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Introduction to Psychology: Understanding Human Behavior and Mental Processes

Explore the field of psychology and gain insight into human behavior and the mind. Discover the goals, origins, and different perspectives in psychology, including biological, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic, and social-cultural psychology.

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Introduction to Psychology: Understanding Human Behavior and Mental Processes

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  1. Chapter 1- Introducing Psychology

  2. Why Study Psychology? • Provides useful insight into behavior • Physiological- having to do with physical processes (body) • Cognitive- having to do with thinking and understanding (mind)

  3. Goals of Psychology • Describe- how is a person behaving? • Explain- why do they behave this way? - Hypotheses and theories • Predict • Influence or control using applied science • Use of scientific method

  4. Origins of Psychology • Marmaduke Samson and phrenology- • Examining bumps on a person’s skull to determine intelligence and character traits (mid 1800s)

  5. Structuralism- Wundt • Wilhelm Wundt- established modern psychology (first laboratory- Leipzig, 1879) • Structuralism- study the basic elements that make up conscious mental experience

  6. Structuralism- Wundt • Use of introspection- self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings • First use of a systematic procedure to study human behavior

  7. Functionalism- James • William James- “father of psychology” (first textbook) • All activities of the mind (thinking, feeling, learning, and remembering) have one major function- survival as a species.

  8. Functionalism- James • Wundt focused on structure of the mind; James focuses on the functions or actions of the mind and the goals of behavior • Functionalism- study of how people and animals react to their environments

  9. Structuralism vs. Functionalism

  10. Inheritable Traits • Francis Galton (1822-1911)-Heredity • Concluded that intelligence and prominence are hereditary traits. • Did not consider the role of environment when making this conclusion.

  11. Gestalt Psychology • Perception is more than a sum of parts, but it involves a “whole pattern” • How sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences • Example- chair

  12. Psychoanalytic Psychology • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)- • Our conscious experiences are only the tip of the iceberg • Beneath the surface are primitive biological urges in conflict with society and morality

  13. Different Perspectives in Psychology Biological Psychology Behavioral/Clinical Psychology Cognitive Psychology Humanistic Psychology Psychodynamic Psychology Social-Cultural Psychology Evolutionary Psychology

  14. Biological Perspective/ Neuroscience Focus How the body and brain create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences. • Sample Issues • How do evolution and heredity influence behavior? • How are messages transmitted within the body? • How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?

  15. Biological Psychology • Study of how physical and chemical changes in our body influence our behavior • PET scans and CAT scans • Twins and autism

  16. Behavioral/Clinical Perspective Focus How we learn from observable responses. How to best study, assess and treat troubled people. • Sample Issues • How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? • What is the most effective way to alter certain behaviors? • What are the underlying causes of: • Anxiety Disorders • Phobic Disorders • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

  17. Behavioral Psychology • Ivan Pavlov • rang a tuning fork each time he gave a dog meat powder • dog began to salivate to the tune of the fork

  18. Behavioral Psychology • Psychologists began to account for behaviors as • The product of prior experience • Could explain how differences among individuals were the result of learning

  19. Behavioral Psychology • Behaviorism- how organisms learn or modify their behavior based on their response to events in the environment (John Watson) • Reinforcement (Skinner) – response to a behavior that increases the likelihood a behavior will be repeated

  20. Cognitive Perspective Focus How we encode, process, store and retrieve information. • Sample Issues • How do we use info in remembering and reasoning? • How do our senses govern the nature of perception? • (Is what you see really what you get?) • How much do infants “know” when they are born?

  21. Cognitive Psychology • Study of how we process, store, retrieve, and use information and how cognitive processes influence behavior (Piaget, Chomsky) • Behavior is influenced by a variety of mental processes, including perceptions, memories, and expectations

  22. Humanistic Perspective • Contradictory to Behaviorism • Maslow, Rogers and May • We are evolving and self-directed with the ability to develop our full potential • Believe we have free will and are not controlled by the environment or our past

  23. Humanistic Psychology • Belief that each person has freedom in directing his or her future and achieving personal growth (Maslow, Rogers) • Humans are not controlled by events in the environment or by outside forces- these things just serve as a background to our own internal growth • Potential for personal growth

  24. Psychodynamic/Psychoanalysis Perspective • Study of behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts • Study of the unconscious mind, motives and behaviors • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • Internal conflicts • Free association

  25. Psychoanalytic Psychology • Unconscious motivations and conflict are responsible for medically unexplainable physical symptoms

  26. Freud- Free Association • A patient says everything that comes to mind no matter how absurd • As a psychoanalyst, he sat and interpreted • Dreams are expressions of primitive unconscious urges • Use of case studies

  27. Social-Cultural Perspective Focus How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures. • Sample Issues • How are we, as members of different races and • nationalities, alike as members of one human family? • How do we differ, as products of different social contexts? • Why do people sometimes act differently in groups than • when alone?

  28. Sociocultural Psychology • Studies the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on behavior and social functioning • Shared cultures and perspectives across culture (ex- sneezes) • Immigration • Gender, socioeconomic status

  29. Evolutionary Perspective • How the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes. • Focus on the evolution of behavior and mental processes. • Suggests that many kinds of behavior patterns, such as aggressive behavior, also have an hereditary basis. • Belief that inherited tendencies influence people to act in certain ways.

  30. Psychology Bingo Physiological Cognitive Psychology Structuralism Introspection Wilhelm Wundt Functionalism William James Sir Francis Galton Physiological Gestalt Psychoanalytic Psychology Sigmund Freud Free Association Case Study Ivan Pavlov Behaviorism B.F. Skinner Phrenology Cognitive

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