What is Psychology?

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• What is Psychology?
• Chapter One

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Module Objectives

• How do we define psychology?
• What are the major psychological perspectives?
• Psychology as a science

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What is Psychology?

• The term psychology comes from the Greek roots
  psyche meaning soul or mind and logos meaning
  word or study

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What is Psychology?

• Psychology is the science of human behavior and
  mental processes.
• Behavior is anything we do
• overt actions and reactions
• Mental processes are our internal experiences
• thoughts, feelings, memories

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Why study Psychology?

• Psychology helps us scientifically
  evaluatecommon beliefs and misconceptions
  aboutbehavior and mental processes.
• Can you identify which of the beliefs on
  thefollowing slide are true or false?

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The best way to learn and remember information is
to cram, or study it intensively during one
concentrated period.
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FALSE!

• This is the worst way to prepare for an exam!
  Dont confuse this for a quicker method of study-
  students who cram often perform more poorly than
  those who do not study at all!

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Advertisers and politicians often use subliminal
persuasion to influence our behavior.
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FALSE!

• This is a psychology urban legend! Although we
  will discuss the influence of sensation and
  perception below our threshold of awareness.

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Punishment is the most effective way to
permanently change behavior.
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FALSE!

• We will examine this ineffective practice when we
  begin our study of learning! Think about the
  prison systema large scale example of
  punishmentdoes it work?

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Eyewitness testimony is often unreliable.
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TRUE!

• Our memories are very fragile and subject to many
  variables. We will examine the influence of
  memory formation during this semester.

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Police often use psychics to help solve crimes.
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FALSE!

• Its important to recognize the difference
  between psychology and pseudopsychology, which
  includes the area of psychics.

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People with schizophrenia have two or more
distinct personalities.
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FALSE!

• This disorder is very misunderstood among the
  general public. People often confuse this
  disorder with Multiple Personality Disorder, now
  known as Dissociative Identity Disorder

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How did you do?

• This quiz was a brief illustration of how
  psychological information is often misunderstood.
  Psychology is NOT limited to common sense
  information.
• We will examine each of these questions in detail
  through the course of this class

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Scientific psychology has four basic goals

• to describe, explain, predict, and change
  behavior and mental processes

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Psychological information is based on empirical
evidence

• This is information based on direct observation
  and measurements with scientific method

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How Accurate is the Image of Psychology?

• Think on your own
• Make a list of words you would use to describe a
  psychologistthink about some images you have as
  well.

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Typical images of Psychology
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How about Scientists?

• Think on your own..
• Make a list of words would you use to describe a
  scientist? What images do you have?

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Did any of these images come to mind?
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Its important to remember thatPsychologists
ARE scientists!
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Think on Your Own

• You have a problem that you want to address in
  therapy
• Can any Psychologist help you?

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NoThere are many types of psychologists, and
many have nothing to do with counseling!
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Why do we have so many types of psychologists?
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Psychologists have different ways of looking at
the same problem, which is why there are so many
sub-fields of psychology
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Psychologys roots began in philosophy, but the
focus changed to a scientific focus.

• This scientific focus remains today.

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Where did Psychology come from?

• The first psychological laboratory was not
  created until 1879 by Wilhelm Wundt.
• Wundt was responsible for creating the first
  school of psychological thought called
  Structuralism
• This school focused only on immediate conscious
  experience and thought.

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Problems with Structuralism

• This group of Psychologists used a technique
  called Introspection which was a process of
  self-examination where the person described and
  analyzed thoughts as they occurred.

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Think on your ownWhat are some potential
problems with this type of Psychology?
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Structuralismthe first step

• The focus of study was way too narrow
• They studied people only like themselves- very
  wealthy white males.
• No valid research was produced
• This school of thought was a great start, but no
  longer exists.

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The Next Evolution

• Functionalism is the second perspective to
  emerge, founded by William James.
• They studied how and why the mind functions.
• This perspective broadened the scope of
  psychology and applied psychology to practical
  settings.
• This perspective still focused on consciousness
  but began to examine overt behavior, not just
  mental processes.

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Psychology continued to expand based on the early
work of these perspectives
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Psychological Perspectives

• Psychologists have different ways of looking at
  behaviorclick on the links to learn more about
  each area of psychology!
• Psychoanalytic perspective
• Behaviorist perspective
• Humanistic perspective
• Cognitive perspective
• Biopsychology perspective
• Social psychological perspective
• Evolutionary perspective

See p. 12
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Who hasnt heard of Freud?

• This is one of the most well-known psychological
  perspectives in history developed by Sigmund
  Freud.
• Freud believed that emotional problems are due to
  anxiety from unresolved conflicts that reside in
  unconscious

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Psychoanalytic Theory

• Freud was an early pioneer in treating emotional
  disorders and was the first to provide counseling
  and therapy to patients.
• Free association and dream interpretation were
  developed technique to explore the unconscious
  processes

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Psychoanalytic Theory

• Freud was one of the first to treat emotional
  disorders.
• Freuds theories were the first to suggest that
  our childhood experiences impact our adult
  behaviors
• The first to provide therapy for patients.
• Developed dream interpretation and free
  association

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Think on your own
Do childhood experiences affect adult
life?

