Transcript The History and Scope of Psychology Module 1

Discussing the origin
and development of
psychology as a social
science.
1
Prescientific Psychology
Plato
http://www.law.umkc.edu
http://www.law.umkc.edu
Socrates
Socrates (469-399 B.C.) and Plato (428-348 B.C.)
Socrates and his student Plato believed the mind
was separate from the body, the mind continued
to exist after death, and ideas were innate.
2
Prescientific Psychology
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)
http://faculty.washington.edu
Aristotle suggested that the soul is not separable
from the body and that knowledge (ideas) grow
from experience.
3
Prescientific Psychology
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
http://ocw.mit.edu
http://www.spacerad.com
Descartes, like Plato, believed in soul (mind)-body
separation, but wondered how the immaterial
mind and physical body communicated.
4
Prescientific Psychology
John Locke (1632-1704)
biografieonline.it/img/bio/John_Locke.jpg
Locke held that the mind was a tabula rasa, or
blank sheet, at birth, and experiences wrote on it.
5
The move away from philosophy…
• When psychology was first established as a
science separate from biology and philosophy,
the debate over how to describe and explain the
human mind and behavior began.
6
The move away from philosophy…
• Structuralism emerged as the first
school of thought and some of the
ideas associated with the
structuralist school were
advocated by the founder of the
first psychology lab, Wilhelm
Wundt.
7
The move away from philosophy…
• Structuralism is thought of as the earliest form
of biopsychology, where scientist assumed that
the structure of the brain can answer questions
regarding human behavior.
8
Psychological Science is Born
Structuralism
Titchner (1867-1927)
Wundt (1832-1920)
Wundt and Titchener studied the elements (atoms) of the
mind by conducting experiments at Leipzig, Germany, in
1879. Their experiment in 1879 was known as the first
psychological experiment.
9
Defining psychology
• Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes.
• Behavior is any action that people can observe or
measure, such as walking, talking, sleeping, and eating.
• Cognitive activities are mental processes. They include
dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories.
• Emotions can affect both behavior and mental processes.
• To study emotions, psychologists might use
psychological constructs to help them study what we
cannot see, touch, or measure directly.
Psychology’s Big Debate
Nature versus Nurture
•Through scientist such as
Charles Darwin, the nature
versus nurture debate came
to life in the 1800s.
•This debate argued over the
extent to which biological
factors or environment
factors influence behavior
11
Nature versus Nurture
This claim ignited a
movement known today as
evolutionary psychology.
•
Darwin claimed that nature
selects those that best enable
the organism to survive and
reproduce in a particular
environment.
Darwin (1809-1882)
•
12
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of
Analysis
13
Psychology’s Current Perspectives
Perspective
Focus
Sample Questions
Neuroscience
How the body and brain
enables emotions?
How are messages
transmitted in the body? How
is blood chemistry linked with
moods and motives?
Evolutionary
How the natural selection
of traits the promotes the
perpetuation of one’s
genes?
How does evolution influence
behavior tendencies?
Behavior genetics How much our genes and
our environments
influence our individual
differences?
To what extent are
psychological traits such as
intelligence, personality,
sexual orientation, and
vulnerability to depression
attributable to our genes? To
our environment?
14
Psychology’s Current Perspectives
Perspective
Focus
Sample Questions
Cognitive
How we encode, process,
store and retrieve
information?
How do we use information
in remembering? Reasoning?
Problem solving?
Social-cultural
How behavior and
thinking vary across
situations and cultures?
How are we — as Africans,
Asians, Australians or North
Americans – alike as members
of human family? As products
of different environmental
contexts, how do we differ?
15
Psychology’s Subfields: Research
Psychologist
Biological
Developmental
Cognitive
Personality
Social
What she does
Explore the links between brain and
mind.
Study changing abilities from womb to
tomb.
Study how we perceive, think, and solve
problems.
Investigate our persistent traits.
Explore how we view and affect one
another.
16
Think. Pair. Share
Summarize
What career fields do you think benefit from an
understanding of human behavior? Why?
Answer: Share your response with your neighbor
and explain why…
Benefits of Psychology
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Law
Medicine
Sports
Business
Education
Politics
Etc.
18
Major Fields in Psychology
Clinical Psychology
• Most psychologists are clinical psychologists.
• Clinical psychology includes child mental health, adult mental health,
learning disabilities, geriatrics, and general health.
• Clinical psychologists treat people with psychological problems such
as anxiety or depression or severe psychological disorders.
• Psychologists are not psychiatrists. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor
who specializes in psychological programs and who can prescribe
medication for clients. Psychologists may not prescribe medication.
Counseling Psychology
• Counseling psychologists typically treat people who have adjustment
problems.
• They often work in businesses or higher educational institutions.
School Psychology
• School psychologists identify and help students who have problems
that interfere with learning.
• School psychologists use interviews, tests, and observation to help
students.
Educational Psychology
• Educational psychologists focus on course planning and instructional
methods for an entire school system rather than for an individual
student.
• They focus on how learning is affected by psychological factors,
cultural factors, economic factors, and instructional methods.
• Some educational psychologists help prepare standardized tests.
• They also study various tests to determine college success.
Developmental Psychology
• Developmental psychologists study changes that occur throughout a
person’s lifespan.
• These changes can be physical, emotional, cognitive, or social.
• Some development psychologists are especially interested in the
challenges of adolescence.
Personality Psychology
• Personality psychologists identify and study human characteristics, or
traits.
• They are interested in the origins of psychological problems and
disorders.
• Also they are concerned with issues such as anxiety, aggression, and
gender roles.
Social Psychology
• Social psychologists are concerned with people’s social behavior.
• They focus on external rather than internal influences.
Experimental Psychology
• Psychologists in all specialties may conduct experimental research,
but experimental psychologists conduct research into basic
processes such as functions of the nervous system, sensation and
perception, learning and memory, and thinking and motivation.
• Experimental psychologists study the biological and psychological
reasons for cognitive behavior. Biological psychologists study the
relationship between biological changes and psychological events.
• Experimental psychologists are more likely than other psychologists
to do basic research. Basic research is research that has no
immediate application and is done for its own sake.
Click on the image to play the Interactive.
Clinical Psychology vs. Psychiatry
A clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses,
and treats troubled people with psychotherapy.
Psychiatrists on the other hand are medical
professionals (M.D.) who use treatments like drugs
and psychotherapy to treat psychologically
diseased patients.
24
Close-up
Your Study of Psychology
Survey, Question, Read, Review and Reflect (SQ3R)





Survey: What you are about to read, including chapter
outlines and section heads.
Question: Ask questions. Make notes.
Read: Make sure you read outlines, sections and
chapters in entirety.
Review: Margin definitions. Study learning outcomes.
Reflect: On what you learn. Test yourself with quizzes.
25
Close-up
Additional Study Hints




Distribute your time.
Listen actively in class.
Overlearn.
Be a smart test-taker.
26