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Introduction to Psychology, History
of Psych, & Psych Perspectives
Unit 1
Intro to Psych
• Greek roots psyche – mind and logos –
knowledge or study
• Since we cannot study the mind directly, the
approved definition bases the study of
psychology on things that can be measured
• Psychology – the scientific study of behavior
and mental process
Intro to Psych
• Overt behaviors such as talking, sneezing, tie
shoelaces, sitting in class are easily measured
• Covert behaviors are private, internal activities such as
thinking, dreaming, and remembering are also studied
• Psychologists do research to discover new knowledge,
solve problems in mental health, education, business,
sports, law, and medicine
• Psychologists rely on critical thinking and information
gained from scientific research
Empirical Evidence
• Many people believe they are “people watchers” and
develop common-sense theories regarding people’s
behaviors
• To combat common-sense, psychologists have
developed the scientific observation – an empirical
investigation structured to answer questions about the
world in a systematic and intersubjective fashion
(observations can be reliably confirmed by multiple
observers)
• Must have empirical evidence and be able to collect
data (observed facts) to draw valid conclusions
Empirical Evidence
Empirical Evidence
• Study above suggests that physical discomfort is
associated with interpersonal hostility
• A study may prove a common sense idea, or
completely go against it
• Continuing with this study showed that hostile
actions that require more extreme physical
exertion, like fist fighting, might decrease at
higher temperatures
Psychological Research
• Psychologists use scientific observation to systematically
answer questions about behavior
• Research method – a systematic approach to answering
scientific questions
• There are limitations to conducting research because of a
lack of a suitable research method
• People claimed to never dream and we had to take their
word for it until the invention of the EEG
(electroencephalograph or brain-wave machine)
• Since this invention, we can now measure that they do
dream quite frequently, and if awoken can vividly
remember their dreams
Research Specialties
• Personality theorist – studies personality traits, motivation, and
individual differences
• Developmental psychologists – studies the course of human growth
and development, from conception to death
• Learning theorists – studies how and why learning occurs in humans
and animals
• Sensation and perception psychologist – investigates how we
discern the world though our senses
• Comparative psychologists – study and compare the behavior of
different species, especially animals
• Cognitive psychologists – study thinking
Research Specialties
• Biopsychologists – interested in how behavior relates to biological
processes, particularly within the nervous system
• Gender psychologists – study differences between females and males
• Social psychologists – explore human social behavior, such as attitudes,
persuasion, riots, conformity, leadership, racism, and friendship
• Evolutionary psychologists – interested in how our behavior is guided by
patterns that evolved during the long history of humankind
• Cultural psychologists – study the ways in which culture affects human
behavior
• Forensic psychologists – apply psychological principles to legal issues
Animal Psychology
• Psychologists are interested in studying the
behaviors of any living creature
• Animal model – in research, an animal whose
behavior is used to derive principles that may
apply to human behavior
• Animal studies have helped us to understand
stress, learning, obesity, aging, and sleep
• Psychology has also benefited animals from
behavioral studies for caring for domestic animals
and endangered animals in a zoo
Goals of Psychology
• Ultimate goal is to benefit humanity; more specific goal are to describe,
understand, predict, and control behavior
• Description – In scientific research, the process of naming and classifying.
