What is Psychology?

Chapter 1

Definition

• Psychology can be defined as – the discipline concerned with behavior and

mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external environment

• It is a SCIENCE based on much research and empirical evidence.

• It is NOT…fortune telling or astrology• It is NOT…common sense– Many psychological studies have proved to be

opposite of common sense

How do we know what we know?(you DON’T have to write this down)

• How do you know that George Washington was the first president of the United States?

• How do you know that you really have a stomach?• What makes you so sure the sun will rise

tomorrow?• How do you know the color of the shirt I’m

wearing?• How can you be sure that there aren’t little

creatures inside computers that are responsible for the things computers do?

• Are you sure you don’t have a big hole in the back of your pants of skirt?

Authority

• Authority is one source of knowledge. We know, or believe, that Washington was the first president because we trust the authority of history and history books. During the centuries that Western civilization was dominated by the Church, the authority of holy writings was believed to be the only dependable way of knowing.

Reason

• Reason was considered by Renaissance scholars to be the most reliable source of knowledge. If you say, “All humans have stomach; I am human; therefore, I have a stomach,” you have used deductive reasoning. If you say, “The sun rose today, yesterday, the day before yesterday, and for as long as I or anyone can remember,” you are using inductive reasoning.

Observation

• Observation is still another way of acquiring knowledge. You know the color of my shirt because you can see the shirt. You assume that you do not have a hole in the posterior of your clothing because you have not observed stares and giggles.

(write this down)

• All these way of knowing – authority, reason, and observation – are used by scientists, but observation must be the basis for knowledge that is scientific. Science puts greater emphasis on evidence provided by the senses than on authority of others or reasoning.

• Science relies on empirical evidence.

PSYCHOLOGY PAST

Early Psychology

• Early thinkers wanted to know–How people take in information–How people use that information to solve

problems–How people are motivated to act in

certain ways–How do emotions affect people– They wanted to describe, predict,

understand, and modify behavior in order to add to human knowledge

Early Theories

• Phrenology (pg.6)– Studying bumps on heads

• Functionalism–William James– Studied purpose of behavior

• Freud and Psychoanalysis– Early theories on personality and the

affects of the past on people

PSYCHOLOGY PRESENT

Five Major Theoretical Perspectives of Psychology

• Biological Perspective– How does the BODY affect the person?

• Learning Perspective– How does the environment and experiences affect the

person?

• Cognitive Perspective– How do people reason, remember, etc?

• Sociocultural Perspective– How do social and cultural forces affect the person?

• Psychodynamic Perspective– How do “inner forces” (subconcious) affect the

person?

Biological

Learning

= environment

= rewards and punishments

Cognitive

Cognitive = latin “to know”

reasonremember

understand

Sociocultural

Pyschodynamic

unconscious

What do psychologists do?(Table 1.1 on page 9)

• Psychological Research–Basic psychology– Applied psychology

• Psychological Practice– Goal is to understand and improve physical

and mental health– Types of psychotherapists: table 1.2 on page

11

• Psychology in the Community– Establish programs, work as consultants, etc.

Act like a scientist with Critical Thinking!

• Eight critical-thinking guidelines– Ask questions; be willing to wonder– Define your terms– Examine the evidence– Analyze assumptions and bias– Avoid emotional reasoning– Don’t oversimplify– Consider other interpretations– Tolerate uncertainty

How do Psychologist conduct Studies?

• Descriptive method: allows researchers to describe and predict behavior

• Case Studies: detailed descriptions of individuals• Observational studies: researcher observes,

measures, and records behavior.– Naturalistic observation– Laboratory observation

• Psychological Tests: usually a written or oral exam that measures and evaluates:– Personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests,

abilities, and values.– Objective tests: aware– Projective tests: unaware

Continued…

• Standardization: develops uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test–Norms– Reliability– Validity

• Surveys– Representative samples– Volunteer bias

•Notes are finished

Can Science Answer this question?• Psychology is an empirical science; that is, its

knowledge is obtained through observation, experimentation, and measurement. Some questions cannot be answered empirically and are, therefore, outside the realm of science.

• WITH A PARTNER OR SMALL GROUP:– Decide whether scientific research can answer the

following questions and respond yes/no to each questions. • Do not try to answer the question itself, just say whether or

not scientific research can, in principle, address the question,

– Briefly explain why each question is, or is not, a good candidate for scientific inquiry.

– For the questions that can be studied scientifically, identify what the independent and dependent variable would be in the experiment

• Is abortion on demand bad for society?• Do people talk more after they have eaten than

they do when they are hungry?• Does jogging lead to a positive mental attitude?• Are the incomes of doctors related to the

grades they make in medical school?• Which emotion is stronger, love or anger?• Are breast-fed babies more alert than bottle-fed

babies?• Will people be more moral in the year 2030

than they are now?• Are people who commit suicide sorry after they

have done it?