an introduction to

psychology&

sociologyoswayo valley high school

SOCIAL SCIENCES

HISTORY

what man has done

POLITICAL SCIENCE

how man governs

ECONOMICS

PSYCHOLOGY SOCIOLOGY

ANTHROPOLOGY

how man makes a living

how man thinks and actsas an individual

how man thinks as acts in a group

what makes groups of men similar and dissimilar

QUESTION

HYPOTHESIS

EXPERIMENT

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS

THEORY

additional hypothesis

reject/revise hypothesis

others replicate and test theories

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes (Rathus, 5)

• Behavior: any action that other people can observe and measure (both social and biological

• Cognitive Processes: mental activities, such as dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories

• Psychological Construct: theories or concepts that enable one to discuss something that cannot be

seen, touched, or measured directly (e.g. emotions)

Psychology differs from Psychiatry (a branch of medical that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral problems).

Psychology has a number of different fields• Clinical psychologists help people with personal problems

• Counselors work in schools or industrial firms advising and assisting people the problems of everyday life

• Developmental psychologists study physical, emotional, cognitive and social changes that occur throughout life

• Educational psychologists focus on course planning and methodology

• social psychologists are concerned with people’s behavior in social situations

WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY?

Describe the behaviors to be studied and present what is known

Explain why people behave the way they do

Predict, as a result of accumulated knowledge, what people will do, think, or feel in various situations

Influence behavior in helpful ways

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY?

Ancient Greece.

Socrates suggested that man “know thyself” – a process of introspection by “looking within” to examine our own thoughts and feelings to act in a way consistent with what each believes is right

Aristotle outlined the laws of associationism (a learned connection between two ideas or events)

During the Middle Ages emotions and behaviors were thought to be inspired by spiritual forces.

The Age of Enlightenment re-introduced science to philosophical and scientific thought: rationalism emphasized reason over faith in direct contradiction with Middle Ages thought

Structuralism (Wilhelm Wundt) – the basic elements of consciousness are divided between objective sensations (sight and taste) and subjective feelings (emotional responses and mental images)

Functionalism (William James) – study of mental processes (functions or purposes of consciousness)

Inheritable Traits (Francis Galton) – heredity determines a person’s personality and behavior

Gestalt : perception (consciousness) is more than the sum of its parts, it involves the “whole pattern”

WHAT ARE THE APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY?

Evolutionary: investigates how primal survival instincts can influence behavior

Biological: focuses primarily on the activities of the nervous system, the brain, hormones, and genetics

Psychodynamic: emphasizes internal unconscious conflicts; the emphasis is on sexual and aggressive instincts that collide with cultural norms (socially acceptable behavior)

Humanistic: emphasizes an individuals potential for growth and the role of perception in guiding mental processes and behaviors

Cognitive: focuses on the mechanisms through which people receive, store, and process information

Behavioral: examines the learning process, focusing in particular on the influence of rewards and punishments

Sociocultural: explores how behavior is shaped by history, society and

culture

A Closer Look At

APPROACHES TO PSYCHOLOGY

Psychologists approach their various subjects with a number of presuppositions

The Nature of Man: an issue of philosophy

The Nature of the Question: an matter of purpose

The Nature of the Resources: a question of procedure

The Evolutionary Approach

Assumption: Adaptive organisms survive and transmit their genes to future generations

Applications:

Applies Darwin’s ideas of Natural Selection (an evolutionary process in which individuals of a species that are best adapted to their environments are the ones most likely to survive; they then pass on their traits to their offspring) to Psychology

William James: “the father of psychology”; adaptive behavior patterns are learned and maintained because they are successful

David Buss: a core principle of Psychological adaptation involves an organism’s need to reproduce

The Biological Approach

Assumption: biological/physiological processes influence behavior and mental processes

Applications:

Stanley Schachter: studied eating behaviors by manipulating external cues to determine effects on eating

Howard Gardner: studied brain damage and neurological disorders; different parts of the brain have different functions; created theory of multiple intelligences

Hans Eysenck: the importance of genetics; intelligence is inherited

William James: humans share common instincts (e.g. curiosity, parental love, sympathy, etc.) which are passed genetically from generation to generation

Masters and Johnson: studied human sexuality

The Psychodynamic / Psychoanalytic ApproachAssumption: unconscious motives and conflicts influence behavior

Applications:

Sigmund Freud: free association (patient is instructed to say anything that comes into his mind) relieves the operation

o the mental process by bringing the unconscious to the

conscious

Carl Jung: unconscious consisted of two components—a personal (or individual) one and a collective one: cultures had similar archetypes (cultural symbols that appear to be nearly

universal and that are stored in collective unconscious

Erik Erikson: people go through certain psychological crises at different phases of development, each crisis needs to be

resolved before a person can progress to the next stage of development

The Humanist ApproachAssumption: people make free and conscious choices based on their unique experiences; human behavior is primarily determined by one’s environment

Applications: Carl Rogers: human behavior is governed by ‘self-concept’—the

image a person has of himself

Abraham Maslow: people have a “hierarchy of needs”, beginning with the basics (food, shelter), progressing to the “higher” (love, self-esteem, understanding), and culminating in self-actualization

The Cognitive ApproachAssumption: perceptions and thoughts influence behavior; how people

process information and images is part of our “mental programming”

Applications: Jean Piaget: people develop through different

stages, at different rates

Albert Bandura: social cognition theory (a form of learning in which the person observes and imitates the behaviors of others); people

approach a situation based on “expectancies” learned from previous experiences

Lawrence Kohlberg: explains moral development through a period of stages

The central idea of the cognitive approach is one of a logical progression—whether applied to personality, morality, or behavior

The Behavioral ApproachAssumption: personal experience and reinforcement guide individual development; it is not what a person thinks, but what he does

Applications:

John Watson: psychology must be limited to overt, observable

behavior; controlling a person’s environment would influence him in a certain direction

Ivan Pavlov: developed the idea of “psychic reflexes” whereby an action can bring about an unrelated action; classical conditioning

B.F. Skinner: behavior is strongly influenced by rewards and punishment

The Socio-cultural ApproachAssumption: socio-cultural, biological, and psychological factors create

individual differences

Applications:

Solomon Asch: people tend to conform to other people’s ides of truth even when they disagree with those

truths

Stanley Milgram: people will change their behavior at the request of—

or even in the presence of— someone they perceive to be an authority figure

Which of these approaches serves Psychology best?

Psychology

Evolutionary

Biological

Psychodynamic

Humanist

Cognitive

Behavorial

Sociocultural

A Closer Look At

RESEARCH

Psychologists must choose research methodology that is not only scientifically sound but also suitable for the topic. Each type has advantages and disadvantages.

Interview

Researchers study people face to face by asking questions

Researchers can obtain personal, detailed information

Subjects’ responses may not be completely honest

Researchers’ biases can influence behavior

Laboratory StudyParticipants are observed in a laboratory setting

Independent variable: the factor that the experimenter manipulates or changes in a study

Dependent variable: the factor in a study that changes or varies as a result of changes in the independent variable

Experimental group: the group on which the critical part of the experiment is performed

Control group: the group that does not participate in the critical part of the experiment

Researcher can be completely Objective

Method usually provides accurate Information

Setting is somewhat artificial; may not reflect the “real world”

Survey MethodPeople respond to a series of questions about a particular subject

Sample: a group that represents a larger group

Representative sample: a group that truly represents a selected characteristic of a larger population

Stratified sample: subgroups in the population are represented proportionally in the sample

Researchers can gather information on feelings, opinions, and behavior patterns

Results can be amazingly accurate

Allows for a large number of subjects

Survey’s sample may not be representative of population as a whole

Questions may not be phrased objectively

Interpretation of results may be distorted

Naturalistic Observation

Researchers observe the behavior of people or animals in their natural habitat

Correlation: a measure of how closely one thing is related to another

Causation: how one event makes another event happen

Behavior is completely natural Researchers cannot interact with subjects and my interpret subjects’ responses incorrectly

No control over the setting or the events that occur

Case Study

Researchers conduct in-depth investigations of individuals or small groups

Method provides background information that may shed light on present behavior

Subjects’ responses may not be completely honest

Researchers’ biases can influence behavior

May focus on isolated circumstances or events that cannot be replicated

Psychological Test

Tests provide accurate, objective information—there is little chance of distorting results

Convenient

Tests are limited in the amount of information they can obtain

Does not always provide a complete representation of an individual’s true abilities or personality

Longitudinal Method

A group of participants is observed at intervals over an extended period of time

Method provides information needed for certain kinds of research, such as studies on development

Enables researchers to see how individuals change over time

Method is expensive and time consuming

Participants may not be available for the duration of the study

Cross-sectional Method

Researchers compare the differences and similarities among people in different age groups at a given time

Method provides information needed for certain kinds of research, such as studies on development

Enables researchers to see how individuals change over time

Method is expensive and time consuming

Participants may not be available for the duration of the study

Problems and Solutions in Research

Avoiding a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a situation in which a researcher’s expectations influence that person’s own behavior, and thereby influence the participant’s behavior. This can be minimized by:

Single-blind experiment: an experiment in which the participants are unaware of which participants received the treatment

Double-blind experiment: an experiment in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know which

participants received the treatment

The Placebo Effect. A change in a participant’s illness or behavior that results from a belief that the treatment will have an effect rather than the actual treatment.