Making records of observations, cannot answer “why” questions
• Understanding – In psychology, understanding is achieved when the causes of
a behavior can be stated. Example – bystander apathy reveals that the more
people who are around to help, the less likely a person will receive help due to
“diffusion of responsibility”
• Prediction – An ability to accurately forecast behavior. Because of bystander
apathy, we know the odds of being picked up on a freeway with car trouble are
very low
• Control – Altering conditions that influence behavior. Changing the way you
teach a course to help students learn better, or designing vehicles to keep
drivers from making fatal mistakes are both examples of using control
Critical Thinking
• Most people know to be skeptical of a $5 Rolex watch
for just a few dollars and will accept their ignorance of
subatomic physics, but feel they are experts of human
behavior since they deal with them daily
• Critical thinking – An ability to reflect on, evaluate,
compare, analyze, critique, and synthesize information
• Critical thinkers are willing to challenge conventional
wisdom
• Must be willing to actively reflect on ideas and accept
the idea that your assumptions might be wrong
Critical Thinking
• Basic principles of critical thinking:
• 1. Few “truths” transcend the need for empirical testing. Matters of religious
beliefs and personal values can be taken as matters of faith, most other ideas
can be evaluated
• 2. Judging the quality of evidence is crucial. Acting as a juror, you can’t just weigh
the amount of evidence, but must critically evaluate the quality of evidence
• 3. Authority or claimed expertise does not automatically make an idea true. Just
because a teacher or authority figure claims something to be true, it would be
self-demeaning to take their word for it without checking their sources
• 4. Critical thinking requires an open mind. “It seems to me that what is called
for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical
scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great
openness to new ideas” – Carl Sagan
Pseudopsychology
• Pseudopsychology – Any false and unscientific
system of beliefs and practices that is offered
as an explanation of behavior
• Followers seek evidence that confirms their
beliefs and avoid evidence that contradicts
their beliefs
• Scientists by comparison actively look for
contradictions to their own theories in an
effort to advance knowledge
Pseudopsychology
• Phrenology, created by Franz
Gall, believed that
personality traits were
revealed by the shape of the
skull
• Palm reading claims that they
can use the lines on one’s
hand to discuss personality
traits and predict the future
• None of these have ever
been scientifically proven to
work
Pseudopsychology
• Graphology is the study of
handwriting to determining
personality traits
• Graphologists have scored close to
0 on accuracy in rating personality,
and have been found to do no
better than untrained college
students in rating personality and
job performance
• Despite this information,
graphologists have been used to
select job candidates, distribute
bank credit, or selected for juries
Pseudopsychology
• Astrology is one of the most popular forms of
pseudopycholgy and claims to use the position of the
planets and stars at the time of your birth to determine
your personality traits and affect your behavior
• In a study of over 3,000 predictions, only a small
percentage were fulfilled and the successful ones tended to
be vague (there will be a tragedy somewhere in the east in
the spring)
• If asked, astrologers were not proficient at matching people
to their horoscopes than chance would allow. Famous test;
astrologers could not use horoscopes to determine
difference between murderers and law abiding citizens
Pseudopsychology
• There is no connection between people’s astrological signs and their
intelligence or personality traits (Hartmann, Reuter, & Nyborg, 2006). Also
no connection of compatibility between people’s signs and marriage or
divorce rates
• Astrologers have been unable to explain why the moment of birth is more
important than moment of conception.
• Zodiac signs have shifted in the sky by one full constellation since
astrology has existed, but astrologers neglect this in their teachings
(Scorpios are really Libras)
• Horoscopes are accepted because of uncritical acceptance – The tendency
to believe generally positive or flattering descriptions of oneself
• Virgo – You are the logical type and hate disorder. Your nitpicking is
unbearable to your friends, You are cold, unemotional, and usually fall
asleep while making love. Virgos make good doorstops.
Pseudosychology
• Fallacy of positive instances – The tendency to remember
or notice information that fits one’s expectations while
forgetting discrepancies
• You can always find Aquarius characteristics in an Aquarius,
but you can also find Gemini or other constellation's
characteristics as well
• Psychic mediums use this effect quite well
• Studies show that the number of “hits” are relatively low
per session, but people are so impressed by the hits they
do get right, that they over look the many more misses that
occur
Pseudopsychology
• Barnum effect – The tendency to consider a personal
description accurate if it is stated in very general terms
• P.T. Barnum had a formula for success “Always have a
little something for everybody”
• Astrology’s popularity proves the difficulty people have
in separating valid psychology from other not valid
system
• People can be harmed by pseudopsychologies by
needing real help and therapy, but instead gathering
help from self-appointed “experts” who offer therapies
based on opinions, fads, or wishful thinking
History
• People have been studying human behavior and philosophizing about it
for thousands of years, but it has only existed as a science for the past
130 years
• William Wundt is considered the father of psychology after having set
up a laboratory to study conscious experience
• Measured how we experience sensations, images, and feelings by
measuring different types of stimuli
• Stimulus – Any physical energy sensed by an organism that evokes a
response
• Introspection – To look within,; to examine one’s own thoughts,
feelings, or sensations (stop reading, close your eyes, carefully examine
your thoughts, feelings, and sensations)
Structuralism
• Edward Titchener takes Wundt’s ideas to America and renames it
structuralism
• Structuralism – The school of thought concerned with analyzing
sensations and personal experience into basic elements
• “What basic tastes mix together to create complex flavors as
different as broccoli, lime, bacon, and strawberry cheesecake?”
• Limitation as a method is that structuralists frequently disagreed
with no way to settle differences
• Ex. If you and a friend both introspected on your perceptions of an
apple, you would both come up with two different lists of basic
elements, but who’s would be right?
