Time . . .
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The basic timeline is a 4.5 billion year old Earth, with (very approximate) dates:
3.8 billion years of simple cells (prokaryotes),
3 billion years of photosynthesis,
2 billion years of complex cells (eukaryotes),
1 billion years of multicellular life,
600 million years of simple animals,
570 million years of arthropods (ancestors of insects, arachnids and crustaceans),
550 million years of complex animals,
500 million years of fish and proto-amphibians,
475 million years of land plants,
400 million years of insects and seeds,
360 million years of amphibians,
300 million years of reptiles,
200 million years of mammals,
150 million years of birds,
130 million years of flowers,
65 million years since the non-avian dinosaurs died out,
2.5 million years since the appearance of the genus Homo,
200,000 years since humans started looking like they do today,
25,000 years since Neanderthals died out.
. . .and Space
Introduction to
Psychological Science
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Definition of psychology
Themes of psychological science
Scientific foundations of psychology
How do we use psychological
science?
The growth of psychology
Definition of Psychology
 Psychological science is the study of mind, brain, and
behavior:
 Mind
Mental processes are hypothetical constructs.
They are not directly observable and they can only be inferred from
behavior.
 Brain
The physical brain enables the mind
New techniques for directly observing the working brain in action is helping
us to understand not only how the brain works, but how the mind works as
well.
 Behavior
The ability to predict an organism’s response to a particular stimulus is a
powerful piece of scientific knowledge.
It is not always necessary to understand the role the mind plays in the
production of that behavior.
What Are the Seven Themes
of Psychological Science?
Psychology Is an Empirical Science
Nature and Nurture Are Inextricably Entwined
The Brain and Mind Are Inseparable
A New Biological Revolution Is Energizing
Research
The Mind Is Adaptive
Psychological Science Crosses Levels of Analysis
We Often Are Unaware of the Multiple
Influences on How We Think, Feel, and Act
Themes of Psychology I:
Psychology is an empirical science
Tenacity – we have always known it to be this
way (e.g., women make bad soldiers)
Authority – we accept an idea as true when
parents, teachers, ministers, etc. tell us
Reason – logic (philosophy)
Common sense – our own experiences and
perceptions of the world
Science – systematic, objective,
replicable, public observation combined
with logical argument
Themes of Psychology II
 The influences of nature (biology) and nurture (environment)
are entwined.
 The brain and mind are inseparable.
Mind–body problem
Dualism - Descartes
Monism (reductionism) – Hobbes
 A New Biological Revolution
Brain chemistry
The brain works through the actions of chemicals known as
neurotransmitters, which communicate messages between nerve
cells.
Genetics
 Various techniques allow us to discover the link between genes and
behavior
Brain imaging
Themes of Psychology III
The mind is adaptive
The theory of evolution
Natural selection
• Individuals, whose inherited characteristics are adapted to their
environment, survive and reproduce while others die.
• As a result, aspects of our behavioral and mental lives must have
helped individuals survive and reproduce in the past
Evolutionary psychology – The application of the theory
of evolution to psychology.
• Solving adaptive problems
• Modern minds in stone age skulls
Cultures provide adaptive solutions
Themes of Psychology IV:
Levels of analysis
Themes of Psychology V:
Unconscious influences
We are often not aware of all the factors that
influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
The case for unconscious influence:
Priming effects
Participants read either neutral words, words related to rudeness, or
words related to patience (Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996).
Then participants were told to go down the hall to begin a second,
unrelated phase of the experiment.
When the participant got there, the experimenter was engaged in
conversation with a confederate for up to ten minutes.
67% of the participants who had read rude words interrupted the
experimenter, while only 16% of the participants who had read
patient words interrupted.
Moreover, none of the rude word participants stated that they had
interrupted because they had read rude words.
Origins of psychology
 Philosophy, physiology, and medicine were the
disciplines from which psychology sprung.
 Historically, psychological notions can be found not
only in the writings of modern Western culture, but
in the writings of ancient cultures, more modern
eastern cultures, and Muslim cultures.
 John Stuart Mill was the most prominent, early
British philosopher to advocate that psychology
should become an empirical science.
