Introduction To Psychology

At the end you will be able to answer the following questions: A B C D Why study Psychology? B What is Psychology? C What are the goals of Psychology? D

Who are we? What produces our thoughts? Our feelings? Our actions? How could we understand and manage those around us?

A) Why study Psychology? It helps you to understand yourself, why do you do things that you do? Understand your relationship with and reaction to other people. Understand the connection between your brain and your body. Better understand the world in which we live in.

B) What is Psychology? Psychology’s main concern: Observable behavior and inner thoughts and feelings. That’s why we define Psychology as: The Scientific study of behavior and mental process.

Scientific? Behavior? Mental processes? Prevent possible biases from leading to faulty observations. Precise and careful measurement. Behavior? Overt actions and reactions. Mental processes? Internal, covert activity of the mind.

C) What are the goals of Psychology? Description: What is happening? Explanation: Why is it happening? Prediction: Will it happen again? Control: How can it be changed?

Why psychology considered a science? Psychologists uses the empirical approach which means, their information is based on evidence gathered from experiments and careful observations.

The steps in using the scientific methods: Perceiving the question. Forming a hypothesis. Testing the hypothesis. Drawing conclusions. Report your results.

The Scientific Method

Descriptive Methods Naturalistic Observation Watch animals or humans behave in their normal environment Advantage: Realistic picture of behavior

Descriptive Methods Naturalistic Observation Disadvantages: Observer effect People or animals behave differently when they know they are being observed May reduce observer effect through participant observation

Descriptive Methods Naturalistic Observation Disadvantages: Observer bias Observers see what they expect to see May reduce observer bias through use of blind observers Each naturalistic setting is unique Observations may not hold

This researcher is studying the behavior of a group of lemurs This researcher is studying the behavior of a group of lemurs. Is this naturalistic observation? Why or why not? Photo credit: Cyril Ruoso/Photolibrary

Descriptive Methods Laboratory Observation Advantages: Watching animals or humans in a laboratory setting Advantages: Control over environment Allows use of specialized equipment Can lead to the development of hypotheses

Descriptive Methods Disadvantage: Artificial situation that may result in artificial behavior

The researcher in the foreground is watching the children through a one-way mirror to get a description of their behavior. Observations such as these are just one of many ways that psychologists have of investigating behavior. Why is it important for the researcher to be behind a one-way mirror? Photo credit Jeff Greenberg/The Image Works

Descriptive Methods Case study Study of one individual in great detail Advantages: Tremendous amount of detail Good for studying rare conditions Disadvantages: Cannot apply results easily to similar individuals Vulnerable to bias of researcher

Descriptive Methods Survey Researcher asks a series of questions about the topic under study Given to a representative sample Population Randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger group

Descriptive Methods Survey Advantages: Disadvantages: Data from large numbers of people Study covert behaviors Disadvantages: Have to ensure representative sample (or results not meaningful). People not always accurate (courtesy bias)

Finding Relationships Correlation Measure of the relationship between two variables Variable Anything that can change or vary

Features of the Experiment Experimental Group Receives the manipulation Control Group Not subjected to the independent variable Controls for other factors (confounds) that may affect the outcome

Ethics in Psychological Research Common ethical guidelines: Rights and well-being of participants must be weighed against the study’s value to science. Participants must be allowed to make an informed decision about participation. Deception must be justified. Participants may withdraw from the study at any time.

Ethics in Psychological Research Common ethical guidelines: Participants must be protected from risks or told explicitly of risks. Investigator must debrief participants, telling the true nature of the study and expectations of results. Data must remain confidential.

Ethics in Psychological Research Animal research Attempt to answer questions not obtainable with human research Avoid exposure to unnecessary pain or suffering Animals are used in approximately 7% of psychological studies

History Of Psychology German physiologist Wilhelm Wundt participates in an experiment in his laboratory as students look on. Courtesy of General Information Center

History Of Psychology: Wilhelm Wundt “The Father Of Psychology” Established first psychology laboratory Leipzig, Germany in 1879 Developed objective introspection Examine and measure personal thought and mental activities. - Structuralism and Functionalism

Structuralism Structuralism: An early school of Psychology. Explore the structure or basic elements of the mind. Edward Titchener used introspection to search for the mind structural elements.

