Introduction to Psychology

1. Introduction to Psychology

2. Personality • A solid core of traits reflecting the unique essence of a particular human being • That core of thoughts and feelings inside you that tells you how to conduct yourself. • Your personality is more than just an “attitude.” It is what causes you to act and react the way you do.

3. What you’ve done so far… • The Color Code Test • Red – Power • Blue – Intimacy • White – Peace • Yellow - Fun • Reds and Bluesspend their lifetimes trying to control others. • Whites and Yellows spend their lifetimes refusing to be controlled. • This year 85% of employees who lose their jobs can attribute it personality conflict.

4. Strengths & Weaknesses For each color • Red • Leader, focused, responsible, committed • Blue • Loyal to people, sincere, honest, moral • White • Tolerant, patient, cooperative, good listener • Yellow • Positive, friendly, optimistic, open • Red • Arrogant, bad listener, tactless, critical of others • Blue • Judgmental, unforgiving, suspicious, irrational • White • Timid, lazy, dependent, directionless • Yellow • Uncommitted, inconsistent, self-centered, rebellious

5. What do I do with my color? • Using your color, write your first name in the COLOR you were matched with • Decorate your name • Cut it out • Tape it neatly on the back of my door

6. You have siblings?Your Birth Order can often show about you! • Oldest/Only • Treated like an adult, given more responsibility, an example, independent. • Middle • Peacemaker, work hard for attention, calm and even-tempered, good/average student. • Youngest • Spoilt, strives for attention, matures quickly, easy-going about school, irresponsible

7. Chapter One: Introduction, History, and Research Methods • What is psychology? • The science of behavior and mental processes. • Science – because psychologist use scientific research in their studies to understand more. They collect data and analyze it. • Behavior & mental processes – the scope of what psychologists study is so vast. • All observable behaviors can be studied as well as mental processes including thoughts, feelings and dreams.

8. Psychology’s founding fathers:Wilhelm Wundt • The “Father” of psychology • 1879 – first lab devoted to psychological experiments.

9. Psychology’s founding fathers: • 1892 – G. Stanley Hall founds the American Psychological Association (APA). • 1905 – Mary Whiton Calkins becomes first woman President of APA. • 1905 – Alfred Binet develops the first intelligence test.

10. Can any one psychological perspective answer all of psychology’s questions?

11. Psychological Perspectives • Psychological perspectives, schools of thought, and psychological approaches are all synonyms for ways psychologists classify collections of ideas. • Ex: Look at this real life possibility: Do you help the person who spilled their bags of groceries? Why do some people help when others don’t? • Each perspective has an explanation. • And there are six different ones…

12. #1: The Cognitive Perspective • Popular since the 1960’s. • School of thought that focuses on how we take in, process, store and retrieve information. • Focuses on how people think! • People involved: James and Piaget • Ex: Helping the person with the groceries is a function of how we think about or interpret a situation. • We may choose to help the shopper because we think it will make us look good to others; or won’t because we think helping might make us look silly.

13. Psychology's founding fathers:William James • 1st American psychologist. • 1st psych textbook author – 1890. • Functionalism: • Goal of psychology was to study the functions of consciousness, the ways consciousness helps people adapt to their environment.

14. Psychology’s founding fathers:Jean Piaget • Worked on how children develop their thinking abilities. • Developmental and cognitive psychologist.

15. #2: Biological Perspective • School of thought to focuses on the physical structures and substances underlying a particular behavior, thought, or emotion. • People involved: • Ex: Could remind us that levels of a naturally occurring “feel good” chemical in our brain that could affect helping behavior. • Those lacking in this element could feel depressed and not help the person with their groceries.

16. #3: Socio-cultural Perspective • School of thought that focuses on how thinking or behavior changes in different settings or situations. • People involved: • Ex: Helping is more likely to occur if you’re with a couple of friends and 50 feet from your front door; and less likely if you’re in a crowded, big-city movie theatre lobby where few faces are familiar.

17. #4: Behavioral Perspective • School of thought that focuses on how we learn observable responses. • Believe people learn certain responses through rewards, punishments, and observation. • People involved: Pavlov and Watson • Ex: a person who helps has previously observed someone being rewarded for helpful behavior. • Like y’all and bonus cards?

18. Psychology’s Founding Fathers:Ivan Pavlov • 1906 – Pavlov’s dogs • He studied animal learning and fueled a move in psych toward interest in observable behavior and away from the self-examination of inner ideas and experiences.

19. Psychology’s founding fathers:John B. Watson • Launched behaviorism • Dominant perspective of the 20th century. • Behaviorist perspective: • Studied only observable and objectively describable acts. • Don’t waste time studying unconscious…can’t see it! • Made science more objective and scientific. • Today behaviorism focuses on learning through rewards and observation.

20. #5: Humanistic Perspective • School of thought that focuses on the study of conscious experience, the individual’s freedom to choose, and capacity for personal growth. • Healthy people strive to reach their full potential. • People involved: Maslow and Rogers • Ex: A person who has met their safety/physiological needs (hunger, thirst, shelter) would be able to reach out socially and help another person in need.

21. More on Humanistic… • Humanistic psychology (1960), 3rd force. • Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers • Emphasized conscious experience as the proper focus for psychology. • Humans have free will and will strive for full potential by making smart decisions. • Rejected that humans are controlled by rewards and reinforcements. • Maslow’s Hierarchy 

22. #6: Psychodynamic Perspective • Contemporary name; formerly known as psychoanalytic perspective. • School of thought that focuses on how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts. • People included: Freud • Ex: Helpful behavior results from an unfulfilled childhood wish to have one’s mother accept one’s offer to help.

23. Psychology’s Founding Fathers:Sigmund Freud • Stereotypic therapist, with a pen and pencil listening to a patient on the couch. • 1900, introduced first complete theory of personality… psychoanalysis. • Publishes The Interpretation of Dreams.

24. Freud’s Psychoanalytic Perspective • Focused on abnormal behavior, which Freud attributed to unconscious drives and conflicts, often stemming from childhood. • Relied on personal observation and reflection instead of controlled laboratory experimentation as its means of discovery.

25. Problems with Psychoanalysis • Claimed to be scientific, but relied on self-reported reflections…not scientific methods. • Died in 1939, many theories have since been disproved and some out of date. • But some of his ideas are still with us: • Freudian slip • Anal-retentive • Psychodynamic Theory • Our unconscious thoughts, inner conflicts, and childhood experiences significantly affect our personality and behaviors.

26. New Areas of Psychology! • Behavior Genetics: • Focuses on how much our genes and our environment influence our individual differences and behavior. • Combo of biology and behaviorism. • A psychologist interested in behavior genetics might ask two questions: Is there a helpfulness trait? If so, is it triggered into action by growing up in a family that promotes and values helping those in need? • Yes? – and you have the trait and a family that promotes it, you will be helpful. • Thus, helping behavior is a product of learning and an inherited genetic trait.

27. New Areas of Psychology! • Evolutionary Psych: • Study behaviors that helped our ancestors survive long enough to reproduce successfully. • Positive Psych: • Focus: to study and promote original human functioning. • Martin Seligman • Promotes building positive qualities of people, not repairing the worst things.

28. Careers in Psychology: • Basic research: • Pure science or research • Research for the sake of finding new information and expanding the knowledge base of psychology. • Clinical Psychologies: • Diagnose and treat patients with psychological problems. • Largest number of professional psychologists.

30. Careers in Psychology • Applied Research: • Research designed to solve specific practical problems. • Marriage counselors, education counselors, organizational counselors, etc.