An Introduction to Psychology
 One Definition for Psychology
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The science of human behavior (what we do) and the mental
and physical processes that underlie behavior (sensations,
perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc.,)
Key Figures and Ideas in Early Modern Psychology
 Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism
 Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Liepzig (c. 1879).
The Structuralist perspective which he introduced used introspection (looking in) to explore
the elemental structure of the human mind.
 Structuralism used introspection - American Edward Titchener
 Functionalism and William James Principles of Psychology (1890)
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Functionalism focused on how behavioral processes function- how they enable organism to adapt,
survive, and flourish. William James taught the first class in psychology at Harvard University
(1875). James also wrote Principles of Psychology (1890).
 G. Stanley Hall founds APA in 1892 (1st US lab)
 Mary Whiton Calkins paired associates techniques, first female president of APA
(1905).
 Margaret Floy Washburn Ph.D (1908).
 Edward Thorndike animal learning experiments (1898)
More Key Figures and Ideas in Early Modern
Psychology
 Francis Galton studied how heredity influences a
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person’s abilities, character, and behavior (1870s).
Hermann Ebbinghaus memory research (1885).
Alfred Binet and Intelligence testing (1905).
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Classical conditioning
experiments (1906).
John B. Watson “Father of Behaviorism” (1913)
Austrian physician Sigmund Freud (1900) Personality,
psychoanalysis and dream theory
Gestalt theorists emphasis on meaningful wholes and
perception. Max Wertheimer, Koffka and Kohler.
Practice
1. Conducted the first experiments on animal learning
2. Established the first psychology lab in America (at Johns
Hopkins)
3. Established the first psychology laboratory
4. Published Principles of Psychology, the first widely used
psychology textbook
5. Was the first female president of the American Psychological
Association (APA)
6. Completed early research in the area of memory
More Practice
7. Emphasized the role of the unconscious
8. Pioneered experiments in the area of classical conditioning
9. Is widely considered the “father” of Behaviorism
10. Was the first woman to receive a PhD in psychology
11. His early readiness test for French children led to the
development of the field of psychometrics
12. Founder of the Gestalt movement
Contemporary Psychological Perspectives
 Perspectives and Early Proponents
Behaviorism/Social Learning (early proponents
Watson/Skinner/Bandura)
 Psychodynamic (Freud/Jung/Adler)
 Humanistic (Maslow/Rogers)
 Cognitive (Piaget/Vygotsky)
 Biological
 Neuroscientific
 Behavior Genetics
 Evolutionary
 Social-cultural
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What the textbook says…
 Perspectives and Early Proponents
Behaviorism/Social Learning (early proponents
Watson/Skinner/Bandura)
 Psychodynamic (Freud/Jung/Adler)
 Humanistic (Maslow/Rogers)
 Cognitive (Piaget)
 Biological
 Neuroscientific
 Behavior Genetics
 Evolutionary
 Social-cultural
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Behaviorism/ Social Learning
 Learning based upon the idea that all behaviors are
acquired through conditioning.
 Conditioning occurs through interaction with the
environment. Behaviorists believe that our responses to
environmental stimuli shapes our behaviors.
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Classical – a technique used in behavioral training in which a
naturally occurring stimulus is paired with a response.
Operant - a method of learning that occurs through rewards
and punishments for behavior.
 Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified
world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at
random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man
and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities,
vocations, and race of his ancestors.
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John Watson (1930)
Psychodynamics
 Includes all the theories
in psychology that see
human functioning based
upon the interaction of
drives and forces within
the person, particularly
unconscious, and
between the different
structures of the
personality.
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Our behavior and feelings are powerfully affected by unconscious motives.
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Our behavior and feelings as adults (including psychological problems) are rooted in our
childhood experiences.
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All behavior has a cause (usually unconscious), even slips of the tongue. Therefore all behavior
is determined.
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Personality is made up of three parts (i.e. tripartite). The id, ego and super-ego.
