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WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
What do you already know?
Psychology: The scientific study of behavior and
mental processes.
5 Goals of Psychology
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Observe Behavior
Describe Behavior
Explain Behavior
Predict Behavior
Control Behavior
Psychology Careers
Doctoral Degrees Awarded in Psychology
Experimental
6.4
Industrial/
Organizational
4.2
Other
18.4
Clinical
39.9
Personality and
Social
4.8
Education and
School
Developmental
5.5
5.2
Counseling
15.6
History of Psychology
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Wilhelm Wundt-Founder
of Modern Psychology
1879- “birth year” of
psychology
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Introduction of Scientific
Method
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Social Science rooted in
Natural Sciences
Psychological
laboratories established
Structuralism &
Functionalism
The Gestalt School
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Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Köhler
“Perceptions are more than the sums of their parts.
Rather, they are wholes that give shape, or meaning,
to the parts.”
Believe learning is active and purposeful
Biological Perspective
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Charles Darwin
Emphasizes the influence
of biology on our
behavior
Our mental processes are
made possible through:
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Nervous System
Brain
Heredity
Influences of hormones
and genes
Twin Studies
Psychoanalytic Perspective
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Sigmund Freud, Carl
Jung
Attributes our thoughts
and actions to
unconscious motives and
conflicts
Focused on abnormal
behavior
Freudian Slip, Dream
Analysis
Behaviorism/Learning Perspective
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Ivan Pavlov, John B.
Watson, B.F. Skinner,
Albert Bandura
Psychology should only
study observable
behaviors, not mental
processes
Rewards and
Punishments shape our
learning
Pavlov’s Dogs, Little
Albert, Classical and
Operant Conditioning
Humanistic Perspective
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Abraham Maslow, Carl
Rogers
Studies conscious experience,
the individual’s freedom to
choose, and the capacity for
personal growth
People are basically good
Whole person is different
from the sum of all the parts
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Influenced by Gestalt
Psychologists
Hierarchy of Needs, Free
Will, Self-Actualization
Cognitive Perspective
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Jean Piaget (Child
Development)
Focuses on how people
think– how we take in,
process, store, and
retrieve information
Roots in Structuralism,
functionalism, and
Gestalt psychology
Sociocultural Perspective
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Focuses on how
thinking or behavior
changes in different
contexts or situations
 Ethnicity,
gender,
culture, socioeconomic
status, etc.
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Part of Social
Psychology
Applying Perspectives
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Andrea Yates Trial
What perspective best explains her behavior?
Cognitive: Mental functioning– she thought she was possessed by
the devil and her children were not developing properly
 Biological: Biological defect, bipolar diagnosis, neurotransmitter
problems, postpartum depression, or mood disorder that runs in
the family
 Sociocultural: Family dynamics; husband and extended family
not supportive
 Behavioral: Learned response; negative environmental
influences
 Psychoanalytic: Childhood conflicts or trauma results in
unconscious forces prevailing
 Humanistic: Lost faith in self as a mother; hopelessness
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