Warm Up
1.
2.
3.
Find 2 people to work with
Get out homework (vocab terms)
Pick up a Popsicle stick off of my desk,
neatly write your full name on it , and
put it in the cup on my desk.
Welcome to AP
Psychology
Let the fun begin 
Prologue

What makes something scientific?
Describe how the field of psychology
evolved from a non science to a science.
Use as many vocab terms and people as
possible.
OLD BIG issues
1. Mind vs. Body
 2. Acquisition of knowledge ( nature or
nurture)

New Issues
1. Nature v Nurture
 2. Stability v. change

1st 2 Schools of Psychology

Structuralism v. Functionalism

In YOUR own words explain the
differences between functionalism and
structuralism
New Schools of Psychology
8 Psychological Perspectives
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Evolutionary
Behavior genetics
Behavioral
Cognitive
Psychodynamic/ Psychoanalytic
Biological/neuroscience
Sociocultural
Humanistic
What to Focus on
What each perspective believes causes
abnormal behavior
 Possible treatments of each perspective
 Scientists
 What does each perspective focus on
 Read, Discuss and then write


What do psychologists study? What is the
main difference between a psychologist
and a psychiatrist?

What is the difference between basic and
applied research? How might a
psychologist use each type of research?
Introductory UnitHistory and Approaches
What’s Psychology?
Psychology - The science/study of
behavioral and mental processes.
 Psychology developed from biology
and philosophy. Today, psychology
aims to describe and explain how we
think, feel, and act using the
scientific method.

Prescientific Psychology
 Socrates
and Plato- viewed the
mind as separable from body and
continuing after death
 Inborn
knowledge
 Relied on logic, not observation

Aristotlerelied
on careful observations
 mind and body not separable
knowledge not preexisting
Prescientific
Psychology
 AugustineMind
and body are connected
 Rene Decartes-(1595-1650) Mind
and body influence each other (dualism).
Born
with innate knowledge
 John LockeMind
The
is a blank slate
mind acts on only what comes in
through the senses
Empiricism- knowledge originates in
experience and that science should,
therefore, rely on observation and
experimentation
Psychological Science is Born
 First
2 schools of thought were
Structuralism and Functionalism
Structuralism
 1st
Structuralism- William Wundt Wanted to engage people in
introspection (looking inward)
What
do you feel, how do you feel?,
what images are you seeing?
 Wanted
to discover the elements of the
mind
 Required verbal, smart people
 At times unreliable
 Did not focus on why we feel or see
these things
Functionalism
 2nd- Functionalism- William
James
Interested
in the purpose of
behavioral actions
The function of mental operations in
adapting to the environment
Memories, willpower, habits……
Philosophy of Pragmatism
Basis of Behavioralism
7 Current approaches ( subfields)
of Psychology

1.
The Behaviorist Approach-
 Emphasizes
the effect of the
environment on shaping behavior
 Does not deny the role of heredity. (but
can’t do anything about it, we can alter
the envir.)
 Emphasizes learning(rewards and
punishments)
 Give me an example of what they might
study
7 Current approaches of
Psychology
 2. The Biological Approach seeks
to understand behaviors by
studying underlying neurological,
biochemical and neuromuscular
causes.
 Looks at the effect of brain damage,
injecting hormones….. on behaviors
 Give me an example of what they
might study
7 Current approaches of
Psychology
 3.
The Cognitive Approach Focus on how we encode, process,
store and retrieve information
 Focus on the mental processes
that intervene between stimulus
inputs and response outputs
 Give me an example of what they
might study
7 Current approaches of
Psychology
 4. Psychoanalytic ApproachFreud
 Views
our unconscious as our
primary determinant of behavior
 our actions and thoughts are
caused by suppressed instincts
 Give me an example of what they
might study
7 Current approaches of
Psychology
 5. Humanistic Approach Human
behavior is the result of
free will
 Humans have a basic goodness
and an innate motivation to achieve
their full potential
 Give me an example of what they
might study
7 Current approaches of
Psychology
 6.
Sociocultural-
 Look
at how behaviors and thinking
vary across situations and cultures
 Look at how different cultures
effect behaviors and thinking
 Give me an example of what they
might study
7 Current approaches of
Psychology
 7. Evolutionary/ sociobiological Darwin’s
Theory of Natural Selection
and explain behavior patterns as
adaptations naturally selected, because
they increase reproductive success
 Give me an example of what they
might study
Major Issues

Nature/Nurture
 Biology
V. Environment
Stability Vs. Change
 Rationality Vs. Irrationality

Psychology Subfields
Basic research-builds the psychologist’s
knowledge base
 Applied research- practical problems
 Clinical psychologist – study and treat
people. Give and analyze tests,conduct
research
 Psychiatrists- often provide
psychotherapy, medical doctor that can
prescribe drugs
 Organizational/industrial Psychologist
8 Psychological Perspectives
 Evolutionary
 Behavior
genetics
 Behavioral
 Cognitive
 Psychodynamic/ Psychoanalytic
 Biological/neuroscience
 Sociocultural
Humanistic
What to Focus on
What each perspective believes causes
abnormal behavior
 Possible treatments from each perspective
 Important psychologists
 What does each perspective focus on
 Read, Discuss and then write
 Nature/nurture????