• What are some childhood experiences that you feel
  have shaped who you are now as an adult?

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Behaviorismthe opposite of Psychoanalysis

• Behaviorism was founded by John Watson in direct
  opposition to Psychoanalytic Theory.
• Behaviorism focused on behavior that can be
  measured and observable. This returned the
  scientific approach to psychology.
• We can describe, predict, and control that
  behavior.

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Behaviorismthe opposite of Psychoanalysis

• Behaviorists believe people are controlled by
  their environment.
• Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior
• We are the result of what we have learned from
  our environment.

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Cognitive Psychology

• Cognitive psychology believes that behaviors are
  performed because of ideas and thoughts.
• The cognitive perspective focuses on such
  processes as perception, memory, and thinking
• Thats what this area of psychology believes and
  Cognitive psychology currently exerts a strong
  influence in psychology.

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Biopsychology Perspective

• How biological factors affect mental processes
  and how the brain effects behavior.
• Behavior and biology interact in important ways,
  and we will discuss the impact of this field when
  examining psychopharmacology, development and
  genetics.

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These are some of the areas of Psychology that
are currently studied.
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Research and Professional Areas in Psychology

• Developmental Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Experimental Psychology
• Physiological Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology

• Personality
• Clinical Psychology
• Counseling Psychology
• Educational and School Psychology
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology

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• Developmental Looks at human development across
  the life span. Developmental psychology once
  focused primarily on child development but today
  devotes a great deal of research to adolescence,
  adulthood, and old age.
• Social Focuses on interpersonal behavior and
  the role of social forces in governing behavior.
  Typical topics include attitude formation,
  attitude change, prejudice, conformity,
  attraction, aggression, intimate relationships,
  and behavior in groups.
• Experimental Encompasses the traditional core
  of topics such as sensation, perception,
  learning, conditioning, motivation and emotion.
• Physiological Examines the influence of genetic
  factors on behavior and the role of the brain,
  nervous system, endocrine system, and bodily
  chemicals in the regulation of behavior.
• Cognitive Focuses on higher mental processes
  such as memory, reasoning, information
  processing, language, problem solving, decision
  making, and creativity.
• Personality Interested in describing and
  understanding individuals consistency in
  behavior, which represents their personality.
  This area is interested in factors that shape
  personality and with personality assessment.

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• Clinical Concerned with evaluation, diagnosis,
  and treatment of individuals with psychological
  disorders, as well as treatment of individuals
  with psychological disorders, as well as
  treatment of less severe behavioral and emotional
  problems. Principal activities include
  interviewing clients, psychological testing, and
  providing group and individual psychotherapy.
• Counseling Overlaps with clinical psychology in
  that specialists in both areas engage in similar
  activities interviewing, testing, and providing
  therapy. Counseling psychologists usually work
  with a somewhat different clientele, providing
  assistance to people struggling with everyday
  problems of moderate severity they specialize
  in family, marital, or career counseling.
• Educational Work to improve curriculum design,
  achievement testing, teacher training, and other
  aspects of the educational process. School
  psychologists usually work in elementary or
  secondary schools, where they test and counsel
  children having difficulties in school and aid
  parents and teachers in solving school-related
  problems.
• I/O Perform a wide variety of tasks in the
  world of business and industry. These tasks
  include running human resources departments,
  working to improve staff morale and attitudes,
  striving to increase job satisfaction and
  productivity, examining organizational structures
  and procedures, and making recommendations for
  improvements.

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Think on your own..Where do Psychologists
Work?Make a list of potential work places or
jobs for psychologists.
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Experimental Psychologists(usually researchers
and professors)

• About 1/4th of American Psychologists work in
  colleges and universities.

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Applied Psychologists(service providers)

• The remaining 3/4ths work in hospitals, clinics,
  police departments, research institutes,
  government agencies, business and industry,
  schools, nursing homes, counseling centers, and
  private practice.

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What can you do with a degree in psychology?
Click on the links below to find out more.

• General Psychology
• Biopsychology
• Industrial/Organizational Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Social Psychology
• School Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Counseling Psychology

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Psychology Today

• Until the 1960s, psychology was principally a
  profession made up of white males, this is
  changing.
• Today, women earn 73 of bachelors degrees in
  psychology, and 66 of new doctorates
• Ethnic minorities make up 28 of the APA
• Hispanic African-Americans each receive only
  about 5 of new Ph.D.s

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Can you think outside the box?
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Next we will talk about why psychology is a
science, which requires critical thinking. Use
your imagination and think outside the box on
this next puzzle.
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• A man dressed entirely in black and wearing a
  black mask, is standing in the middle of a
  crossroad. All of the streetlights at the
  intersection are broken. A car speeds down the
  road, heading straight for the man, yet it turns
  in time and doesn't hit him.
• How does it manage to miss him?

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Did You Get It?

• The driver of the car avoided hitting the man
  wearing only black because it was DAYTIME
• These Lateral Thinking exercises are a great
  example of how psychologists think critically
  about psychological questions.

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Next Topic-Psychology as a Science

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