Transcript Introduction to Psychology Mr. Blackman Psychology What we’ve talked about so far… Personality A solid core of traits reflecting the unique essence of a particular.

Introduction to Psychology
Mr. Blackman
Psychology
What we’ve talked about so far…
Personality
A solid core of traits reflecting the unique
essence of a particular human being
That core of thoughts and feelings inside
you that tells you how to conduct
yourself.
Your personality is more than just an
“attitude.” It is what causes you to act
and react the way you do.
What we’ve talked about so far…
The Color Code Test
Red – Power
Blue – Intimacy
White – Peace
Yellow - Fun
Reds and Blues spend their lifetimes trying
to control others.
Whites and Yellows spend their lifetimes
refusing to be controlled.
This year 85% of employees who lose their
jobs can attribute it personality conflict.
Strengths
&
Weaknesses
For each color
Red
Leader, focused,
responsible, committed
Blue
Loyal to people,
sincere, honest, moral
White
Tolerant, patient,
cooperative, good
listener
Yellow
Positive, friendly,
optimistic, open
Red
Arrogant, bad listener,
tactless, critical of
others
Blue
Judgmental,
unforgiving, suspicious,
irrational
White
Timid, lazy, dependent,
directionless
Yellow
Uncommitted,
inconsistent, selfcentered, rebellious
What we’ve talked about so far:
Birth Order
Oldest/Only
Treated like an adult, given more
responsibility, an example, independent.
Middle
Peacemaker, work hard for attention,
calm and even-tempered, good/average
student.
Youngest
Spoilt, strives for attention, matures quickly,
easy-going about school, irresponsible
Chapter One:
Introduction, History, and Research Methods
What is psychology?
The science of behavior and mental
processes.
Science – because psychologist use
scientific research in their studies to
understand more. They collect data and
analyze it.
Behavior & mental processes – the scope of
what psychologists study is so vast.
– All observable behaviors can be studied as well
as mental processes including thoughts, feelings
and dreams.
Psychology’s founding fathers:
Wilhelm Wundt
The “Father” of
psychology.
1879 – first lab
devoted to
psychological
experiments.
Psychology’s founding fathers:
1892 – G. Stanley
Hall founds the
American
Psychological
Association (APA).
1905 – Mary
Whiton Calkins
becomes first
woman President
of APA.
1905 – Alfred Binet
develops the first
intelligence test.
Can any one
psychological
perspective answer all
of psychology’s
questions?
Psychological Perspectives
Psychological perspectives, schools of
thought, and psychological approaches are
all synonyms for ways psychologists
classify collections of ideas.
Ex: Look at this real life possibility: Do you help
the person who spilled their bags of groceries?
Why do some people help when others don’t?
Each perspective has an explanation.
And there are six different ones…
#1: The Cognitive Perspective (pg. 11)
Popular since the 1960’s.
School of thought that focuses on how we
take in, process, store and retrieve
information.
Focuses on how people think!
People involved: James and Piaget
Ex: Helping the person with the groceries is a
function of how we think about or interpret a
situation.
We may choose to help the shopper because we
think it will make us look good to others; or won’t
because we think helping might make us look silly.
Psychology's founding fathers:
William James
1st American
psychologist.
1st psych textbook
author – 1890.
Functionalism:
Goal of psychology was
to study the functions of
consciousness, the
ways consciousness
helps people adapt to
their environment.
Psychology’s founding fathers:
Jean Piaget
Worked on how
children develop
their thinking
abilities.
Developmental and
cognitive
psychologist.
#2: Biological Perspective
School of thought to focuses on the
physical structures and substances
underlying a particular behavior, thought,
or emotion.
People involved:
Ex: Could remind us that levels of a
naturally occurring “feel good” chemical in
our brain that could affect helping behavior.
Those lacking in this element could feel
depressed and not help the person with their
groceries.
#3: Socio-cultural Perspective
School of thought that focuses on how
thinking or behavior changes in different
settings or situations.