 Schools of thought.
Scientific foundations of psychology I:
The big three focus on
mental processes
Wilhelm Wundt
Established the first psychology laboratory, 1879
The structure of consciousness
Introspection
William James
Published Principles of Psychology, 1890
Functionalism
Sigmund Freud
Introduced psychoanalysis in The Interpretation of
Dreams, 1900
Emphasized the role of unconscious mental
processes
Scientific foundations II:
Behaviorism offered an alternative to the
study of mental processes
Behaviorism: psychology is the scientific study
of observable behavior
Dominated psychology from the 1920’s to the 1960’s
Edward L. Thorndike
First reported animal learning experiments, 1898
Ivan Pavlov
Discovered classical conditioning in dogs, 1906
John B. Watson
Offered behaviorism as an alternative to mentalistic
approaches, 1913
B. F. Skinner
Main proponent of operant conditioning, died 1990
Scientific foundations III:
The “Cognitive Revolution”
Psychologists became dissatisfied with ignoring
important mentalistic concepts like knowledge,
consciousness, and creativity
Jean Piaget’s (1930-1960) descriptions of child
development in terms of mentalistic concepts
was convincing
Noam Chomsky’s (1959) criticism of the
behaviorist approach to language
The mind is like a computer.
We are information processors, with hardware and
software.
Scientific foundations IV:
Other important historical figures
Hermann Ebbinghaus
Classic experiments on memory and forgetting, 1885
Alfred Binet
Developed first modern intelligence test, 1905
Max Wertheimer
Discovered visual illusion of apparent motion; launched
Gestalt psychology, 1912
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Kurt Lewin
 His field theory emphasized the interaction between people
and their environments; father of social psychology
Uses of Psychological Science I:
Research and practice
Research
Basic Research
“Pure science”; tests theories and builds a foundation of knowledge;
typically conducted in a laboratory – a controlled environment in
which subjects can be carefully observed.
Applied Research
Research that aims to solve practical human problems; typically
conducted in real-world locations.
Practice
Apply psychological science in order to
Help people in need of psychological treatment
Counsel people on career paths
Design better classroom curricula
Uses of psychological science II:
Types of basic research
Cognitive Psychology
Sensation, perception, and attention
Consciousness
Memory
Language
Judgment, decision-making, and problem-solving
Biopsychology (16%)
Behavioral neuroscience
Clinical Neuroscience
Cognitive Neuroscience
Behavioral Genetics
Evolutionary psychology and sociobiology
Uses of psychological science III:
More types of basic research
Learning
Affective processes
Motivation
Emotion
Developmental Psychology (6%)
Social processes and personality (8%)
25% of all psychologists do basic research
Uses of psychological science IV:
Clinical psychology
36% of all psychologists
Psychological disorders (abnormal
psychology)
Treatment of psychological disorders (clinical
psychology)
Basic research, applied research, and
practice
Uses of psychological science V:
Applied research and practice
Industrial/Organizational psychology (3%)
Worker motivation, productivity, and safety
Design and management of the human
organizational structure of a business; leadership
School psychology and educational psychology
(6%)
Intelligence, creativity, effective teaching methods,
etc.
Counseling (10%)
Work with less disturbed populations and do more
career assessment than clinical psychologists
Uses of psychological science VI:
More areas of applied research and practice
 Others
Consumer psychology: How to influence people to purchase a
particular product.
Health psychology: The role of psychology in the onset of,
management of, and recovery from physical illness. The study of
the causes and effects of stress and coping with stress.
Human factors: The use of psychology in the design of machines
so that performance is maximized in human-machine
interactions.
Sports psychology: Using psychology to improve athletic
performance.
Forensic psychology: The use of psychology in jury selection,
witness evaluation and counseling, criminal investigation and
obtaining eyewitness testimony, criminal profiling, etc.
Uses of Psychological Science VII
Psychological Knowledge Is Used in Many
Professions
People Are Intuitive Psychological Scientists
Psychological Sciences Require Critical Thinking
The ability to think skeptically is often referred to
as critical thinking, a systematic way of
evaluating information in order to reach reasonable
conclusions.