AP Psych Agenda

1. AP Psych Agenda 8.31.10

2. Agenda: • Discuss/collect homework • Hysteria • Adult ADHD • Penis envy • Narcissistic Personality Disorder • Dissociative Identity Disorder • Childhood Bipolar Disorder • Asperger’s Disorder • Homosexuality • Sex addiction • Gender identity disorder • What IS psychology, anyway? Is it possible to study the mind scientifically?

3. Evolution of Psychology lecture (reading – chapter 1, pages • Homework – Read, summarize and write opinions on 2 articles, chapter 1 reading due next Tuesday.

4. Evolution of Psychology Chapter 1

5. What is Psychology? • The study of the mind • Wilhelm Wundt (1832 – 1920), German professor, founded psychology as an independent discipline • Wanted psychology based on science – a scientific study of the conscious experience. • His ideas caught on and spread through Germany and North America

6. G. Stanley Hall (1846 – 1924), studied under Wundt and contributed to the growth of psychology in America. • Founded 1st psych research center at Johns Hopkins

7. Structuralism versus Functionalism • Structuralism emerged through leadership of Edward Titchener • Structuralism: the notion that psychology should analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these elements are related • Sensation • Feelings • Images • Used introspection to examine the components of consciousness.

8. Functionalism: psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness rather than its structure. • Idea founded by William James (1842 – 1910) • James was influenced by Darwin’s concept of natural selection (heritable characteristics that provide a survival or reproductive advantage are more likely than alternative characteristics to be passed on). • James thought consciousness must be important and people should understand its function.

9. Freud and the Unconscious • Wanted to treat mental illnesses • Used psychoanalysis • Believed in the “unconscious” – contains thoughts, memories and desires that are far below the surface of “conscious” behavior but that exert great influence on behavior • Based concept on patients’ dreams and “slips of the tongue” ( Freudian slips) • Psychoanalytic theory attempts to explain personality, motivation and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior

10. Freud = controversial • The “unconscious” meant that people were not masters of their own minds. • Freud also thought that sexual urges determined people’s behavior. • Despite controversy, psychoanalysis caught on – super popular by the 1940s.

11. Watson and Behaviorism • Behaviorism (popular 1913 – 1920) was founded by John B. Watson. • Behaviorism was the idea that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior. Behavior is any overt response or activity by an organism. • Wanted to abandon the study of consciousness and focus instead on what could be observed. • Watson thought psychology defied the scientific method b/c results could not be verified. • Watson also took a strong stance on the nature vs. nurture debate – thought people were made, not born

12. AP Psychology agenda 9.1.10

13. Collect/discuss homework • Quick comprehension check: • Give one example of something Watson would consider an observable “behavior”. • What is the definition of the “unconscious”, according to Freud. • Who founded the idea of functionalism • How is functionalism different from structuralism? • Free will – myth or reality?

14. Comprehension check answers… • Behavior is any overt response or activity by an organism • Unconscious contains thoughts, memories and desires that are far below the surface of “conscious” behavior but that exert great influence on behavior • William James • Function/purpose of consciousness versus the notion that psychology should analyze consciousness into its basic elements (sensation, feelings, images)

15. Watson’s ideas were supported by Ivan Pavlov’s discovery that dogs could be taught to salivate in response to a noise. • Stimulus-response psychology, frequently used animal experimentation. Animal experimentation gives the researcher more control.

16. Skinner and Free Will • B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) – behaviorist who wanted focus to remain on strict observation of behavior. • Like Watson, Skinner emphasized how environmental factors mold behavior. • Believed that psychology could understand and predict behavior without using psychological explanations. • His main idea was: organisms repeat behaviors that lead to positive outcomes, and do not repeat behaviors that lead to neutral or negative outcomes.

17. Skinner cont. • Believed that all behavior is determined in a predictable way. Behavior is governed by concrete principles. • People are controlled by environment, NOT themselves. Free will does not exist! • Hugely controversial.

18. The Humanists Revolt • Psychoanalytic theory believes behavior was controlled by primitive sexual urges. Behaviorism believes that human and animal behaviors are predictable… • Humanism emerges • Belief that humans are completely unique and have freedom and the potential for personal growth. • More optimistic view of human nature • Key advocates of humanism: • Carl Rogers (1902 – 1987) • Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970)

19. Humanism Cont. • Belief that humans have a basic need to evolve as human beings and fulfill their potentials.

20. Psychology becomes A Profession • Applied psychology – branch of psychology concerned w/ every day, practical problems • First branch was clinical psychology – concerned with diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders. • Clinical psychology didn’t grow in popularity until post-WWII • Originally there was tension b/w clinical psychologists and scientific research psychologists.

21. AP Psychology Agenda 9.2.10

22. Quick comprehension check: • Hand out books, concept charts and workbooks • Homework – finish all of chapter 1 by Tuesday & read the article posted on bpi.edu. • Short video clips: • Pavlov • Skinner • Watson • Continue notes!

23. Psychology returns to its Roots • Renewed interest in cognition (previously known as consciousness) • Cognition = mental processes used in acquiring knowledge • Piaget • Chomsky • Simon • You must understand internal mental events to fully understand behavior • Cognitive perspective is now the dominant perspective

24. Methods can be devised to study cognitive processes scientifically. • Cognitive psychology lead to behavioral perspective. • Behavioral perspective = maintains that much of human and animal behavior can be explained in terms of bodily structure and bio-chemical processes that allow organisms to behave

25. Psychology Broadens its Horizons • New interest in cultural diversity • Most psych research conducted in the US has been conducted BY white, middle and upper-class white men, ON white, middle and upper class white men. • Why? • Cross-cultural research is costly, difficult and time-consuming. • Researchers fear that cultural comparisons will lead to or reinforce existing stereotypes. • Ethnocentrism – the tendency to believe one’s own group is superior to others • As interdependence and diversity increase, the interest in cultural factors.

26. Psychology Adapts: Evolutionary Psychology • Evolutionary psychology examines behavioral processes in terms of their adaptive value for members of the species over the course of many generations. • Evolutionary psychology believes that natural selection favors behaviors that enhance a species’ chances of survival throughout generations. • Did not emerge as a major psychological theory until the mid-1990s

27. Psychology moves in a Positive Direction • Positive psychology uses theory and research to better understand the positive, adaptive, creative and fulfilling aspects of life. • 3 areas of interest: • Positive subjective experiences: happiness, love, gratitude, contentment and hope. • Positive individual traits: personal strengths and virtues • Positive institutions and communities

28. Psychology Today: Vigorous and Diversified • Today psychology is the science that studies behavior and the physiological and cognitive processes that underlie it, and it is the profession that applies the accumulated knowledge of this science to practical problems. • 7 major fields: • Developmental • Social • Experimental • Psychological • Cognitive • Personality • Psychometrics

29. 4 types of psychologists: • Clinical • Counseling • Educational • Organizational/industrial • See chart 1.8 and 1.9 on page 20! • Difference b/w clinical psychology and psychiatry: • Psychiatry = branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems & disorders. • Psychology takes a non-medical approach to such problems.