1. 1
What is
Psychology?

2. What Is Psychology?
The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external environment
Symbolized with a 

3. Psychology vs. Psychobabble LO1
Psychology vs. Psychobabble LO1.1 How psychology differs from pseudoscience, and opinion
Psychobabble
Promises easy fixes to life’s problems
Claims not backed up by evidence
Offers vague answers that can be interpreted different ways
Scientific Psychology
more complex, informative, and helpful
Empirical
Relys on evidence gathered by careful observation, experimentation, or measurement

4. Psychology vs. Psychobabble LO1
Psychology vs. Psychobabble LO1.1 How psychology differs from pseudoscience, and opinion
Psychobabble exists because
Gives sense of control
Confirms existing beliefs
Scientific Psychology
Challenges existing beliefs

5. Thinking Critically and Creatively LO1
Thinking Critically and Creatively LO1.2 Define critical thinking and give an example
Critical thinking
Ability and willingness to assess claims and make judgments on the basis of evidence
Will help you distinguish science from psychobabble
Example: Supporting your opinion of a car with evidence of the car’s reliability, mileage, and safety record.

6. Critical Thinking Guidelines LO1
Critical Thinking Guidelines LO1.3 Critical thinking guidelines and how they apply to psychology
Ask Questions
Define clear terms
Examine evidence
Analyze assumptions
Avoid emotional reasoning
Don’t oversimplify
Consider other interpretations
Tolerate uncertainty

7. Apply What You Know LO1.3 Critical thinking guidelines and how they apply to psychology
Because we have never been visited by extraterrestrials, and have had no communication from outer space, we can safely assume that intelligent life exists only on our own planet.
Violates critical thinking guidelines
Does not violate critical thinking guidelines

8. Apply What You Know LO1.3 Critical thinking guidelines and how they apply to psychology
It is pretty obvious that smoking marijuana causes people to crave more potent drugs, such as cocaine or heroine. Statistics show that almost all the people who become addicted to drugs smoked marijuana before they began using more potent drugs.
Violates critical thinking guidelines
Does not violate critical thinking guidelines

9. Apply What You Know LO1.3 Critical thinking guidelines and how they apply to psychology
You’re either for us or against us.
Violates critical thinking guidelines
Does not violate critical thinking guidelines

10. Psychology’s Past
Early thinkers, like modern psychologists, wanted to describe, predict, understand, and modify behavior
Unlike modern psychologists, did not rely on evidence
Phrenology – Greek for “study of the mind.”

11. Birth of Modern Psychology LO1.4 The first psychological laboratory
Officially established in Leipzig, Germany, by Wilhelm Wundt.
Established in 1879

12. Birth of Modern Psychology LO1.4 The first psychological laboratory
Trained introspection
Research method
Individuals observe, analyze, and describe their own sensations, mental images, and emotional reactions

13. Structuralism LO1.5 Three early psychologies: structuralism, functionalism, and psychoanalysis
Early psychological approach
Emphasized analysis of immediate experience into basic elements
Interested in what happens
Popularized by E.B. Titchener

14. Psychoanalysis LO1.5 Three early psychologies: structuralism, functionalism, and psychoanalysis
Theory of personality and method of psychotherapy
Originally formulated by Sigmund Freud
Emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts
The Interpretation of Dreams
Freud’s first book

15. Your turn LO1.5 Three early psychologies: structuralism, functionalism, and psychoanalysis
The first field of psychology to ask why people have consciousness was:
1. Behaviorism
2. Structuralism
3. Psychoanalysis
4. Functionalism

16. The Biological Perspective LO1.6 Four major perspectives in psychology
Emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts
Know our bodies to know ourselves
Involves
Hormones
Brain chemistry
Heredity
Evolutionary influences

17. The Learning Perspective LO1.6 Four major perspectives in psychology
Emphasizes how environment and experience affect a person’s or animal’s actions
Involves
Behaviorism
Observe and measure
Social-cognitive learning theories
Combine behavior with thoughts, values, expectations, and intentions

18. The Sociocultural Perspective LO1
The Sociocultural Perspective LO1.6 Four major perspectives in psychology
Psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behavior
Involves
Social psychology, or the study of rules, roles, groups, and relationships
Cultural psychology, or the study of cultural norms, values, and expectations

19. Feminist psychology
Analyzes the influence of social inequities on gender relations and on the behavior of the two sexes
Recognized years of male bias in data collection and psychotherapy
Questions the use of research in justifying women’s lower status or elevating women’s status (female bias)

20. What psychologists do LO1
What psychologists do LO1.7 Basic psychology and applied psychology examples
Teach and conduct research in colleges/universities
Provide health or mental health services
Conduct research or apply finding in nonacademic settings

21. Basic and Applied Psychology LO1
Basic and Applied Psychology LO1.7 Basic psychology and applied psychology examples
Basic psychology
The study of psychological issues for the sake of knowledge rather than for its practical application.
Example: “pure research”
Applied psychology
The study of psychological issues that have direct practical significance; also the application of psychological findings.
Example: practical uses of knowledge

22. Basic and Applied Psychology LO1
Basic and Applied Psychology LO1.7 Basic psychology and applied psychology examples
Basic psychology
The study of psychological issues for the sake of knowledge rather than for its practical application.
Example: “pure research”
Applied psychology
The study of psychological issues that have direct practical significance; also the application of psychological findings.
Example: practical uses of knowledge

23. Psychological Research LO1
Psychological Research LO1.8 Summarize research psychologists might conduct
Experimental psychologists conduct laboratory studies
Educational psychologists study psychological principles that explain learning
Developmental psychologists study how people change and grow over time
Industrial/organizational psychologists study behavior in the workplace
Psychometric psychologists design and evaluate tests

24. Psychological Practice LO1
Psychological Practice LO1.9 Compare different psychological practitioners
Counseling psychologists help people deal with problems associated with everyday life.
School psychologists work with parents, teachers, and students to enhance student performance.
Clinical psychologists diagnose, treat, and study mental or emotional problems.

25. Clinical psychologists are not… LO1
Clinical psychologists are not… LO1.9 Compare different psychological practitioners
Psychotherapists
Anyone who does any type of psychotherapy
Psychoanalysts
Individuals who practice one particular form of therapy
Psychiatrists
Medical doctors who diagnose and treat mental disorders

26. Psychology in the Community LO1
Psychology in the Community LO1.10 How psychologists contribute to their communities
Advise utility companies on getting customers to conserve energy
Consult with companies to improve worker satisfaction and productivity
Establish programs to improve race relations
Basic and applied research on ways of reducing conflict

27. Psychology in the Community LO1
Psychology in the Community LO1.10 How psychologists contribute to their communities
Understand and prevent acts of terrorism
Advise commissions on how pollution and noise affect mental health
Rehabilitation training for people with disabilities
Educate judges about eyewitness testimony
Assist police in emergencies