Chapter 1- Introducing Psychology

Why Study Psychology?

Provides useful insight into behavior

› Physiological- having to do with physical processes

› Cognitive- having to do with thinking and understanding

Goals of Psychology

1. Describe- how is a person behaving?2. Explain- why do they behave this

way? - Hypotheses and theories3. Predict4. Influence or control

using applied science

› Use of scientific method

Origins of Psychology

Marmaduke Samson and phrenology-› Examining bumps

on a person’s skull to determine intelligence and character traits (mid 1800s)

Structuralism- Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt- established modern psychology (first laboratory- Leipzig, 1879)

Structuralism- study the basic elements that make up conscious mental experience

Structuralism- Wundt

Use of introspection- self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings

First use of a systematic procedure to study human behavior

Functionalism- James

William James- “father of psychology” (first textbook)› All activities of the mind (thinking,

feeling, learning, and remembering) have one major function- survival as a species.

Functionalism- James

Wundt focused on structure of the mind; James focuses on the functions or actions of the mind and the goals of behavior

Functionalism- study of how people and animals react to their environments

Structuralism vs. Functionalism

Structuralism

• Wundt• Concerned with

the STRUCTURE of something

• What’s it made of?• Why do we think

this way?

Functionalism

• James• Concerned with

the FUNCTION of something

• What does it do?• What are the

results of thinking this way?

Inheritable Traits

Francis Galton (1822-1911)-Heredity› Concluded that

intelligence and prominence are hereditary traits.

› Did not consider the role of environment when making this conclusion.

Gestalt Psychology

Perception is more than a sum of parts, but it involves a “whole pattern”

How sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences

Example- chair

Psychoanalytic Psychology

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)-› Our conscious

experiences are only the tip of the iceberg Beneath the surface

are primitive biological urges in conflict with society and morality

Different Perspectives in Psychology

Biological PsychologyBiological Psychology

Behavioral/Clinical PsychologyBehavioral/Clinical Psychology

Cognitive PsychologyCognitive Psychology

Social-Cultural PsychologySocial-Cultural Psychology

Humanistic PsychologyHumanistic Psychology

Psychodynamic PsychologyPsychodynamic Psychology

Evolutionary PsychologyEvolutionary Psychology

Biological Perspective/ Neuroscience

FocusHow the body and brain create emotions, memories,and sensory experiences.

FocusHow the body and brain create emotions, memories,and sensory experiences.

Sample Issues• How do evolution and heredity influence behavior?• How are messages transmitted within the body?• How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?

Sample Issues• How do evolution and heredity influence behavior?• How are messages transmitted within the body?• How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?

Biological Psychology

Study of how physical and chemical changes in our body influence our behavior› PET scans and CAT scans› Twins and autism

Behavioral/Clinical Perspective

FocusHow we learn from observable responses.How to best study, assess and treat troubled people.

FocusHow we learn from observable responses.How to best study, assess and treat troubled people.

Sample Issues• How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations?• What is the most effective way to alter certain behaviors?• What are the underlying causes of:

Anxiety Disorders Phobic Disorders Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

Sample Issues• How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations?• What is the most effective way to alter certain behaviors?• What are the underlying causes of:

Anxiety Disorders Phobic Disorders Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

Behavioral Psychology

Ivan Pavlov› rang a tuning fork

each time he gave a dog meat powder

› dog began to salivate to the tune of the fork

Behavioral Psychology

Psychologists began to account for behaviors as

The product of prior experience

Could explain how differences among individuals were the result of learning

Behavioral Psychology

Behaviorism- how organisms learn or modify their behavior based on their response to events in the environment (John Watson)› Reinforcement (Skinner) – response to a

behavior that increases the likelihood a behavior will be repeated

Cognitive Perspective

FocusHow we encode, process, store and retrieve information.

FocusHow we encode, process, store and retrieve information.

Sample Issues• How do we use info in remembering and reasoning?• How do our senses govern the nature of perception?

(Is what you see really what you get?)• How much do infants “know” when they are born?

Sample Issues• How do we use info in remembering and reasoning?• How do our senses govern the nature of perception?

(Is what you see really what you get?)• How much do infants “know” when they are born?

Cognitive Psychology

Study of how we process, store, retrieve, and use information and how cognitive processes influence behavior (Piaget, Chomsky)› Behavior is influenced by a variety of

mental processes, including perceptions, memories, and expectations

Humanistic Perspective Contradictory to Behaviorism

› Maslow, Rogers and May› We are evolving and self-directed with

the ability to develop our full potential› Believe we have free will and are not

controlled by the environment or our past

Humanistic Psychology

Belief that each person has freedom in directing his or her future and achieving personal growth (Maslow, Rogers)› Humans are not controlled by events in the

environment or by outside forces- these things just serve as a background to our own internal growth

› Potential for personal growth

Psychodynamic/Psychoanalysis Perspective

› Study of behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

› Study of the unconscious mind, motives and behaviors

› Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)› Internal conflicts› Free association

Psychoanalytic Psychology

Unconscious motivations and conflict are responsible for medically unexplainable physical symptoms

Freud- Free Association

A patient says everything that comes to mind no matter how absurd

As a psychoanalyst, he sat and interpreted

Dreams are expressions of primitive unconscious urges

Use of case studies

Social-Cultural Perspective

FocusHow behavior and thinking vary across situationsand cultures.

FocusHow behavior and thinking vary across situationsand cultures.

Sample Issues• How are we, as members of different races andnationalities, alike as members of one human family?• How do we differ, as products of different social contexts?• Why do people sometimes act differently in groups thanwhen alone?

Sample Issues• How are we, as members of different races andnationalities, alike as members of one human family?• How do we differ, as products of different social contexts?• Why do people sometimes act differently in groups thanwhen alone?

Sociocultural Psychology

Studies the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on behavior and social functioning› Shared cultures and perspectives across

culture (ex- sneezes)› Immigration› Gender, socioeconomic status

Evolutionary Perspective

How the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes.

Focus on the evolution of behavior and mental processes.

Suggests that many kinds of behavior patterns, such as aggressive behavior, also have an hereditary basis.

Belief that inherited tendencies influence people to act in certain ways.

Psychology Bingo

Physiological

Cognitive Psychology Structuralism Introspection Wilhelm Wundt

Functionalism

William James Sir Francis Galton Physiological

Gestalt Psychoanalytic

Psychology Sigmund Freud Free Association Case Study Ivan Pavlov Behaviorism B.F. Skinner Phrenology Cognitive