What Is Psychology? General Psychology Don’t miss the animation of this presentation!   Press F5 (at the top row of your keyboard). Then use your space bar or arrow keys to advance the slides. Have questions? online@pmi.edu   What Is Psychology? General Psychology

Psychology is… A broad field, with many specialties Fundamentally, psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes Psychology is NOT… Mere speculation about human nature A body of folk wisdom that “everybody knows” to be true

Pseudoscience Is any approach to explaining phenomena in the natural world that does not use empirical observation or the scientific method Psychology disputes unfounded claims from pseudoscience Fortune-telling Astrology Graphology 18

Three Major Categories of Psychology Applied Psychology Experimental Psychology Teaching of Psychology

Experimental Psychologists… Conduct most research across psychological spectrum May work in private industry or for the government Often teach at a college or university 18

Applied Psychologists… Use knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems I/O Experimental Psychology Engineering Rehabilitation Sports School Counseling Clinical 18

Professional Organizations in Psychology Student Groups

Modern psychology developed from several conflicting traditions that include: STRUCTURALISM Devoted to uncovering basic structures that make up mind and thought FUNCTIONALISM Believed mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Interested in how we construct “perceptual wholes” BEHAVIORISM Argued psychology should deal solely with observable events PSYCHOANALYSIS Asserted mental disorders arise from conflicts in the unconscious mind

What Determines Behavior Humanistic-Existential/ Trait Click to see the 6 main perspectives that characterize modern psychology: Perspective View of Human Nature What Determines Behavior Focus of Study Biological We are complex systems that respond to hereditary and environmental influences Neural structures, biochemistry, and innate responses to external cues Nervous and endocrine systems, evolutionary advantages of behaviors Cognitive We are information-processing systems Interpretation of experience by means of mental processing Mental processes, including sensation, perception, learning, memory, and language Humanistic-Existential/ Trait Our individual differences result from differences in our underlying patterns of stable characteristics Each person’s unique combination of traits ; Humanistic view focuses on self-concept and need for personal growth Fundamental traits, Using trait patterns to predict behavior Psychodynamic We are driven by unconscious motives Psychodynamic view stresses unconscious conflicts Counseling and psychotherapy Learning/ Behavioral We respond to surroundings according to principles of behavioral learning Stimulus cues, history of rewards and punishments “Laws” connecting our responses to stimulus conditions in the environment Sociocultural We are social animals; human behavior must be interpreted in social context Cultures, social norms and expectations, social learning Social interaction, socialization, cross-cultural differences

Please close this Powerpoint presentation and continue the lesson. WHAT’S NEXT? Please close this Powerpoint presentation and continue the lesson. Based on: Psychology Core Concepts, 5th Ed. By: Philip G. Zimbardo, Robert L. Johnson, Ann L. Weber Presented by 27