Chapter 1

1. Chapter 1 Introduction and History of Psychology

2. What Is Psychology – and What Is It Not? • Psychology –The scientific study of behavior and mental processes • Psychology is not • Mere speculation about human nature • A body of folk wisdom about people that “everybody knows” to be true

3. What Is Psychology – and What Is It Not? • Pseudopsychology: Erroneous assertions of practices set forth as being scientific psychology • Psychology disputes unfounded claims from pseudopsych • Psychology is empirical – objective, scientific, observations

4. What DoPsychologists Do? • Experimental psychologists: • Conduct most research across psychological spectrum • May work in private industry or for the government • Often teach at college or university

5. What DoPsychologists Do? • Applied psychologists: Use knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems I/O Sports Engineering/Human Factors School Rehabilitation Counseling Clinical

6. Devoted to uncovering basic structures that make up mind and thought Tradition Structuralism Wilhelm Wundt: 1st Research Lab (1879) Functionalism Gestaltpsychology Psychoanalysis Introspection: reporting own conscious mental experiences; subjective Behaviorism

7. Believed mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function Tradition Structuralism Functionalism William James Gestaltpsychology Psychology should explain how people adapt or fail to adapt to their environment; flowing stream of consciousness Psychoanalysis Behaviorism

8. Interested in how we construct “perceptual wholes”, unlike structuralists Tradition Structuralism Functionalism Gestalt psychology Psychoanalysis Behaviorism Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Kohler Phi Phenomenon

9. Tradition Structuralism Functionalism Gestalt psychology Psychoanalysis These two perspectives carry into the contemporary perspectives still used today. Behaviorism

10. Other Early Contributors • American Psychological Association: devoted to the advancement of psychology • G. Stanley Hall: 1st president of APA; 1st psych lab in U.S.(1882) • Mary Whiton Calkins: 1st woman president of APA; focused on conscious self • Margaret Floy Washburn: president of APA; 1st PhD in psych awarded to a woman

11. 9 Perspectives • Focus • How behavior is influenced by unconscious factors and early life experiences • Disorders • Sigmund Freud Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic Cognitive • Question • How does the energy from the unconscious mind motivate us or account for psychological disorders? Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Developmental Trait

12. 9 Perspectives • Focus • How our behavior is learned from our environment (associations, rewards/punishments) • Disregards mental processes and biology • Observable responses • John B. Watson Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic Cognitive Biological • Question • How do we learn to fear particular objects? Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Developmental Trait

13. Perspective • Focus • Influence of self-concept, interpersonal relationships, and need for growth • Free will, choice Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic • Question • How can we overcome barriers to our personal growth? • http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/272735 Cognitive Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Developmental Trait

14. Perspective • Focus • How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information • How our interpretation of our experiences affects our behavior Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic Cognitive • Question • What influences our memory of an event? Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Developmental Trait

15. Perspective • Focus • How the body and brain work together to influence behavior and mental processes • How genes may influence individual differences Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic Cognitive Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological • Question • To what extent are traits such as intelligence, personality, and psychological disorder attributed to genes? Sociocultural Developmental Trait

16. Perspective • Focus • How behavior and thinking have developed and adapted over time • Influence of natural selection Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic • Question • How does evolution influence behavior tendencies? Cognitive Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Developmental Trait

17. Perspective • Focus • How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures • Influence of social interaction and social learning Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic • Question • How do expressions of anger differ across cultures? Cognitive Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Developmental Trait

18. Perspective • Focus • How we change across the lifespan • The interaction of nature (heredity) and nurture (environment) Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic Cognitive • Question • What are the patterns that characterize developmental change? Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Developmental Trait

19. Perspective • Focus • Individual differences result from differences in our underlying patterns of stable characteristics Psychodynamic Behavioral Humanistic • Question • How can we use trait patterns to predict behavior? Cognitive Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Developmental Trait