Functionalism A school in Psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral process function. How do we Functions in the real world, How to adapt, live, work, and play Proposed by William James: function our thoughts and feelings Influenced modern fields: Educational psychology Evolutionary psychology Industrial/organizational psychology

Gestalt Psychology Gestalt Max Wertheimer German translated as “organized whole” Max Wertheimer Perception can only be understood as a complete event. Understanding patterns, whole figures

Figure 1.1 A Gestalt Perception The eye tends to “fill in” the blanks here and sees both of these figures as circles rather than as a series of dots or a broken line.

Psychoanalysis Developed by Sigmund Freud Trained as a physician Worked with patients with nervous disorders

Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud walks with his daughter Anna, also a psychoanalyst. © Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Psychoanalysis Main Ideas Unconscious (unaware) mind Where threatening impulses and desires are repressed Repressed urges create nervous disorders

LO 1.3 Early Gestalt, psychoanalysis, and behaviorism Freud’s concepts Stressed importance of early childhood experiences Formed the basis for modern therapy

Behaviorism Ivan Pavlov Russian physiologist Studied digestive processes Reflex can occur with new and unrelated stimulus Conditioned dogs to salivate to metronome

Physiologist Ivan Pavlov uses a dog to demonstrate the conditioned reflex to students at the Russian Military Medical Academy. © Bettmann/Corbis

Behaviorism John B. Watson Developed the “science of behavior” Psychology should focus on observable behavior Must be directly seen and measured Ignore notion of unconscious Believed phobias were learned through conditioning. Case of “Little Albert” Child conditioned to fear a white rat

American psychologist John Watson is known as the father of behaviorism. Behaviorism focuses only on observable behavior. Courtesy of Underwood & Underwood/Bettmann/Corbis

Modern Perspectives Behavioral perspective B. F. Skinner Developed theory of how voluntary behavior is learned Introduced concept or reinforcement Perspective was major force in the twentieth century

Behaviorist B. F. Skinner puts a rat through its paces Behaviorist B. F. Skinner puts a rat through its paces. What challenges might arise from applying information gained from studies with animals to human behavior? Courtesy of Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

Modern Perspectives Humanistic perspective People have free will to choose destiny Early contributors: Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers Self-actualization Achieving one’s full potential or actual self

Modern Perspectives Humanistic perspective Modern Humanism Used in psychotherapy Assists in self-understanding

Modern Perspectives Cognitive perspective Major force emerging in 1960’s Focus on memory, intelligence, perception, problem-solving, and learning. Cognitive neuroscience Physical workings of brain and nervous system Use imaging techniques MRI, PET

These scans show loss of gray matter in the brains of individuals with very early-onset, adolescent schizophrenia over a five-year period, highlighting one focus of the biological perspective. Courtesy of The University of California, Los Angeles

Modern Perspectives Sociocultural perspective Examines relationship between social behavior and culture

Types of Psychological Professionals Psychiatrist Medical doctor (M.D.) Specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders. Psychoanalyst Psychiatrist or a psychologist Special training in Freudian theory and psychoanalysis.

Types of Psychological Professionals Psychiatric social worker Social worker trained in therapy methods Focus on the environmental conditions impacting mental disorders Poverty, overcrowding, stress, and drug abuse.

Types of Psychological Professionals Psychologist Academic degree and specialized training in psychology Work in counseling, teaching, and research Specialization can include clinical, counseling, developmental, social, personality theory

Figure 1.2 Work Settings and Subfields of Psychology (a) There are many different work settings for psychologists. Although not obvious from the chart,many psychologists work in more than one setting. For example, a clinical psychologist may work in a hospital setting and teach at a university or college. (Tsapogas et al., 2006) (b) This pie chart shows the specialty areas of psychologists who recently received their doctorates. (Hoffer et al., 2007)

Critical Thinking Is making reasoned judgments about claims.

Critical Thinking Four Basic Criteria: There are very few “truths” that do not need to be subjected to testing. All evidence is not equal in quality. Just because someone is considered to be an authority or to have a lot of expertise does not make everything that person claims automatically true. Critical thinking requires an open mind.

Thank You!