Time . . .

1. Time . . . • The basic timeline is a 4.5 billion year old Earth, with (very approximate) dates: • 3.8 billion years of simple cells (prokaryotes), • 3 billion years of photosynthesis, • 2 billion years of complex cells (eukaryotes), • 1 billion years of multicellular life, • 600 million years of simple animals, • 570 million years of arthropods (ancestors of insects, arachnids and crustaceans), • 550 million years of complex animals, • 500 million years of fish and proto-amphibians, • 475 million years of land plants, • 400 million years of insects and seeds, • 360 million years of amphibians, • 300 million years of reptiles, • 200 million years of mammals, • 150 million years of birds, • 130 million years of flowers, • 65 million years since the non-avian dinosaursdied out, • 2.5 million years since the appearance of the genus Homo, • 200,000 years since humans started looking like they do today, • 25,000 years since Neanderthals died out.

2. . . .and Space

3. Introduction to Psychological Science Definition of psychology Themes of psychological science Scientific foundations of psychology How do we use psychological science?

4. The growth of psychology

5. Definition of Psychology • Psychological science is the study of mind, brain, and behavior: • Mind • Mental processes are hypothetical constructs. • They are not directly observable and they can only be inferred from behavior. • Brain • The physical brain enables the mind • New techniques for directly observing the working brain in action is helping us to understand not only how the brain works, but how the mind works as well. • Behavior • The ability to predict an organism’s response to a particular stimulus is a powerful piece of scientific knowledge. • It is not always necessary to understand the role the mind plays in the production of that behavior.

6. What Are the Seven Themes of Psychological Science? • Psychology Is an Empirical Science • Nature and Nurture Are Inextricably Entwined • The Brain and Mind Are Inseparable • A New Biological Revolution Is Energizing Research • The Mind Is Adaptive • Psychological Science Crosses Levels of Analysis • We Often Are Unaware of the Multiple Influences on How We Think, Feel, and Act

7. Themes of Psychology I:Psychology is an empirical science • Tenacity – we have always known it to be this way (e.g., women make bad soldiers) • Authority – we accept an idea as true when parents, teachers, ministers, etc. tell us • Reason – logic (philosophy) • Common sense – our own experiences and perceptions of the world • Science – systematic, objective, replicable, public observation combined with logical argument

8. Themes of Psychology II • The influences of nature (biology) and nurture (environment) are entwined. • The brain and mind are inseparable. • Mind–body problem • Dualism - Descartes • Monism (reductionism) – Hobbes • A New Biological Revolution • Brain chemistry • The brain works through the actions of chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which communicate messages between nerve cells. • Genetics • Various techniques allow us to discover the link between genes and behavior • Brain imaging

9. Themes of Psychology III • The mind is adaptive • The theory of evolution • Natural selection • Individuals, whose inherited characteristics are adapted to their environment, survive and reproduce while others die. • As a result, aspects of our behavioral and mental lives must have helped individuals survive and reproduce in the past • Evolutionary psychology – The application of the theory of evolution to psychology. • Solving adaptive problems • Modern minds in stone age skulls • Cultures provide adaptive solutions

10. Themes of Psychology IV: Levels of analysis

11. Themes of Psychology V:Unconscious influences • We are often not aware of all the factors that influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. • The case for unconscious influence: • Priming effects • Participants read either neutral words, words related to rudeness, or words related to patience (Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996). • Then participants were told to go down the hall to begin a second, unrelated phase of the experiment. • When the participant got there, the experimenter was engaged in conversation with a confederate for up to ten minutes. • 67% of the participants who had read rude words interrupted the experimenter, while only 16% of the participants who had read patient words interrupted. • Moreover, none of the rude word participants stated that they had interrupted because they had read rude words.

12. Origins of psychology • Philosophy, physiology, and medicine were the disciplines from which psychology sprung. • Historically, psychological notions can be found not only in the writings of modern Western culture, but in the writings of ancient cultures, more modern eastern cultures, and Muslim cultures. • John Stuart Mill was the most prominent, early British philosopher to advocate that psychology should become an empirical science. • Schools of thought.