Functionalism
• William James broadened psychology to include animal behavior, religious
experience, and abnormal behavior
• Functionalism – The school of psychology concerned with how behavior
and mental abilities help people adapt to their environments
• James saw consciousness as an ever-changing stream or flow of images or
sensations; disagreed with structuralists in that life consisted of lifeless
building blocks
• Championed by Charles Darwin’s idea of natural selection – Darwin’s
theory that evolution favors those plants and animals best suited to their
living conditions
• Functionalists wanted to know how the mind, perceptions, habits, and
emotions help us adapt and survive
• Started the psychology of learning and education
Behaviorism
• John Watson argued that studying the mind and introspection
didn’t work because it was unscientific due to the disagreements
between scientists and it’s inability to be measured
• Behaviorism – The school of psychology that emphasizes the study
of overt, observable behavior
• Realized that you cold study animals by observing their relationship
between stimuli and an animal’s responses – Any muscular action,
glandular activity, or other identifiable aspect of behavior
• Argued that this could be applied to humans as well
• Adopted Pavlov’s concept of conditioning to explain most behavior
(A conditioned response is a learned reaction to a particular
stimulus)
Behaviorism
• B.F. Skinner developed idea of operant conditioning or that our actions are
controlled by rewards and punishments
• Skinner believed that mental events such as thinking are not needed to explain
behavior
• A “desired culture” could be created based on a system of positive
reinforcement that could encourage desirable behavior (believed punishment
wouldn’t work since it didn’t teach correct responses)
• Cognitive behaviorism – An approach that combines behavioral principles with
cognition to explain behavior
• Critics disagreed with behaviorists complete disregard for the role that thinking
has in our lives
• Ex. You go to a particular website because it offers free streaming videos.
Behaviorists would say that you are rewarded with pleasure every time to go to
this site. Cognitive behaviorists would add that you also expect to find good
videos at this site
Gestalt Psychology
• Play the song “Happy Birthday” on a tuba and then again on a flute.
You would be able to recognize the song as long as the relationship
between the notes remains the same
• How would this differ if you played the same song, but played one
note every hour?
• Gestalt psychology – A school of psychology emphasizing the study
of thinking, learning, and perception in whole units, not by analysis
into parts
• Max Wertheimer disagreed with structuralists by stating that you
can’t look at psychological events as pieces or elements; you must
study thinking, learning, and perception as whole units to better
understand the full picture
• “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”
Psychoanalytic Psychology
• Sigmund Freud brought about a completely different way of
thinking
• He viewed mental life like an iceberg in that only a small part is
exposed and that our behavior is influenced greatly by our
unconscious thoughts, impulses, and desires (especially concerning
sex and aggression)
• Unconscious – Contents of the mind that are beyond awareness,
especially impulses and desires not directly known to a person
• Believed that unconscious thoughts are repressed – The
unconscious process by which memories, thoughts, or impulses are
held out of awareness – because they are threatening
• Can be expressed in dreams, emotions, or slips of the tongue
(Freudian slips)
Psychoanalytic Psychology
• Believed that all thoughts, emotions, and actions are determined and through
probing deep enough we can find the causes for every action or thought
• Psychoanalysis – A Freudian approach to psychotherapy emphasizing the
exploration of unconscious conflicts
• First to promote the affects that childhood had on adulthood
• Neo-Freudians – A psychologist who accepts the broad features of Freud’s
theory but has revised the theory to fit his or her own concepts
• Alfred Adler, Anna Freud, Karen Horney, Carl Jung, Otto Rank, & Eric Erikson all
placed less emphasis on sex and aggression and more on social motive and
relationships
• Fraud’s ideas are prevalent through the more prevalent Psychodynamic theory
– Any theory of behavior that emphasizes internal conflicts, motives, and
unconscious forces
Humanistic Psychology
•
Humanism – An approach to psychology that focuses on human experience, problems,
potentials, and ideals
•
Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow, and other humanists disagreed with Freudians and
behaviorists ideas of determinism – The idea that all behavior has prior causes that
would completely explain one’s choices and actions if all such causes were known
•
Humanists stress free will – The idea that human beings are capable of freely making
choices or decisions
•
Past does effect us, but we can choose to live more creative, meaningful, and satisfying
lives
•
Humanists are interested in psychological needs for love, self-esteem, belonging, selfexpression, creativity, and spirituality
•
These are just as important as biological urges for food and water
•
Self-actualization – the ongoing process of fully developing one’s personal potential
•
Humanists believe that all people have this potential and they seek ways to help it
emerge
Perspective
Date
Notable Events
Experimental
psychology
1875 First psychology course offered by William James
1878 First American Ph.D. in psychology awarded
1879 Wilhelm Wundt opens first psychology laboratory in Germany
1883 First American psychology lab founded at Johns Hopkins University
1886 First American psychology textbook written by John Dewey
Structuralism
1898 Edward Titchener advances psychology based on introspection
Functionalism
1890 William James publishes Principle of Psychology
1892 American Psychological Association founded
Psychodynamic
psychology
1895 Sigmund Freud publishes first studies
1900 Freud publishes The Interpretation of Dreams
Behaviorism
1906 Ivan Pavlov reports his research on conditioned reflexes
1913 John Watson presents behavioristic view
Gestalt
psychology
1912 Max Wertheimer and other advance Gestalt viewpoint
Humanistic
psychology
1942 Carl Rogers publishes Counseling and Psychotherapy
1943 Abraham Maslow publishes “A Theory of Human Motivation
Biological Perspective
Biopsychological View
Key Idea: Human and animal behavior is the result of internal physical, chemical, and biological processes
Seeks to explain behavior through activity of the brain and nervous system, physiology, genetics, he endocrine system, and
biochemistry; neutral, reductionistic, mechanistic view of human nature
Evolutionary View
Key Idea: Human and animal behavior is the result of the process of evolution.
