Welcome to Psychology
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1.1 Why Study Psychology?
Psychology provides tools to help us gain
insight into our own behavior, as well
as our relationships with others.
Definition of Psychology: the scientific
study of behavior and mental
processes.
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Psychological Needs are
things like love,
comfort, security
Physiological Needs are
physical Needs. Things
you have to have like
food, water, sleep.
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4 Goals of Psychology:
(yes, writethesedown they willbe on thetestalsolocatedon pg.10 in your text,if your textis not open then you need to be
openingitnow)
1.
2.
3.
4.
Description
Explanation
Prediction
Influence
Why is this kid throwing a fit at the check out
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line at wal-mart?
Learning about psychology can help
you gain…
– a better understanding
of your own behavior.
– knowledge about how
psychologists study
human and animal
behavior.
fotosearch.com
– practical applications
for enriching your life.
Example: The child throws a fit
every time he goes to Wal-Mart
and his mom says no by the
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candy aisle.
Psychology is
Empirical that means
information is obtained
through observation and
experimentation not
common sense or guessing.
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moisiadis.com
By accumulating knowledge we are able to predict what
people or animals will do or think in certain situations
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and predict future behaviors.
Scientist seek to influence behavior in
helpful ways.
knychfamily.blogspot.com
Chains like Wal-mart have done these scientific observations and
place candy as you check out because when your kid is screaming
sometimes it is easier to just buy the candy bar.
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Basic Science:
Research
Ex. Research on drug effects on the
brain.
There are two types of science
that influences psychology.
Applied Science:
putting that research to use for a
purpose Example: Using research
on how drugs effect the brain to
come up with a new antidepressant
to help people suffering from
depression.
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Last point:
Psychology is a behavioral
science. Psychologists rely on the scientific
method to obtain their data.
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Empirical Science
The scientific method is used to reduce
errors and biases.
A theory is a proposed explanation. In
Psychology we will be studying different
theories.
Hypothesis moved from an educated guess to
predication on how variables interact with
each other.
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Pseudoscience
Greek for “False Science” Examples: Horoscopes,
Astrology, Phrenology
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scienceandsociety.emory.edu
Chapter 1.2:
History of Psychology
Philosophers of Psychology
Aristotle (384-322 BCE.)
Started asking how the mind
and the body were related??
Were they separate or
related??
Are ideas inborn or is the
mind a blank slate filled by
experience?
en.wikipedia.org
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Rene Descartes “I think therefore I am”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaKLrqxC70c
plato.stanford.edu
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History: Locke had something of a love/hate relationship with the
views of Descartes. He was interested in Descartes’ views of the
physical world. At the same time, Locke disagreed with Descartes’
view on the soul and innate ideas. Innate: meaning born with it.
Being an empiricist, Locke did not believe that the mind contained
anything innate besides certain capacities for some mental
processes. The tabula rasa view that Locke subscribed to was actually
the creation of Aristotle.
Locke proposes that we are all born with certain
knowledge and principles that helps us to become part
of society. The theory known as Tabula Rasa meaning
white sheets helps explain development. He states that
it is through experience, of the world around us, this is
how one forms ideas.
Foundations of Modern Psychology
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Theory of natural selection (1859)
Darwin’s theory encouraged scientific
inquiry
Published “The origin of the species”
Darwin said that
people change their
behavior to adapt to
their environment.
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Gestalt Psychology
“The whole is different than
the sum of its parts.”
Max
Wertheimer
(1880-1943)
alexbinetti.wordpress.com
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This is bcuseae the huammn
mnid deos not raed ervey
lteter by istlef, but the word
as a wlohe. Amzanig, huh?
What is it?? We like to fill in the gaps so that we
see objects as wholes.
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4 Things you need to
remember about your
daddy:
1. Wilhelm Wundt opened the first
psychology laboratory in
Germany.
2. Changed psychology from a
philosophy to a science.
3. Studied introspection.
Introspection means looking
within yourself. How do you
feel about this or that. How
does that rose make you feel?
4. He is the father of psychology.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWv3tQUY-9k
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Edward B. Tichener and
Structuralism
Structuralists tried to understand the
STRUCTURE of conscious experience by
analyzing the intensity, clarity and quality of its
basic parts.
Example: Picture a blade of grass. A
structuralist might have lingered over the
intensity of the green color of the blade of
grass, the clarity of its texture, and the roughly
rectangular shape of the blade. Successful
descriptions of such basic elements were the
building blocks of consciousness.
