What is an empirical science? It is a science based on observation and experimentation

Who was Wilhelm Wundt? He is called the father of psychology. He founded the first psychology laboratory He used introspection whereby people examined their inner thoughts and feelings and reported them in response to various stimuli.

Joseph Ball was around the age of forty when he committed several acts of murder. Ball would choose his victims from the wait staff at his restaurant in Texas. He would then dismember them and feed them to the alligators that he kept behind the restaurant Explain why you think he might have done this. Give more plausible and detailed reasons than “he was crazy.”

Perspectives of Psychology Psychologists analyzed people’s problems according to different perspectives of psychology. They include:

Neuroscience: How do the body and brain influence how we feel, how we think, and what we sense? Body + Brain = how we think and act.

What, in our body and brain, could influence how we behave and think? Blood chemistry Brain injury (lesion) Chemicals in our brain Physical trauma of any sort Gut bacteria

What is a weakness of only focusing on the body and brain as the sole cause of all our thoughts and actions? What else can influence how we think and act? Social influence Ignores how our thinking styles affect us

Evolutionary Looks at how evolution affects our behavior Hmm…maybe I like to socialize because being in a group helped humans survive danger and hunt, hmm…

How might an evolutionary psychologists explain.. 1.Why men focus more on physical attractiveness in finding a partner and women more on strength and social status? 2.Why humans dislike bitter food. 3.Why people cheat on a partner.

Psychodynamic How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts.

What is a weakness of this perspective? No proof!

Behavioral How we learn observable responses In other words what makes us learn to do the things we do – Why might someone who was in war cringe at a loud noise? What taught them to do this? – How can you teach a dog to perform a trick-what makes him learn it? – What made you learn that it is a good idea to study for a test?

This perspective believes our environment entirely shapes how we think and act. Nothing is self-generated. If I had your life experiences, I would be you! There is no free will. The environment programs us.

Cognitive How we encode, process, store and retrieve information. Looks at how we: – Think – Remember – Solve problems/intelligence

Social-cultural How does our behavior vary across different social situations and cultures? In other words how does our social world affect how we think and act? How might our family structure differ from another culture’s, for ex., and how does that affect us? How do gender roles differ in various cultures, for ex., and how does that affect how men and women behave in those cultures?

Humanistic The humanistic perspective maintains that every human’s ultimate goal is to reach their maximum personal potential. It also stresses that humans have the free will to choose our actions and solve our problems

Table 1 Myers: Psychology, Eighth Edition Copyright © 2007 by Worth Publishers

Dr. Marco explains to a client that his feelings of hostility toward a coworker are most likely cause by the way he interprets his coworker’s actions and the way he thinks people should behave at work. Which perspective is Dr. Marco working from?

How might a cognitive and behavioral psychologist disagree about the causes of violent behavior?

Which perspective would explain anger as an outlet for unconscious hostility?

Which of the following perspectives emphasizes observable responses over inner experiences when accounting for behavior? A. behaviorist B. Cognitive C. Existentialist D. Psychodynamic E. Structuralist