1. Chapter 1: Introducing Psychology Section 1: Why Study Psychology

2. Physiological Needs- physical needs Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs

3. Cognitive Having to do with thinking and understanding – Private, unobservable

4. Gaining insight into behavior Why do people act the way they do – Why are teachers grumpy some days and happy others? – Why do some kids pick on other kids?

5. Acquiring Practical Information Psychology can be used in every day life – Shaping to train dogs (and kids) Reinforcement of behavior – Mnemonic devices Memory aids – Understanding difficult times in your own life Ross’ stages of grief when losing a loved one

6. Why you overreact What physiological reasons could cause an overreaction? – Being tired – Chemical reasons (caffeine) Cognitive reasons? – Stress

7. Overview of Psychology Psychology- the study of behavior and mental processes – Involves humans and animals Covers everything people feel, think, and do – Studying behavior vs. studying thought processes What are advantages, disadvantages of each?

8. The Goals of Psychology Description- describe behavior, gather information Explanation- why did they exhibit that behavior – Hypothesis- educated guess – Theory- based on findings from experiments Prediction- how will they behave in the future? – Why is this important?

9. The Goals of Psychology (cont.) Influence- some seek to influence behavior in a helpful way – Examples? Stop smoking Weight loss Better self esteem Dealing with grief