Download Intro. To Psychology

Intro. To Psychology
Intro. Unit
Mr. Stalnaker
Psychology
• What is
Psychology?
• Psychology is old
as a study but
young, vigorous,
and growing as an
organized science
and profession.
Psychology
• What do
psychologist
study?
• How people
perceive and think
and learn and why
they behave as
they do.
Psychology
• Growth of Psychology
• Psychology has grown
rapidly as a field for
research, teaching,
and application to
immediate human
problems.
• Advances in
psychology often have
worldwide effects.
Definition of Psychology
• Psychology is the
science that studies
the behavior of
organisms.
• Three words in this
definition – science,
behavior, and
organisms – require
further examination.
Definition of Psychology
• 1. Science
• When we refer to
psychology as a
science, we mean that
it is a systematic study.
The work of any
science is based on
factual investigation,
experiments, and other
systematic means of
collecting information,
or data.
Definition of Psychology
• Scientists collect data
by research, that is, by
systematic, careful,
firsthand observation
of facts or events.
• It must be stressed
that no science has all
the facts on or all the
answers to the
problems it
investigates.
Definition of Psychology
• 2. Behavior
• Psychology has been
defined as the science
that studies behavior. In
the sciences, common
words are often used with
technical meanings, and
“behavior” is such a word.
• In psychology, behavior is
defined as those activities
of a human being or other
organism that can be
observed directly or by
means of special
instruments or technique.
Definition of Psychology
• 3. Organisms
• Psychologists use
the word organism
to refer to any living
animal.
• Psychologists
primarily are
interested in human
beings.
Psychology
• The “mind” in psychology.
• (The mind-body problem)
• The problem of the relation
of mind, or that which is
mental, to body or that
which is physical.
• This problem is based on
the assumption that it is
possible and profitable to
consider mental behavior
as separate from physical
behavior.
Psychology
• The battle for the mind
• There is always a
battle between what
the mind tells the body
to do and what the
body actually does.
• (Think about events in
your life where the
mind told you to
respond one way, but
you did something
different.)
The place of Psychology among the
sciences
• 1. How is psychology
related to chemistry?
• Some forms of mental
illness that were formerly
spoken of as sickness of
the mind can now be
explained in terms of body
chemistry.
Psychopharmacology –
the study of the effects of
drugs and poisons on
psychological functions.
The place of Psychology among the
sciences
• Biology is another
science which
contributes to
psychology.
• There is a consistent
study of emotions,
which requires a
knowledge of the
activity of glands and of
parts of the brain.
The place of Psychology among the
sciences
• 2. How is psychology
related to anthropology
and sociology?
• The science of
anthropology and
sociology are closely allied
to psychology. Cultural (or
social) anthropology
studies the culture – the
way of life – of man. Trying
to understand the
influences of environment
upon the behavior of
individuals.
The place of Psychology among the
sciences
• Sociology is especially
concerned with group
life and social
organization, chiefly in
literate societies such
as our own.
• Sociologists study
such areas as growth
and shifts of
populations, urban,
and rural living, voting
trends, delinquency,
and crime.
Methods of Psychological Study
• 1. What is natural
observation?
• Before the
development of
psychology as a
science, men
observed and
recorded examples of
behavior.
• Psychologists use
natural observation as
a check on laboratory
and other scientific
work.
Methods of Psychological Study
• We can learn
something about how
individuals adjust to
social situations by
observing them and
their companions at
informal social
gatherings. We can
learn about an
individual’s attitudes
by listening to his
conversation.
Methods of Psychological Study
• 2. What is the casestudy method?
• Psychologists, social
workers, and
psychiatrists often use
the case-study
method as they
attempt to help
children and adults
with problems of
adjustment.
Methods of Psychological Study
• The case record includes
information concerning
family background, home
life, neighborhood
activities, school
experience, health, and so
on.
• This method is based on
the idea that the more we
know about an individual,
the better we will be able
to understand and to help
him.
Methods of Psychological Study
• 3. How are interviews
used?
• In psychology,
sociology, and other
fields, interviews are
widely used to obtain
data.
• Psychologists use
interviews for such
purposes as compiling
a case record on an
individual or studying
prejudices in groups.
Methods of Psychological Study
• 4. What is the
questionnaire method?
• The questionnaire
method was developed
to provide greater
accuracy in the study of
human behavior.
• This method consists of
sending a list of
questions on a given
subject to a selected
group of individuals. The
questions do not
constitute a test with right
or wrong answers.
Methods of Psychological Study
• Rather, they are
designed to gather
facts about the
individual or to elicit
his opinions. The
answers to the
questions can be
treated statistically.
Methods of Psychological Study
• 5. What is the experimental
method?
• This permits better control of
conditions and provides for
more accurate measurement
than do other methods of
study.
• An experiment usually
begins with the statement of
a hypothesis, that is, a
tentative assumption or
proposition that is to be
tested.
Methods of Psychological Study
• There is always an
independent variable,
which is the factor that
produces the effects
being examined in the
experiment.
• Stimulus is any object,
event, or situation
which causes a
response by the
organism.
Methods of Psychological Study
• Dependent variable,
the changed condition
that is considered to
be a consequence of,
or to depend upon,
the independent
variable.
• The response of the
organism, which is
caused by the action
of the stimulus.
Methods of Psychological Study
• 6. What procedures are used in
an experiment?
• One way of doing this is to match
two groups of people carefully.
• Same age, sex, and intellectual
abilities
• Members of both groups would
spend the same specified time
doing similar tasks. In other
words, the two groups would be
made up of what might be called
“psychological twins.”
• (Experimental group v. Control
group)
Understanding Main Ideas
• 1. How do the concepts of theory and
principle differ?
• A theory is a statement that attempts to
explains why things are the way they are
and happen the way they do. A principle is
a rule or law.
Understanding Main Ideas
• 2. Describe what clinical and counseling
psychologists?
• Clinical Psy. Treat psychological problems
• Counseling Psy. Treat people too but
those that have adjustment problems.
Understanding Main Ideas
• 3. What views held by ancient Greek
physician Hippocrates was ahead of its
time?
• That psychological problems are caused
by abnormalities in the brain rather than by
supernatural forces.
Understanding Main Ideas
• 4. What are the six main contemporary
perspectives in psychology?
• Biological
• Evolutionary
• Cognitive
• Humanistic
• Psychoanalytic
• Socio-cultural
People’s Concerns
Relationships
Economy
Security
Death