Transcript Slide 1

Introduction
To
Psychology
What do we hope to gain
from studying psychology?
• Gain insight into the mind
• Understanding of people
• Understanding yourself
So, what is Psychology?
• Psychology relies on research to
lead to the development of theories
about Behavior, Cognition and the question…
“Why?”
• Scientific study
• – Behavior
• – Human process (mind) or (cognitive
activities)
• Greek word means: Psycho = mind or soul
• -ology = the study of
What is Behavior?
• Any action that others can
observe and measure:
• –Walking
• –Talking
• –Physical movements, etc.
What are Cognitive Activities?
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Emotion
– Behavior or mental process
Feelings
Thoughts
Dreams
– Brain waves or privates thoughts
Perception
Memories
5 Goals of Psychology
Observe
Predict
– Exam, watch, or
interview a person’s
Behavior
– Determine how a
person will behave
under a certain
situation based
Describe
– Record specific
behavior under certain
situations
Explain
– Give reasons for
behavior in terms of
feeling of anxiety or
distraction
Control
– Change the behavior or
mental process by
teaching patient new
ways of keeping their
anxiety under control
Why Psychology is considered a
Science?
Social Science
– Study the structure, of human society and the
nature of the individual in the society.
anthropology, history, sociology, & economics
Natural Science
– Study the nature of the physical world (Brain
or mind) must follow scientific research:
hypothesis conducting experiment, collecting
and analyzing data, draw conclusion.
The Helping Professions
People tend to view
psychology primarily as
a helping profession
– Clinical psychologists,
focus on resolving
mental health
problems
– Psychiatrists (M. D.),
also licensed to
prescribe drugs
LUPOSLIPAPHOBIA:
The fear of being pursued by timber wolves
around a kitchen table while wearing socks
on a newly-waxed floor..
History
of the
Modern Age
SCIENTIFIC APPROACH
John Locke (philosopher)
– “the mind is a blank slate”
– theorized that knowledge is not
inborn but is learned from experiences
- Human behavior and mental
processes should be supported by
evidence
-In 1800s, psychological laboratories
were established in Europe and United
States.
How it all started
Philosophy
Physiology
Psychology
William Wundt
Psychology’s Roots
Early History
• Trephine
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“hollow tubes”
Drilled into the skull to peer into the
brain
Phrenology…Bumps on the head
• There was a belief
that the bumps on
your head
represented areas
within your brain
where a certain skill
or feeling might take
place.
Schools of Thought
Structuralism
– Focused on the basic
building blocks of
perception, consciousness,
thinking, and emotions
--Introspection: Selfevaluation and
consciously looking within
Functionalism
– Moved from structure to
what the mind does and
how behavior functions
Gestalt Psychology
– “the whole is different
from the sum of its
parts”
• Examples will follow
STRUCTURALISM 1879:
Elements of the Mind
The study of the most basic elements,
primarily sensations and perceptions,
that make up our conscious mental
experiences, also involves Introspection.
– “What are the elements of psychological
processes?”
This school of thought did not last long.
WILHELM WUNDT
Father of Modern Ψ
1st psychology laboratory
(Germany, 1879)
Studied simplest mental
process (used measures
of reaction time)
FUNCTIONALISM 1890:
• Functions of the Mind
• The study of the function rather than the
structure of consciousness; was interested
in how our minds adapt to our changing
environment; behavioral observations
conducted in a laboratory.
– “What do certain behaviors and mental
processes accomplish for the person?”
William James
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1st American born
psychologist
• Wrote “The Principles of
Psychology”
– 1st modern Ψ textbook
• Experience is a fluid and
continuous “stream of
consciousness”
• may have had the first
psychology laboratory in
America in 1876
• Adoptive Action
– Behavior + success = Habit
Gestalt Approach 1920s:
• Sensation verse Perception
• Emphasized that perception is
more than the sum of its parts
and studied how
sensations are assembled into
meaningful perceptual
experiences
• Basically, your mind is seeking
to make sense of the world
around it and tries to “fit” the
experiences in relation to what
is known. See examples.
Max
Wertheimer
• He is one of several Germans who came up with the
concept of Gestalt
• Idea that the whole is greater than its parts
• He believed that the mind must be studied in
terms of large meaningful units instead of the
small units of structuralism
• Deals with perceptions
how we see and understand things
• Insight
enables the individual to solve problems
What do you see in each
picture?
Psychoanalysis 1900s:
A look into the Early Mind
The belief that childhood
experiences greatly influences the
development of later personality
traits and psychological problems
– people frequently associate this perspective
with psychology (the psychodynamic
perspective); emphasizes unconscious
conflict & past events (early childhood
traumas)
Sigmund Freud
•
A Viennese physician
One of the most famous
psychologists
Studied the unconscious to
understand behavior
– The Interpretation of
Dreams
Developed Ideas:
– Therapy
– Internal conflict
– Study of impulses, dreams,
wishes
Behaviorism 1950s:
Observable Behaviors
• Emphasized the objective, scientific
• analysis of observable behaviors
• Interested in behavior and its precise
measurement rather than
“consciousness” of Wundt and James
John Watson
• established “radical
behaviorism” in 1912 in
the United States
• Psychology should be an
objective,
experimental science
• Analyze observable
behavior, predict and
attempt to control those
behavior
• Can teach people to do
anything
B. F. Skinner
• American, graduated
from Harvard
• Contrasted
psychoanalysis
• Environment factors
mold behavior
• Behavior is reinforced
– Reward & Punishment
• Change behavior
through conditioning
– similar to Ivan Pavlov
Founding Mother’s of
Psychology
•
Leta Stetter Hollingworth
– Child development and
women’s issues
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Mary Calkins
– First female president of the
APA
•
Karen Horney
– Social and cultural aspects to
personality
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June Etta Downey
– Personality trait theorist
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Anna Freud
– Continue her father work