Chapter 1:
Psychology is the
Study of Human
Behavior
1.2 Why should you study Psychology
1.3 How can psychology help you achieve self-actualization?
1.4 How do psychologists learn about human behavior?
1.5 What are the basic areas of study in psychology?
What is Psychology?

Psychology comes from the
Greek word Psyche meaning
“soul” and logos which has come
to mean “logics or science.”

If you put it together, it means
the science of the soul.

Now today, it’s modern definition
is the study of human behavior.
How do Psychologists collect
data about human behavior?

Psychologists use the
scientific method to collect
data about behavior.

Using the insights gained
through observation, and
experiment, they attempt
to answer some of life’s
most important questions.
Questions often asked:

Why do people act the way they do?

Can behavior be predicted or changed?

Can people’s lives be made happier or
more productive?

What can be done to help people who
have lost touch with reality?
Questions often asked:

If human beings were simple
creates like dogs or horses, the
answers to these questions
would be relatively easy. But
our lives are not controlled by
the same instincts and drives
that dominate other forms of
animal life.
Questions often asked:

Human beings are
uniquely gifted with
the power of reason
and language and
the ability to create
a complex culture.
Your assignment is to Observe and write
down the answers: (please do not list the
person’s name)
Person #1
Person #2
Person #3
Why does person #1 act the way
they do?
Why does person #2 act the way
they do?
Why does person #3 act the way
they do?
Can this person’s behavior be
predicted or changed? How?
Can this person’s behavior be
predicted or changed? How?
Can this person’s behavior be
predicted or changed? How?
Can this person’s life be made
happier or more productive? How?
Can this person’s life be made
happier or more productive? How?
Can this person’s life be made
happier or more productive? How?
What can be done to help people
who have lost touch with reality?
What can be done to help people
who have lost touch with reality?
What can be done to help people
who have lost touch with reality?
PERSON #1
PERSON #2
PERSON #3
Why does person #1 act the way
they do?
Why does person #21 act the way
they do?
Why does person #3 act the way
they do?
Can this person’s behavior be
predicted or changed? How?
Can this person’s behavior be
predicted or changed? How?
Can this person’s behavior be
predicted or changed? How?
Can this person’s life be made
happier or more productive? How?
Can this person’s life be made
happier or more productive? How?
Can this person’s life be made
happier or more productive? How?
What can be done to help people
who have lost touch with reality?
What can be done to help people
who have lost touch with reality?
What can be done to help people
who have lost touch with reality?
Psychology a Young Science

In the beginning,
no one thought too
much about why
people act the way
they do.
Psychology a Young Science

Scene 1: A Cave, 500,000
BC
OLBA: Why is Rad sitting there
in the corner all by himself?
It’s nicer here by the fire with
the others.
KRIK: I don’t know. Forget
him. I’m ready to eat.
Psychology a Young Science
Psychology a Young Science
Psychology a Young Science
Scene 2: Greece, Fourth Century B.C.
Phipias: Plato, you’re a philosopher. Do you
think there’s a connection between the mind
and body?
Plator: Whenever the soul within it is stronger
than the body and is in a very passionate
state, it shakes up the whole body from
within and fills it with maladies.
Psychology a Young Science

Insights such as Plato’s
helped teach humanity that
the mind can affect the
behavior of the body. But
until a little over a hundred
years ago, psychology could
not be called an organized
science.
Psychology a Young Science

A 19th century French American
doctor, Edouard Seguin, set the
stage when he wrote, “I look
upon psychology as …a
science of observation , where
things are to be observed and put
in their places, and nothing is to
be created or imagined.”
Psychology a Young Science

In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt, a
German professor, established
the first psychological laboratory
at the University of Leipzig.
Wundt believed that he could
discover the nature of the
mind by studying behavior
“from the inside.”
Psychology a Young Science
Scene 3: Leipzig, 1879
Wundt: Tell me again, Herr Professor, exactly what I
should do.
Wundt: I call my method of self observation
introspection. While you take part of my
experiments, you must keep careful records of your
feelings, thoughts emotions,- everything that
happens inside you. From these reports, we will
learn about the structure of the mind and the
nature of consciousness. We’ll see how simple
mental states are built up into complex experiences
such as memory, creativity, and learning.
Psychology a Young Science
Wundt’s methods put psychology on a
firm footing as a science but gained
little support in the United States.
Americans were more interested in
behavior that could be observed than
in what the introspectionists claimed
to feel. Philosophers such as William
James an John Dewey studied the way
individuals adjust to their
environment. They emphasized the
importance of experience and learning.
Psychology a Young Science
Their followers made studies of
mental illness, animal behavior,
normal and mentally challenged
children, and ways of measuring
intelligence.
Psychology a Young Science
So complex is human behavior,
however, that other schools of
psychology also developed.
At the beginning of the 20th
century, Sigmund Freud developed
his theory of psychoanalysis, a
method of analyzing and treating
mental disorders.
Psychology a Young Science
Inspired by Freud’s work,
psychologists began to study
the role of the unconscious in
influencing our behavior.
Psychology a Young Science

