Interactive lecture Jolanta Babiak Winter semester 2017/2018 Psychology Interactive lecture Jolanta Babiak Winter semester 2017/2018

Maximum number of points to gain 40 Grading Content Points Test 1 50 Test 2 Make-up test Maximum number of points to gain 40 Participation Up to 10 points

Grading Less than 60 Failing (2) Points’ threshold grade 60-70 Satisfctory (3) 71-75 Satisfactory+ (3+) 76-84 Good (4) 85-92 Good + (4+) 93 - 100 Very good (5)

Content of lectures Introduction to the science of Psychology Sensation and perception Mind and consciousness Memory and Learning Behavioral processes: needs and motivation Emotions as regulatory processes Deprivation, frustration and stress Human personality and temperament / test 1 Human personality and temperament cont. Cognitive processes and intelligence Cognitive processes and problem solving Creative thinking Social environment: group processes/ test 2 Social competences and emotional intelligence/ make-up test

Assigned readings Gerrig R.J. (2012). Psychology and Life, London, Pearson Education, Ltd. –

Assigned Reading for lecture 1 Gerrig R.J. (2012). Psychology and Life, London, Pearson Education, Ltd. – chapter 1 and 2

Whenever she is stressed out she overeats Why do I feel fearful in the presence of my brother-in-law? I don’t remember anything from berfore my accedint She is very intelligent I am always waiting until last moment to start working on my tasks He is understanding and empathetic towards his employees I love bungee jumping How to overcome fear of public speaking?

Psychology Scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes Mental processes: the workings of the human mind like thinking, planning, reasoning, remembering, creating, dreaming Psychology draws from social sciences: sociology, anthropology; biological sciences – studies of brain processes and biochemical bases of behavior; cognitive science, health science

Psychology Scientific: psychological research is conducted according to specific standards Behavior: the means by which organisms adjust to environments: social or cultural contexts Individual: subject of psychological analysis (in a natural habitat or controlled conditions: laboratory)

Psychology as a coalition of specialities Scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes Psychology as a coalition of specialities Abnormal psychology Behavior genetics Clinical psychology Cognitive neuroscience Cognitive psychology Community psychology Consumer psychology Counselling psychology

Psychology as a coalition of specialities, cont. Cross-cultural psychology Developmental psychology Environmental psychology Forensic and criminological psychology Health psychology Mathematical psychology Organizational psychology Personality psychology Social psychology Sports psychology

What holds psychology as a discipline together? Biological bases of behavior Cognitive and affective processes Developmental processes Social bases of behavior

The goals of psychology Describe behavior – accurate observations about behavior: data e.g. interviews, questionnaires Explain behavior – how behavior works: e.g. what conditions lead people to great acts of heroism? Why do some people fear public speaking? – understanding combination of factors Predict behavior – making statements about the likelihood that a certain behavior will take place or relationship will occur Control behavior – making behavior happen or not happen – the goal of some psychologists: improving peoples’ quality of life

Modern psychology - beginnings Utilization of the tools of science – carefully controlled observation and experimentation applied to the study of humans Wilhelm Wundt established first formal psychology research laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879

Schools of thought in psychology Structuralism – structure of the minds – elements of the conscious thought; connections between elements and laws governing these connections; elementary experiences are organized into a whole Functionalism – what does the mind (or mental processes) accomplish e.g. what is their function ‘thinking is for doing’ William James: function of consciousness is to guide behavior that will help the organism adapt to the environment “Principles of Psychology” 1890

Schools of thought in psychology, cont. Behaviorism: observable behavior as a subject matter; Edward Thorndike’s cats Gestalt psychology: making connections; Max Wertheimer: complex mental experiences exist on its own; perception is composed not of elements but of structured forms Cognitive revolution: information processing

Psychological research process Initial observation, belief or knowledge Hypothesis Designing the study running the study, data analysis, comclusions report the findings follow-up studies

Quantitative and qualitative approaches to research Quantitative: methods that measure psychological processes through numbers, e.g. scores on anxiety inventory Qualitative: methods that measure psychological phenomena non-numerically e.g. from conversations, interviews, obesravtions of behavior naturalistically The choice of theses methods depends on the purpose of the study

Research process – selected terms Scientist’s biases: the distortion of evidence because of the personal motives and expectations of the viewer Standardization Operationalization Variable Independent variable Dependent variable

Survey research Correlational studies Causal data analysis Reliability Validity Inferences