Transcript Module 1 - Doral Academy Preparatory

Module 1
Discovering Psychology
INTRODUCTION
• Growing up in a strange world
– Autism
• especially abnormal or impaired development in
social interactions, such as hiding to avoid people,
not making eye contact, and not wanting to be
touched
– Autism is marked by difficulties in communicating,
such as grave problems in developing spoken
language or in initiating conversations
INTRODUCTION
• Growing up in a strange world
– Autistics are characterized by having very few
interests, spending long periods repeating the same
behaviors, or following the same rituals
– Signs of autism appear when a child is 2 or 3 years
old
– Example: Donna Williams
DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY
• What do psychologists study?
– Psychology
• the systematic, scientific study of behaviors and
mental processes
– Behaviors
• refers to observable actions or responses in both
humans and animals
– Mental processes
• not directly observable, refer to a wide range of
complex mental processes, such as thinking,
imagining, studying, and dreaming
GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY
–
–
–
–
Describe
Explain
Predict
Control
GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY (CONT.)
• Describe
– first goal of psychology is to describe the different
ways that organisms behave
• Explain
– second goal of psychology is to explain the cause of
behavior
GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY (CONT.)
• Predict
– third goal of psychology is to predict how organisms
will behave in certain situations
• Control
– the fourth goal of psychology is to control an
organism’s behavior
ANSWERING QUESTIONS
• How do psychologists answer questions?
– Approaches to understanding behavior include:
• Biological
• Cognitive
• Behavioral
• Psychoanalytic
• Humanistic
• Cross cultural
ANSWERING QUESTIONS (CONT.)
• Biological approach
– focuses on how our genes, hormones, and nervous
system interact with our environments to influence
learning, personality, memory, motivation, emotions,
and coping techniques
– Examples:
• Autism
• Autism runs in families; supported by the findings
in identical twins
• If one twin has autism, there is a high 90% chance
the other twin will exhibit signs for autistic behavior
ANSWERING QUESTIONS (CONT.)
• Cognitive approach
– examines how we process, store, and use information
and how this information influences what we attend
to, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel
– Cognitive neuroscience:
• Involves taking pictures and identifying the
structures and functions of the living brain during
the performance of a wide variety of mental or
cognitive processes, such as thinking, planning,
naming, and recognizing objects
ANSWERING QUESTIONS (CONT.)
• Behavioral approach
– studies how organisms learn new behaviors or modify
existing ones, depending on whether events in their
environments reward or punish these behaviors
– some behaviorists, such as Albert Bandura, disagree
with strict behaviorism
– formulated a theory that includes mental or cognitive
processes in addition to observable behaviors
– Social Cognitive Approach:
• behaviors are influenced not only by environmental
events and reinforcers but also by observation,
imitation, and thought processes
ANSWERING QUESTIONS (CONT.)
• Psychoanalytic approach
– Based on the belief that childhood experiences
greatly influence the development of later personality
traits and psychological problems
– stresses the influence of unconscious fears, desires,
and motivations on thoughts, behaviors, and the
development of personality traits and psychological
problems later in life
ANSWERING QUESTIONS (CONT.)
• Humanistic approach
– emphasizes that each individual has great freedom in
directing his or her future, a large capacity for
personal growth, a considerable amount of intrinsic
worth, and enormous potential for self-fulfillment
ANSWERING QUESTIONS (CONT.)
• Cross-cultural approach
– examines the influence of cultural and ethnic
similarities and differences on psychological and
social functioning of a culture’s members
– Differences in how countries diagnose autism:
– United States:
• symptoms described 60 years ago
• first thought to be caused by environmental
factors, (cold parents)
• 1960’s changed to searching for biological
problems
• Diagnoses begins at 2-3 years of age
ANSWERING QUESTIONS (CONT.)
• Cross-cultural approach
– China:
• Autism not recognized until 1987
• most Chinese believed that autism could not
happen in infancy
• many Chinese parents were unaware of infant’s
developmental stages (when social and verbal
skills first develop)
• Chinese parents generally believed that infants
would grow out of any difficulties
ANSWERING QUESTIONS (CONT.)
• Cross-cultural approach
– Germany
• autism recognized in late 1940’s
• clinicians in Germany rarely diagnose autism in
children younger than 5 years old
• efforts are underway to change this policy
– Japan
• autism first diagnosed in 1945
• Japan has higher rates of autism than other
countries and rates are rising
• once thought caused by childhood vaccine
(disproved)
• high rates may be due to Japanese clinician’s
special efforts in detecting signs of autism in
children as well as infants
HISTORICAL APPROACHES
• How did psychology begin?
– Structuralism: Elements of the Mind
– Functionalism: Functions of the Mind
– Gestalt Approach: Sensations versus Perceptions
– Behaviorism: Observable Behaviors
HISTORICAL APPROACHES (CONT.)
