Chapter 1

Introducing Psychology

Section 1

Why Study Psychology?

Psychologists Point of View

They study complex behavior

• Physiological- having to do with an organism’s physical processes

• Cognitive- having to do with an organism’s thinking and understanding

What is Psychology?

• Is the scientific study of behavior that is tested through scientific research– the study can involve both animal and human

behaviors– Some believe our thoughts, feelings, and

fantasies are important, but not always observable

– the study of behavior must be systematic

Use of Systematic Method

• Usually asks and answers questions about why people think, act, and feel as they do reduces the chances of coming to false conclusions

• Blind man and elephant story

The Goals of Psychology

• Description

• Explanation

• Prediction

• Influence

Description

• Describe or gather information about the behavior being studied and present what is known

Explanation

• Are not content with the facts• They seek to explain why people or

animals behave• Hypothesis- an assumption or prediction

about behavior that is tested through scientific research

• Theory- a set of assumptions used to explain phenomena and offered for scientific study

Prediction

• Use knowledge and predict what organisms think and feel in various situations

• By studying past behaviors, psychologists can predict future behaviors

Influence

• Psychologists seek to influence behavior in helpful ways

• Basic Science- the pursuit of knowledge about natural phenomena for its own sake

• Applied Science- discovering ways to use scientific findings to accomplish practical goals

Scientific Method

1) Question

2) Hypothesis

3) Experiment

4) Results

5) Conclusions

6) Theory

Wilhelm Wundt

• Set up the first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany

• Two types of element: sensations and feelings

• Believes an individual observes, analyzes, and reports his or her mental experiences

Section 2

A Brief History of Psychology

Marmaduke Sampson

• Studied “why crime occurs”• Believed behavior was the result of the

shape of the head• Phrenology- the practice of examining

bumps on a person’s skull to determine that person’s intellect and character traits

• Inspired scientists to consider the brain instead of the heart as responsible for human behavior

The Origins of Psychology

• 5th and 6th Centuries– Greeks studied human behavior and decided

people were rational and not dominated by gods

– Greeks set the stage for the development of sciences

The Origins of Psychology

• 1500 and 1600s– Copernicus- published idea that the earth was

not the center of the universe, the sun was.– Galileo Galilei- used a telescope to confirm

the predictions of Copernicus– Descartes- proposed a link between the body

and mind

Historical Approaches

• Structuralism– Wilhelm Wundt- is acknowledged for

establishing modern psychology as a separate field of study

– Structuralist- a psychologist who studied the basic elements that make up conscious mental experiences

– Introspection- a method of self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings

Functionalism

• William James- taught the first class in Psychology at Harvard University– Wrote the first textbook “The Principles of

Psychology”

• Functionalist- a psychologist who studied the function instead of the structure of consciousness

Inheritable Traits

• Sir Francis Galton– Wanted to understand how heredity

influences a person’s abilities, character, and behavior.

– His study focused on genius being a hereditary trait

– Did not consider that distinguished families may also have exceptional environments and socioeconomic advantages

Inheritable Traits

• Scientists recognized flaws in Galton’s research

• They came up with the theory that “a person’s heredity and environment interact to influence intelligence”

Gestalt Psychology

• German Psychologists – Max Wertheimer– Wolfgang Kohler– Kurt Koffka

• Disagreed with the principles of structuralism and behaviorism

• Believed perception was more than a sum of its parts

• Studied how sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences

Contemporary Approaches

• Psychoanalytic

• Behavioral

• Humanistic

• Cognitive

• Biological

• Sociocultural

Psychoanalytic Psychology

• Sigmund Freud– Interested in the unconscious mind– Used the technique of free association, which

is still used today– Believed that dreams are expressions of the

most primitive unconscious urges– His view on the unconscious is a powerful

influence and controversy

Psychoanalytic Psychology

• Psychoanalyst- a psychologist who studies how unconscious motives and conflicts determine human behavior, feelings, and thoughts.

• Case study- is an analysis of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, experiences, behaviors, or problems of an individual

Behavioral Psychology

• Ivan Pavlov- Russian Scientist• Salivating dog experiment

– Pavlov rang a tuning fork each time he gave a dog some meat powder.

– The dog would normally salivate when the power reached his mouth

– He repeated the experiment, the dog would salivate when it heard the ring

– The dog was conditioned to associate sound with food

Behavioral Psychology

• Behaviorist- a psychologist who analyzes how organisms learn or modify their behavior based on their response to events in the environment

• John Watson– Believed psychology should only concern itself with

the observable facts of behavior

• B.F. Skinner– Introduced the concept of reinforcement– Is a response to a behavior that increases the

likelihood for the behavior to be repeated

Humanistic Psychology

• Humanist- a psychologist who believes that each person has freedom in directing his or her future and achieving personal growth

• Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May are humanistic psychologists– Believed human nature as evolving and self-

directed

Cognitive Psychology

• Jean Piaget• Noam Chomsky• Leon Festinger• Cognitivist- a psychologist who studies

how we process, store, retrieve, and use information and how thought processes influence our behavior

• Believe that behavior is more than a simple response to a stimulus

Biological Psychology

• Known today as behavioral neuroscience

• Psychobiologist- a psychologist who studies how physical and chemical changes in our bodies influence our behavior– Have found that genetic factors influence our

behaviors– Discovered a link between chemicals in the

brain and human behavior

Sociocultural Psychology

• Sociocultural psychologists study:– the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities

and differences on behavior and social functioning

– The impact and integration of millions of immigrants entering the U.S. every year

– Attitudes, values, beliefts, and social norms and roles of the various racial and ethnic groups

Section 3

Psychology as a Profession

What is a Psychologist?

• Psychologists- is a scientist who studies the mind and behavior of humans and animals

• Psychiatry- is a branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders

• These two professions are usually confused

Subfields of Psychology

• Clinical psychologist- is a psychologist who diagnoses and treats people with emotional disturbances

• Counseling psychologist- is a psychologist who usually helps people deal with problems of everyday life– School psychologist

Subfields of Psychology

• Developmental psychologist- a psychologist who studies the emotional, cognitive, biological, personal, and social changes that occur as an individual matures

• Educational psychologist- a psychologist who is concerned with helping students learn

Subfields of Psychology

• Community psychologist- a psychologist who may work in a mental health or social welfare agency

• Industrial or organizational psychologist- a psychologist who uses psychological concepts to make the workplace a more satisfying environment for employees and managers

Subfields of Psychology

• Environmental psychologists- work in a business or with the government to study the effects of the environment on people

• Psychobiologists- study the effect of drugs or try to explain behavior in terms of biological factors

Subfields of Psychology

• Forensic psychologists- work in legal, court, and correctional systems

• Health psychologists- study the interaction between physical and psychological health factors

• Experimental psychologists- is a psychologist who studies sensation, perception, learning, motivation, and/or emotion in carefully controlled laboratory conditions

Source:

• Kasschau, Richard, A. Understanding Psychology. McGraw-Hill, Glencoe, New York, New York, 2008.