Scene 4: Vienna, 1900
Patient: But doctor Freud, what
does my relationship with my
father have to do with my
problem?
Freud: Ah, everything! You must
realize the experiences of
childhood, buried deep within
your unconscious, still influences
you. The child is father to the
man.
Psychology a Young Science

Many psychologists weren’t satisfied with Freud’s emphasis on the
role of the unconscious. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist
who won the Noble Prize in 1904 for his work on the digestive
process, helped prepare the way for a new explanation of
behavior.
Psychology a Young Science
Pavlov discovered that
dogs could be
conditioned (trained)
to salivate when they
heard a musical tone.
Normally, saliva is
produced only when the
animals, see, smell or
taste food.
Psychology a Young Science
Pavlov conditioned this
automatic response by
sounding the tone each
time he fed the dogs a
special meat powder.
He repeated the process
six to eight times. After
that, the dogs salivated
freely whenever they
heard the tone.
Video Example of Pavlov's Conditioning
Another Example of Classic Conditioning
Real Life Classical
Conditioning
Real Life Classical
Conditioning 2
Real Life Classical Conditioning 3
Classic Conditioning 4
Jim vs. Dwight and
the Altoid
Conditioning episode
The Office Example
Psychology a Young Science
This project will be
focusing on the
Pavlov’s general idea
of Classical
Conditioning.
See the following
slides for some ideas.
1.You
can only work
with one to two
classmates from
class or by yourself.
2.
You will create your own video recording
an actual concept of classic conditioning
OR create a fake version just to verify
that you understand the concept.
3. You must have the ability to record a video
but if you do not, you will have an
alternative instead.
4. There is no violence or bullying allowed in
these projects. Use your best judgment to
evaluate if it is acceptable or not. If you
are not sure, please ask me if you need
help.
Some Examples Include:
Teaching your dog to sit:
1.
Open up the drawer that the treat is in.
2.
The dog comes running.
3.
Pull the treat out.
4.
The dog automatically sits.
5.
When the dog sits, you then give him/her the treat.
http://www.eruptingmind.com/pavlov-classical-conditioning-theory/
Let’s go over the content again:

In psychology “learning”
is defined as a relatively
permanent change in, or
acquisition of, knowledge
or behavior.

The key term here is
“relatively”
because although we tend
to hold onto what we
learn, it can be changed a
later date.

For example, your friend
teaches you how to play
tennis, but later you get a
qualified instructor who
modifies and improves
your technique.
http://www.eruptingmind.com/pavlov-classical-conditioning-theory/
Let’s go over the content again:

What we learn can also be
forgotten over time, especially if
we do not regularly use the skills
or knowledge we have acquired.

For example, you may learn to
drive a car but if you don’t drive
for several years, you will most
likely forget what you had
previously learnt and so would
need to practice again.

In addition to this, in order for
us to learn something we first
need to experience it at the level
of sensation via our five senses.
As without our senses learning
would be virtually impossible.
http://www.eruptingmind.com/pavlov-classical-conditioning-theory/
Let’s go over the content again:
Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a term used to
describe learning which has been acquired
through experience.

One of the best known examples of
classical conditioning can be found with
the Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov and
his experiments on dogs.

In these experiments, Pavlov
trained his dogs to salivate when
they heard a bell ring. In order to
do this he first showed them food,
the sight of which caused them to
salivate.

Later Pavlov would ring a bell
every time he would bring the
food out, until eventually he could
get the dogs to salivate just by
ringing the bell and without giving
the dogs any food.

In this simple but ingenious
experiment, Pavlov showed how a
reflex (salivation, a natural bodily
response) could become
conditioned (modified) to an
external stimulus (the bell)
thereby creating a conditioned
reflex/response.
Components Involved
In Classical Conditioning

We can gain a better
understanding of classical
conditioning by looking at
the various components
involved in his experiment;
◦
◦
◦
◦
The
The
The
The
unconditioned stimulus.
conditioned stimulus.
unconditioned reflex.
conditioned reflex.

