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what IS psychology?. The Story of Psyche. “Greek goddess of the Soul” Began as mortal – in love with the god, Eros Required to complete 4 tasks Sort grains Retrieve the Golden Fleece Fill a bucket of water from the River Styx Retrieve a sleeping potion from Persephone. Psychology.
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The Story of Psyche • “Greek goddess of the Soul” • Began as mortal – in love with the god, Eros • Required to complete 4 tasks • Sort grains • Retrieve the Golden Fleece • Fill a bucket of water from the River Styx • Retrieve a sleeping potion from Persephone
So what IS psychology? Psychology: The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external environment.
What psychology is NOT! Psychobabble • _______________ example: playing Mozart makes babies smarter 2) ________________ 3) ________________ Astrology Common Sense BUT, WHY NOT?
Above All… Psychology is an EMPIRICAL science! What does that mean?
Student Becomes YoungestAmerican Rhodes Scholar Coral Gables, FL, December 11, 2003. Devi Sridhar, 18, has become the youngest U.S. Rhodes scholar in the organization’s 100-year history. The University of Miami student was named one of 32 Americans to receive the prestigious scholarship to Oxford University. Sridhar, the daughter of two doctors, speaks five languages and is coauthor, with her siblings, of a book on Indian mythology. She joins a group of select Americans who have been Rhodes scholars, including former President Bill Clinton and Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
Teens Arrested in Hate Crime Yorba Linda, CA, March 4, 2003.Two teenagers have been charged in the vicious beating of an 18-year-old Arab-American man. The victim, Rashid Alam, was left with a broken jaw and shattered bones in his face. Alam’s friends say he was attacked by a mob of up to 20 people yelling white-supremacist slogans, and that some of the assailants were armed with bats, a golf club, and beer bottles. There are conflicting accounts, however, about who brought the weapons and whether why were used. Police contend that the fight was an arranged showdown between rival groups, but Alam’s supporters say the attack was unprovoked and was motivated by anti-Arab feeling.
Zaniness on Parade in Pasadena Pasadena, CA, November 22, 2003.The 27th annual Doo Dah Parade, a joyful celebration of wacky weirdness, will take place tomorrow in Pasadena. Known as “the other parade” (the more famous one being Pasadena’s Rose Parade), the event has entertained thousands of spectators over the years. Participants get to shed their inhibitions and dress as outrageously as they can. A Doo Dah Queen is chosen in public tryouts, which are open to “all women and men of any age, color, shape, and mental state,” and is presented with a crown of foam Cheetos and a bouquet of fake flowers.
McDonald’s Sued for Causing Obesity New York, NY, November 22, 2002. A lawsuit filed today on behalf of several overweight teenagers charges McDonald’s, the fast-food company, with contributing to the young people’s obesity and health problems. The suit, one of several, brought recently against fast-food chains, alleges that McDonald’s deliberately misled consumers into thinking their hamburgers and french fries were nutritious. The mother of one plaintiff, a 15-year-old who weighs more than 400 pounds, wrote in papers filed with the courts, “I [had] always believed McDonald’s was healthy for my son.