What is Psychology?. Outline Why Study Psychology? – Behavior and Mental Processes – The Goals of Psychology – Psychology as a Science The Job of a Psychologist.

What is Psychology?

Outline• Why Study Psychology?

– Behavior and Mental Processes– The Goals of Psychology– Psychology as a Science

• The Job of a Psychologist– Fields Within Psychology– Applied Fields

• History of Psychology– Early Views– Major Players– Modern Psychology

• Psychology Today– Perspectives of Psychology– Perspectives Cont’d

Behavior and Mental Processes• Psychology – scientific study

of human behavior and mental process– Behavior – any action that can

be observed or measured

• Cognitive activities – mental processes– Dreams, memories, etc.– Known only to the individual

• Psychological constructs – used to study things we cannot see, touch, or measure

The Goals of Psychology

• Explain behavior– Struggling with

work/school– “Losing your cool”

• Predict situational outcomes– When will you begin to

struggle/fall apart?

• Control emotions, behavior, etc.– How to maintain control in

situations where you would have normally struggled

Psychology as a Science• Closely related to natural

sciences– Biology, chemistry, physics– Still, considered a social science

• Research– Surveys and experimentation– Human or animal research

• Theories– Statements attempting to explain

why or how something occurs– Discuss principles, or basic truth

or law– Useful theories can be applied in

prediction

Fields Within Psychology• Clinical

– Most common– Child/adult mental health,

learning disabilities– Not psychiatrists (medical

doctors that can prescribe medicine)

• Counseling– Marriage, work,

relationships

• School– Counselors in school– Future goals, peer/family

problems, school issues

Field Within Psychology Cont’d

• Educational– Course planning and

instructional methods for an entire school system

• Developmental– Changes throughout a

person’s life span– Physical, emotional,

cognitive, social

• Personality– Identification and

development of human traits

Fields Within Psychology Cont’d• Social

– Behavior in social situations– Romance, conforming to

standards, prejudice/discrimination

• Experimental– Experiments into basic

processes of the human body– Combined changes in biological

and psychological events– Engage in basic research, or

research that has no immediate application and is done for its own sake

Applied Fields

• Industrial and Organizational– Behavior of people within

organizations

• Human Factors– Best ways to design

products for people to use

• Community– Design social centers like

mental institutions, hospital and school programs

Applied Fields Cont’d

• Forensic– Work with police

investigations

• Health– How behavior is related to

physical health

• Rehabilitation– Work with patients struggling

with the effects of a disability

• Cross-Cultural– Psychological issues across

varying cultures

Exit Slip

• What are the primary goals of psychology?

• Select and describe one of the following fields in psychology: Clinical, Developmental, or Experimental

• Select and describe one of the following applied fields in psychology: Cross-Cultural, Industrial and Organizational, or Rehabilitation

Early Views• Psychological studies date back

to Egyptians– 600s B.C. by Psamtik I

• Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle– Introspection, or looking within– Associationism – our

understanding of the world is associated with prior experiences

• Middle Ages– Believed many disorders to be

caused by the devil– Lack of scientific focus meant

deadly consequences for those deemed “possessed”

Major Players

• Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)– Structuralism – consciousness

breaks down into objective sensations and subjective feelings

– Objective – portrayed outside world; Subjective – emotional responses and mental images

• William James (1842-1910)– Functionalism – emphasizes the

purpose of behavioral and mental processes and what they can do for the individual

– Instead of looking for structure, wanted to know purpose

Major Players Cont’d• Sigmund Freud (1856-

1939)– Psychoanalysis –

unconscious motives and internal conflicts as reasons behind human actions

– Wanted to unleash the power present in the unconscious mind

– Also known as psychodynamic thinking, he argued that we are constantly fighting sexual and aggressive urges deemed socially inappropriate

Modern Psychology• John B. Watson (1878-1958)

– Behaviorism – Scientific study of observable behavior

– If psychology is to be a science, it must be limited to measurable events

• B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)– Contributed to behaviorism

with concept of reinforcement– Rewarding people or animals

for doing the correct thing

• The Gestalt School– Gestalt Psychology –

Emphasizes the tendency to organize perception of individual parts into meaningful wholes

Exit Slip

• Define Structuralism

• Define Functionalism

• Define Behaviorism

Perspectives of Psychology

• Biological– Biology influences behavior– Mental processes possible

by nervous system, genes affect disorders, etc.

• Evolutionary– People learn behaviors in

order to “adapt” to society

• Cognitive– Investigate the role of

thought processes in human behavior

Perspectives Cont’d

• Humanistic– Personal experiences are

the most important aspect of psychology

• Psychoanalytic– Unconscious parts of

mind shape our responses

– Pulls heavily from Sigmund Freud

Perspectives Cont’d• Learning

– Past experiences and environments impact behavior

– Socio-learning theory states people can change their environment AND learn from others, not just their own mistakes

• Sociocultural– Effects of ethnicity, gender,

culture, and socio-economic standing on behavior

• Biopsychosocial– Mental actions influenced by

combination of biological, psychological, and social factors