Introductory Psychology Concepts CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY Professor Veronica Emilia Nuzzolo

Culture Enduring values, beliefs, behaviors, and traditions that are shared by a large group of people and passed from one generation to the next.

Culture Sociocultural Perspective: + Combines social psychology and cultural psychology Culture and Abnormality: + How your culture affects the definition of abnormal behavior Individualistic and Collective Cultures: + Working together or working alone Culture Fair Tests: + Developing tests that are not affected by culture

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Psychologists view behavior from several perspectives. Psychological Understanding behavior in terms of psychological events Behavioral Neuroscience Cognitive Group

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Psychologists view behavior from several perspectives. Psychological Behavioral Understanding behavior in terms of the principles of learning Neuroscience Cognitive Group

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Psychologists view behavior from several perspectives. Psychological Behavioral Neuroscience Understanding behavior in terms of biology Cognitive Group

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Psychologists view behavior from several perspectives. Psychological Behavioral Neuroscience Cognitive Understanding behavior in terms of cognitive events Group

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Psychologists view behavior from several perspectives. Psychological Behavioral Neuroscience Cognitive Group Understanding abnormal behavior in terms of the effects of groups on behavior

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders, research on causes of disorders and treatment effectiveness Counseling Developmental Educational Experimental Cognitive Personality Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Consultation with clients on issues of personal adjustment; vocational and career planning; interest and aptitude testing Developmental Educational Experimental Cognitive Personality Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Developmental Study of physical, mental, emotional, and social development across the entire life span Educational Experimental Cognitive Personality Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Developmental Educational Study of psychological aspects of the educational process; curriculum and instructional research; teacher training Experimental Cognitive Personality Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Developmental Educational Experimental Research (typically laboratory experiments, often with non- humans) on basic processes such as learning, perception, and motivation Cognitive Personality Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Developmental Educational Experimental Cognitive Study of mental processes such as memory, problem solving, planning, consciousness, and language (psycholinguistics) Personality Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Developmental Educational Experimental Cognitive Personality Study of individual differences in personality and their effects on behavior; development of personality tests Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Developmental Educational Experimental Cognitive Personality Quantitative Measurement issues and data analysis; development of mathematical models of behavior Industrial/Organizational Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Developmental Educational Experimental Cognitive Personality Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Examination of behavior in work settings; study of factors related to employee morale and performance, development of tests to select job applicants; development of machines and tasks to fit human capabilities Social

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Profession of Psychology Areas of Specialty in Psychology Clinical Counseling Developmental Educational Experimental Cognitive Personality Quantitative Industrial/Organizational Social Examination of how the social environment—the presence of other people—influences an individual’s behavior, thoughts and feelings

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Perspectives in Psychology Ways of Understanding Behavior Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology. Issue Neuroscience Psychodynamic Behavioral Cognitive Humanistic Nature (heredity) vs. nurture (environment) Nature (heredity) Nature (heredity) Nurture (environment) Nurture (environment) Both

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Perspectives in Psychology Ways of Understanding Behavior Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology. Issue Neuroscience Psychodynamic Behavioral Cognitive Humanistic Conscious vs. unconscious determinants of behavior Unconscious Unconscious Conscious Both Conscious

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Perspectives in Psychology Ways of Understanding Behavior Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology. Issue Neuroscience Psychodynamic Behavioral Cognitive Humanistic Observable behavior vs. internal mental processes Internal emphasis Internal emphasis Observable emphasis Internal emphasis Internal emphasis

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Perspectives in Psychology Ways of Understanding Behavior Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology. Issue Neuroscience Psychodynamic Behavioral Cognitive Humanistic Free will vs. determinism Determinism Determinism Determinism Free will Free will

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Perspectives in Psychology Ways of Understanding Behavior Key issues in psychology and the positions taken by psychologists subscribing to the five major perspectives of psychology. Issue Neuroscience Psychodynamic Behavioral Cognitive Humanistic Individual differences vs. universal principles Universal emphasis Universal emphasis Both Individual emphasis Individual emphasis

4. Communicate the findings Introductory Psychology Concepts : Research Methods and Research Studies The Scientific Method: The approach used by psychologists to systematically acquire knowledge and understanding about behavior and other phenomena of interest. 1. Identify questions of interest stemming from Behavior and phenomenon requiring explanation Prior research findings Curiosity, creativity, insight 3. Carry out research Operationalize hypothesis Select a research method Collect the data Analyze the data 2. Formulate an explanation Specify a theory Develop a hypothesis 4. Communicate the findings

Descriptive Methods Methods of Observing Behavior Self Report Introductory Psychology Concepts : Research Methods and Research Studies Descriptive Methods Methods of Observing Behavior Self Report Psychological Behavioral

Introductory Psychology Concepts : Research Methods and Research Studies Descriptive Methods Naturalistic Observation: Observing subjects in natural environments Researcher Jane Goodall studies the behavior of wild chimpanzees in their native habitat.

Introductory Psychology Concepts : Research Methods and Research Studies Descriptive Methods Laboratory Observation: Observing subjects in artificially controlled environments In this experiment, preschoolers’ reactions to the puppet are monitored.

Introductory Psychology Concepts : Research Methods and Research Studies Descriptive Methods Case Studies: In-depth analysis of an individual, group, or event The Hmong Sudden Death Syndrome Many Hmong refugees who escaped the ravages of war in their homeland experienced great stress and guilt when they resettled in North America. This stress, combined with cultural beliefs about angry spirits, may have contributed to the Hmong sudden death syndrome, which eventually claimed more than 40 lives.

Descriptive Methods Surveys and Polls: Introductory Psychology Concepts : Research Methods and Research Studies Descriptive Methods Surveys and Polls: • Methods of gathering information or data from persons in which they provide answers themselves. • Conclusion from samples are drawn using scientific method. Unrepresentative sample Population Sampling procedure Representative sample

Scientifically compare performance of the two groups Introductory Psychology Concepts : Research Methods and Research Studies Experimental Method Experimental group (noise condition) Measure amount of learning Scientifically compare performance of the two groups Sample of participants Control group (no-noise condition) Measure amount of learning The logic of designing an experiment. The experimenter manipulates the amount of noise to which participants are exposed, measures their learning, and attempts to treat them equally in every other way. This creates an experiment group and a control group.

Introductory Psychology Concepts : Scientific Method Scientific Method: 5 steps 1 Perceiving a Question 2 Forming a Hypothesis 3 Testing the Hypothesis 4 Drawing Conclusions 5 Reporting Results

Introductory Psychology Concepts : Scientific Method Descriptive Methods Methods of Observing Behavior Self Report Psychological Behavioral

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Descriptive Methods Methods of Observing Behavior Self Report Psychological Behavioral

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Descriptive Methods Naturalistic Observation: Observing subjects in natural environments Researcher Jane Goodall uses naturalistic observation to study the behavior of wild chimpanzees.

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Descriptive Methods Laboratory Observation: Observing subjects in artificially controlled environments In this experiment, preschoolers’ reactions to the puppet are monitored.

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Descriptive Methods Case Studies: In-depth analysis of an individual, group, or event The Hmong Sudden Death Syndrome Many Hmong refugees who escaped the ravages of war in their homeland experienced great stress and guilt when they resettled in North America. This stress, combined with cultural beliefs about angry spirits, may have contributed to the Hmong sudden death syndrome, which eventually claimed more than 40 lives.

Introductory Psychology Concepts: Descriptive Methods Descriptive Methods Surveys and Polls: • Method of gathering information or data from persons where they provide the answers themselves. • Conclusion are drawn using scientific method. Unrepresentative sample Population Sampling procedure Representative sample