What’s Psychology?

1. What’s Psychology? • Psychology - The science/study of behavioral and mental processes. • Psychology developed from biology and philosophy. Today, psychology aims to describe and explain how we think, feel, and act using the scientific method.

2. Prescientific Psychology • Socrates and Plato- viewed the mind as separable from body and continuing after death • Inborn knowledge • Relied on logic, not observation • Aristotle- • relied on careful observations • mind and body not separable • knowledge not preexisting

3. Prescientific Psychology • Augustine- • Mind and body are connected • Rene Decartes-(1595-1650)- • Mind and body influence each other (dualism). • Born with innate knowledge • John Locke- • Mind is a blank slate • The mind acts on only what comes in through the senses • Empiricism- knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

4. Psychological Science is Born • First 2 schools of thought were Structuralism and Functionalism

5. Structuralism • 1st Structuralism- William Wundt- • Wanted to engage people in introspection (looking inward) • What do you feel, how do you feel?, what images are you seeing? • Wanted to discover the elements of the mind • Required verbal, smart people • At times unreliable • Did not focus on why we feel or see these things

6. Functionalism • 2nd- Functionalism- William James • Interested in the purpose of behavioral actions • The function of mental operations in adapting to the environment • Memories, willpower, habits…… • Philosophy of Pragmatism • Basis of Behavioralism

7. Psychology Subfields • Basic research-builds the psychologist’s knowledge base • Applied research- practical problems • Clinical psychologist – study and treat people. Give and analyze tests,conduct research • Psychiatrists- often provide psychotherapy, medical doctor that can prescribe drugs • Organizational/industrial Psychologist-

8. Psychology’s Subfields Type of research Applied Biological Clinical Psychology Developmental Counseling Psychology Cognitive Educational Psychology Personality Industrial-Organizational Social Community Psychology Positive Psychology Clinical Psychology

9. Psychology’s SubfieldsResearch Examples Type of research Clarify the difficulties autistic children have with understanding sarcasm Decide whether traits like neuroticism need to be measured differently in autism Study how the stages of cognitive and emotional development vary in autism Find how autistic children can learn social skills as procedures if not by intuition Explore what motivates people and contributes to life satisfaction Explore the structural problems in the brain that may be part of autism Biological Developmental Cognitive Personality Social Positive Psychology

10. Psychology’s SubfieldsApplied Applied Evaluate aptitudes and achievement to plan for a student with learning problems Figure out how a factory can improve coordination of tasks, roles, and personalities Help someone achieve career goals despite family conflict and self-doubt Help coordinate a city’s efforts to understand and prevent elder abuse Use exposure therapy to decrease phobic reactions in a traumatized client Use exposure therapy to decrease phobic reactions in a traumatized client Clinical Psychology Counseling Psychology Educational Psychology Industrial-Organizational Community Psychology Clinical Psychology

11. “Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a problem in the orbital cortex.” “Compulsions start as habits and are rewarded by the anxiety relief they bring.” Let’s play: “What’s my perspective?” “No, it’s a sign of unresolved childhood issues.” “OCD comes from our natural instinct to control our environment.” “No, OCD is an inherited condition.” “OCD thinking and behavior is a reaction to our fast-paced, out-of-control lifestyles.” “No, OCD is a matter of mental habits and errors that can be corrected.”

12. 7 Current approaches ( subfields) of Psychology • 1. The Behaviorist Approach- • Emphasizes the effect of the environment on shaping behavior • Does not deny the role of heredity. (but can’t do anything about it, we can alter the envir.) • Emphasizes learning(rewards and punishments) • Give me an example of what they might study

13. 7 Current approaches of Psychology • 2. The Biological Approach- • seeks to understand behaviors by studying underlying neurological, biochemical and neuromuscular causes. • Looks at the effect of brain damage, injecting hormones….. on behaviors • Give me an example of what they might study

14. 7 Current approaches of Psychology • 3. The Cognitive Approach- • Focus on how we encode, process, store and retrieve information • Focus on the mental processes that intervene between stimulus inputs and response outputs • Give me an example of what they might study

15. 7 Current approaches of Psychology • 4. Psychoanalytic Approach- Freud • Views our unconscious as our primary determinant of behavior • our actions and thoughts are caused by suppressed instincts • Give me an example of what they might study

16. 7 Current approaches of Psychology • 5. Humanistic Approach- • Human behavior is the result of free will • Humans have a basic goodness and an innate motivation to achieve their full potential • Give me an example of what they might study

17. 7 Current approaches of Psychology • 6. Sociocultural- • Look at how behaviors and thinking vary across situations and cultures • Look at how different cultures effect behaviors and thinking • Give me an example of what they might study

18. 7 Current approaches of Psychology • 7. Evolutionary/ sociobiological- • Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection and explain behavior patterns as adaptations naturally selected, because they increase reproductive success • Give me an example of what they might study

19. Major Issues • Nature/Nurture • Biology V. Environment • Stability Vs. Change • Rationality Vs. Irrationality

20. 8 Psychological Perspectives • Evolutionary • Behavior genetics • Behavioral • Cognitive • Psychodynamic/ Psychoanalytic • Biological/neuroscience • Sociocultural • Humanistic

21. What to Focus on • What each perspective believes causes abnormal behavior • Possible treatments from each perspective • Important psychologists • What does each perspective focus on • Read, Discuss and then write • Nature/nurture????