Chapter 1The Search for Understanding

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Key Questions• What is psychology?

• What do psychologists hope to achieve?

• How did psychology emerge as a field of knowledge?

• What are the major perspectives in psychology?

• What roles and specialties are found in psychology and related fields?

• What is critical thinking?

• How does psychology differ from false explanations of behavior?

Key Terms

What is Psychology?

• Psychology• Psyche: Mind• Logos: Knowledge or study

• Definition: The scientific study of human and animal behavior • Behavior: Overt, i.e. can be directly observed (crying)• Mental Processes: Covert, i.e. cannot be directly

observed (remembering)

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Empiricism: The Goals

• To measure and describe behaviors• To gather empirical evidence: Information

gained from direct observation and measurement

• To gather data: Observed facts

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Fig. 1.1 Results of an empirical study. The graph shows that horn honking by frustrated motorists becomes more likely as air temperature increases. This suggests that physical discomfort is associated with interpersonal hostility. Riots and assaults also increase during hot weather. Here we see a steady rise in aggression as temperatures go higher. However, research done by other psychologists has shown that hostile actions that require physical exertion, such as a fist fight, may become less likely at very high temperatures. (Data from Kenrick & MacFarlane, 1986.) Table of ContentsTable of Contents ExitExit

Scientific Observation• Definition: Designed and structured to answer questions

about the world• Research Method: A systematic procedure for answering

scientific questions

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What Might a Psychologist Research?

• Development: Course of human growth and development

• Learning: How and why it occurs in humans and animals

• Personality: Traits, motivations, and individual differences

• Sensation and Perception: How we come to know the world through our five senses

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What Might a Psychologist Research? (cont.)

• Comparative: Study and compare behavior of different species, especially animals

• Biopsychology: How behavior is related to biological processes, especially activities in the nervous system

• Gender: Study differences between males and females and how they develop

• Social: Human and social behavior

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What Might a Psychologist Research? (cont.)

• Cultural: How culture affects behavior• Animals: Natural laws governing the

behavior of any living creature

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What Are the Goals of Psychology?

• Description of Behaviors: Naming and classifying various observable, measurable behaviors

• Understanding: The causes of behavior(s), and being able to state the cause(s)

• Prediction: Predicting behavior accurately• Control: Altering conditions that influence behaviors in

predictable ways• Positive Use: To control unwanted behaviors, (e.g., smoking,

tantrums, etc.)• Negative Use: To control peoples’ behaviors without their knowledge

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Article• Indian girl 2002

A Brief History of Psychology

• Wilhelm Wundt: “Father" of Psychology• 1879: Set up first lab to study conscious

experience• Introspection: Looking inward (i.e.,

examining and reporting your thoughts, feelings, etc.)

• Experimental Self-Observation: Incorporates both introspection and objective measurement; Wundt’s approach

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History of Psychology: Structuralism• Wundt’s ideas brought to the U.S. by

Tichener and renamed Structuralism• Structuralists often disagreed, and no way

to prove who was correct! • Structuralists: Introspection was a poor

way to answer many questions

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History of Psychology: Functionalism • William James (American) and Functionalism

• How the mind functions to help us adapt and survive

• Functionalists admired Darwin and his Theory of Natural Selection: Animals keep features through evolution that help them adapt to environments

• Educational Psychology: Study of learning, teaching, classroom dynamics, and related topics

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History of Psychology: Behaviorism and Cognitive Behaviorism• Behaviorism: Watson and Skinner

• Psychology must study observable behavior objectively

• Watson studied Little Albert with Rosalie Raynor; Skinner studied animals almost exclusively

• Cognitive Behaviorism: Ellis and Bandura• Our thoughts influence our behaviors; used often in

treatment of depression

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B.F. Skinner• Pigeons playing table tennis

• Watson’s life

History of Psychology: Gestalt

• Gestalt Psychology: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”• Studied thinking, learning, and

perception in whole units, not by analyzing experiences into parts

• Key names: Wertheimer, Perls

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Fig. 1.2 The design you see here is entirely made up of broken circles. However, as the Gestalt psychologists discovered, our perceptions have a powerful tendency to form meaningful patterns. Because of this tendency, you will probably see a triangle in this design, even though it is only an illusion. Your whole perceptual experience exceeds the sum of its parts.

