PSYCHOLOGY F U N D A M E N TA L S. H I S T O RY & P E O P L E
PSYCHOLOGY DEFINED The scientific study of mental processes and behavior ie): When someone avoids stepping on cracks in the sidewalk (behavior) because they feel something bad will happen (mental process), this is psychology.
For each of the following statements please identif y the mental process and behavior involved in each. Not walking under a ladder because you believe it will cause bad luck. Touching a screw every time you drive over train tracks because it is good luck. Staying home on a Friday night because it happens to be Friday the 13 th, which is thought to be bad luck. Lying to your parents is okay if your fingers are crossed.
FOUR GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY To describe what people do To explain why people think, feel and act the way they do through experiments To predict when a behavior being studied will occur in the future To change the parts of human behavior that cause pain
Positive Psychology Focuses on human behaviors such as optimism, what makes life worth living, and other positive characteristics.
C A R E E R S I N P S Y C H O LG O Y
BASIC VS. APPLIED RESEARCH Basic Research Origins & causes of behavior Our focus for this class Applied Research Uses info gained from basic research to deal with/help people or clients
EXAMPLE Airline pilots are falling asleep at the cockpit. Explain what the role of an applied psychologist will be in assisting the airlines with this problem Explain what the role of a basic research psychologist in assisting the airlines with this problem. All psychologists apply their knowledge for the service of human welfare!!
WHAT DO PSYCHOLOGISTS DO??? Work anywhere you find human beings. Hospitals, schools, courtrooms, boardrooms, prisons, etc.
PSYCHIATRIST VS. PSYCHOLOGIST Psychiatry a specialty of medicine. Need training to become a medical doctor who can prescribe medication or operate on patients. Deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders Psychologist Scientist who studies the mind and behavior of humans and animals Often work together to test and treat patients
Insert table 1.2 here, see page 9 in text Source: 2003 Doctorate Employment Survey, APA Research Office (APA, 2006).
TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGISTS Psychiatrists Deal with mental/emotional/behavior disorders Branch of the medical field Have the ability to prescribe medication Clinical Psychologists Help people deal with personal (emotional) problems. Work in hospitals/prisons, etc. Counselors Assist people with problems of everyday life. Help people adjust to challenges. Work in schools, for companies/businesses.
H I S T O R Y O F P S Y C H O LO G Y
BRIEF HISTORY Psychology branches out of philosophy & science Ancient Greece: Where does human knowledge come from? Can this be answered scientifically? Empiricism became particularly important as psychology became a separate field of study. Phrenology was one (rather poor) attempt to explain human behavior scientifically.
MODERN PSYCHOLOGY IS Empirical Uses sound, scientific research to back up claims Uses multiple perspectives or theories Various ways to explain behavior 8 perspectives exist today in modern psychology
WILHELM WUNDT Father of Psychology** 1 st Lab (1879) Leipzig, Germany to study humans Established psychology as a formal field of study
STRUCTURALISM LATE 1800S Key Players Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Titchner Defintion Used introspection to reveal the STRUCTURE (sensations/feelings) of the human mind. Introspection Self observationreport out about thoughts & feelings Turns out, introspection is very unreliable. People frequently are not aware of why they think and feel the way we do.
FUNCTIONALISM Consistent with the theory of evolution Consciousness and behavior serve ADAPTIVE functions allows adjustment to changing environments. No longer concerned with structure only FUNCTION! William James Founder of American Psychology Wrote 1 st Psychology Textbook 1890
GESTALT Key Player Max Wertheimer 1880-1943 Rejects Early Ideas Against diving human thought into its parts Main Point The whole is greater than the sum of it s parts
P S Y C H O LO G Y S B I G I S S U E S
NATURE VS NURTURE Are our human traits present at birth, or do they develop through experience? Nurture works on what Nature endows!
C U R R E N T A P P R O A C H E S / P E R S P E C T I V E S
PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES Behavior can be viewed from different viewpoints There are 8 dominant perspectives or schools of thought Each will have a different explanation for behavior ex: if a person helps a stranger pick up a spilled bag of groceries; why do some people help when others don t?