Structuralism
Not many followers so it died out. It didn’t
prove to be very reliable. It did help out by
giving people the opportunity to disprove the
theory and come up with an alternative.
Structuralism vs.
Functionalism
Functionalism: Investigate the
function, or purpose
of consciousness rather than its
structure
William James
(1842-1910)
Example: James thought that we developed
useful habits, such as washing our hands
before eating because they help us function
more effectively in our daily lives.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTD3NxUyPvs
William James What
you have two daddies? Yes,
one is your American
Daddy. Followed the
structuralist approach.
Known as the Father of
American Psychology. You
also need to know he wrote
the 1st Psychology Book.
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sparkmuseum.com
Phrenology
led scientists to study
the bumps on the head
to determine human
behavior Phrenology
is considered a
pseudoscience (False
Science)
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Psychology in the 20th Century
Contemporary Approaches: Okay Psychology
is going to go through a transition. It actually goes through
several transitions to brace for the ride. Tardis 
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Psychoanalytic Psychology
Study of unconscious motives and conflicts that
determine behavior.
Unconscious are motives that you are not aware of.
For instance if someone with brown hair rejects you,
then you might not talk to people with that color hair.
Conscious are motives that you are aware of.
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Psychoanalytic Psychology
Psychoanalysis: a theory of personality that attributes
our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and
conflict.
Freud used the technique called free association He
would say a word and you would say the first word that
popped in your head and he would then analysis what
is going on in your unconscious.
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Sigmund Freud:
Father of Psychoanalysis NOT psychology!!!!
Unconscious expressed in
dreams & “slips of the tongue”
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Cognitive Approach
Cognition is the mental processes
involved in acquiring, processing,
storing & using information
Cognitive Psychologists return
to the study of learning,
memory, perception, language,
development & problem
solving Example: Is your boyfriend
child-development-guide.com
sciencedaily.com
dumping you traumatic or do you just think it is
therefore you are depressed? Or..your ability to
do math compared to a 5 year old. You can
understand abstract thinking that goes along
with statistics.
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Cognitive Approach
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JEAN PIAGET
1896 – 1980
Worked in France
administering Binet’s IQ
test.
Children do not think like
adults. Why?
Created 4 stages of
cognitive ability that
accurately explain the
behavior of children.
Influenced teachers and
school system.
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Biological Approach
Biological Approach:
How the body and brain create
emotions, memories,
and sensory experiences.
Sample Issues
• Depression and antidepressants. Problems with
thyroids.
• How are messages transmitted within the body?
• How is blood chemistry linked with moods and
motives?
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Behavioral Approach
Scientific Psychology
should focus on
observable behavior.
John Watson
(1878-1958)
B.F. Skinner
If you do a trick I will
give you a treat.
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Ivan Pavlov
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DR. IVAN PAVLOV
(1849-1936)
Begins the school of
Behaviorism through his
work with dogs and
digestion.
All behavior is the result
of external stimuli. Free
will and decision making
is ignored.
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B. F. SKINNER
1904 – 1990
Operant ConditioningOrganisms learn behavior
through the consequences of
that behavior.
Reinforcement vs.
Punishment
Shaping-learning complex
behaviors through learning
small steps of that behavior.
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Social-Cultural Approach
Focus
How behavior and thinking vary
across situations
and cultures.
Sample Issues
• How are we, as members of different races and
nationalities, 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 than
when alone?
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Humanistic Approach -Positive
Psychology
You have the
potential to be great.
Self Actualization.
Feel Good approach.
Client Centered
Therapy
Hierarchy of needs.
Carl Rogers believed in “client centered therapy”
Abraham Maslow came up with the Hierarchy of needs
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Stanley Hall: Became the first President of the
American Psychological Association (APA) in
1892.
Mary Calkins: 1st Woman president of APA
Kenneth Clark and Mamie Clark: Researchers
who work was used in the Brown vs. Board of
Education case that overturned segregation in
schools.
Frantz Fanon: Fanon has had an influence on
anti-colonial movement in Africa.
Fields of Psychology
Psychologist is someone who is
trained to observe and influence
behavior in people.
Psychiatrist is a medical doctor
that can prescribe medicine.
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Work In Psychology (?)
Elementary/
Secondary
Schools
4.2%
Independent
Practice
33.1% Business,
Hospitals,
Counseling,
Government or
Clinics, etc.
Consulting
22.3%
12.1%
Universities &
Colleges
27.2%
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