Bell Work
• Grab a syllabus, whiteboard, and marker.
• On your whiteboard, write the name you
go by, one goal you have for the school
year, and one thing you did over the
summer.
Textbooks!
AP Psychology: Unit 1
History & Approaches
Course Overview
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Based on National Standards:
Semester 1
History and Approaches of Psychology (3 days)
Memory (5 days)
Research Methods (14 days)
Biological Bases of Behavior (14 days)
Developmental Psychology (12 days)
Sensation and Perception (12 days)
States of Consciousness (5 days)
Learning (13 days)
Cognition—Thinking and Language (10 days)
Course Overview Cont.
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Semester 2
10. Testing and Individual Differences (10 days)
11. Motivation and Emotion (12 days)
12. Stress and Health (5 days)
13. Personality (10 days)
14. Abnormal Behavior (13 days)
15. Treatment of Abnormal Behavior (10 days)
16. Social Psychology (15 days)
AP TEST
17. College and Career Options
Final Project
Grading
Summative Assessments
• Follow the AP model
• 2/3 Multiple Choice to 1/3 Free Response
Question (FRQ/Essay)
• What Do I Study?
– Chapter from the book
– Notes from lecture/PPT
• I will often post the PPT on the class website:
msbeam.weebly.com
Attendance
• Attendance is taken within the first five
minutes of class.
– ParentLink
• More than 10 unexcused absences puts
you at risk for not receiving credit for the
class.
• If you are late for over half of the class
period, this is counted as an absence.
Things That Ms. Beam Can’t Stand
• Electronics being seen or heard, unless okayed by Ms. Beam
• Any inappropriate language (including, but not limited to,
swearing, racial slurs, homophobic language, and the ‘r’
word).
• Bullying (words, physical harm, disrespect of property)
• Looking out the blinds
• Turning off the lights
• Disruptive behavior (including but not limited to throwing
things across the room, sharing food, walking around the
room, and personal grooming)
• Asking for things at inappropriate times
(bathroom/wipes/etc.)
• Plagiarism
Things That Ms. Beam Loves
Sheep!
Penguins
Smiling
Positive attitudes towards
learning
Showing off for guests
Participation
When students work hard and
make good choices
“What happens in class,
stays in class.”
Homework
• Syllabus Parent Signature
We are meeting in the
computer lab (119) tomorrow!!!
Team Name
• This class period is a team.
You will have team successes
and team failures.
• You need a team name.
AP Psychology
Approaches to Psychology
Psychology is...
• the science that studies mental
processes and behavior in humans
and other animals.
• the profession which applies the
knowledge of this science to
practical problems.
Are there universal questions?
History: Then to Now
History of Psychology
• Although the science of psychology started in the
late 1800’s, the concept has been around a lot longer.
• There was evidence of trephination (cutting holes
into a skull to let evil spirits out) back in the stone
age.
Psychology’s Roots
Prescientific Psychology
www.bodydharma.org/photo/buddha.jpg
In India, Buddha wondered how sensations and
perceptions combined to form ideas.
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Through out human history,
thinkers have wondered: How
do our minds work? How do our
bodies relate to our minds?
How much of what we know
comes built in? How much is
acquired through experience?
Prescientific Psychology
Confucius (551-479 B.C.)
home.tiscali.be/alain.ernotte/livre/confucius.jpg
In China, Confucius stressed the power of ideas
and the importance of an educated mind.
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Prescientific Psychology
Hebrew Scriptures
www.havurahhatorah.org/images/hebrewbible.jpg
Hebrew scriptures linked mind and emotion to the
body.
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Prescientific Psychology
Plato
http://www.law.umkc.edu
http://www.law.umkc.edu
Socrates
Socrates (469-399 B.C.) and Plato (428-348 B.C.)
Socrates and his student Plato believed the mind
was separate from the body, the mind continued to
exist after death, and ideas were innate.
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Prescientific Psychology
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
http://ocw.mit.edu
http://www.spacerad.com
Descartes, like Plato, believed in soul (mind)-body
separation, but wondered how the immaterial
mind and physical body communicated.
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Descartes like Plato believed the
immaterial mind and physical body
were separate but communicated in the
brain at pineal gland. Animal spirits
moved from the brain to act on the
muscles and experiences lead the
nerves to open up “pores” in the brain
to form memories. Descartes was right
about the nerves connecting the inside
and the outside worlds but had no
notion of how these nerves functioned.
Prescientific Psychology
John Locke (1632-1704)
biografieonline.it/img/bio/John_Locke.jpg
Locke held that the mind was a tabula rasa, or
blank slate, at birth, and experiences wrote on it.
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Psychology’s Big Debate
Nature versus Nurture
Darwin (1809-1882)
Darwin stated that nature selects those that best
enable the organism to survive and reproduce in a
particular environment.
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Rationalism vs. Empiricism
• Rationalism: A belief or theory that opinions and
actions originate from reason.
– “I can sit here and think myself an answer.”
– Descartes: “I think; therefore, I am.”
• Empiricism: The view that knowledge originates in
experience and that science should rely on
observation and experimentation.