So let’s look at each of
these classical conditioning
components in more detail
now.

Note : In its strictest
definition classical
conditioning is described as
a previously neutral
stimulus which causes a
reflex (stimulus means
something which causes a
physical response).

An unconditioned stimulus is
anything which can evoke a
response without prior
learning or conditioning.

For example, when a dog eats
some food it causes his mouth
to salivate.

Therefore the food is an
unconditioned stimulus, because
it causes a reflex response
(salivation) automatically and
without the dog having to learn
how to salivate.

Unconditioned Stimulus – This
causes an automatic reflex
response.
The Unconditioned Stimulus (food)

The conditioned stimulus is
created by learning, and
therefore does not create a
response without prior
conditioning.

For example, when Pavlov rang
a bell and caused the dogs to
salivate, this was a conditioned
stimulus because the dogs learnt
to associate the bell with food.

If they had not learnt to
associate the bell with food, they
would not have salivated when
the bell was rung.

Conditioned Stimulus – You
need to learn first before it
creates a response. It is an
acquired power to change
something.
Conditioned Stimulus (bell)


An unconditioned
reflex is anything that
happens
automatically without
you having to think
about it, such as your
mouth salivating
when you eat.
Unconditioned Reflex
– Reflex that happens
automatically and
you didn’t have to
learn how to do it.
Unconditioned Reflex (salivation)
A conditioned reflex is a
reflex which you have
learnt to associate with
something.
 For example, the dogs
salivated when Pavlov
rang a bell, when
previously (without
conditioning) the bell
would not cause the
dogs to salivate.
 Conditioned Reflex – A
reflex that can be
evoked in response to a
conditioned stimulus (a
previously neutral
stimulus)

Conditioned Reflex (salivation in response to
bell)
Important Features Of Classical Conditioning

The word conditioning is used to mean a type of learning
that occurs without you having to think about it, almost
like an automatic type of learning. Although later on this
learning may be reinforced by reflecting upon that
experience.

For example, sometimes you will see a dog flinch when you
raise your hand. This flinching is a conditioned reflex, and
can be seen in dogs that have been mistreated by their
owners. The same can be found in women who are abused.

This later example shows that classical conditioning is not
solely confined to animals, as it can just as easily occur in
humans.

Finally, conditioned reflexes are involuntary, which means
they occur automatically and without you having to think
about it.
Summary
• Classical conditioning occurs when a previously neutral stimulus causes a reflex.
• Ivan Pavlov is most famous for his work on dogs and classical conditioning.
• The unconditioned stimulus causes an automatic reflex response without prior learning (e.g. food in
mouth causes salivation).
• The conditioned stimulus is created by learning, whereby a stimulus becomes associated with
something else (e.g. dog associates bell with food, and ringing bell causes dog to salivate).
• The unconditioned reflex is a reflex that happens automatically (e.g. salivation is an unconditioned
reflex, because it happens automatically when you put food in your mouth).
• The conditioned reflex is a learnt response pattern (e.g. dog salivating to sound of bell).
• Conditioning takes place automatically and without you having to think about it, and the conditioned
reflexes are involuntary.
Psychology a Young Science
John Watson, an American
Psychologist saw the value of
Pavlov’s work. Son after World
War I, Watson announced that
psychology should deal only with
behavior that can be observed and
measured. Watson was not
interest in Freud's studies of the
unconscious or in Wundt’s
introspection.
Psychology a Young Science
The only task of psychology,
Watson proclaimed, was to
“predict and control behavior”.
This approach is known as
behaviorism, now ranks as
one of modern psychology’s
most important concepts.
Psychology a Young Science
Since the 1960s, humanist
psychology has emerged as a
contrasting school of thought to
both psychoanalytic and
behaviorists theories. Humanist
psychologists, who emphasize
the study of having healthy,
productive emotions, believe
that people can take
responsibility for their own lives.
Psychology a Young Science
Carl Rogers, a leading American psychologist, summed
up the humanist philosophy when he said, “The aim
is ….to cope with the present problem and with
later problems in a better integrated fashion.”
Section Check up page 8
Section check up:
1.
Why has the study of human behavior
attracted so much attention over the
centuries?
2.
How does Sigmund Freud’s belief in the
power of the unconscious differ from
John Watson’s behaviorist ideas?
3.
What do the humanist psychologists see
as the goal of psychology?