Overview of Psychology: The word psychology comes from two Greek words: Sociology=group Psychology=individual Psyche: mind or soul Logia: study of or investigation Psych is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes ADHD, PTSD nvolves animals and humans Can cover everything that people think feel and do Goals of psychology: 1. Describe – this involved gathering info about the subject being studied & presenting what is known 2. Explain- propose why people act this way in an educated guess or hypothesis 3. Predict- by studying behaviors, most psychologists will predict what the person will do in the future 4.
Influence behavior- conducting studies that will determine long term goals of finding out more about human behavior Applied Science or basic science Basic science: Research- the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake -some psychologists view psych as a science to discover things about peoples behavior Applied science: discovering ways to use scientific findings to accomplish practical goals -toy companies use this to make their toys that will appeal to kids of different ages. Observable behaviors: are those behaviors that you can see, observe or measure -running, laughing, and crying.
Unobservable behaviors: are those behaviors that you cannot see -thoughts, feelings, and fantasies. They can include dreams and thinking The scientific basis of psychology: -Ask question, do background research, construct hypothesis, test with an experiment, analyze results draw conclusion, hypothesis is true or false, report results. 1. To insure that all data is collected accurately, psychologists rely on the scientific method 2. All psychologists agree that the study must be systematic 3. When conducting research we have to collect information. Example?
-state report, NEASC, interviews, offerings Origins of psychology Psychology is a relatively young science with its roots in many disciplines, from physiology to philosophy- thoughts, ideas The Egyptians believed inside each of us is a smaller person called the KA who is responsible for our behaviors- conscience The Greeks through Plato, believed that the mind and body are two distinct elements with the mind having a life of its own, before and after death Plato’s student; Aristotle, took an opposing view that argued the mind and body are related and act as one Hippocrates and the 4 humors:
A major contribution to psychology came from the work of Hippocrates, the father of medicine Hippocrates said that the body contained 4 humors or fluids that corresponded to nature 1. Fire (blood) 2. Water (Phlegm) 3. Earth (Black bile) 4. Air (Yellow bile) An imbalance of these humors produced certain personality types Phrenology It used to be that early psychology was based on Phrenology Phrenology is a false science based on unfounded beliefs dating back to the 1700 Phrenologists believed that they could read people’s personalities and character by feeling bumps on their head Structuralism.
-In 1879 in Leipzig, Germany, William Wundt started his laboratory of psychology -He is credited w/ establishing modern psychology as a separate formal field of study -Was a structurist, which meant that he was interested in the basic elements of human experiment -He developed a method of self observation called introspection to collect information about the mind -This involved ppl reporting their thoughts and he would record them and try to map out the thought structure Functionalism.
-William James taught the first class in psych @ Harvard in 1875 -He is often called the father of psych in the US -He speculated the thinking, feeling, learning, and remembering serve to help us survive as a species -Functionalists study how mental processes help animals and people adapt to their environment Inheritable Traits.
-Sir Frances Galton was a 19th century English mathematician who wanted to know how heredity influences a person’s abilities, behaviors and character Heredity includes all the traits and properties that are passed along biologically from parent to child Galton concluded that genius is an inherited trait so he encouraged good marriages to promote good genes Later ppl realized flaws in his theory and stated that heredity and environment, not just genetics, play a major role in intelligence Gestalt psychology.
-This aspect of psych argues that perception is more than the sum of its parts and that you need to look at the “Whole Pattern” -The German word for this is Gestalt -For example when you look at a chair, you recognize it as a chair not as 4 legs, a seat, and a back -Gestalt psychologists studied how sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences -This approach was the forerunner for cognitive approaches to psychology -Gestalt psychologists include: Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka Psychoanalytic Psychology.
-While the first psychologists were more interested in the conscious mind, Sigmund Freud was more interested in the unconscious mind -He was a physician in Vienna until 1938 -He believed that our conscious experience was only a tip of the iceberg and that beneath the surface are primitive biological urges that are in conflict with the requirements of society and mortality -Free association= saying everything that came to mind.
-As a psychoanalyst was to be objective, listen and then interpret the associations -Used dream analysis to learn more about a person’s urges -Credited with using extensive case studies -Dream analysis= gaining access to the unconscious mind -Case studies= a study of an individual unit as a person * Behavioral psychology -Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov pioneered this aspect of psych -Pavlov’s experiment with the dog and tuning fork became famous -This enabled later psychologists to look at certain behaviors as a result of learning.
-Psychologists who stressed observable behaviors became known as behaviorists -Their position was that psych should concern itself only with the observable facts of behavior -John Watson pioneered this school of thoughts -Although he defined the behaviorist position, B. F. Skinner introduced the concept of reinforcement -Reinforcement is the response to a behavior that increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated Humanistic psychology.
-Humanistic psychology developed as a response to behavioral psychology -In the 1960’s humanists such as Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Rollo May described human nature as evolving and self directed— Hierarchy of needs – It is different from other psychologies in that doesn’t view human behavior as being controlled by events in the environment or by unconscious forces – Instead the environment and outside forces serve as a background for our own internal growth Cognitive psychology.
-Cognitiviets focus on how we process, store and use information and how this information influences our thinking, language, problem solving, and creativity -Cognitive psychologists include Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky, and Leon Festinger -They believed that behavior is influenced by a variety of mental processes including perceptions, memories, and expectations.
Biological psychology -This view point emphasizes the impact of biology on our behavior -psycho biologists study how the brain, the nervous system and hormones and genetics influence our behavior -Psych biologists use tools such as PET scans and CAT scans.
-They have found that genetic factors influence a wide variety of human behaviors Examples: autistic children share a genetic defect of regularating serotonin in the brain * Socio-Cultural psychology -The newest approach to psychology involved studying the influences of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on behavior and social functioning Parapsychology- branch of psychology that deals with the investigation of purportedly psychic phenomena.