– “All behavior and knowledge is observable and
outside of me.”
– Locke: Tabula Rasa
Waves of Psychology
• The science of psychology has gone
through about 5 different waves since
it started.
• Waves are different ways of thinking
over time.
Wave One: Introspection
Kickin’ it old school
•Started with William Wundt’s first
psychological laboratory and his
concept of introspection
(structuralism).
•Then William James wrote The
Principles of Psychology and
discussed functionalism.
•In reality, these ideas do not have
much impact on how psychologists
think today.
These guys were
considered hot, back in
the day!!!!
Psychological Science is Born
Structuralism
Titchner (1867-1927)
Wundt (1832-1920)
Wundt and Titchener studied the elements (atoms)
of the mind by conducting experiments at Leipzig,
Germany, in 1879. Wundt differentiated
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psychology from philosophy and physiology.
Psychology—
psych: breath, spirit, soul
log: study of/research
What is “science”?
• In Latin, it means ‘knowledge.’
• Generally, a science involves research
that aims to uncover universal
laws/truths, using the scientific method
(testing hypotheses).
Structuralism
Think/Pair/Share
• Why is Wilhelm
Wundt credited as
the first
psychologist/scientist
studying behavior
and mental
processes?
Psychological Science is Born
Functionalism
Mary Calkins
James (1842-1910)
Influenced by Darwin, William James established the school of functionalism,
which opposed structuralism. James suggested that it would be more fruitful to
consider the evolved functions of our thoughts and feelings than simply studying the
elements of mind. Based on the theory of evolution, he suggested that the function of
these thoughts and feelings was adaptive.
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Structuralism vs Functionalism: The
First Debate in Psychology
• The goal of
structuralism was to
break consciousness
down into its basic
parts so it could be
analyzed.
Structuralists tended
to work in labs, using
techniques like
introspection.
•Functionalists believed
that psychology should
study the function of
consciousness, not
analyze its parts.
Functionalists began
studying intelligence,
child development, sex
roles, and other aspects
of the real world.
Wave Two: Gestalt Psychology
• Led by Max Wertheimer, these guys focused not on
how we feel, but on how we experience the world.
• The whole of an experience can be more than the
sum of its parts.
This may seem like
one picture, but it can
be perceived as 3
different faces. Can
you find them?
Think for a moment of all the reasons that you love a close loved
one.
If you add all those reasons up, do they equal your love for that
loved one?
Hopefully not!!!
Psychological Science Develops
Gestalt
Wertheimer (1880-1943)
The main idea of Gestalt psychology is “the whole
is other than the sum of its parts.”
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Wave Three: Psychoanalysis
• This wave of thinking started with
Sigmund Freud (in the early 1900’s).
• In a nutshell, during this time period
people believed that most of your
feelings come from a hidden place in
your mind called the unconscious.
• We protect ourselves from our real
feeling by using defense mechanisms.
Psychodynamic
• Also called, “psychoanalytic.”
• We have an internal consciousness and drives
• Those hidden complexes (especially childhood) shape our
behavior
• Psychoanalytic Theory
• Dream analysis
studies the influence of
the unconscious on
behaviour.
Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic
• As psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory is
focused on the unconscious mind and thought
processes, it cannot be directly observed.
Therefore, Freud’s theories have been labeled
“unscientific and unverifiable.”
• Think/Pair/Share: Explain.
Freud’s Theory of the Unconscious
Mind
• Depends on the idea that humans can remember
events but not be consciously aware of the memory
• The Conscious Mind: Current Awareness (Iceberg
above water)
• The Preconscious Mind: Ordinary Memory (Iceberg
visible below water)
• The Unconscious Mind: Memories that We Don’t
Remember (Iceberg submerged out-of-sight)
Wave Four: Behaviorism
• During this time period (early to mid 1900s), people
started to ignore how you feel inside.
• All that mattered was how you acted.
• If you they could change your behavior, who cares
how you feel.
• Very popular during the conservative 1950’s when
social appearance mattered more than self
expression.
Psychological Science Develops
Behaviorism
Skinner (1904-1990)
Watson (1878-1958)
Watson (1913) and later Skinner emphasized the study of
overt behavior and reinforcement as the subject matter
of scientific psychology. We can’t study
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consciousness/thought
Behaviorists explain human
thought and behavior as a result
of past conditioning.
Behaviorism
• Ivan Pavlov John Watson B.F. Skinner
Psychological Science Develops
Rogers (1902-1987)
http://www.carlrogers.dk
http://facultyweb.cortland.edu
Maslow (1908-1970)
Humanistic Psychology
Maslow and Rogers emphasized current
environmental influences on our growth potential
and our need for love and acceptance.
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• Humanism studies the unique aspects of
humans. Humans are free, rational, and
have potential for personal growth.
Blind Men and the Elephant
Wave Five: Eclectic
• We are now in wave five….which is about variety.
• Psychologists pick and choose what theories to use
depending on the situation and the client.
Just choosing the Pokemon to fight someone
depending the situation.
Eclectic
• A therapist who says that she
uses whatever psychological
perspective “works best” for each
patient might be best described
as eclectic/hermeneutics.