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Behavior is motivated by two instinctual drives: Eros (the sex drive & life instinct) and Thanatos
(the aggressive drive & death instinct). Both these drives come from the “id”.
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Parts of the unconscious mind (the id and superego) are in constant conflict with the conscious
part of the mind (the ego).
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Personality is shaped as the drives are modified by different conflicts at different times in
childhood (during psychosexual development).
Humanistic
 Developed as a rebellion against what some psychologists
saw as limitations of the behaviorist and psychodynamic
psychology.
 The humanistic approach is thus often called the “third
force” in psychology after psychoanalysis and
behaviorism.
 Emphasizes the personal worth of the individual, the
centrality of human values, and the creative, active
nature of human beings.
 The approach is optimistic and focuses on noble human
capacity to overcome hardship, pain and despair.
Cognitive
 A nomothetic approach
to discover human
cognitive processes, but
have also adopted
idiographic techniques
through using case
studies.
 Internal processes
including perception,
attention, language,
memory and thinking.
Biological
 A way of looking at psychological topics by studying the physical basis
for animal and human behavior; studying the immune system, nervous
system and genetics.
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Neuroscience: to look for the causes of abnormal behavior primarily inside the
individual.
Behavior genetics: examines the role of genetics in animal (including human)
behavior.
Evolutionary: the study of how evolution explains physiological processes;
evolution, including natural selection, and apply them to psychological phenomena.
Social-Cultural/Cross-cultural
 Belief that one’s mind is shaped by
the environment that they are
raised in.
 Sociocultural theory grew from the
work of psychologist Lev
Vygotsky, who believed that
parents, caregivers, peers and the
culture at large were responsible
for the development of higher
order functions.
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Ex. In India between the ages of 6-14 a
child is already working and making a
living while in America your lucky if
kids start working at 16. The example
shows that two different cultures create
two different types of people.
Contemporary Major Fields
 Basic/Pure Research vs. Applied Research
 Clinical/Counseling
 School and Educational
 Industrial/Organizational
 Developmental
 Personality
 Social
School/Educational Psychology
 Diagnosis and treatment of children's and adolescents' behavioral and
learning problems.
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Crisis intervention
Assessments
 Educational Psychology - the study of how people learn, including
topics such as student outcomes, the instructional process, individual
differences in learning, gifted learners and learning disabilities.
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
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Focuses on increasing workplace productivity and related issues
such as the physical and mental well being of employees.
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Industrial organizational psychologists perform a wide variety
of tasks, including studying worker attitudes and behavior,
evaluating companies, and conducting leadership training.
Consumer Psychology
 The use of psychology to influence consumer behavior.
 Specific techniques include test marketing (olestra), market
niche, brand loyalty, packaging and aisle layout, product
placement, sex sells and various propaganda techniques, e.g.
bandwagon, testimonial and plain folks.
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Absolut Vodka and distinguishing the indistinguishable
Wow! Chips, Olestra and “loose stools”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa3t_OpW35E
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uFCghpKsVc
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtuGXO6d4l8
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Consumer Psychology
Slightly better than “anal leakage” (proposed
originally by the FDA)
Environmental Psychology
 Environmental psychology explores how physical spaces
influence the way we feel, think, and interact with the world and
vice versa.
 Specialists in the field investigate everything from architecture to
wildlife conservation, climate change and outdoor recreation in
an effort to better understand how both natural and built
environments influence human behavior.
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SAD and natural light studies
Personal space (proxemics)
Noise: Stress and neurological effects
Odors and behavior
Other Subfields in Psychology
 Forensic Psychology
 Sports/Performance Psychology
 Community Psychology
 EcoPsychology
 Positive Psychology
 Peace Psychology
 http://www.apa.org/about/division.html?imw=Y
Positive Psychology
 Study of the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and
communities to thrive.
 The field is founded on the belief that people want to lead
meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within
themselves, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and
play.
 Martin Seligman (Director of the Positive Psychology @ University of
Pennsylvania.