Seeks to explain behavior through evolutionary principles based on natural selection; neutral, reductionist, mechanistic view
of human nature
S
R
INPUT
Processing
OUTPUT
Conscious
Unconscious
Self-image
Self
Selfevaluation
Social
Self
Cultural
Psychological Perspective
Behavioristic View
Key Idea: Behavior is shaped and controlled by one’s environment.
Emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the effects of learning; stresses the influence o external rewards and
punishments; neutral, scientific, somewhat mechanistic view of human nature
Cognitive View
Key Idea: Much human behavior can be understood in terms of the mental processing of information.
Concerned with thinking, knowing, perception, understanding, memory, decision making, and judgment; explains behavior
in terms of information processing, neutral, somewhat computer-like view of human nature
Psychodynamic View
Key Idea: Behavior is directed by forces within one’s personality that are often hidden or unconscious.
Emphasizes internal impulses, desires, and conflicts – especially those that are unconscious; views behavior as the result of
clashing forces within personality; somewhat negative, pessimistic view of human nature
Humanistic View
Key Idea: Behavior is guided by one’s self-image, by subjective perceptions of the world, and by needs for personal growth.
Focuses on subjective, conscious experience, human problems, potentials, and ideals; emphasizes self-image and selfactualization to explain behavior; positive, philosophical view of human nature
Sociocultural Perspective
Sociocultural View
Kew Idea: Behavior is influenced by one’s social and cultural context.
Emphasizes that behavior is related to the social and cultural environment within which a person is born, grow up, and lives
from day to day; neutral, interactionist view of human nature
Biological Perspective
• Most psychologists have adopted multiple
theories to explain behavior since human nature
is too complicated for any one theory to explain
• Biological perspective – The attempt to explain
behavior in terms of underlying biological
principles
• Use biological principles like brain processes,
evolution, and genetics to explain our behavior
• Neuroscience and evolutionary psychologists are
part of the field of the biological perspective
Psychological Perspective
• Psychological perspective – The traditional view that behavior is shaped by
psychological processes occurring at the level of the individual
• Acknowledges that mental processes underlie much of our behavior and
emphasizes objective observation, cognitive behaviorism, and cognitive
psychology
• Cognitive psychology is gaining prominence since we now have the technology
to measure things like thinking, memory, and language
• Psychodynamic view is still gaining ground as they trace human behavior
through their unconscious behavior
• Humanistic psychologists try to enhance people’s lives, like the psychodynamic
view, but do so by stressing subjective, conscious experiences, and the positive
side of human nature, as opposed to the unconscious processes
• Positive psychology – The study of human strengths, virtues, and effective
functioning; came about once there was a need to not only study the negative
side of human behavior
Sociocultural Perspective
•
Sociocultural perspective – The focus on the importance of social and cultural contexts
in influencing the behavior or individuals
•
Cultural diversity is becoming the norm in American and thus has had a profound
impact on psychology
•
Most psychology has been based on North America and European cultures and the
question is now being asked is “Do the principles of Western psychology apply to
people of all cultures?”
•
Cultural relativity – The idea that behavior must be judged relative to the values of the
culture in which it occurs
•
Ex. If you are treating a Native American woman who claims that spirits live in the trees
near her home, do you treat her for delusions, and is she abnormal?
