What Is Psychology?

PSYCHOLOGY 3eSaundra K. Ciccarelli, J. Noland White• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Copyright © Pearson Education 2012Modified by Jackie Kroening 2013

What Is Psychology?

Copyright © Pearson Education 2012

Modified by Jackie Kroening 2013

How Is Psychology Defined?

• ** Psychology is the scientific study of:

• Behavior – outward or overt actions and reactions

• Mental processes – internal, covert activity of our minds

What is

psychology?



PredictionWill it happen

again?

ControlHow can it

be changed?

DescriptionWhat is

happening?

ExplanationWhy is it

happening?Theory-general

explanation

** What Are the Goals of Psychology?



THOUGHT

EXPERIENCE

EMOTION

What Is Structuralism?

• 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




• Introspect about physical objects AND thoughts

• “Tell me about things that are yellow.”

Edward Titchener




Margaret Washburn: • First woman to receive a

Ph.D. in psychology (1894)• Author of The Animal Mind



What Is Functionalism?

• “Stream of thought” vs. elements of mind

• Focus on adaptation, living, working, playing – functioning in the real world

William James



• “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.

Gestalt Psychology



What Is Psychoanalysis?

• Neurologist in late 18th century Vienna

• ** Psychoanalysis: insight therapy for fear and anxiety• Unconscious• Early childhood

Sigmund Freud



Watson believed fears are learned via experience.

Fear is learned when a neutral stimulus is paired with an aversive stimulus like a loud noise.

Behaviorism - Of Babies and Rats



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 Sociocultural

Psychodynamic

Humanistic

Behavioral

Cognitive

Evolutionary



Psychodynamic Perspective

Focus on the unconscious and early development, not sex

Psychodynamic



** Behaviorism- focuses on observable behavior only

Focus on operant conditioning, punishment, and reinforcement

Behaviorial



People have the freedom to choose their own destiny.

Humanistic

Humanistic Perspective



Cognitive Perspective

Includes:• Memory• Intelligence• Perception• Problem solving• Learning

Cognitive



Sociocultural Perspective

Relationship between social behavior and culture

Sociocultural



Biopsychological Perspective

Attributes human and animal behavior to biological events

Bio-psychological



Evolutionary Perspective

Charles Darwin

Biological, mental traits shared by all humans

Evolutionary

Psychological Professionals and Areas of Specialization



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



Work Settings and Subfields of Psychology

Source: (a) Tsapogas et al., 2006, (b) Hoffer et al., 2007)



The Scientific Method

Perceive

Hypothesize

Draw conclusions

Report, revise, replicate

Test

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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?



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?



Representative

Sample

From Population to Sample

Population

Representative sample: Randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger

population of subjects



Finding Relationships: Correlation

Variable 1 Variable 2Income EducationSmoking Health

Correlation: A measure of the relationship between two variables ** CORRELATION DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION!!!




Positive correlation: Variables related in same direction

+.70

$ $ $

$

A A A

A Show graph



Negative correlation: Variables related in opposite direction

-.70

Show graph




Experiments

Independent and Dependent Variables

(e.g., type of dog and level of fear)• Experimental and control groups

** Independent variable (IV) – variable that is manipulated by the experimenter.



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



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Ethics in Psychological Research

Protection of rights and well-being of participantsInformed 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



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



Critical Thinking

** Critical thinking: Making reasoned (logical and well thought out) judgments about claims1.“Truths”2.Evidence3.Authorities4.Open minds- Albert Einstein, 1941 “science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind”

Documents

What Is Psychology?