scientific inquiry Albert Bandura: aggression and modeling Patricia Devine: emotional/cognitive factors that influence

formation and maintenance of prejudice


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology The Sociocultural Perspective

Culture, ethnicity, and gender identity are important to understand a person

What is “normal” is a culturally-relative term How do you define “normal?” All sociocultural variables must be taken into

account to fully understand someone; all judgments concerning “normal” must be relative to the culture in which one lives.


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology Contemporary Psychoanalysis

Most modern psychoanalysts disagree with Freud’s emphasis on sexual and aggressive motives for human behavior.

Most believe that other motives are responsible for human behavior, e.g., Erik Erikson believed that how we are treated and how we react to developmental stressors has much to do with why we do what we do.


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology Contemporary Psychoanalysis

Most contemporary psychoanalysts believe that cognitive processes also mediate why we do what we do, e.g., Alfred Adler’s notion of the “inferiority complex” and its effects on our behavior.


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology Contemporary Cognitive Perspective

Increasingly popular since the mid-1970s, this perspective studies the processes involved in perceiving, believing, thinking, and other cognitive activities using sophisticated scientific instrumentation.

For example, is there a particular neural network in the brain responsible for allowing you to perceive your grandmother? Particular neural circuits involved in experiencing prejudice?


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology Contemporary Humanistic Psychology

Considered the “Third Force” in psychology (behind psychoanalysis and behaviorism).

Believes that individuals determine their own fates through decisions they make

Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow are examples of humanistic psychologists

Not as scientifically oriented as other branches of psychology


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology Contemporary Biological Perspective

Interested in the role of the brain in psychological processes

Interested in the role of heredity in psychological processes sociobiology heredity in psychological abnormality heredity in cognitive skills, etc.


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology Specialty fields in modern psychology

“Basic” areas of psychology the domain of psychology that is involved in the generation

of new knowledge upon which later applications can be built psychological research done in many field areas

“Applied” areas of psychology these psychologists apply the basic knowledge to solve

human problems applied areas include counseling, clinical, and educational

psychology


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology The relationship between psychology and

psychiatry A psychologist usually has a Ph.D. in

psychology from an accredited graduate school. It requires: 4 years of undergraduate work in psychology 2 years of Masters-level graduate work 3 years of Ph.D.-level graduate work


Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology The relationship between psychology and

psychiatry A psychiatrist has an M.D. and residency in

psychology. It requires: 4-year undergraduate degree 4-year medical degree 3-year residency in psychology

The pecking order in psychology is: M.S., M.S.W., Ph.D., M.D./P.C.


Questions?

Do you have any questions about Chapter One?

Chapter 2

Scientific Research/Methods


Scientific Methods

How do we learn about human behavior? What is science? How do we do science? Where does basic psychological

information come from? How is basic psychological knowledge

applied scientifically?


Scientific Methods

Science is the use of systematic observation of phenomena in an effort to detect orderly relationships (laws) governing interrelationships of variables. It involves description as its most simple tool and experimentation as its most complex tool.


Scientific Methods

Descriptive methods include: Survey method: the use of interviews and

questionnaires in studying human behavior Naturalistic observation: involves the careful

observation and recording of behavior in real-life settings

Clinical method: observation of people while a psychologist is helping them with a problem


Scientific Methods

Correlations methods: the examination of the quantitative relationships between two or more variables how does one behavior relate to the

occurrence of another behavior? if we know one behavior’s pattern can we

then, in turn, predict the pattern of occurrence of another behavior?


Scientific Methods

Formal Experiments: deliberately determining the cause-effect relationships between two or more variables correlation methods preclude establishing

cause-effect relationships; formal experiments will determine precise cause-effect relationships between variables

there are many experimental designs that psychologists use


Scientific Methods

Ethical Principles of research with human subjects freedom from coercion informed consent guidelines for deception of subjects and

debriefing after experiments confidentiality


Scientific Methods

Ethical principles of research with animal subjects only use animals when it is necessary maintain the health of animals in experiments

and animal compounds humane treatment of animals is absolutely

important; no animal should be sacrificed unless data critical to helping humans


What we know about human behavior Human beings are biological creatures. Each person is different, yet much the same. People can be understood only in the context of

their culture, ethnic identity, and gender identity. Human lives are a continual process of change. Human behavior is motivated.


What we know about human behavior Humans are social animals. People play an active part in creating their

experiences. Behavior has multiple causes. Behavior can be adaptive or maladaptive. Human behavior and mental processes can

be studied by the scientific method.


Application of Psychology

Psychology applied to your own study skills Your textbook uses the “SQ3R” method of pedagogy

(developed by educational psychologists) Good study techniques include:

spacing out your study time; don’t cram study in the same place all the time use mneumonic (memory) devices to help you retain

information learned


Questions?

Any questions about Chapter 2?

Documents

Psych 101 Chapters 1 and 2 1 Prologue to Chapter 1 Our text surveys the basics of psychological principles and shows how these principles can be applied