Download AHS Psychology-Chapter 1

WARM-UP #4
• Create a list of at least 10
questions (about anything… you,
your friends, family, animals, the
world, etc.) that you think the
study of psychology can help
answer
CHAPTER 1
Psychology
VOCABULARY TERMS TO DEFINE:
• Physiological
• Cognitive
• Hypothesis
• Theory
• Scientific method
• Introspective
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
• Psyche – “the soul”
• Logos – the study of a subject
• The scientific study of behavior and mental
processes
• Everything we think, feel, and do
THE GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY
• Explain the following
(pg. 10-11)…
1. Description:
2. Explanation:
3. Prediction:
4. Influence:
1. Describe/gather info about
behavior being studied
2. Explain why people behave as
they do (propose as hypothesis)
3. Predict what will be done and
what they think of feel in
various situations (study past to
predict future)
4. Influence behavior in helpful
ways by conducting studies
PSYCHOLOGISTS RELY ON THE SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
• Identify a
problem/question
• Formulate a hypothesis
• Collect data through
observation and
experimentation
• Analyze the data and
draw conclusions
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
A look at some psychologists…
2 EARLY SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT
1. Willhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
• University of Leipzig, Germany
• Established modern psychology as a separate field of
study
• Structuralism:
• Study/observe the basic elements that make up
conscious mental experiences
• “What goes on inside our minds”
EARLY SCHOOL OF THOUGHT CONT’D
2. William James (1842-1910)
• “Father of psychology in the United States”
• Functionalism:
• Study/investigate the function or purpose (NOT
structure) of consciousness and behaviors and
how people adapt to their environment
1ST PSYCHOLOGISTS WERE INTERESTED IN
UNDERSTANDING THE CONSCIOUS MIND… NEW,
CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES EMERGED:
• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• Psychoanalytic Psychology
• Emphasized how unconscious (outside awareness)
motives and conflicts influence behavior
• Used free association technique
OTHER “CONTEMPORARY” PSYCHOLOGISTS
• John B. Watson (1878-1958): Behavioral Psychology
• Analyzed how organisms learn/modify their behavior based on
responses to events in the environment
• Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May: Humanistic Psychology
• Humans are not controlled by their environment, they have the
freedom in directing their future
• Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky, and Leon Festinger: Cognitive Psychology
• Study how we process, store, retrieve, and use information; behavior
is influenced by perceptions, memories, and expectations
PSYCHOLOGY…
…as a profession
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY IS A THRIVING
PROFESSION
• Psychologist vs.
Psychiatrist: What’s the
difference??
THE DIFFERENCE…
• Psychologist:
• Scientist who studies
the mind and behavior
• Psychiatrist:
• A medical doctor who
treats people with
mental, emotional, or
behavioral disorders;
can prescribe
medication or operate
on patients
SUBFIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY
The 2 most popular:
1. Counseling psychologists:
1. Advise and assist people with problems of everyday life
2. Work in schools or industrial firms
2. Clinical psychologists:
1. Help people deal with personal problems
2. Treat people with emotional disturbances
3. Work in private offices, mental hospitals, prisons, and
clinic
COPY AND COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING CHART:
Type of Psychologist
School psych.
Social psych.
Developmental psych.
Educational psych.
Community psych.
Industrial/Organizational psych.
Environmental psych.
Psychobiologists
Forensic psych.
Health psych.
Experimental psych.
Job Description
JOB DESCRIPTIONS
• School psych: help young people with emotional or learning
problems
• Social psych: study groups and how they influence individual
behavior
• Developmental psych: study psychical, emotional, cognitive,
and social changes that occur throughout life and as one
matures
• Educational psych: evaluate teaching methods, devise tests,
and develop new instructional devices to help students learn
• Community psych: may work in a mental health or social welfare
agency operated by State or Local govt. or by a private organization
• Industrial/organizational psych: study and develop methods to boost
production, improve working conditions, place applications in jobs for
which they are best suited, train people, and reduce accidents (make
workplace more satisfying)
• Environmental psych: work in business settings or within the
government to study the effects of the environment on people
• Psychobiologists: study the effects of drugs or try to explain behavior
in terms of biological factors
• Forensic psych: work in legal, court, and correctional systems, assist
police by developing personality profiles or help understand problems
like abuse
• Health psych: study the interaction between physical and
psychological health factors
• Experimental psych: perform research to understand how humans
operate physically and psychologically; study sensation, perception,
learning, motivation, and emotion in laboratory conditions