Psychology An Introduction Ninth Edition

1. PsychologyAn IntroductionNinth Edition by Benjamin B. Lahey Slides by Ann Butzin Owens State Community College

2. 1 What Is Psychology

3. What Is Psychology The Origins of Psychology • Aristotle • Psyche – essence of life • Psychology – study of life

4. What Is Psychology Definition of Psychology • Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes. • Science – careful, controlled observation • Mental processes – private thoughts, emotions, feelings, motives that others cannot directly observe

5. What Is Psychology Goals of Psychology • Describe • Predict • Understand • Influence

6. What Is Psychology The Many Viewpoints in Psychology and Their Origins • Wilhelm Wundt • First laboratory in psychology, 1879 • William James • Lab in Harvard University, 1875 • Many people founded psychology

7. What Is Psychology Nature of Conscious Experience • Wundt and Titchner • Introspection • Observe contents of own mind • Describe sensations • Structuralism • Structure of mind • J. Henry Alston • Studies of sensations of heat and cold

8. What Is Psychology Nature of Conscious Experience • Max Wertheimer • Gestalt psychology • Gestalt – the whole • Phi phenomenon – the whole is different from the sum of its parts

9. What Is Psychology Functions of the Conscious Mind • William James • Functionalism • Interested in what the mind could do • Influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution • Critical of structuralist view

10. What Is Psychology Functions of the Conscious Mind • Hermann Ebbinghaus • Measurement of memory • Meaningful and nonsense information • Mary Calkins • Functionalist • Memory and related bits of information • Paired associates method

11. What Is Psychology Functions of the Conscious Mind • Cognitive psychology • Modern version of functionalism • Strongly influenced by Gestalt and structuralism • Cognitive processes – functions of human consciousness • Cognition – all intellectual processes

12. What Is Psychology Psychometrics: Alfred Binet • Founded 1st psychology lab in France • Developed way to measure intelligence • Identify intelligent children for extensive education in France • Test modified in U.S. • Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale • Psychometrics – measurement of mental functions

13. What Is Psychology Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory • Behaviorists influenced by Darwin and learning from experience • Ivan Pavlov • Conditioning – simple form of learning • Precise scientific way of studying learning

14. What Is Psychology Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory • John Watson and Margaret Washburn • Impressed by Pavlov’s scientific precision • Behaviorism - human behavior learned through classical conditioning • Should study only overt behavior • B.F. Skinner • Strict behaviorist – no mental processes

15. What Is Psychology Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory • Social learning theory • Broader version of behaviorism • Albert Bandura • Most of behavior learned from others in society • Important theroetical view today

16. What Is Psychology Neuroscience Perspective • Interested in relationship between biological nature and psychological nature • How structures of brain influence behavior • Influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution – compare different species and humans • Neurons and complex connections • Active and inactive states of human brain

17. What Is Psychology Nature of the “Unconscious Mind” • Mental processes that we are unaware of • Sigmund Freud • Founder of psychoanalysis • Unconscious mind • Innate motives • Conflicts influence behavior • Sexual and aggressive are most important

18. What Is Psychology Nature of the “Unconscious Mind” • Humanistic psychology • Maslow, Rogers, and Frankl • Human fate based on conscious decisions • Society is cause of self-defeating unconscious mind – bombarded with inaccurate information • Self-concept – our view of what we are like • Negative information causes anxiety • Difficult to have accurate self-concept

19. What Is Psychology Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology • Sociocultural perspective • People are different – gender, cultural heritage, age, sexual orientation, and unique experiences • Derived from social anthropology • Shaped by social learning theory – personalities, beliefs, attitudes, and skills learned from others • Full understanding within sociocultural context

20. What Is Psychology Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology • Sociocultural perspective • Culture – patterns of behavior, beliefs, values shared by a people • Ethnic group – persons who are descendants of common group of ancestors • Ethnic identity – one’s sense of belonging to a particular ethnic group; sharing their culture

21. What Is Psychology Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology • Sociocultural perspective • Gender identity – viewing oneself as female or male • Cultural relativity • Think in relative terms, not judgmental • All cultures are different, none inferior • Usually more differences within groups than between groups

22. What Is Psychology Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology • Sociocultural perspective in psychology • Psychology overemphasizes same, neglects diversity • History of psychology – Prejudiced against females and people of color • Roadblocks in education and employment • Today – formal barriers dropped but some prejudice still exists

23. What Is Psychology Evolutionary Psychology • Studies behavior of animals and humans • Influenced by Darwin’s natural selection • Spontaneous change or mutation in gene – thefittest survive • Fitness – reproducing offspring to carry mutated gene to future generations • Hard wired differences in men and women

24. What Is Psychology Evolutionary Psychology • Positive psychology movement • Study positive aspects of human lives • Seligman – positive psychology as new school of thought • Study health and happiness

25. What Is Psychology Specialty Areas of Modern Psychology • Applied psychologists – research studies • Basic areas of modern psychology • Biological psychology • Sensation and perception • Motivation and emotion • Developmental psychology • Sociocultural psychology • Cognition • Personality • Social psychology

26. What Is Psychology Specialty Areas of Modern Psychology • Applied areas of modern psychology • Clinical psychology • Counseling psychology • Educational and school psychology • Industrial and organizational psychology • Health psychology

27. What Is Psychology Specialty Areas of Modern Psychology • Relationship between psychology and psychiatry • Psychiatrist – M.D. degree , residency training in psychiatry and medical internship • Psychologist – Ph.D. or Psy.D., internship in clinical psychology

28. What Is Psychology What We Know About Human Behavior • Human beings are biological creatures • Every person is different, yet much the same • Can fully understand people in their social context • Human life is continuous process of change • Behavior is motivated • Humans are social animals • People are active in creating experiences • Behavior can be adaptive or maladaptive

29. What Is Psychology 1 The End