INTRODUCING

PSYCHOLOGY

What is Psychology?

A simple definition:“the scientific study of behavior”There are 2 parts to this definition

Psychology as “the scientific study of behavior” -- 2 parts: "scientific" refers to a specific method

of study, characterized by careful observation and explanation (i.e., “hypothesis testing”)

"behavior" -- what counts here? --overt, "objectively observable" actions? YES.

what else? --covert, unobservable processes (e.g., images, feelings)? YES, also.

[text] psychology = "the scientific study of behavior and mind"

How long have scientists been studying behavior? 1879: Wilhelm Wundt, Leipzig: Does human

consciousness have constituent parts that are identifiable? (“structuralism”)

"introspection”- consciousness has 3 components: sensations, images, and feelings

other early milestones: 1883, first American psychology lab founded at Johns Hopkins Univ.; 1888: second lab started at IU; 1892: American Psychological Association founded

What do psychologists do?

Experimental Psychology Clinical Psychology Biological Psychology Developmental Psychology Social Psychology

The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers, rather than fill it with the accumulations of others.

Thought for the day...

Theoretical Perspectives in

Psychology

Human behavior is most usefully understood in terms of

1. heredity, anatomy, and physiology (biological perspective)

2. conflict and tension between sexual and aggressive impulses, and external constraints or moral prohibitions (psychodynamic perspective)

3. conditioning and reinforcing ("response-shaping") influences of the external environment (behavioral perspective)

4. active processes of perception and thinking ("information processing") in the construction of behavioral responses (cognitive perspective)

5. innate efforts to increase self-awareness, responsibility, and personal fulfillment (humanistic perspective)

Theoretical Perspectives in

Psychology Psychological theories and research

currently encompass many different viewpoints, or perspectives (e.g., biological, psychoanalytic, behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic).

A theoretical perspective can limit as well as enhance our understanding of behavior.

BIOLOGICAL perspective:

Behavior is most strongly influenced

by anatomy, physiology, and

heredity

BIOLOGICAL perspective: anatomy, physiology,

& heredity

Darwin (1859)

"natural selection” (“functionalism”)

an extreme example: SOCIOBIOLOGY

Think of a committed romantic relationship that you have had. Imagine that your spouse or significant other becomes interested in someone else. What would distress you more:

A. Discovering that he or she has formed a deep emotional attachment to the other, confiding in that person and seeking comfort there rather than from you? OR

B. Discovering that your partner is enjoying daily passionate sex with the other person, trying positions rarely seen outside the Kamasutra?

PSYCHOANALYTIC perspective:

Behavior is most strongly influenced by

conflict and tension between sexual and aggressive impulses,

and external constraints or moral prohibitions

PSYCHOANALYTIC perspective: originated with Sigmund Freud's work as a neurologist and psychiatrist

Behavioral determinism (e.g., “Freudian slips")

Importance of the UNCONSCIOUS

Strong impulses for Sexual Pleasure and Aggression

BEHAVIORAL perspective:

Behavior is most strongly influenced by

conditioning and reinforcing ("response-shaping") influences of

the external environment

BEHAVIORAL perspective: behavior is primarily the product of environmental influences

John Locke: at birth the mind is a tabula rasa, or "blank slate"

John B. Watson: the proper focus of a science is on phenomena that are open to direct, reliable observation

COGNITIVE perspective:

Behavior is most strongly influenced by active processes of perception and thinking ("information processing")

COGNITIVE perspective:

rather than being passive reactors to environmental stimuli, humans are active, rational processors of information

letters, numbers, etc., are processed as patterns, not discrete stimuli; this tendency is more "built in" than learned

Example: "Gestalt" psychology– “the whole is greater than the sum of

the parts”– "phi phenomenon"

HUMANISTIC perspective:

Behavior is most strongly influenced by innate efforts to increase self-awareness, responsibility, and personal fulfillment

HUMANISTIC perspective: based on philosophical and religious systems stressing the freedom, responsibility, dignity, and inherent goodness of human nature

Rogers: psychological experience is a continuous process of growth and maturation directed towards understanding and expressing what's truly meaningful to self

Maslow: the basic source of human behavior is the drive towards "self‑actualization"

Summing up: Human behavior is most usefully understood in

terms of 1. heredity, anatomy, and physiology (biological

perspective) 2. conflict and tension between sexual and

aggressive impulses, and external constraints or moral prohibitions (psychodynamic perspective)

3. conditioning and reinforcing ("response-shaping") influences of the external environment (behavioral perspective)

4. active processes of perception and thinking ("information processing") in the construction of behavioral responses (cognitive perspective)

5. innate efforts to increase self-awareness, responsibility, and personal fulfillment (humanistic perspective)