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What is Psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of
behavior and mental
processes.
Psychology attempts to explain, predict, modify,
and ultimately improve
the lives of people and
the world in which they
live.
Psychology is a word deriving from ancient
Greek roots:
Psyche soul or mind,
logia study
Psychology is the study of the mind and
behavior.
Major Subfields of Psychology Subfield Description
Clinical Psychology Studies, diagnosis, causes and treatment of mental disorders
Counseling
Psychology
Assists individuals in dealing with many personal problems
Developmental
Psychology
Studies how people change physically, cognitively and socially over the entire
life span
Educational
Psychology
Studies all aspects of educational process
Experimental
Psychology
Studies all basic psychological processes.
Cognitive Psychology Investigating all aspects of cognition-memory, thinking, reasoning, language,
decision making, and so on.
Industrial/
organizational
Psychology
Studies all aspects of behavior in work setting.
Psychobiology and
evolutionary
Psychology
Investigates biological bases of behavior and the role of evolution in human
behavior
Social Psychology Studies all aspects of social behavior and social thought-how we think about
and interact with others.
Perspectives and its
influential period
Principal
contributor
Subject matter Basic Premise
Behavioral (1913-Present) John B. Watson
Ivan Pavlov
B. F. Skinner
Effects of environment on the
overt behavior of humans and
animals
Only observable events (S-R) can be
studied scientifically
Psychoanalytic (1900-
Present)
Sigmund Freud
Carl Jung
Alfred Adler
Unconscious determinants of
behavior
Unconscious motives and experiences
in early childhood govern personality
and mental disorders
Humanistic(1950s-Present) Carl Rogers
Abraham
Maslow
Unique aspects of human
experience
Human are free, rational beings with
the potential for personal growth, and
they are fundamentally different from
animals
Cognitive (1950s-Present) Jean Piaget
Noam Chomsky
Herbert Simon
Thoughts, Mental processes Human behavior can't be fully
understood without examining how
people acquire, store and process
information
Biological (1950s-Present) James Olds
Roger Sperry
David Hubbel
Torsten Wiesel
Physiological bases of behavior
in humans and animals
An organisms functioning can be
explained in terms of bodily structures
and biochemical processes that
underlie behavior
Evolutionary (1980s-
Present)
David Buss
Martin Daly
Margo Wilson
Leda Cosmides
John Tobby
Evolutionary bases of behavior
in humans and animals
Behavior patterns have evolved to solve
adaptive problems; natural selection
favors behavior that enhance
reproductive success
Overview of Six Contemporary Theoretical Perspective in Psychology
Introduction
to
Cognitive Psychology
Some Questions of Interest
What is cognitive psychology?
How did psychology develop as a science?
How did cognitive psychology develop from psychology?
How have other disciplines contributed to the development of theory and research in cognitive psychology?
What methods do cognitive psychologists use to study how people think?
Cognitive Psychology Is
The study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information.
Problem Solving
Decision
Making
Reasoning
Language
Memory
Attention
Perception
Philosophical Antecedents Rationalist Acquire knowledge
through thinking and logical analysis
Plato (428-348 B.C.), Ren Descartes (1596-1650)
Empiricist Acquire knowledge via
empirical evidence
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), John Locke (1632-1704)
Rationalism
(Descartes) Empiricism
(Locke)
Synthesis:
Both have a role (Kant)
Psychological Antecedents:
The Two Fathers of Psychology?
Structuralism What are the elementary
contents (structures) of the human mind?
Introspection
Functionalism How and why does the
mind work?
Wilhelm Wundt
(1832-1920)
William James(1842-
1910)
Functionalism (James)
Synthesis:
Associationism (Ebbinghaus &
Thorndike)
Structuralism
(Wundt)
Psychological Antecedents
Associationism How can events or ideas
become associated in the
mind? (Ebbinghaus &
Thorndike)
Behaviorism What is the relation between
behavior and
environment?(Pavlov)
Edward Lee Thorndike
(18741949)
Associationism
(Thorndike)
Behaviorism
(Pavlov)
Synthesis:
Radical behaviorism
(Watson & Skinner)
Behaviorism
dominated
until.
Synthesis:
Cognitions should play
an active role in
psychology
(Gestalt, Bandura)
Less radical
behaviorist
cognitive map a
thought!
(Tolman)
Emergence of Cognitive Psychology
Early Role of Psychobiology
Lashley emphasized that the brain actively processes information
Hebb targeted cells as center of learning
Chomskys review of Skinners verbal behavior: reductio ad absurdum
Emergence of Cognitive Psychology
Add a Dash of Technology
End of 1950s: development of computers
Turing test and artificial intelligence
A cognitive revolution occurred and increased interest in the study of mental processes (cognitions)
Data gathering
Data analysis
Theory development
Hypothesis formation
Hypothesis testing
Application to real world
Goals of Research
Research Methods
Controlled experiments
Psychobiological research
Self reports
Case studies
Naturalistic observation
Computer simulations and artificial intelligence
In an Experiment
Manipulate the independent variable
Create experimental group
Create control group
Randomly assign participants
Measure the dependent variable
Same for all groups
Control all other variables
Typical Independent Variables
Characteristics of the situation
Presence vs. absence of a stimulus
Characteristics of the task
Reading vs. listening to words for comprehension
Characteristics of participants
Age differences
Typical Dependent Variables Percent correct/error rate
Accuracy of mental processing
Reaction time (milliseconds)
Speed of mental processing
Correlational Studies
Cannot infer causation
Nature of relationship
Positive correlation
Negative correlation
Strength of relationship
Determined by size of r
Psychobiological Studies
Postmortem studies Examine cortex of dyslexics after death
Brain-damaged individuals and their deficits Study amnesiacs with hippocampus damage
Monitor a participant doing a cognitive task Measure brain activity while a participant is reciting
a poem
Other Methods Self-reports
An individuals own account of cognitive processes
Verbal protocol, diary study
Case studies
In-depth studies of individuals
Genie, Phineas Gage
Naturalistic observation
Studies of cognitive performance in everyday situations outside of the lab
Monitor decision-making of pilots during flights
Computers in Research
Computer simulations of artificial intelligence Recreate human processes using computers
Fundamental Ideas
Theory
Data
Data can only be fully explained with theories, and theories are insufficient
without data thus creating the cycle of
science
Fundamental Ideas
Cognition is typically adaptive, but errors made can be informative
Example: Spoonerisms
A lack of pies (A pack of lies)
Its roaring with pain (Its pouring with rain)
Errors can be used to infer how speech production occurs
Fundamental Ideas
Cognitive processes interact with each other and with noncognitive processes
Emotions may affect decisions
Memory depend on perceptual processes
Learning better when motivated to learn
Fundamental Ideas
Many different scientific methods are used to study cognition
Basic research often leads to important applications, and applied research often
contributes to a more basic understanding of
cognition
Key Issues and Fields within
Cognitive Psychology
Nature Vs. Nurture
Rationalism Vs. Empiricism
Structures Vs. Processes
Validity of causal inferences Vs. Ecological validity
Applied Vs. Basic research
Biological Vs. Behavioral methods