• “My music collection is really
eclectic.”
Wave Five is made up of about 7
different perspectives.
In other words, psychologists today, pick
and choose from about 7 schools of
thought to help you with your problems.
Thus we have:
THE SEVEN SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Biopsychology (Neuroscience)
Perspective
• All of your feelings and behaviors have
an organic root.
• In other words, they come from your
brain, body chemistry,
neurotransmitters, etc…
Let us imagine for a second that your dog died
(sad but it will happen). You become
depressed. You stop eating and sleeping.
What would a psychologist from this school say
is going on and how might they help you?
Evolutionary Perspective
• Focuses on Darwinism.
• We behave the way
we do because we
inherited those
behaviors.
• Thus, those behaviors
must have helped
ensure our ancestors
survival.
How could this behavior have
ensured Homer’s ancestors
survival?
Psychoanalytic Perspective
• Focuses on the
unconscious mind.
• We repress many of
our true feelings and
are not aware of
them.
• In order to get
better, we must bring
forward the true
feelings we have in
our unconscious.
If a man has
intimacy issues
and cannot form
relationships
with others.
What do you
think someone
from this school
may think?
Perhaps they may
delve into the man’s
unconscious and
discover that he was
bullied when he were
younger. The bullying
may have caused fear
in getting close to
others.
Behavioral Perspective
Pretend that you
fail psychology
class. You become
depressed. In turn,
you begin to binge
and gain weight.
• Focuses on observable
behaviors while putting
feelings to the side.
• We behave in ways
because we have been
What do you think a
conditioned to do so.
behaviorist may do?
• To change behaviors, we
They would probably ignore
have to recondition the
the fact that you are
depressed and just focus on
client.
your overeating.
Maybe make you run a mile every time you eat over 2000 calories.
Humanist Perspective
• Peaked in the late
1960’s and 70’s….so it
focused on spirituality
and free will.
• We have to strive to be
the best we can be
“self-actualization”.
• Happiness is defined by
the distance between
our “self-concept” and
“ideal self”.
Cognitive Perspective
• Focuses on how we think
(or encode information)
• How do we see the world?
• How did we learn to react
to sad or happy events?
• Cognitive Therapist attempt
to change the way you
think.
You meet a girl…
Hopes are high!!!
She rejects
you…don’t even
get digits.
How do you react to the rejection?
Some learned to get back Some learned to give up
on the horse
and live a lonely life of
And try again.
solitude.
Social-Cultural Perspective
• Says that much of your
behavior and your feelings
are dictated by the culture
you live in.
• Some cultures kiss each
other when greeting, some
just bow.
• Does your culture place
value on individual or the
group?
(Developmental) Psychology’s Three
Big Debates
• Nature Versus Nurture
– Is it genes or
environment?
• Stability Versus Change
– Are we pretty much the
same since we’re born, or
do we change over time?
• Continuity Versus
Discontinuity
– Do we change slowly or
drastically?
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
How do they work together?
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Psychology’s Current Perspectives
Perspective
Focus
Sample Questions
Neuroscience
How the body and brain
enables emotions?
How are messages
transmitted in the body? How
is blood chemistry linked with
moods and motives?
Evolutionary
How the natural selection
of traits the promotes the
perpetuation of one’s
genes?
How does evolution influence
behavior tendencies?
Behavior genetics How much our genes and
our environments
influence our individual
differences?
To what extent are
psychological traits such as
intelligence, personality,
sexual orientation, and
vulnerability to depression
attributable to our genes? To
our environment?
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Psychology’s Current Perspectives
Perspective
Focus
Sample Questions
Psychodynamic
How behavior springs
from unconscious drives
and conflicts?
How can someone’s
personality traits and
disorders be explained in
terms of sexual and
aggressive drives or as
disguised effects of unfulfilled
wishes and childhood
traumas?
Behavioral
How we learn observable
responses?
How do we learn to fear
particular objects or
situations? What is the most
effective way to alter our
behavior, say to lose weight or
quit smoking?
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Psychology’s Current Perspectives
Perspective
Focus
Sample Questions
Cognitive
How we encode, process,
store and retrieve
information?
How do we use information
in remembering? Reasoning?
Problem solving?
Social-cultural
How behavior and
thinking vary across
situations and cultures?
How are we — as Africans,
Asians, Australians or North
Americans – alike as members
of human family? As products
of different environmental
contexts, how do we differ?
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Think/Pair/Share
• What is the difference between sex and
gender?
New Trends
• Positive Psychology
• New trend: Identifying
what is right with you
• Martin Segliman
• Resilency
• Flow
• Mindfulness
• Mind-body connection
• Center for Healthy Mind
(Davidson)
Quiet the mind
What are ways psychology
touches our daily lives?
What Is the Purpose of
Psychology?
- Describe Behavior
- Predict Behavior
-Influence Behavior
How Do We Do That ?
Closure On Whiteboard
• Based on what we have talked
about today, what will YOU do
specifically to succeed in this
class (either academically or
behaviorally)
Closure
• Based on what we have talked
about today, which
psychological perspective do
you agree with the most?