Psychology
Chapter 1: Approaches to Psychology
Lesson 1: Field of Psychology
Lesson 2: Brief History of Psychology
Lesson 3: Professions in Psychology
Daily Spark
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Briefly flip through your text book. Which chapter looks the most
interesting to you? Why?
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Write down one thing about yourself that would help me best
teach you.
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Record Name, Date, and NEW condition in front cover in PENCIL
(i.e. What helps you learn. You have a job that requires late hours.
You get easily distracted for some reason.) Hopefully you get the
gist!
Write one goal you hope to accomplish in this class.
Syllabus Overview
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\\dogpound\mobileteacherdata\DavisE\Davis Class
Documents\Psychology\Psychology Syllabus.docx
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Develop Classroom Goals
Think, Pair, Share
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1 min with each partner – switch
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What sounds the most boring? Most fun?
What is psychology?
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Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
 Behavior
 Covers
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is both physiological and cognitive
everything people think, feel, and do
Psychologists differ on importance placed types of behavior
 ALL
agree approach to study must be systematic
 Without
incorrect
systematic approach, conclusions drawn may be
Daily Spark 8/25/15
 What
is one benefit of studying psychology?
 Define
 Do
Psychology using your own words.
you believe psychological studies have a true
impact on society or do you think they are just
fluff? WHY?
Why Should Psychology be Studied?
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Psychologist try to describe, explain, predict, and influence behavior
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What benefits does this have on society?
Psychology can help to develop principles and theories about behavior
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Facts are not just enough, in order to develop, a thorough study must be
conducted
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Every theory begins with a hypothesis
Psychologists want to explain why organisms do what they do

Some psychologists use psychology to do research (basic science), other apply
principles to solve problems that occur (applied science)
Is Psychology Really a Science?
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Psychology is based in empirical studies, observation and
experiment
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Social sciences especially use empirical data to explain human behavior
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Scientific Method is employed in order to conduct experiments & studies
Wilhelm Wundt was 1st to establish Psychology as science in
1879
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Created “Introspection” to study self; participants documented thoughts
and ideas, but used SCIENTIFIC METHOD
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Use of objective measures of observation and analysis of data turned
Psychology into a true science
Why Should I Study Psychology?
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In this class, you will learn about social sciences and
natural sciences
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We will look into the social and biological factors that cause
behavior
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We will look into the different ways psychology has been studied
and how we can apply the knowledge gained to our own lives
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We will learn to think like scientists and write like historians
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We will learn to apply the scientific method in order to problem
solve
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We will develop hypotheses and create experiments
Scientific Method Activity
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Students assigned roles in the "method"
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Question posed
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Hypothesis created
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Experiment completed
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Results analyzed
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Conclusion made
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Theory developed
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As process continues, "floaters" will challenge ideas and send the
challenges back to the hypothesis in order to show how the "method" is
continuous throughout the process, even after the "Theory" is
established.
Ticket Out
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In two to three sentences, describe why you want to study
psychology.
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Homework
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Read Chapter 1, Lesson 1
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Define:
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Psychology, Hypothesis, Theory, Cognitive, Physiological
Answer question 3 in the Lesson 1 review with a 5 sentence
(minimum) paragraph.
Historical Approaches
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Ancient Greeks - Behavior by minds not gods
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5th and 6th Centuries
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Began to realize that people were rational and controlled by their minds
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Began to observe the world and describe it through human perceptions
Renaissance - Descartes - Mind and boy act together
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Proposed the link between the body and the mind; mind controlled body
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Assumed that mind and body influenced each other to create person’s
experience
Phrenology - Study of bumps on skull
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Practice in US in mid 1800s
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Is a Pseudoscience
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Credited for encouraging study of role of brain in human behavior
Historical Approaches Con’t
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Functionalism - William James
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1st class of Psych taught at Harvard in 1875
 The
Principles of Psychology – 1st textbook of
psychology
 Thinking,
feeling, learning and remembering all used to
help us survive
 Functionalists
environments
studied how animals and people adapt to
Historical Approaches Con’t
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Inheritable Traits - Sir Francis Galton - Identified in late 1800s
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Wanted to understand how heredity passed from parent to child
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Traced famous ancestors of well-known people – concluded genius was
hereditary
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Others later disputed theory, stating that heredity and environment influence
intelligence
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Creation of personality and intelligence assessments
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Studies raised the question of whether heredity or environment determines
behavior
Gestalt - German psychologists
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Perception is a whole pattern, not just different parts acting separately