13. Scientific foundations of psychology I: The big three focus on mental processes • Wilhelm Wundt • Established the first psychology laboratory, 1879 • The structure of consciousness • Introspection • William James • Published Principles of Psychology, 1890 • Functionalism • Sigmund Freud • Introduced psychoanalysis in The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900 • Emphasized the role of unconscious mental processes

14. Scientific foundations II: Behaviorism offered an alternative to the study of mental processes • Behaviorism: psychology is the scientific study of observable behavior • Dominated psychology from the 1920’s to the 1960’s • Edward L. Thorndike • First reported animal learning experiments, 1898 • Ivan Pavlov • Discovered classical conditioning in dogs, 1906 • John B. Watson • Offered behaviorism as an alternative to mentalistic approaches, 1913 • B. F. Skinner • Main proponent of operant conditioning, died 1990

15. Scientific foundations III:The “Cognitive Revolution” • Psychologists became dissatisfied with ignoring important mentalistic concepts like knowledge, consciousness, and creativity • Jean Piaget’s (1930-1960) descriptions of child development in terms of mentalistic concepts was convincing • Noam Chomsky’s (1959) criticism of the behaviorist approach to language • The mind is like a computer. • We are information processors, with hardware and software.

16. Scientific foundations IV:Other important historical figures • Hermann Ebbinghaus • Classic experiments on memory and forgetting, 1885 • Alfred Binet • Developed first modern intelligence test, 1905 • Max Wertheimer • Discovered visual illusion of apparent motion; launched Gestalt psychology, 1912 • The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. • Kurt Lewin • His field theory emphasized the interaction between people and their environments; father of social psychology

17. Uses of Psychological Science I: Research and practice • Research • Basic Research • “Pure science”; tests theories and builds a foundation of knowledge; typically conducted in a laboratory – a controlled environment in which subjects can be carefully observed. • Applied Research • Research that aims to solve practical human problems; typically conducted in real-world locations. • Practice • Apply psychological science in order to • Help people in need of psychological treatment • Counsel people on career paths • Design better classroom curricula

18. Uses of psychological science II: Types of basic research • Cognitive Psychology • Sensation, perception, and attention • Consciousness • Memory • Language • Judgment, decision-making, and problem-solving • Biopsychology (16%) • Behavioral neuroscience • Clinical Neuroscience • Cognitive Neuroscience • Behavioral Genetics • Evolutionary psychology and sociobiology

19. Uses of psychological science III: More types of basic research • Learning • Affective processes • Motivation • Emotion • Developmental Psychology (6%) • Social processes and personality (8%) • 25% of all psychologists do basic research

20. Uses of psychological science IV: Clinical psychology • 36% of all psychologists • Psychological disorders (abnormal psychology) • Treatment of psychological disorders (clinical psychology) • Basic research, applied research, and practice

21. Uses of psychological science V: Applied research and practice • Industrial/Organizational psychology (3%) • Worker motivation, productivity, and safety • Design and management of the human organizational structure of a business; leadership • School psychology and educational psychology (6%) • Intelligence, creativity, effective teaching methods, etc. • Counseling (10%) • Work with less disturbed populations and do more career assessment than clinical psychologists

22. Uses of psychological science VI: More areas of applied research and practice • Others • Consumer psychology: How to influence people to purchase a particular product. • Health psychology: The role of psychology in the onset of, management of, and recovery from physical illness. The study of the causes and effects of stress and coping with stress. • Human factors: The use of psychology in the design of machines so that performance is maximized in human-machine interactions. • Sports psychology: Using psychology to improve athletic performance. • Forensic psychology: The use of psychology in jury selection, witness evaluation and counseling, criminal investigation and obtaining eyewitness testimony, criminal profiling, etc.

23. Uses of Psychological Science VII • Psychological Knowledge Is Used in Many Professions • People Are Intuitive Psychological Scientists • Psychological Sciences Require Critical Thinking • The ability to think skeptically is often referred to as critical thinking, a systematic way of evaluating information in order to reach reasonable conclusions.