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History of Psychology: Freud

• Psychoanalytic: Freud• Our behavior is largely influenced by our unconscious

wishes, thoughts, and desires, especially sex and aggression

• Freud performed dream analysis and was an interactionist (combination of our biology and environment makes us who we are)

• Repression: When threatening thoughts are unconsciously held out of awareness

• Recent research has hypothesized that our unconscious mind is partially responsible for our behaviors

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History of Psychology: Neo-Freudians

• New or recent; some of Freud’s students who broke away to promote their own theories

• Key names: Adler, Anna Freud, Horney, Jung, Rank, Erikson

• Psychodynamic theories: Which emphasize internal motives, conflicts, and unconscious forces

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History of Psychology: Humanism

• Humanism: Rogers and Maslow• Goal of psychology is to understand subjective human experience

• Each person has innate goodness and is able to make free

choices (contrast with Skinner and Freud)• Determinism: Behavior is determined by forces beyond our

control

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History of Psychology: Humanism

• Humanists helped stimulate interest in psychological needs for love, self-esteem, belonging, self-expression, creativity, and spirituality.

• Such needs, they believe, are as important as our biological needs for food and water.

• For example, newborn infants deprived of human love may die just as surely as they would if deprived of food

Humanism: Some Concepts

• Self-image: Your perception of your own body, personality, and capabilities

• Self-evaluation: Positive and negative feelings you have about yourself

• Frame of Reference: Mental or emotional perspective used for evaluating events

• Self-actualization (Maslow): Fully developing one’s potentials and becoming the best person possible

• Free will: The human ability to make choices

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Psychology Today

• Biopsychology: Our behavior can be explained through physiological processes• Uses brain scans to gather data (MRI, PET)• Looks at neurotransmitters

• Cognitive: Study thoughts, memory, expectations, perceptions, and other mental processes

• Eclectic: Drawing from many sources

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5 ways to Look at Behavior

• Psychodynamic View• Behavioristic View• Humanistic View• Biopsychological View• Cognitive View

• Read page 15-16

Critical Thinking

• Imagine that you are a psychologist. You client, Linda, who is Native American, tells you that spirits live in the trees near her home. Is Linda suffering from a delusion? Is she abnormal?

Cultural Awareness

• Many thoughts and behaviors are influenced by our culture• Psychologists need to be aware of the impact cultural

diversity may have on our behaviors• What is acceptable in one culture might be unacceptable in

another• Cultural Relativity: Behavior must be judged relative to the

values of the culture in which it occurs• Norms: Rules that define acceptable and expected behavior

for members of various groups

Many Flavors of Psychologists

• Psychologists: Usually have masters or doctorate; Trained in methods, knowledge, and theories of psychology• Clinical Psychologists: Treat more severe

psychological problems• Counseling Psychologists: Treat milder

problems, such as adjustment disorders• Not all psychologists perform therapy!

Specialties in Psychology• Psychiatrists: MD; usually use medications to treat problems;

Generally do not have extensive training in providing “talk” therapy

• Psychoanalysts: Receive post-PhD. or M.D. training in Freudian psychoanalysis at an institute

• Clinical: Treat psychological problems or do research on clinical topics

• Counselor: Adviser who helps solve marriage, career, work, or school problems

• Psychiatric Social Workers: Many have masters degrees and perform psychotherapy • Presently a very popular profession • PAGE 19

Critical Thinking: Key Principles

• Few truths transcend the need for empirical testing• Evidence varies in quality• Authority or claimed expertise does not automatically make

an idea true• Critical thinking requires an open mind

Critical Thinking• Ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information

• What would you expect to see if the claim were true?• Gather evidence relevant to the claim• Evaluate the evidence• Draw a conclusion

• Oftentimes used in research

Pseudo-Psychology• An unfounded system that resembles psychology

• Schemes that give an appearance of science, but are actually false

• P.T. Barnum: “Always have a little something for everybody”

• Barnum Effect: A tendency to consider personal descriptions accurate if they are stated in very general terms• Horoscopes http://shine.yahoo.com/astrology• Palm readings• Fortunes

Pseudo-Psych

Not on handout

Uncritical Acceptance: Tendency to believe positive or flattering descriptions of yourself

Fallacy of Positive Instances: When we remember or notice things that confirm our expectations and forget the rest

Crossing over with John Edward

Assignment • Horoscope assignment

• Review your horoscope for 3 straight days. • Write horoscope • Write interpretation of horoscope• Write belief of horoscope• Write where horoscope was from.

Quiz• Quiz next class over Chapter 1