Module 1

1. Module 1 Discovering Psychology

2. Ask for a $20 and a $1 • Ask 2 people to describe something they don’t like • “pay” 1 person $20 to say he/she likes it • “pay” the other $1 to say he/she likes it • If someone pays you $20 to say you like something you don’t, are you more likely to change your opinion about it than if you were paid $1? • Hand out Psych Quiz Handout 1.1 • You are more likely to think you just did it for the money with $20, whereas you are more likely to think you really enjoyed it to explain why you lied for $1.

4. DEFINITION OF PSYCHOLOGY • What do psychologists study? • Psychology the systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes • Behaviors refers to observable actions or responses • Mental processes not directly observable (i.e., thinking, imagining, studying, and dreaming)

5. GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY • Describe • Explain • Predict • Control • Read about Donna and autism & use this example to learn about the goals of psychology

6. GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY • Describe • describe the different ways that organisms behave/don’t add extra info • Explain • explain the cause of behavior/why? • Predict • predict how organisms will behave in certain situations/educated guess • Control • control an organism’s behavior/change

7. MORE APPROACHES, MORE ANSWERS • Approaches to understanding behavior include: • Biological • Cognitive • Behavioral • Psychoanalytic • Humanistic • Cross cultural

8. MORE APPROACHES, MORE ANSWERS (CONT.) • Biological approach (genetic) • focuses on how our genes, hormones, and nervous system interact with our environments to influence learning, personality, memory, motivation, emotions, and coping techniques

9. MORE APPROACHES, MORE ANSWERS (CONT.) • Cognitive approach (thoughts) • examines how we process, store, and use information and how this information influences, what we attend to, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel

10. MORE APPROACHES, MORE ANSWERS (CONT.) • Behavioral approach (actions) • studies how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, depending on whether events in their environments reward or punish these behaviors

11. MORE APPROACHES, MORE ANSWERS (CONT.) • Psychoanalyticapproach • stresses the influence of unconscious fears, desires, and motivations on thoughts, behaviors, and the development of personality traits and psychological problems later in life

12. MORE APPROACHES, MORE ANSWERS (CONT.) • Humanistic approach • emphasizes that each individual has great freedom in directing his or her future, a large capacity for personal growth, a considerable amount of intrinsic worth, and enormous potential for self-fulfillment Be all you can be!

13. MORE APPROACHES, MORE ANSWERS (CONT.) • Cross-cultural approach • examines the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on psychological and social functioning of a culture’s members

14. HISTORICAL APPROACHES • How did psychology begin? • Structuralism: Elements of the Mind • Functionalism: Functions of the Mind • Gestalt Approach: Sensations versus Perceptions • Behaviorism: Observable Behaviors

15. HISTORICAL APPROACHES • Structuralism • was the study of the most basic elements, primarily sensations and perceptions, that make up our conscious mental experiences

16. HISTORICAL APPROACHES • Functionalism • which was the study of the function rather than the structure of consciousness, was interested in how our minds adapt to our changing environment

17. HISTORICAL APPROACHES • Gestalt Approach • emphasized that perception is more than the sum of its parts and studied how sensations are assembled into meaningful perceptual experiences

18. HISTORICAL APPROACHES • Behaviorism • emphasized the objective, scientific analysis of observable behaviors

19. CULTURAL DIVERSITY: EARLY DISCRIMINATION • Women in psychology • Mary Calkins • established a laboratory in psychology at Wellesley College in 1891 where she was a faculty member • completed all requirements for a Ph.D at Harvard but was not granted the degree because of being a woman • not until 1908 that a woman, Margaret Washburn, was awarded a Ph.D in psychology

20. CULTURAL DIVERSITY: EARLY DISCRIMINATION(CONT.) • Minorities in Psychology • Ruth Howard was the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D in psychology • from the University of Minnesota in 1934. • was a successful clinical psychologist and school consultant

21. CULTURAL DIVERSITY: EARLY DISCRIMINATION(CONT.) • Minorities in Psychology • George Sanchez conducted pioneering work on the cultural bias of intelligence tests given to minority students • Sanchez showed that intelligence tests contained many questions that were biased against minorities resulting in lower scores

22. CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY • Psychologist versus Psychiatrist • psychologists have completed four to five years of postgraduate education and have obtained a Ph.D., PsyD., or Ed.D in psychology • clinical psychologists have a Ph.D., PsyD., or Ed.D., have specialized in a clinical subarea, and have spent an additional year in a supervised therapy setting to gain experience in diagnosing and treating a wide range of abnormal behaviors

23. CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY • Psychologist versus Psychiatrist • counseling psychologists provide many of the same services as Clinical Psychologists, but usually work with different problems such as those involving marriage, family, or career counseling • psychiatrists are medical doctors (M.D.s) who have spent several years in clinical training, which includes diagnosing possible physical and neurological causes of abnormal behaviors and treating these behaviors, often with prescription drugs

24. CAREERS IN PSYCHOLOGY • Many Career Settings • 49% of psychologists work as clinical or counseling psychologists in either private practice or therapy settings • 28% of psychologists work in academic settings of universities and colleges • 13% of psychologists work in a variety of other kinds of jobs and career settings • 6% of psychologists work in industrial settings • 4% of psychologists work in secondary schools and other settings

25. RESEARCH AREAS • Areas of Specialization • Social and Personality • Developmental • Experimental • Biological • Cognitive • Psychometrics

26. RESEARCH AREAS (CONT.) • Areas of Specialization • Social psychology • involves the study of social interactions, stereotypes, prejudices, attitudes,conformity, group behaviors, and aggression • Personality psychology • involves the study of personality development, personality change, assessment, and abnormal behaviors

27. RESEARCH AREAS (CONT.) • Areas of Specialization • Developmental psychology • examines moral, social, emotional, and cognitive development throughout a person’s entire life • Experimental psychology • includes areas of sensation, perception, learning, human performance, motivation, and emotion

28. RESEARCH AREAS (CONT.) • Areas of Specialization • Biological psychology • or psychobiology involves research on the physical and chemical changes that occur during stress, learning, and emotions, as well as how our genetic makeup, brain, and nervous system interact with our environments and influence our behaviors

29. RESEARCH AREAS (CONT.) • Areas of Specialization • Cognitive psychology • involves how we process, store, and retrieve information and how cognitive processes influence our behaviors • Psychometrics • focuses on the measurement of people’s abilities, skills, intelligence, personality, and abnormal behaviors

30. End Module 1 • I learned that… • I was surprised that… • I was disappointed that… • I was pleased that…