Why Study Psychology?
Definition of Psychology: The scientific study of
human behavior and mental processes.
Behavior- Any action that people can observe
or measure.
Cognitive Activities- Mental processes that
involve activities such as dreaming, perceiving,
thoughts/ideas/opinions and remembering.
Describe a MENTAL PROCESS that you’ve recently went through
in making a recent decision
The Goals of Psychology- Scientists seek to
observe, describe, explain, predict and control
the events they study. This process enables
psychologists to explain, predict and help clients
control their behavior.
Name two ways that BEHAVIOR can
be controlled once diagnosed
Explaining Behavior- Why do people do
the things they do?
Predicting and Controlling- How can we
predict when behaviors will occur and how
can we control the negative aspects of
certain behaviors?
Describe a successful PREDICTION that you or someone you know
has made recently
Quick Lab…
PROCEDURE
1. Identify an activity that you enjoy doing. You might
name a school activity, a hobby, or a sport you play.
Be classroom appropriate!
2. On a piece of notebook paper, write two reasons
explaining why you enjoy the activity…
3. Write two aspects of your performance for your
activity that you’d like to change
ANALYSIS
1. Get together with a partner and share your notes.
2. Take turns explaining the behavior that you would like to
change.
3. Take turns describing how you feel when the behavior
occurs.
4. List the suggestions that you and your partner come up
with to change or control your behavior. Come up with
at least two suggestions.
Additional Labels:
Cerebrum
Corpus Callosum
Thalamus/Hypothalamus
Optic Chasm
Pituitary Gland
Midbrain
Panetal-Occipital sulcus
Central sulcus
Major Fields in Psychology- Those who are drawn to
psychology as a career are interested in cognitive or
“thought” processes and the behaviors that result from
them.
• Clinical Psychology- The largest and most common
group of psychologists. They work with people
dealing with psychological conditions and disorders.
Most clinical work involves one-on-one or group
situations.
The biggest part of CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY is known as…
• Psychiatrist- A psychologist who is also a medical
doctor (MD). Psychiatrists can prescribe medicine to
help psychological conditions as well as provide
counseling and analysis.
When might a PSYCHIATRIST be brought in on a particular case?
Major Fields in PsychologyCounseling
Experimental
School
Industrial/Organizational
Educational
Human Factor
Developmental Community
Describe 1 field from the list
that appeals to you the most,
Personality
Forensic
and give a reason why.
Social
Health
Rehabilitation
Cross-Cultural
Rorschach Ink-blot Test
There are many methods for analyzing one’s attitude towards
life. The Rorschach Test utilizes abstract “ink blots” that
patients are asked to analyze by telling a story or explaining
what the ink blot represents. There is no one true meaning
for the blots… consideration will be paid to whether the blot
is represented in a positive/negative light, violent or submissive,
beautiful or ugly, etc.
Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis
Psychology: The Study of the Mind
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): The most well-known name in the field of psychology. Born
to Jewish parents in the Czech Republic. Developed a type of psychology known
as psychoanalysis. The first therapist to have people lie down on a couch and talk
About their problems.
Which field of Psychology involves “lying down and talking”?
Conscious Mind- The things we are aware of
when we are actively thinking about something.
Describe a plan OR something you thought about recently using your conscious mind.
Unconscious Mind- Things that we are not
purposely thinking about, as in dreaming. Freud
said that dreams provided clues about what is
going on in our unconscious mind.
Freudian Slips- Have you ever had an
experience where something slipped off your
tongue by accident? These are called Freudian
Slips because Freud felt that they came from the
unconscious mind… so…
Are there really any accidental or unrelated
“slips” in life, or is everything relative?
Behaviorist Perspective
Behaviorism is different from most other approaches because
they view people (and animals) as controlled by their
environment and specifically that we are the result of what we
have learned from our environment. Behaviorism is concerned
with how environmental factors (called stimuli) affect observable
behavior (called the response).
Psychodynamic Perspective
Freud, the founder of Psychoanalysis, explained the human mind as
like an iceberg, with only a small amount of it being visible, that is
our observable behavior, but it is the unconscious, submerged mind
that has the most, underlying influence on our behavior. Freud
used three main methods of accessing the unconscious mind: free
association, dream analysis and slips of the tongue.
He believed that the unconscious mind consisted of three
components: the 'id' the 'ego' and the 'superego. The 'id' and the
'superego' are constantly in conflict with each other, and the 'ego'
tries to resolve the discord. If this conflict is not resolved, we tend
to use defense mechanisms to reduce our anxieties. Psychoanalysis
attempts to help patients resolve their inner conflicts.
Humanistic Perspective
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that
emphasizes the study of the whole person (know as
holistic). Humanistic psychologists look at human behavior not
only through the eyes of the observer, but through the eyes of
the person doing the behaving.
Humanistic psychologists believe that an individual's behavior is
connected to his inner feelings and self-image. The humanistic
perspective centers on the view that each person is unique and
individual and has the free will to change at any time in his or
her lives.
Cognitive Perspective
Cognitive Psychology revolves around the notion that if we want to
know what makes people tick then the way to do it is to figure out
what processes are actually going on in their minds. In other words,
psychologists from this perspective study cognition which is ‘the
mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired.’
The cognitive perspective is concerned with “mental” functions such
as memory, perception, attention etc. It views people as being
similar to computers in the way we process information (e.g. inputprocess-output). For example, both human brains and computers
process information, store data and have input an output
procedures.
Biological Perspective
The biological approach believes that most behavior is inherited and has
an adaptive (or evolutionary) function. For example, in the weeks
immediately after the birth of a child, levels of testosterone in fathers drop
by more than 30 per cent. This has an evolutionary function. Testosteronedeprived men are less likely to wander off in search of new mates to
inseminate. They are also less aggressive, which is useful when there is a
baby around.
Biological psychologists explain behaviors in neurological terms, i.e. the
physiology and structure of the brain and how this influences
behavior. Many biological psychologists have concentrated on abnormal
behavior and have tried to explain it. For example biological psychologists
believe that schizophrenia is affected by levels of dopamine (a
neurotransmitter).