Download Module 1: Discovering Psychology

General Psych
Module 1:
Discovering Psychology
Definition of Psychology
• Systematic, scientific study of
behaviors and mental processes
– Behaviors = observable actions or
responses (running)
– Mental Processes = not observable
(thinking)
Goals of Psychology
•
•
•
•
Describe different ways organisms behave
Explain the causes of behavior
Predict how organisms will behave
Control an organism’s behavior
Donna Williams
-Describe: Tapping & Twirling fingers to escape
reality
–Explain: genetic and biological factors (Autism)
–Predict: Autistic children usually have difficulty
learning in school: easily overwhelmed
-Control: rule to only meet one person at a time,
to avoid being overwhelmed
Modern Approaches to
Psychology
• Biological
• Cognitive
• Behavioral
• Psychoanalytic
• Humanistic
• Cross-Cultural
Biological Approach
Donna: Autistic brain uses the
same area to process both
objects and human faces; may
have trouble distinguishing the
two from each other.
• Focuses on how our
genes, hormones,
and nervous system
interact w/ our
environments to
influence learning,
personality, memory,
motivation, emotions,
and coping
techniques
Cognitive Approach
• Focuses on how we process, store, and
use information and how this information
influences what we attend to, perceive,
learn, remember, believe, and feel
– Donna: “Autism stops me from using my own words when I
want to. Or makes me say silly things I do not want to say.”
–Donna: no soap suds, no making the
fruit in the bowl symmetrical, no lining
feet up with furniture, etc…
• Analyzes how organisms learn new
behaviors or modify existing ones,
depending on whether events in their
environments reward or punish these
behaviors.
Behavioral Approach
Psychoanalytic Approach
Donna: alcoholic and abusive mother,
absent father which led to “Willie” and
“Carol”
• Childhood experiences greatly
influence development of later
personality traits and psychological
problems—also unconscious, fears,
desires, and motivations.
Humanistic Approach
• Emphasizes that each individual has great
freedom in directing his or her future.
Donna: “I CAN FIGHT AUTISM…I
WILL CONTROL IT…IT WILL NOT
CONTROL ME”
• Studies the influence of cultural and ethnic
similarities and differences on psychological and
social functioning.
Cross-Cultural Approach
Historical Approaches
to Psychology
• Structuralism: elements of the mind
• Wilhelm Wundt; introspection
• Functionalism: Functions of the mind
• William James; angry wolf
• Behaviorism: Observable Behaviors
• John B. Watson; guarantee
• Gestalt Approach: sensations vs. Perception
• Max Wertheimer; blinking lights
Women & Minorities in Psychology
Ruth Howard
First AfricanAmerican
woman to
receive a Ph.D.
in psychology
(1934)
Mary Calkins
Although she
completed all of the
requirements for a
Ph.D., she was
denied a doctorate by
the Harvard
administration
because she was a
woman
Today,
Margaret Washburn
1st woman to earn a
Ph.D. in psychology
(1908)
-Between 1920 and 1966, only 8 Ph.D.s
were awarded to Black students,
compared to 3,767 doctorates to Whites
-From 1892 to 1990, the cumulative
membership of the APA was 128,000;
700 African American, 700 Latino, and
70 Native American
women earn more Ph.D.s in psychology than men,
however, in 1991 there were more male full-time psychologists
than women
Areas of Specialization
•
Social & Personality
– Social psychology involves the study of social interactions, stereotypes,
prejudices, attitudes, conformity, group behaviors, and aggression
– Personality psychology involves the study of personality development,
personality change, assessment, and abnormal behaviors
•
Developmental
– Examines moral, social, emotional, and cognitive development throughout a
person’s life span
•
Experimental
– Includes areas of sensation, perception, learning, human performance,
motivation, and emotion
•
Biological
– Involves research on the physical & chemical changes that occur during
stress, learning, and emotions
•
•
Cognitive
-Involves how we process, store, and retrieve information and how
cognitive processes influence our behaviors
Psychometrics
-Focuses on the measurement of people’s abilities, skills,
intelligence, personality, and abnormal behaviors
Module 2: Psychology & Science
Research Method
• Tool for answering questions
• 3 Types
– Survey
– Case study
– Experiment