1 PSYCHOLOGY (8th Edition) David Myers PowerPoint Slides Aneeq Ahmad Henderson State University Worth Publishers, © 2006

2 Prologue: The Story of Psychology Psychology’s Roots  Prescientific Psychology  Psychological Science is Born  Psychological Science Develops

3 Prologue: The Story of Psychology Contemporary Psychology  Psychology’s Big Debate  Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis  Psychology’s Subfields

4 Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Why we think, feel and act the way we do.

5 Psychology’s Roots Pre-scientific Psychology In India, Buddha wondered how sensations and perceptions combined to form ideas.

6 Pre-scientific Psychology Confucius ( B.C.) In China, Confucius stressed the power of ideas and the importance of an educated mind. home.tiscali.be/alain.ernotte/livre/confucius.jpg

7 Pre-scientific Psychology Hebrew Scriptures Hebrew scriptures linked mind and emotion to the body.

8 Pre-scientific Psychology Socrates ( B.C.) and Plato ( B.C.) Socrates and his student Plato believed the mind was separate from the body, the mind continued to exist after death, and ideas were innate. Socrates Plato

9 Pre-scientific Psychology Aristotle ( B.C.) Aristotle suggested that the soul is not separable from the body and that knowledge (ideas) grow from experience.

10 Pre-scientific Psychology John Locke ( ) English philosopher, John Locke held that the mind was a tabula rasa, or blank sheet, at birth, and our experiences are written on it as we go through life. biografieonline.it/img/bio/John_Locke.jpg

11 Pre-scientific Psychology Francis Bacon ( ) Francis Bacon, an English philosopher, helped innovate the scientific method, which was influential in laying the groundwork for research as the best way to prove, or disprove a hypothesis.

12 Pre-scientific Psychology Rene Descartes ( ) Descartes, like Plato, believed in soul (mind)-body separation, but wondered how the immaterial mind and physical body communicated. acerad.com

Empiricism The concept that knowledge is gained through the experiences of the senses; and science flourishes through observation and experimentation. Bacon’s concepts were the impetus for these ideas 13

14 The English scientist, Charles Darwin, influenced psychology by introducing the concept of natural selection. Nature chooses the traits and characteristics that help the species survive and pass on their genes into the future. This thought later inspired the functionalists to explain behavior through evolutionary concepts. Natural Selection

15 Pre-scientific Psychology Mind and body are connected Mind and body are distinct The HebrewsSocrates AristotlePlato AugustineDescartes What is the relation of mind to the body?

16 Pre-scientific Psychology Some ideas are inborn The mind is a blank slate SocratesAristotle PlatoLocke How are ideas formed?

17 Psychological Science is Born Structuralism: Emphasized that personality is the result of the structure (parts) of the individual. Titchner used introspection, having his students and patients report the basic concepts that they experienced Wilhelm Wundt, the father of Psychology, and Edward Titchener, Wundt’s student, studied the elements (atoms) of the mind by conducting experiments at Leipzig, Germany, in Wundt ( ) Titchner ( )

18 Psychological Science is Born Functionalism: A governing concept of psychology which rose up in opposition to structuralism. The functionalists stressed that personality resulted from the function of the individual Influenced by Darwin, William James, established psychology in the U.S., and wrote the textbook, The Principles of Psychology. James ( ) Mary Calkins

19 Psychological Science is Born The Unconscious Mind G. Stanley Hall founded the American Journal of Psychology, in Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov used the behaviorist technique of classical conditioning (training an organism to react in a certain way to a stimuli) to conclude that only the actions which can be observed are important. Sigmund Freud and his followers emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind and its effects on human behavior. Freud ( )

20 Psychological Science Develops Jean Piaget, a Swiss doctor, was the most influential developmental psychologist. He formulated the Stages of Psychosocial Development: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational and Formal Operational. J.B. Watson and later B.F. Skinner emphasized the study of overt behavior as the subject matter of scientific psychology. Skinner’s concept of operant conditioning demonstrated that people repeat the behaviors that produce rewards. Watson ( ) Skinner

21 Psychological Associations & Societies Mary Calkins, a student of William James, was the first woman to complete the work for a PhD in Psychology, and later became the first female president of the APA. The American Psychological Association is the largest organization of psychologists, with 160,000 members world-wide.

22 Psychological Science Develops Humanistic Psychology Margaret Washburn was the first female to actually receive a PhD in Psychology, and the second female president of the American Psychological Association. American psychologists, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers emphasized current environmental influences on our growth potential and our need for love and acceptance. Maslow ( ) Rogers ( )

23 Psychology Today We define psychology today as the scientific study of behavior (what we do/our actions) and mental processes (inner thoughts and feelings).

24 Levels of Analysis Methods that seek to explain the behavior or mental process. The biopsychosocial approach utilizes all three LOA’s in order to compile a comprehensive explanation

25 Perspectives The ways that psychologists classify and organize collections of ideas. PerspectiveFocusSample Questions Neuroscience/BioHow the body and brain enables emotions? How are messages transmitted in the body? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives? EvolutionaryHow the natural selection of traits the promotes the perpetuation of one’s genes? How does evolution influence behavior tendencies? Behavior GeneticsHow much our genes and our environments interact to influence our individual differences? To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment?

26 Psychology’s Current Perspectives PerspectiveFocusSample Questions BehavioralHow we learn observable responses? How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking? CognitiveHow we encode, process, store and retrieve information? How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Problem solving?

27 Psychology’s Current Perspectives PerspectiveFocusSample Questions Social-CulturalHow behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures? How are we — as Africans, Asians, Australians or North Americans – alike as members of human family? As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ? PsychodynamicHow behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts? How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas?

28 Perspectives (con’t) Humanistic How healthy people Fulfilling the needs strive to reach theirat each level of full potentialMaslow’s Hierarchy allows the individual to reach their full potential

29 Psychology’s Big Debate Stability vrs Change - People, and their behavior, remain generally the same (stable) over time; or their thoughts, feelings and actions change depending on the environment as they age. Rationality vrs Irrationality – Rational thinking is based on facts and logic. Irrational thinking relies more on intuition, feeling or hunches. Nature vrs Nurture – Are personality and behavior influenced more by biology (nature) or by environment (nurture)?

30 Basic Research – Psychologists who experiment and gather data in order to advance psychological knowledge PsychologistWhat they do Biological Explore the links between brain and behavior. Developmental Study changing abilities from womb to tomb. Cognitive Study how we perceive, think, and solve problems. Personality Investigate our persistent traits. Social Explore how we view and affect one another.

31 Psychology’s Subfields: Research Data: APA 1997

32 Applied Research – Taking the empirical data from the basic research and putting it into practice in a clinical (therapy) setting PsychologistWhat they do Clinical Studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders Counseling Helps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges. Educational Studies and helps individuals in school and educational settings Industrial/ Organizational Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace.

33 Psychology’s Subfields: Applied Data: APA 1997

34 A clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with psychotherapy. Psychiatrists are medical professionals (M.D.) who use treatments like drugs and psychotherapy to treat psychologically diseased patients. They are allowed to prescribe medications. Clinical Psychology vs. Psychiatry