Please pick up papers from the back table Welcome To Psychology! Please pick up papers from the back table

Introductions. Mindful Moment Syllabus in the back PHONE JAIL ABSENCE POLICY/LATE WORK/MAKE-UPS GRADING AND ASSESMENTS

Our Jobs MY JOB AS A STUDENT MY JOB AS A TEACHER NOT MY JOB AS A STUDENT NOT MY JOB AS A TEACHER

What do I want you to take away from this class? Mindfulness. Knowing yourself. What Motivates you? Why do YOU do the things that YOU do? Awareness. Look at the people around you. What motivates THEM? Why do THEY do the things that THEY do? Thoughtfulness. Use your mindfulness and awareness to better understand others.

What is Psychology? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo4pMVb0R6M Psychology is a science. WAIT WAIT I thought this was a social studies class!?!?!? Well, psychology is a SOCIAL science It deals with the structure of human society and interactions of individuals who make up society.

Astrology (No not astronomy) Astrology is the idea that the constellation in the sky above you when you were born has an effect on your personality. Let’s read through some of these traits! Raise your hand if this sounds like you

Sample Horoscopes: What’s wrong with this picture? Are these paragraphs a totally accurate portrayal of your character?

Areas of Specialization Clinical – the largest group – treat psychological problems Counseling – treat adjustment problems School – deal with students who have problems that interfere with learning Educational Psychologist – focus on course planning and instructional methods

Areas of Specialization (cont.) Personality Psychologist – identify characteristics or traits Social Psychologist – concerned with people’s behavior in social situations Experimental Psychologist – conduct research into basic processes

Areas of Specialization (more.) Industrial and Organizational Psychologist – focus on people in work and business Environmental Psychologist – focus on ways in which people influence and are influenced by physical environment Consumer Psychologist – study the behavior of shoppers to explain and predict behavior

Areas of Specialization (MORE) Forensic Psychologist – are concerned with how psychological problems give rise to criminal behavior Health Psychologist – study the ways in which behavior and mental processes are related to physical health

How did Psychology come about?

A Change in Perspective For hundreds of years medieval Christian churches felt the human mind, like God, was an unsolvable mystery. Rene Descartes argued that human sensations and behaviors were based on activity in the nervous system. Rene Descartes 1596-1650

Psychology Becomes a Science 200 years later, in the mid 1800’s, psychology became a recognized science!

Modern Psychology Rooted in History Modern psychology developed from several conflicting ideas including structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, reinforcement, and psychoanalysis.

Structuralism Wilhelm Wundt (Voont) was the first to declare himself a psychologist. Believed in structuralism. Wilhelm Wundt 1832-1929

Structuralists- concerned with discovering the basic elements of consciousness. Broken down into 2 parts Objective sensations. (taste, sight) things most can experience. Subjective feelings. (emotional responses and mental images) things only you can see. Structuralism: Relies on introspection, or the process of reporting your own conscious mental experiences. You can experience an apple objectively by observing its shape, color, texture, and taste. You can also experience the apple subjectively by remembering how good it feels to bite into it.

Functionalism William James Disputed and refuted structuralism the first U.S. psychologist believed that psychology should look at function and not just structure. William James 1842-1910

You think about how and why something is used, not it’s parts Functionalism- A theory about functions of consciousness and the ways consciousness helps people adapt to their environment. Experience is a stream of consciousness. Mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment. You think about how and why something is used, not it’s parts We repeat actions which become habits. But habits must begin by giving our full attention to learn it to begin with. (riding a bike, opening a door, typing on a keyboard)

Gestalt Psychology Gestalt psychology was the opposite of structuralism. The larger picture will be seen before its component parts Gestalt psychology looked at how the brain works by studying perception and perceptual thinking. Ex. Recognizing a person’s face.

Behaviorism John B. Watson Psychology should only deal with observable events: stimuli from the environment and the organism’s response to that stimuli. Thought of the mind as a black box which could not be opened or understood. If we can’t understand it, we shouldn’t try to guess what role it has in our actions.

Reinforcement B.F. Skinner Showed that when an animal is reinforced (rewarded) for doing something then it’s more likely to do it again in the future. He used rats and pigeons. Called Operant Conditioning Today: Dogs, circus lions, kids, etc… Can teach animals to push buttons, turn in circles, climb ladders, push toys across the floor, and even shoot baskets.

Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud Mental disorders result from conflicts of the unconscious mind Behavior comes from conflicts and experience in which we may have no memory. Sigmund Freud 1856-1939

Freud’s Psychoanalysis Freud says the mind is like a mental boiler which holds the rising pressure of unconscious sexual and destructive desires, along with memories of traumatic events. Ex. Oedipus

Freud’s Free Association Patients recline and talk about thoughts, wishes, memories dreams, or whatever else comes to mind. The analyst interprets the thoughts. Believed that dreams were the “royal road to the unconscious”