The Milgram Experience. Researchers must follow ethical guidelines in experimentation

experimenter

subject

“answerer”actor

Socrateshttp://www.kidspast.com/images/socrates.jpg

Aristotlehttp://westernparadigm.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/aristotle.jpg?w=263&h=315

Wilhelm Wundthttp://psych.wisc.edu/henriques/resources/Wilhelm_Wundt.gif

William Jameshttp://psych.wisc.edu/henriques/resources/William_James.GIF

Francis Galtonhttp://www.reproductive-revolution.com/francis-galton.png

Terapias Gestalthttp://www.terapiasnaturales.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/gestalt.jpg

Evolutionhttp://daily.swarthmore.edu/static/uploads/by_date/2009/02/19/evolution.jpg

Nervous Systemhttp://www.capitalcitychiro.net/images/stock/nervous%20system.gif

Middle Ages Exorcismhttp://www.australianparanormalsociety.com/news/wp-content/uploads/am4.jpg

Age of Enlightenmenthttp://www.memo.fr/Media/MOD_LUM_000.jpg

Brain (cartoon)http://www.st-augustines.worcs.sch.uk/images/Departments/psychology/psych_2.jpg

Good v. Evilhttp://www.blacksunjournal.com/wp-content/images/1506l.jpg

Group Hughttp://graphics.tomrue.net/images/group-hug.jpg

Lab rathttp://www.101usesforajohnhoward.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/07/25labrat.gif

Herdhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1V7wnZxPqok/RoOCiW5wfoI/AAAAAAAAFPc/1MdGesWwUJM/s400/herd-of-sheep.jpgPH

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Darwinhttp://oreh.pef.uni-lj.si/~markor/Darwin/Charles_Darwin.jpg

William Jameshttp://psych.wisc.edu/henriques/resources/William_James.GIF

David Busshttp://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0204/020904bussdavid.jpg

Stanley Schachterhttp://www.socialpsychology.org/images/socialfigures/schachter.gif

Howard Gardnerhttp://www.howardgardner.com/images/Howard%20Gardner%20Compressed.jpg

Hans Eysenckhttp://wpcontent.answers.com/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Hans.Eysenck.jpg/200px-Hans.Eysenck.jpg

William Jameshttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/images/voices/james_sidebar.jpg

Masters and Johnsonhttp://images.stltoday.com/stltoday/resources/sex625may3.jpg

Sigmund Freudhttp://blog.syracuse.com/shelflife/2008/05/freud.jpg

Carl Junghttp://www.crystalinks.com/jung.jpg

Erik Eriksonhttp://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic20826.files/Erikson2.jpg

Carl rogershttp://www.myers-online.de/myers/zeitleiste/images/vRogers.jpg

Abraham Maslowhttp://quangkhoi.net/learningcenter/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/maslow1.jpgPH

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Jean Piagethttp://lakeplacidcsd.net/lpcsweb/highschool/dev.web/piaget.jpg

Albert Bandurahttp://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2007/december5/gifs/graw_bandura.jpg

Lawrence Kohlberghttp://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/images/kohlberg_lecture.gif

John Watsonhttp://www.nndb.com/people/078/000030985/john-b-watson-1-sized.jpg

Ivan Pavlovhttp://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1904/pavlov.jpg

B.F. Skinnerhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/Faculty/wasserman/Glossary/skinner.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.psychology.uiowa.edu/Faculty/wasserman/Glossary/homepage.html&usg=__kkqrz4g-NzKQbOC4D3GR1mJe5ZE=&h=316&w=319&sz=24&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=T29QO16IxvOGLM:&tbnh=117&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Db%2Bf%2Bskinner%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den

Solomon Aschhttp://aschcenter.blogs.brynmawr.edu/files/2008/10/aschpipeforweb.jpg

Stanley Milgramhttp://www3.niu.edu/acad/psych/Millis/History/2003/Milgram_head.gif

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Kasschau, Richard A. Understanding Psychology. New York, NY: Glencoe McGraw-Hill. 2003

Rathus, Spencer A. Psychology: Principles in Practice. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 2003