Exploring the World of Psychology: Past, Present, and Applications

1. Chapter 1 The World of Psychology

2. Chapter 1 Objectives • 1-1: Describe what psychology is, what psychologists do, and the main types of psychology. • 1-2: Explain why the psychology of the past is important today, particularly the work of key pioneers. • 1-3: Compare the seven different contemporary approaches to psychology.

3. OBJECTIVE 1-1:I. What is Psychology? • Definition: the study of the mind and behavior • Behavior includes every measurable internal and external activity a living thing does.

4. A. What Psychologists do • Five major areas in which psychologists work: • Psychologists Conduct Research. • Psychologists Promote Physical and Mental Health. • Psychologists Help People Learn. • Psychologists Work in the Community. • Psychologists Contribute to the Work Environment.

5. 1) Psychologists Conduct Research • Laboratory and natural settings • Study animal behavior, individual behavior, and group behavior • Study just about any area of human behavior

6. 2) Psychologists Promote Physical and Mental Health • Help people change unhealthy behaviors that cause problems in their lives • Many are part of health care teams

7. 3) Psychologists Help People Learn • Use tools from research to help people learn • Provide counseling services to help people learn

8. 4) Psychologists Work in the Community • Work with organizations and correctional facilities

9. 5) Psychologists Contribute to the Work Environment • Involved in designing comfortable and less stressful work environments as well as other changes in the work environments. • Run employee assistance programs that help employees with their problems

10. B. The Two Main Types of Psychology • 1)Basic Research • How and why people behave the way they do • Compare effectiveness of different treatments • Use scientific method • Conduct experiments and make measurements to discover relationships • 2)Applied psychology • Use the knowledge gained from research to help people

11. C. Careers in Psychology • Require some training or certification beyond a college bachelor’s degree: • Developmental • Sports • Advertising • Industrial/organizational plus other specialties • Require certification by a state or other government agency: • Clinical • counseling

12. D. Psychology in Your Life • Psychology can help you: • Understand and change what is happening in your social relationships • Understand how you are influenced by your peers or the media • Identify the causes of test anxiety or stress • Understand that you always have choices

13. OBJECTIVE 1-2:II. Psychology in the Past • Why Study the History of Psychology? • Today’s approaches are built on a foundation of ideas of the past • Knowing what worked and what didn’t will save time • Can revisit old ideas that were not appropriate at the time they were studied

14. B. Key Figures • 1) Wilheim Wundt • Ideas: • Humans use their free will to focus their attention on particular aspects of a situation • Attention and behavior have a purpose related to some kind of internal motivation • Used introspection (looking inside oneself and describing what is going on) • Name of Approach: • Voluntarism that emphasized free will, choice, and purpose

15. Major Contribution: • Demonstrated the idea that the mind and behavior can be studied scientifically • Many of his students came to the US to start labs and use introspection, a forerunner to the scientific method

16. 2) William James • Ideas: • Wanted to understand how the mind functions to help people adapt to rather than just describe it • Name of Approach: • Functionalism that focused on how the mind functions • Also developed pragmatism - if an idea works , it is useful • Major Contribution: • Studying all aspects of an individual’s experience, including behavior and individual differences

17. 3) Sigmund Freud • Ideas: • Focus on unconscious mind • Focus on early experiences and look at effects • Used free association and dream analysis • Name of Approach: • Psychoanalysis which analyzes info in the unconscious mind • Major Contribution: • Emphasized importance of unconscious mind and early experiences

18. 4) John B. Watson • Ideas: • Believed behavior was caused by a previous association made in the brain • Thought only behavior could be studied • Focused on how we learn and how experience produces associations in the brain • Name of approach: • Behaviorism focused on the study of behavior - prediction and control • Major Contribution: • Developed learning theories still used today

19. Objective 1-3:III. Contemporary Approaches • 1) The Neurobiological Approach • Interested in how physical systems - brain, nervous system, and other body systems - affect behavior, thought and feelings • 2) The Behavioral Approach • Carried forward by B.F. Skinner • We are products of our experiences (environment - rewards and punishments) • Criticized for denying idea of free will

20. 3) Psychodynamic Approach • Focuses on the inner forces, conflicts, or instincts of the unconscious may affect behavior • 4) The Cognitive Approach • Studies mental processes - thinking, language, memory, perception, problem solving, reasoning, and creativity. • Criticized for not focusing on emotion

21. 5) The Evolutionary Approach • Believes many modules of the mind are evolutionary adaptations arising through natural selection • 6) The Humanistic Approach • Emphasizes personal growth and the achievement of human potential • Carl Rogers developed client-centered therapy

22. 7) The Sociocultural Approach • Studies social and cultural influences on behavior • Studies groups that we belong to and determine how they influence our behavior

23. What about the future? • As society evolves and changes so will the questions and focuses of psychology • Unlikely to soon have a full picture of what humans are about • No one approach is correct • Most agree a combination of approaches is best