Introduction and History of Psychology

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Chapter 1

• Introduction and History of Psychology

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True or False?

• Many things that happen to us leave no record in
  memory.

True Most of the information around us never
reaches memory, and what does reach memory often
gets distorted.
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True or False?

• The most common form of mental disorder occurs in
  30 of the population.

True Depression, the single most common
disorder, may affect up to a third of the
population at some point in their lives.
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True or False?

• You are born with all the brain cells you will
  ever have.

False Recent research shows that some parts of
the brain continue producing new cells throughout
life.
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True or False?
Both center patches are the same shade of gray
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(No Transcript)
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True The patch on the right appeared darker due
to perceptual contrast with its background
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True The patch on the right appeared darker due
to perceptual contrast with its background
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True or False?

• Intelligence is a purely genetic trait that does
  not change throughout a persons life.

False Intelligence is the result of both
heredity and environment, and may change
throughout your life.
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True or False?

• Repeated exposure to the same face leads us to
  like it more.

True Familiar people (and their faces) are
generally liked more than less familiar people.
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What Is Psychology and What Is It Not?

• Psychology The scientific study of behavior
  and mental processes
• Psychology is not
• Mere speculation about human nature
• A body of folk wisdom about people that
  everybody knows to be true

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What Is Psychology and What Is It Not?

• Psychology disputes unfounded claims from
  pseudopsychology

Pseudopsychology Erroneous assertions of
practices set forth as being scientific psychology
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What DoPsychologists Do?

• Experimental psychologists
• Conduct most research across psychological
  spectrum
• May work in private industry or for the
  government
• Often teach at college or university

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What DoPsychologists Do?

• Applied psychologists

Use knowledge developed by experimental
psychologists to solve human problems
I/O
Sports
School
Engineering/Human Factors
Counseling
Rehabilitation
Clinical
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Devoted to uncovering basic structures that make
up mind and thought
Tradition
Structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt 1st Research Lab (1879)
Functionalism
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Introspection reporting own conscious mental
experiences subjective
Psychoanalysis
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Tradition
Believed mental processes could best be
understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and
function
Structuralism
Functionalism
Gestalt psychology
William James
Behaviorism
Psychology should explain how people adapt or
fail to adapt to their environment
Psychoanalysis
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Interested in how we construct perceptual
wholes, unlike structuralists
Tradition
Structuralism
Functionalism
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Psychoanalysis
Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Kohler
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Tradition
Argued psychology should deal solely with
observable events
Structuralism
Functionalism
John B. Watson
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Who cares what people are thinking? How will
they act?
Psychoanalysis
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Tradition
Structuralism
Asserted mental disorders arise from conflicts in
the unconscious mind
Functionalism
Sigmund Freud
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Psychoanalysis
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Other Early Contributors

• G. Stanley Hall 1st president of APA 1st psych
  lab in U.S.(1882)
• Mary Whiton Calkins 1st woman president of APA
  focused on conscious self
• Margaret Floy Washburn president of APA 1st
  PhD in psych awarded to a woman

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Nine Modern Perspectives of Psychology
Biological
Developmental
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait
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Perspective
View of Human Nature We respond to hereditary
and environmental influences includes
evolutionary psych.
Biological
Developmental
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
What Determines Behavior Neural structures,
biochemistry, and inborn responses
Humanistic
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Question for Study How do heredity, the nervous
system, and the endocrine system produce behavior
and mental processes?
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait
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Perspective
View of Human Nature We undergo predictable
patterns of change throughout our lives
Biological
Developmental
What Determines Behavior Interaction between
heredity and environment
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
Questions for Study What are the patterns that
characterize developmental change? What are the
genetic and environmental influences underlying
these patterns?
Humanistic
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait
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View of Human Nature People are
information-processing systems look for laws
governing all people
Perspective
Biological
Developmental
What Determines Behavior Mental interpretation
of our experience
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Question for Study How do mental processes,
including sensation, perception, learning,
memory, and language, influence behavior?
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait
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Perspective
View of Human Nature We are driven by dark
forces of the unconscious
Biological
Developmental
What Determines Behavior Unconscious needs,
conflicts, repressed memories, and childhood
experiences guide behavior
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Question for Study How does the energy generated
in the unconscious mind motivate our actions and
account for mental disorders?
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait
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Perspective
View of Human Nature Emphasizes human growth and
potential
Biological
Developmental
What Determines Behavior The influence of
self-concept, perceptions, and interpersonal
relationships, and on need for personal growth
unique experiences guide ones behavior
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Question for Study How can humanistic theory be
applied to enhance mental health through
counseling and therapy?
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait
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Perspective
View of Human Nature Behavior is primarily
shaped by learning
Biological
Developmental
What Determines Behavior Stimulus cues and our
history of rewards and punishments guide behavior
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Questions for Study What are the laws that
associate our responses with stimulus
conditions? How can they be applied to improve
the human condition?
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait
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Perspective
View of Human Nature People are social animals,
so human behavior must be interpreted in social
context
Biological
Developmental
Cognitive
What Determines Behavior Cultures, social norms
and expectations, social learning
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Behavioral
Questions for Study Under what conditions is the
social and cultural situation predictive of
behavior? How are social influences different
across cultures?
Sociocultural
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait
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Perspective
Biological
View of Human Nature Behavior is developed and
adapted over time
Developmental
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
What Determines Behavior Natural selection
Humanistic
Behavioral
Sociocultural
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Question for Study How do behavior and
individual differences develop and change?
Trait
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Perspective
View of Human Nature Individual differences
result from differences in our underlying
patterns of stable characteristics
Biological
Developmental
Cognitive
What Determines Behavior Each persons unique
combination of traits
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Behavioral
Question for Study How many fundamental traits
are there? How can we use trait patterns to
predict behavior?
Sociocultural
Evolutionary/Sociobiological
Trait