Call me

• Anne Richards

• Dr. Richards

• Dr. Anne

• Miss Richards

• Miss Anne

• Teacher

• Professor

Me

UUWW

You

The class

Interesting Fun Challenging

Classroom atmosphere

Take notes

Study for exams Don’t give up

Ask for help

Take care of yourself

Do your homework

Form study groups

Syllabus

Access to materials online

• Angel course website

• http://angel.northseattle.edu– Powerpoints– Syllabus– Grades– Tegrity recordings

Introduction to Psychology

Lecture 1

What are the roots of psychology?

• Ancient healers– Trephining

• Occurred as long ago as 7,000 years by Neolithics

The Roots of PsychologyAristotle (384-322 B.C.)

soul and body are not separate and that knowledge grows from experience.

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The Roots of Psychology

• Rene Descartes - 1637– Pineal nerve is the “seat of the

soul” where the mind interacted with the body

Portrait by Frans Hals, 1648

wikipedia

The Roots of Psychology

• John Locke - 1690– Tabula rasa (blank slate)

Do you think you were a blank slate when you were born?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFqbwIzyvRM

The Roots of Psychology

• The birth of modern Psychology– Wilhelm Wundt and his

graduate students• First psychology laboratory• Structuralism• Used trained subjects

– Introspection

Lets try it

• What is your experience of this lemon?

• How would you describe the sensations lemon --colors, its roundness, its shading?

• If you were Wundt’s subjects you would be asked to reflect on this for hours!

The Roots of Psychology

• Functionalism– William James– Wrote “Principles of Psychology”– Stream of consciousness

Lets try it

• What are you thinking about right now?

Write down on a scrap of paper everything you are thinking of in the order you think of it.

The Roots of Psychology• William James quotes -

http://www.thinkexist.com/english/Author/x/Author_1046_1.htm

“A man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him.”

“Action may not bring happiness but there is no happiness without action.”

“Be willing to have it so. Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.”

“The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.”

“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.”

Women in Psychology: Founding Mothers

• Margaret Floy Washburn (1871-1939)– First woman to receive a doctorate in

psychology– Studied animal behavior

• Controversial theory that animals have minds

• Mary Calkins (1863-1930)– Student of William James– First female president of the American

Psychological Association– Studied memory (paired associations)

Women in Psychology: Founding Mothers

• Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886-1939)– One of the first psychologists to focus on

child development and on women’s issues

• Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983)– Pioneered work on how children of color grew

to recognize racial differences

Psychological Science is Born

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Psychological Science DevelopsBehaviorists

Watson and later Skinner emphasized the study of overt behavior as the subject

matter of scientific psychology.

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Psychological Science Develops

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Psychology Today

We define psychology today as the scientific study of behavior (what we

do) and mental processes (inner thoughts and feelings).

Contemporary Psychology

1. Psychology’s Subfields2. Who are psychologists and what do

they do?3. Issues and controversies in

Psychology

Psychology Subfields

• Basic research

• Applied research

• Counseling psychologists

• Clinical Psychologists

• Psychiatrists

Where do psychologists work?

Key Issues in Psychology

• Nature versus Nurture

• Conscious versus Unconscious causes of behavior

• Observable Behavior versus Internal Mental Processes

• Free Will versus Determinism

• Individual Differences versus Universal Principles