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Not just behavior or cognitive functions, but everything as a WHOLE
Studied how sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences
Cooperative Learning
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Hand up, Pair up - Rally Table
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Student A answer question A
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Student B answers question B
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Students record answers until time is out
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Students discuss answers for disagreements
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Questions
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Use one word to describe Phrenology
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Use one word to describe Galton's ideas
Daily Spark
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Who is consider the founder of psychology as a science?
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Wilhelm Wundt
Who taught the first class in psychology? What was the
name of the book he wrote?
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8/26/15
William James
Describe what functionalists study. Do you think this is the
best approach to psychology? Why?
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How animals and people adapt to their environments
Psychoanalytic Approach
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Sigmund Freud – Vienna – Practiced until 1938
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Developed psychoanalysis
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Focused on the unconscious mind – what goes on beneath the surface
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Primitive influences in conflict with rules of society
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Very dark and must be kept hidden from society – usually sexual or aggressive in nature
Preconscious Mind – Just below the surface, can be recalled quickly, but not
thought about regularly
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Example: Telephone Number
Conscious Mind – What we are thinking about right now
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Barely scratches the surface of the human psyche
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Id – All Primitive
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Ego – Part of primitive behaviors that has been modified by the external world
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Superego – Values and morals of society – can punish Id through feelings of guilt
McLeod, S. (2008). Id, Ego, Superego. Retrieved from Simply Psychology: http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
Freud’s Iceberg
Behaviorists
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Ivan Pavlov – Russian – 1849-1936
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Studied observable behavior
John Watson – 1878-1958
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Formulated Behaviorists position
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Stated that psychology should only be concerned with observable facts of behavior
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Anything else is not objective
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All behavior is result of conditioning (training) and occurs because stimulus in environment
B.F. Skinner – (1904-1990)
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Popularized concept of changing behavior through rewards or punishments
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Described “Utopia” in Walden Two (1938) – Small perfect town created through conditioning
Behaviorism – belief that all behaviors are a result of conditioning
 Pavlov's
Dogs
Humanists & Cognitivists
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Humanist developed as reaction to behavioral psychology – 1960s
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Maslow, Rogers, May describe human nature as evolving and self directed
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Environment and outside forces background for internal growth
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Each person is UNIQUE
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Potential to develop fully
Cognitive focuses on how we process & store information – 1950s
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Piaget, Chomsky, Festinger
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How does information we store and use influence thinking, language,
problem-solving & creativity
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Behavior is more than response to a stimulus
Psychobiologists & Sociocultural Psychobiologists
Psychobiologists
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Also known as: Behavioral Neuroscience
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Study of how the brain, nervous system, and genetics influence behavior
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Found that genetic factors influence a lot of behavior
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Discovered link between chemicals in the brain and behavior
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Autistic children share genetic defect that causes irregularity in chemical serotonin
Sociocultural Psychobiologists
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Newest approach to psychology- Leonard Doob
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Study of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences in behavior
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Concerned with how our ways of thinking and acting are influenced by our culture
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Study methods to reduce intolerance and discrimination
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Concerned with ethnicity, race, gender, socioeconomic status
Class Discussion/Debate
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Which approach is the most correct in studying psychology?
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What is the lens in which you view the world?
RULES
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THERE ARE NO WRONG ANSWERS IN THIS DISCUSSION.
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Everyone’s opinions will have the chance to be shared.
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If an argument occurs, we will shift gears within the discussion.
Daily Spark
8.27.15
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List the 6 contemporary approaches to psychology.
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Which approach do you most align with in how you think psychology should be
studied and why? (You can explain why you think more than one approach should
be used)

Retrieve a laptop out of the cart. Log on and open
www.connected.mcgraw-hill.com
username: mu, first letter of 1st name, last name
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i.e: muedavis
passsword: last name, class period
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i.e: davis6
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(If last name is 4 letters, 1st initial, last name, class period)
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(If last name is 4 letters, 1st name, last name, class period)