Download Chapter 1 – Why Study Psychology

Chapter 1 – Introducing Psychology
Section 1 – Why Study Psychology
Psychology can provide insight into behavior and give one the chance to acquire
practical information
A. Overview of Psychology
a. Psychology – the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
that are tested through scientific research
b. Psychologists differ in how much importance they place on specific
types of behavior
i. They do agree that the study of behavior must be systematic
B. Goals of Psychology
a. Description – 1st goal is to describe or gather information about the
behavior begin studied and to present what is known
b. Explanation – they seek to explain why. Hypothesis – an educated
guess about some phenomenon. Theory – a complex explanation
based on findings from a large number of experimental studies.
Theories change as more information is gathered.
c. Prediction – 3rd goal is to predict, form the knowledge gathered, what
things will do, think or feel in various situations. By studying past
behaviors, future behavior can be predicted.
d. Influence – Basic Science – research as compared to Applied Science
– discovering ways to use scientific findings to accomplish practical
goals.
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C. The Scientific Basis of Psychology
a. Psychologists rely on the Scientific Method – a general approach to
gathering information and answering questions so that errors and
biases are minimized
i. Identify a problem or question
ii. Formulate a hypothesis
iii. Collect data though observation and experimentation
iv. Analyze the data
Complete Section 1 Review
Section 2 – A Brief History of Psychology
A. Origins of Psychology
a. 5th and 6th century BC – the Greeks
i. began to study human behavior and decided that people’s lives
were influenced more by their minds than by gods
b. Mid-1500’s – Nicholaus Copernicus
i. Earth was not the center of the universe, during the
Renaissance period, experimentation through observation
c. 17th Century – Rene Descartes
i. Others popularized dualism – the mind and body are separate
and distinct
ii. Descartes said there was a link, he assumed that the mind and
body influence one another to create a person’s experiences
B. Historical Approaches
a. Structuralism
i. Established modern psychology as a separate formal field of
study
ii. Wilhelm Wundt started this
iii. Structuralism – the study of the basic elements of human
experience
iv. Introspection – a method of self-observation in which
participants report their thoughts and feelings
b. Functionalism
i. William James – the fathers of psychology in America
ii. Functionalism – the study of how animals and people adapt to
their environments
c. Inheritable Traits
i. Sir Francis Galton
ii. Study of seeing if genetics/hereditary factors played a role in
abilities, character and behavior
iii. Debate is still ongoing regarding genetics versus environment
d. Gestalt Psychology
i. A group of German psychologists disagreed with the principles
of structuralism and behaviorism
ii. Believed that the whole pattern or Gestalt, was important
C. Contemporary Approaches
a. Psychoanalytic Psychology
i. Sigmund Freud
ii. Interested in the unconscious mind, beneath the surface are
primitive biological urges that are in conflict with the
requirements of society and morality
iii. Believed that unconscious motivations and conflicts were
responsible for most human behavior
iv. Had a method for indirectly studying unconscious processes
1. Free Association – a patient says everything that
comes to mind, no matter how absurd or irrelevant it
may seem, without attempting to produce logical or
meaningful statements
2. No editing or censoring their thoughts
v. Psychoanalysis – the study of how unconscious motives and
conflicts determine human behavior
b. Behavioral Psychology
c.
d.
e.
f.
i. Ivan Pavlov
1. Dog experiment with salivation/Classical Conditioning
ii. John B. Watson
1. Believed that psychologists should only deal with
observable facts of behavior
2. Believed that all behavior was a result of conditioning
and occurs because a stimuli is present
iii. B.F. Skinner
1. Introduced the concept of reinforcement
a. Reinforcement – a response to a behavior that
increase the likelihood the behavior will be
repeated
b. Wrote Walden 2
Humanistic Psychology
i. Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, Rollo May
1. Human nature is evolving and self-directed
2. Environment and outside forces are just the background
to our own growth, they don’t influence us
3. Each person is unique and has a self-concept and
potential to develop fully
Cognitive Psychology
i. Jean Piaget
1. Focuses on how we process, store and use information
and how this information influences our thinking,
language, problem solving, and creativity
2. Behavior is influenced by a variety of mental processes
like perception, memories and expectations
Biological Psychology
i. Emphasizes the impact of biology on our behavior
1. Study how the brain, CNS, hormones and genetics
influence our behavior
2. Use PET and CAT scans as tools
Sociocultural Psychology
i. The study of the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities
and differences on behavior and social functioning
ii. Our knowledge, ways of thinking, feeling and behaving are
dependent on the culture we belong to
Complete Section 2 Review
Section 3 – Psychology as a Profession
A. What is a Psychologist
a. Psychologist – people who have been trained to observe, analyze and
evaluate behavior
i. Usually have a doctorate in Pysch
ii. Psychiatrist differs in that it is a specialty of medicine. They are
medical students who do their residency in a psych ward or psych
hospital
b. Clinical Psychologist – help people deal with their personal problems
i. Work in mental hospitals, private offices, prisons and clinics
ii. ½ of psychologists specialize in clinical psychology
c. Counseling Psychologist – usually work in schools or industrial firms
i. Help people adjust to the challenges of life
ii. Most states require a doctorate to be a clinical and counseling
psychologist
d. Other types of Psychologists
i. School psychologists – help students with emotional and learning
problems
ii. Social Psychologists – study groups and how they influence
behavior
iii. Developmental Psychologists – study physical, emotional,
cognitive and social changes that occur throughout life
1. They study children, the elderly and the process of dying
for example
iv. Educational Psychologists – deal with topics related to teaching
children and young adults, such as memory, intelligence, teaching
methods, and develop new instructional devices.
v. Experimental Psychologists – perform research to understand
how humans (and animals) operate physically and psychologically
Complete Section 3 Review
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