• Structuralism
– Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
– was the study of the most basic elements, primarily
sensations and perceptions, that make up our
conscious mental experiences
– Introspection:
• Method of exploring conscious mental processes
by asking subjects to look inward and report their
sensations
HISTORICAL APPROACHES (CONT.)
HISTORICAL APPROACHES (CONT.)
• Functionalism
– William James (1842-1910)
– was the study of the function rather than the structure
of consciousness, was interested in how our minds
adapt to our changing environment
HISTORICAL APPROACHES (CONT.)
HISTORICAL APPROACHES (CONT.)
• Gestalt Approach
– Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Koffka
– emphasized that perception is more than the sum of
its parts and studied how sensations are assembled
into meaningful perceptual experiences
HISTORICAL APPROACHES (CONT.)
HISTORICAL APPROACHES (CONT.)
• Behaviorism
– emphasized the objective, scientific analysis of
observable behaviors
CULTURAL DIVERSITY: EARLY DISCRIMINATION
• Women in psychology
– Mary Calkins
– established a laboratory in psychology at Wellesley
College in 1891 where she was a faculty member
– completed all requirements for a Ph.D. at Harvard but
was not granted the degree because of being a
woman
– not until 1908 that a woman, Margaret Washburn,
was awarded a Ph.D. in psychology
CULTURAL DIVERSITY: EARLY DISCRIMINATION
(CONT.)
• Minorities in Psychology
– Ruth Howard was the first African American woman to
receive a Ph.D. in psychology
– from the University of Minnesota in 1934
– was a successful clinical psychologist and school
consultant
CULTURAL DIVERSITY: EARLY DISCRIMINATION
(CONT.)
• Minorities in Psychology
– George Sanchez (an Hispanic) conducted pioneering
work on the cultural bias of intelligence tests given to
minority students
– Sanchez showed that intelligence tests contained
many questions that were biased against minorities
resulting in lower scores
CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
• Psychologist versus Psychiatrist
– psychologists have completed four to five years of
postgraduate education and have obtained a Ph.D.,
PsyD., or Ed.D. in psychology
– clinical psychologists have a Ph.D., PsyD., or Ed.D.,
have specialized in a clinical subarea, and have spent
an additional year in a supervised therapy setting to
gain experience in diagnosing and treating a wide
range of abnormal behaviors
CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY (CONT.)
• Psychologist versus Psychiatrist
– neither clinical nor counseling psychologists assess
the neurological causes of mental problems
– until recently, no psychologists in the U.S. have been
able to prescribe drugs
– now, psychologists in New Mexico and Louisiana
(who have completed special medical training) can
prescribe drugs like psychiatrists
CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(CONT.)
• Psychologist versus Psychiatrist
– counseling psychologists provide many of the same
services as Clinical Psychologists, but usually work
with different problems such as those involving
marriage, family, or career counseling
– psychiatrists are medical doctors (M.D.s) who have
spent several years in clinical training, which includes
diagnosing possible physical and neurological causes
of abnormal behaviors and treating these behaviors,
often with prescription drugs
CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(CONT.)
• Many Career Settings
– 49% of psychologists work as clinical or counseling
psychologists in either private practice or therapy
settings
– 28% of psychologists work in academic settings of
universities and colleges
– 13% of psychologists work in a variety of other kinds
of jobs and career settings
– 6% of psychologists work in industrial settings
– 4% of psychologists work in secondary schools and
other settings
CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(CONT.)
RESEARCH AREAS
• Areas of Specialization
– Social and Personality
– Developmental
– Experimental
– Biological
– Cognitive
– Psychometrics
RESEARCH AREAS (CONT.)
• Areas of Specialization
– Social psychology
• involves the study of social interactions,
stereotypes, prejudices, attitudes,conformity, group
behaviors, and aggression
– Personality psychology
• involves the study of personality development,
personality change, assessment, and abnormal
behaviors
RESEARCH AREAS (CONT.)
• Areas of Specialization
– Developmental psychology
• examines moral, social, emotional, and cognitive
development throughout a person’s entire life
– Experimental psychology
• includes areas of sensation, perception, learning,
human performance, motivation, and emotion
RESEARCH AREAS (CONT.)
• Areas of Specialization
– Biological psychology
• or psychobiology involves research on the physical
and chemical changes that occur during stress,
learning, and emotions, as well as how our genetic
makeup, brain, and nervous system interact with
our environments and influence our behaviors
RESEARCH AREAS (CONT.)
• Areas of Specialization
– Cognitive psychology
• involves how we process, store, and retrieve
information and how cognitive processes influence
our behaviors
– Psychometrics
• focuses on the measurement of people’s abilities,
skills, intelligence, personality, and abnormal
behaviors