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Why Study Psychology?
Psychology – the scientific study of behavior and
mental processes
Behavior – any action that other people can
observe or measure
Examples:
Walking, talking, eating, pressing a button
Heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity
Behavior and Mental Processes
Cognitive activities – private, unobservable mental
processes such as sensation, perception, thought,
and problem solving
Dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories
Brain waves that indicate dreaming can be measured
Cell activity in an eye responding to color can be
measured
Behavior and Mental Processes
Psychologists also want to measure emotions
Emotions affect behavior and mental processes
Emotions must be studied through psychological
constructs
Psychological constructs – concepts that enable
a person to discuss something that cannot be
seen, touched , or measured directly
Goals of Psychology
Observe behavior and
mental processes to gain a
better understanding
Enables psychologists to
describe, explain, predict,
and control behavior
Dealing with anxiety
Positive visualization
Psychology as a Science
Psychology is a social science (sociology, history)
Closely tied to natural sciences (biology, physics)
Answer questions by following scientific research steps
1. Conducting surveys and experiments
2. Collecting and analyzing data
3. Drawing conclusions
Psychological Theories
Psychologists organize their research into theories
Theory – Statement that attempts to explain why
things are the way they are & happen the way they do
Discuss principals that govern behavior and mental
processes
Principals – Rule or law
Areas of Psychology
1. Clinical Psychologists
Make up the largest group of psychologists
Help people with psychological problems
Areas of Psychology
2. Counseling Psychologists
Use interviews and tests to identify problems
Treat people who have adjustment problems
Areas of Psychology
3. School Psychologists
Aid students with problems that interfere with learning
4. Educational Psychologists
Focus on course planning and instructional methods
Areas of Psychology
5. Developmental Psychologists
Study changes that occur throughout a person’s
life (behavior, thoughts, feelings)
Areas of Psychology
6. Social Psychologists
Study people’s behavior in social situations
Physical and psychological factors of attraction
Ways men and women behave in situations
Reasons people conform to group standards
How behavior changes when in a group
Areas of Psychology
7. Forensic Psychologists
Testify about the psychological
competence of a defendant
History of Psychology
Began as part of philosophy
Wilhelm Wundt “father of psychology”
Studied conscious experiences
Sensations, images, feelings?
Observed and measured stimuli
Stimuli = lights, sounds, pain
Stimulus – physical energy that evokes a sensory response
Structuralism
Wundt also used “introspection”
Introspection is “looking inward”
Basic elements of consciousness:
1. Objective sensations
2. Subjective feelings
Structuralism – Human mind functions by combining these
basic elements of experience (Objective and Subjective)
Functionalism
Developed by William James
How the mind functions to help us survive and adapt
Influenced by Charles Darwin (natural selection)
James wanted to know how the mind helps us adapt
Adaptive behavior is learned because it is successful
Adaptive (successful) behavior is repeated and
eventually becomes a habit…studying = success!
Behaviorism Cartoons!
Behaviorism
Behaviorism – Study of observable behavior
John B. Watson…introspection was “unscientific”
Observed the relationship between stimuli and an
animal’s response (can’t ask animals questions)
Used Pavlov’s idea of conditioning to explain behavior
Conditioned response – learned behavior to a
particular stimulus
John B. Watson
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, wellformed, and my own special world to
bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take
any one at random and train him to
become any type of specialist I might
select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchantchief, and yes, beggarman and thief”
B.F. Skinner
Believed behavior is controlled by positive
reinforcements (rewards)
Worked with animals, ideas applied to humans
If rewarded, an animal is more likely to perform act
People behave in certain ways because they have been
reinforced for doing so
Gestalt School
Gestalt is German for
“form, pattern, or whole”
Gestalt psychologists
studied thinking,
learning, and perception
in whole units, not by
analyzing experiences
into parts
Gestalt School
Playing the same song on a guitar and on the drums
Playing a song with only one note per hour
Perception is affected by the context in which it
appears
The human eye sees objects in their entirety before
perceiving their individual parts
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Psychoanalysis
Emphasized unconscious motives and internal
conflicts in determining human behavior
Believed that mental life is like an iceberg…huh?
Unconscious – Area of the mind that lies outside of
our personal awareness
Our behavior is deeply influenced by unconscious
thoughts, impulses, and desire…especially those
concerning sex and aggression
Psychoanalysis
Freud theorized that many unconscious thoughts
are threatening, so they are repressed
Repressed – Restrained, held out of awareness
Unconscious thoughts are revealed by dreams,
emotions, and slips of the tongue
Believed all thoughts, emotions, etc. are determined
There are no accidents, every thought has a cause!
Psychoanalysis
Freud was one of the first psychologists to appreciate that
childhood affects adult personality
“The child is father to the man”…what does this mean?
Known for creating psychoanalysis, “talking therapy”
Gained his understanding of behavior through meetings
Theorized that behavior is aimed at satisfying needs / desires
Help people find socially acceptable ways of meeting needs
Contemporary Perspectives
The study of psychology has changed over the years
Theories of Skinner and Watson have been modified
Many contemporary psychoanalysts do not use the same
methods as Sigmund Freud
New perspectives still use historical traditions of psych
Each perspective emphasizes different topics/approaches
Biological Perspective
Emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior
Assume our mental processes (thoughts, fantasies, &
dreams) are made possible by the nervous system
Look for connections between events in the brain
Study brain activity when listening to music, solving
problems, experiencing psychological disorders
Interested in the influences of hormones and genes
Hormones and
Genes
Hormones – Chemicals that glands release into the
bloodstream to set in motion body functions
Body functions can include growth or digestion
Genes – Basic unit of heredity
Biological psychologists study the influence of genes
on personality traits, psychological health, as well as
various behavior patterns
Evolutionary
Perspective
Focuses on the evolution of behavior and mental
processes
Darwin believed that the most-adaptive organisms
have a greater chance of surviving to maturity
People who are resistant to certain diseases are more
likely to transmit those genes to future generations
Behavior (aggression) have a hereditary basis
Cognitive Perspective
Emphasize the role thoughts play
in behavior
Study mental processes to
understand human nature
Look at the ways people perceive
information, make mental images,
solve problems, and dream
Cognitive psych. study the mind
Humanistic Perspective
Stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment and the
importance of consciousness, self-awareness, and the
capacity to make choices
Considers people’s personal experiences to be the most
important aspect of psychology
Unlike behaviorists (stimuli acting upon us) believe that
we are free to choose our own behavior
View people as basically good & desiring to help others
Psychoanalytic
Perspective
Stresses the influence of
unconscious forces on
human behavior
Focus less on unconscious
sexual and aggressive
impulses
Focus more on conscious
choice and self-direction
Learning Perspective
Emphasizes the effects of experience on behavior
Social learning theory – People can change their
environments or create new ones
Behavior is learned either from direct experience or
by observing other people
We learn to act hostile/friendly based on the situation
Sociocultural
Perspective
Studies the influence of ethnicity, gender, culture, and
socioeconomic status on behavior and mental processes
Helps people appreciate the cultural heritages and
historical issues of various ethnic groups
Ethnic groups – United by heritage, race, language, and
history
Sociocultural theorists also study gender
Sociocultural
Perspective
Gender is not simply a matter of being male or female
Involves cultural expectations and social roles
These can affect self-concepts, aspirations, & behavior
Sociocultural psychology addresses the similarities
and differences between men and women
As of 2005, women made up 72% of psychology PhD’s