People involved:
Ex: Helping is more likely to occur if you’re
with a couple of friends and 50 feet from
your front door; and less likely if you’re in a
crowded, big-city movie theatre lobby
where few faces are familiar.
#4: Behavioral Perspective
School of thought that focuses on how we
learn observable responses.
Believe people learn certain responses through
rewards, punishments, and observation.
People involved: Pavlov and Watson
Ex: a person who helps has previously
observed someone being rewarded for
helpful behavior.
Like y’all and bonus cards?
Psychology’s Founding Fathers:
Ivan Pavlov
1906 – Pavlov’s
dogs
He studied animal
learning and fueled
a move in psych
toward interest in
observable
behavior and away
from the selfexamination of
inner ideas and
experiences.
Psychology’s founding fathers:
John B. Watson
Launched behaviorism
Dominant perspective of the
20th century.
Behaviorist perspective:
Studied only observable and
objectively describable acts.
Don’t waste time studying
unconscious…can’t see it!
Made science more
objective and scientific.
Today behaviorism
focuses on learning
through rewards and
observation.
#5: Humanistic Perspective
School of thought that focuses on the study
of conscious experience, the individual’s
freedom to choose, and capacity for
personal growth.
Healthy people strive to reach their full
potential.
People involved: Maslow and Rogers
Ex: A person who has met their
safety/physiological needs (hunger, thirst,
shelter) would be able to reach out socially
and help another person in need.
More on Humanistic…
Humanistic psychology
(1960), 3rd force.
Abraham Maslow and
Carl Rogers
Emphasized conscious
experience as the proper
focus for psychology.
Humans have free will
and will strive for full
potential by making smart
decisions.
Rejected that humans are
controlled by rewards and
reinforcements.
Maslow’s Hierarchy 
#6: Psychodynamic Perspective
Contemporary name; formerly known as
psychoanalytic perspective.
School of thought that focuses on how
behavior springs from unconscious drives
and conflicts.
People included: Freud
Ex: Helpful behavior results from an
unfulfilled childhood wish to have one’s
mother accept one’s offer to help.
Psychology’s Founding Fathers:
Sigmund Freud
Stereotypic therapist,
with a pen and pencil
listening to a patient
on the couch.
1900, introduced first
complete theory of
personality…
psychoanalysis.
Publishes The
Interpretation of
Dreams.
Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective
Focused on abnormal behavior, which
Freud attributed to unconscious
drives and conflicts, often stemming
from childhood.
Relied on personal observation and
reflection instead of controlled
laboratory experimentation as its
means of discovery.
Problems with Psychoanalysis
Claimed to be scientific, but relied on selfreported reflections…not scientific
methods.
Died in 1939, many theories have since
been disproved and some out of date.
But some of his ideas are still with us:
Freudian slip
Anal-retentive
Psychodynamic Theory
Our unconscious thoughts, inner conflicts, and
childhood experiences significantly affect our
personality and behaviors.
New Areas of Psychology!
Behavior Genetics:
Focuses on how much our genes and our environment
influence our individual differences and behavior.
Combo of biology and behaviorism.
A psychologist interested in behavior genetics
might ask two questions: Is there a helpfulness
trait? If so, is it triggered into action by growing up
in a family that promotes and values helping those
in need?
Yes? – and you have the trait and a family that promotes
it, you will be helpful.
Thus, helping behavior is a product of learning and an
inherited genetic trait.
New Areas of Psychology!
Evolutionary Psych:
Study behaviors that helped our
ancestors survive long enough to
reproduce successfully.
Positive Psych:
Focus: to study and promote original
human functioning.
Martin Seligman
Promotes building positive qualities of
people, not repairing the worst things.
Careers in Psychology:
Basic research:
Pure science or research
Research for the sake of finding new
information and expanding the
knowledge base of psychology.
Clinical Psychologies:
Diagnose and treat patients with
psychological problems.
Largest number of professional
psychologists.
Careers in Psychology
Applied Research:
Research designed to solve specific
practical problems.
Marriage counselors, education counselors,
organizational counselors, etc.