•
Social norms – Rules that define acceptable and expected behavior for embers of a
group
•
Judging what is “normal” behavior has been traditionally set by white, middle-class
males, but to be an effective psychologist, we must be sensitive to people who are
ethnically and culturally different
Psychologists
• Psychologist – A person highly trained in the methods,
factual knowledge, and theories of psychology
• A psychiatrist and psychologist are not the same thing
• Many misconceptions exist for psychologists such as most
psychologists are not therapists in a private practice as is
portrayed in the movies
• Most are employed by schools, businesses, and social
agencies
• Clinical psychology is not the only field that exists; a little
over half of all psychologists study mental disorders or do
therapy
Psychologists
• Most psychologists do work that helps people
• People interested in emotional problems specialize in clinical or
counseling psychology
• Clinical psychologist – A psychologist who specializes in the
treatment of psychological and behavioral disturbances or who
does research on such disturbances
• Counseling psychologist – A psychologist who specializes in the
treatment of milder emotional and behavioral disturbances
• This difference is starting to disappear and many now work as full
time therapists
• Most have a masters or Ph.D. in order to work at a practice
Specialty
Typical Activities
Biopsychology
B*
Does research on the brain, nervous system, and other physical origins of behavior
Clinical
A
Does psychotherapy; investigates clinical problems; develops methods of treatment
Cognitive
B
Studies human thinking and information processing abilities
Community
A
Promotes community-wide mental health through research, preventions, education, and consultation
Comparative
B
Studies and compares the behavior of different species, especially animals
Consumer
A
Researches packaging, advertising, marketing methods, and characteristics of consumers
Counseling
A
Does psychotherapy and personal counseling; researches emotional disturbances and counseling methods
Cultural
B
Studies the ways in which culture, subculture, and ethnic group membership affect behavior
Developmental
A,B
Conducts research on infant, child, adolescent, and adult development; does clinical work with disturbed children; acts as consultant to parents and
schools
Educational
A
Investigates classroom dynamics, teaching styles, and learning; develops educational tests, evaluates educational programs
Engineering
A
Does applies research on the design of machinery, computers, airlines, automobiles, and so on, for business, industry, and the military
Environmental
A,B
Studies the effects of urban noise, crowding, attitudes toward the environment, and human use of space; acts as a consultant on environmental issues
Forensic
A
Studies problems of crime and crime prevention. Rehabilitation programs, prisons, courtroom dynamics; selects candidates for police work
Gender
B
Does research on differences between males and females; the acquisition of gender identity, and the role of gender throughout life
Health
A,B
Studies the relationship between behavior and health; uses psychological principles to promote health and prevent illness
Industrial-organizational
A
Selects job applicants, does skills analysis, evaluates on –the-job training, improves work environments and human relations in organizations and work
settings
Learning
B
Studies how and why learning occurs; develops theories of learning
Medical
A
Applies psychology to manage medical problems, such as the emotional impact of illness, self-screening for cancer, compliance in taking medicine
Personality
B
Studies personality traits and dynamics; develops theories of personality and tests for assessing personality traits
School
A
Does psychological testing, referrals, emotional and vocational counseling of students; detects and treats learning disabilities; improves classroom
learning
Sensation and perception
B
Studies the sense organs and the process of perception; investigates the mechanisms of sensation and develops theories about how perception occurs
Social
B
Investigates human social behavior, including attitudes, conformity, persuasion, prejudice, friendship, aggression, helping, and so forth
*Research in this area is typically applied (A), basic (B), or both (A,B)
Other Professionals
• Psychiatrist – A medical doctor with additional training in the diagnosis
and treatment of mental and emotional disorders
– Psychiatrists can normally issue drugs, but a trend to allow psychologists to
prescribe is occurring
• Psychoanalyst – A mental health professional trained to practice
psychoanalysis
– Usually has an M.D. and seeks further training in Freudian psychoanalysis
• Counselor – A mental health professional who specializes in helping
people with problems not involving serious mental disorder; marriage
counselors, career counselors, or school councilors
– Must have a master’s degree and 1 to 2 years of full-time supervised
counseling experience
• Psychiatric social workers – A mental health professional trained to
apply social science principles to help patients in clinics and hospitals
– Most have a Master of Social Work degree and assist psychologists and
psychiatrists
Ethics
• Most psychologists take pride in following a
professional code that stresses
– High levels of competence, integrity, and
responsibility
– Respect for people’s rights to privacy, dignity,
confidentiality, and personal freedom
– Protection of the client’s welfare
• Psychologists are also expected to use their
knowledge to contribute to society