Transcript Document 7432311

• How many psychologists does it take to
change a light bulb?
– Just one – but the bulb must be ready to
change.
WELCOME TO
PSY 21
Welcome to psychology…..
• Name a famous psychologist.
• What does a psychologist do?
• The “pop” culture view of the
psychologist...
The Cerebral Cortex
What are we in store for this
semester?????
• See syllabus...
A. Roots of psychology.
• A very brief “history”.
• 1. Philosophy
– Socrates, Aristotle
• Religion also
– Descartes, Locke
• 2. Science
– Physiology, Biology, Medicine
• Psychology born: 1879
– Wilhelm Wundt (philos. and physiologist)
B. Definition of psychology.
• Science of behavior and mental
processes.
– Behavior?
– Mental processes?
– Science?
C. Sub-fields of psychology.
• 1. Neuroscience:
Study the links between brain and behavior.
(Biological Psych – link between biology and
behavior)
• 2. Developmental Psychology:
Study the physical, social, and psychological
changes and development from the womb to
late adulthood.
C. Sub-fields of psychology.
• 3. Cognitive Psychology:
Study mental processes; how we sense
and perceive information.
• 4. Social Psychology:
Study how the situation influences
behavior; how people think about,
influence, and relate to one another.
C. Sub-fields of psychology.
• 5. Personality Psychology:
Studies individual differences and how
those characteristics originated or
developed.
• 6. Clinical/Counseling Psychology:
Study, assess, and help troubled
people.
• Many, many other sub-fields.
• See the breadth and diversity of
psychology.
• No area or sub-field is “correct”
• They are complimentary.
• But...
D. Is Psychology Simply
Common Sense?
• Is most of what psychologists study
information we could figure out on our
own?
• Cultural “truisms” and “common sense”
aren’t always accurate.
• Why we need to test our ideas.
• QUICK QUIZ!!!
FACT OR FICTION?
TRUE OF FALSE?
• 1. The human brain produces its own
natural opiates that ease pain and elevate
mood.
• 2. Newborns can only see light and dark
shades (not colors).
• 3. Advertisers are able to shape our
buying habits through subliminal
messages.
• 4. Psychological research indicates that
some people do have ESP.
• 5. The greater the reward promised for
• 6. The amount of information that can be
stored in human memory is limited.
• 7. Most people would refuse to obey an
authority who told them to hurt an
innocent person.
• 8. Most of us suffer unrealistically low
self-esteem.
• 9. The most common form of
schizophrenia is the split personality, in
which a person possesses two or more
separate identities.
• 10. Without professional help, people who
suffer psychological disorders inevitably
get worse.
D. Is psychology simply
common sense?
• Overconfidence Effect:
The tendency to be more confident
than correct.
• Hindsight bias:
“I knew it all along phenomenon”.
The tendency to exaggerate one’s
ability to predict an outcome after that
outcome is known.
• Why we need to test our ideas.
• Why we need to state our hunches,
ideas, etc. (before we test them.)
• If we don’t – relying on intuition only.
• What’s wrong with intuition and basing
knowledge of psych on personal
observation?