Schacter
Gilbert
Wegner
PSYCHOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
SYLLABUS QUIZ
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How many tests will there be in this class?
Are make-up tests given?
What optional assignment can be turned in before
each test?
Is the final comprehensive?
Is attendance taken?
Is cheating on tests/papers allowed?
Am I expected to be in class, seated and ready to
participate at the beginning of class?
What can I do to make the best grade possible?
TRUE OR FALSE
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The titles “psychologist” and psychiatrist” refer to the same
profession.
Psychologists study behavior and the mind but not biology.
Negative reinforcement is the same as punishment.
We can’t do much to improve our memory.
Eyewitness testimony is the most reliable evidence in court.
Psychologists just do therapy.
A correlation between two variables means that one causes the
other.
A person with schizophrenia has a split personality.
Adolescents emerge from this stage with emotional scars and
conflicts.
Most old people are at least a little bit senile.
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
Psychology: the scientific study of the
mind and behavior.
 Mind: our private inner experience of
perceptions, thoughts, memories, and
feelings.
 Behavior: observable actions of human
beings and nonhuman animals.
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Philosophical Developments
How are mind and body related?
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Aristotle
René Descartes (1596–1650)—Interactive
dualism
The mind and body interact to produce
conscious experience
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Foundations of Modern Psychology
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Psychology separated from philosophy in 19th
century
 Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920)–Leipzig,
Germany
 established first psychology lab
 “stream of consciousness” - a person’s
subjective experience of the world
 applied laboratory techniques to study of the
mind (reaction times)
Wilhelm Wundt’s First
Psychological Laboratory
Foundations of Modern Psychology
Edward Titchener (1867–1927)
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Wundt’s student, professor at Cornell University
 structuralism— breaking down stream of
consciousness into elemental components
 introspection- method of examining one’s
own conscious experience
 focused on basic sensory and perceptual
processes
 44,000 elemental qualities of conscious
experience
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Edward Titchener and William James
Edward Titchener
(1867-1927)
William James (1842-1910)
Foundations of Modern Psychology
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William James-started psychology at Harvard
 Opposed Wundt and Titchener
 Functionalism: the study of the purpose
mental processes serve in enabling people to
adapt to their environment.
 Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
 natural selection: the features of an
organism that help it survive and reproduce
are more likely than other features to be
passed on to subsequent generations.
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Schools of PsychologyPsychoanalysis
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Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
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unconscious: the part of the mind that operates
outside of conscious awareness but influences
conscious thoughts, feelings, and actions.
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psychoanalytic theory: an approach to
understanding human behavior that emphasizes
the importance of unconscious mental processes in
shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
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psychoanalysis: a therapeutic approach that
focuses on bringing unconscious material into
conscious awareness to better understand
psychological disorders
Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Couch
Schools of PsychologyBehaviorism
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John Watson (1878-1958)
 Behaviorism: an approach that advocates
psychologists to restrict themselves to the
scientific study of objectively observable
behavior.
Key Influence:
 Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
 Behaviorism grew out of his work with dogs
associating a neutral stimulus with an
automatic behavior
John Watson and Ivan Pavlov
John Watson
(1878-1958)
Ivan Pavlov
(1849-1936)
Schools of PsychologyBehaviorism (cont’d)
B. F. Skinner (1904–1990)
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American psychologist at Harvard
 studied learning and effect of reinforcement
 reinforcement: the consequences of behavior
determine whether it will be more or less likely
to occur again
Schools of PsychologyHumanism
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Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
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Humanistic psychology: an approach to
understanding human nature that
emphasizes the unique potential for
psychological growth and self-direction
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Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
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Hierarchy of Needs
Major Perspectives in Psychology
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Perspective is a way of viewing phenomena
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Psychology has multiple perspectives
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Biological
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Humanistic
Positive Psychology
Cognitive
Cultural
Evolutionary
Biological Perspective
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Studies the physiological mechanisms in
the brain and nervous system that
organizes and controls behavior
Focus may be at various levels
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individual neurons
areas of the brain
specific functions like eating, emotion, or learning
Interest in behavior distinguishes biological
psychology from many other biological
sciences
Psychodynamic Perspective
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Psychoanalytic approach (Sigmund Freud)
 both a method of treatment and a theory of
personality
 drives and urges within the unconscious
component of mind influence thought and
behavior
 early childhood experiences shape
unconscious motivations
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Just for fun…
Behavioral Perspective
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View of behavior based on experience or
learning (Watson, Skinner, Pavlov)
 Classical conditioning
 Operant conditioning
Psychologists associated:
 Ivan Pavlov
 John Watson
 B.F. Skinner
Humanistic Perspective
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Developed by Carl Rogers and Abraham
Maslow
 behavior reflects innate ‘actualization’;
growth and unique potential of person
 focus on conscious forces and self
perception; free will
 more positive view of basic forces than
Freud’s
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Cognitive Perspective

Advent of computers
 model for human mind (both register, store, and
retrieve information).
 information processing systems.
 Cognitive psychology: the scientific study of mental
processes, (how knowledge is acquired, organized,
remembered) which includes perception, thought,
memory, and reasoning.
Influences include:
Noam Chomsky –cognitive account of language
acquisition
Jean Piaget-intellectual development of children
Digital Computers in the
1950’s
Cultural Perspective
 The
study of how cultural factors
influence patterns of behavior and
mental processes
 The study of psychological
differences among people living in
different cultural groups
 How are people’s thoughts, feelings
and behavior influenced by their
culture?
Positive Perspective
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Focuses on the study of positive
emotions, states, and traits that increase
personal well-being
Evolutionary Perspective
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Influenced by Darwin and the emphasis
on innate, adaptive behavior patterns
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Application of principles of evolution to
explain behavior and psychological
processes
Review-Perspectives
Column A
Perspective
___1. Behavioral
___2. Biological
___3. Cognitive
___4. Cultural
___5. Humanistic
___6. Psychoanalytic
___7. Evolutionary
___8. Positive
Column B
Emphasis
A. How cultural factors influence behaviour
B. Darwin’s theory of natural selection
C. The study of observable behaviour
D. The study of positive emotions, psychological
states, and positive individual traits
E. The unconscious, sex, aggression, conflicts,
early childhood trauma, repression
F. Physical bases of human and animal
behaviour
G. How mental processes work
H. Human potential, self-actualization, and free
will
Specialty Areas in Psychology
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Biological
Clinical
Cognitive
Counseling
Educational
Experimental
Developmental
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Forensic
Health
Industrial/organizational
Personality
Rehabilitation
Social
Sports
The Major Subfields in Psychology
Employment Settings of Psychologists
Similarities/DifferencesPsychiatrists and Psychologists
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Both trained in the diagnosis, treatment,
causes, and prevention of psychological
disorders
 Clinical psychologists receive doctorate
(Ph.D. or Psy.D.)
 Psychiatrists receive a medical degree
(M.D. or D.O.) followed by years of
specialized training in treatment of mental
disorders