8 CURRENT THEORIES Behavioral Biological Cognitive Sociocultural Humanistic Psychoanalytic Evolutionary Biopsychosocial
BEHAVIORAL APPROACH Believe behavior is learned through rewards & punishments Ignore Consciousness Key Players- Founder- John Watson B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavlov Buzz Words: Learning, Rewards & Punishments, nurture, observable behavior, blank state tabula rasa
IF A PERSON HELPS A STRANGER PICK UP A SPILLED BAG OF GROCERIES; WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HELP WHEN OTHERS DON T? Behavioral Explanation Helping behavior might occur because the person has observed someone being rewarded for helpful behavior
PSYCHODYNAMIC APPROACH Believe behavior is caused by unconscious conflicts/ wishes, childhood experiences, etc 1 st theory of personality Key Players- Founder- Sigmund Freud Buzz Words: Unconscious, childhood, repression, wishes, desires, sex
PSYCHODYNAMIC Conscious memories Thoughts Emotions Unconscious Painful memories Immoral urges Fears Selfish needs Sigmund Freud Violent impulses Traumatic experiences Unacceptable sexual desires Irrational wishes Unresolved conflicts
IF A PERSON HELPS A STRANGER PICK UP A SPILLED BAG OF GROCERIES; WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HELP WHEN OTHERS DON T? Psychodynamic Explanation People may help others because they are unconsciously motivated to do so. Perhaps, childhood experiences play a role
HUMANISTIC APPROACH Healthy people strive to reach their full potential Humans born good & have free will to fill their potential. Key Players Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers Buzz Words: Potential, fulfillment, self worth/esteem, self-actualization
IF A PERSON HELPS A STRANGER PICK UP A SPILLED BAG OF GROCERIES; WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HELP WHEN OTHERS DON T? Humanistic Explanation People may help others if they have met their safety and physiological needs (hunger, thirst, shelter)
COGNITIVE APPROACH Believe behavior is determined by way one THINKS & ANALYZES info in environment Buzz Words: Thinking, analysis, interpretation, solution, selffulfilling prophecy, memory,
IF A PERSON HELPS A STRANGER PICK UP A SPILLED BAG OF GROCERIES; WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HELP WHEN OTHERS DON T? Cognitive Explanation With this perspective helping a stranger may be due to how we think about or interpret a situation We may help the shopper because we think it will make us look good to others Don t help may be because we think it will make us look silly
BIOLOGICAL APPROACH Understand behavior by biological structures & substances underlying a behavior, thought or emotion Buzz Words: Brain chemicals, DNA, genes, heredity, physical function, neuroscience
IF A PERSON HELPS A STRANGER PICK UP A SPILLED BAG OF GROCERIES; WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HELP WHEN OTHERS DON T? Biological Explanation Explain helping behavior by a natural feel-good chemical in the brain Those lacking normal amounts of this chemical may be depressed therefore not help the stranger
SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH Behavior influenced by rules & expectations of our social groups & culture Buzz Words: Culture, group rules, expectations, traditions, family
IF A PERSON HELPS A STRANGER PICK UP A SPILLED BAG OF GROCERIES; WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HELP WHEN OTHERS DON T? Helping behavior more likely to occur if you re with some friends or 50 feet from your front door (place/people are familiar) Helping behavior less likely if in crowded places, big-cities where people are unfamiliar (you might already feel uncomfortable) Sociocultural Explanation
Key Players- Charles Darwin Buzz Words: Genes, natural selection EVOLUTIONARY APPROACH Explains that behavior is a result of adaptive aspects of behavior resulting from natural selection. ie) Cooperation & Aggression are adaptive survival strategies.
IF A PERSON HELPS A STRANGER PICK UP A SPILLED BAG OF GROCERIES; WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HELP WHEN OTHERS DON T? EVOLUTIONARY EXPLANATION Helping behavior more likely to occur because cooperation is an adaptive survival strategy
ECLECTICISM By combining information from all of the approaches, psychologists stand a better chance of describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling behavior.
Biological Influences - Genetic predispositions - Genetic mutations - Natural Selection of adaptive physiology / behaviors Genes responding to the environment Psychological Influences - Learned fears and other learned expectations - Emotional responses - Cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations Behavior or mental process Social-Cultural Influences - Presence of others - Cultural, societal, and family expectations Peer and other group influences - Compelling models