1. Prologue: The Story of Psychology
“I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.”
Benedict Spinoza, A Political Treatise, 1677.
Psychology 7e in Modules

2. Prologue: The Story of Psychology
Psychology’s Roots
Prescientific Psychology
Psychological Science is Born
Psychological Science Develops
OBJECTIVE 1| Define psychology. To questions like, Who are we? From where come our thoughts? Our feelings? Our actions? Discipline of psychology comes to our aid. This discipline of psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Psychology 7e in Modules

3. Prologue: The Story of Psychology
Contemporary Psychology
Psychology’s Big Debate
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
Psychology’s Subfields
OBJECTIVE 1| Define psychology. To questions like, Who are we? From where come our thoughts? Our feelings? Our actions? Discipline of psychology comes to our aid. This discipline of psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Psychology 7e in Modules

4. Prescientific Psychology
Psychology’s Roots
Prescientific Psychology
OBJECTIVE 2| Trace psychology’s prescientific roots from, from early understandings of mind and body to the beginnings of modern science. Throughout human history thinkers have wondered: How do our minds work? How do our bodies relate to our minds? How much of what we know comes built in? How much is acquired through experience?
In India, Buddha wondered how sensations and perceptions combined to form ideas.
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5. Prescientific Psychology
Confucius ( B.C.)
home.tiscali.be/alain.ernotte/livre/confucius.jpg
In China, Confucius stressed the power of ideas and the importance of an educated mind.

6. Prescientific Psychology
Hebrew Scriptures
Hebrew scriptures in the Torah and Old Testament linked mind and emotion to the body.

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

8. Prescientific Psychology
Aristotle ( B.C.)
“The soul is not separable from the body, and the same holds good of particular parts of the soul.” Aristotle, De Anima, 350 B.C.
Aristotle suggested that the soul is not separable from the body and that knowledge (ideas) grow from experience.
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9. Prescientific Psychology
Rene Descartes ( )
Descartes like Plato believed the immaterial mind and physical body were separate but communicated in the brain at pineal gland. Animal spirits moved from the brain to act on the muscles and experiences lead the nerves to open up “pores” in the brain to form memories. Descartes was right about the nerves connecting the inside and the outside worlds but had no notion of how these nerves functioned.
Descartes, like Plato, believed in soul (mind)-body separation, but wondered how the immaterial mind and physical body communicated.
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10. Prescientific Psychology
Francis Bacon ( )
Bacon is one of the founders of modern science, particularly the experimental method.
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11. Prescientific Psychology
John Locke ( )
biografieonline.it/img/bio/John_Locke.jpg
Locke held that the mind was a tabula rasa, or blank sheet, at birth, and experiences wrote on it.
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12. Prescientific Psychology
What is the relation of mind to the body?
Mind and body are connected
Mind and body are distinct
The Hebrews
Socrates
Aristotle
Plato
Augustine
Descartes
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13. Prescientific Psychology
How are ideas formed?
Some ideas are inborn
The mind is a blank slate
Socrates
Aristotle
Plato
Locke
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14. Why were the times different?
1879: Wilhelm Wundt opens the world’s 1st psych lab in Germany. His first experiment measured the time it took for people to:
Push a button when a ball dropped (based on when they heard the ball hit a platform): 1/10th of a second.
Push a button when consciously aware of hearing the ball hit the platform: 2/10ths of a second.
Why were the times different?
Click to reveal two parts of experiment and again for the question.
Instructor: You could try to get discussion going on whether our conscious choice of pushing a button is just an illusion of choice that happens after the fact. However, the real issue is that the delay is caused by the time it takes, however small, to consciously form an idea that a sound has been heard. Still, you can use this to highlight the limited value of introspection… coming up next.

15. Psychological Science is Born
Psychology’s 1st School of Thought - Structuralism
Titchner ( )
Wundt ( )
OBJECTIVE 3| Explain how early psychologists sought to understand the mind’s structure and functions, and identify some of the leading psychologists who worked in these areas. Structuralism: Wundt and his student Titchner focused on the elements of mind, and studied it by using introspection (self-reflection). Wundt established the first laboratory of psychology in 1879 at Leipzig, Germany, and wrote the first textbook of psychology.
Wundt and his student E.B. Titchener relied on their subjects’ introspection (the self-reported sensations and other elements of an experience) in reaction to stimuli such as the smell or feel of a flower.
Psychology 7e in Modules

16. Psychological Science is Born
Psychology’s 1st School of Thought - Structuralism
Titchener ( )
Wundt ( )
OBJECTIVE 3| Explain how early psychologists sought to understand the mind’s structure and functions, and identify some of the leading psychologists who worked in these areas. Structuralism: Wundt and his student Titchner focused on the elements of mind, and studied it by using introspection (self-reflection). Wundt established the first laboratory of psychology in 1879 at Leipzig, Germany, and wrote the first textbook of psychology.
This “introspection” was the basis of the first psychological school of thought founded by Titchener known as Structuralism because he was searching for the “building blocks” (the structure) of consciousness.
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17. Psychological Science is Born
Psychology’s 2nd School of Thought - Functionalism
James ( )
Functionalism: James suggested that it would be more fruitful to consider the evolved functions of our thoughts and feelings than simply studying the elements of mind. Based on the theory of evolution, he suggested that the function of these thoughts and feelings was adaptive. James admitted the first woman student Mary Calkins to Harvard and tutored her. Despite his efforts she was not able to attain her PhD from Harvard.
Influenced by the work of Charles Darwin, William James studied human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and asked: What function might they serve? How might they have helped our ancestors survive?
He called his approach Functionalism.
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18. Psychological Science is Born
Structuralism Functionalism
Neither of these two “schools of thought” are used anymore, but they opened the door for many new psychological approaches in the 20th century.
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19. Trends in Psychological Science: Behaviorism
John B. Watson
By pairing a bunny with a loud noise, Watson taught a baby known as “Little Albert” to fear rabbits.
This is called
classical conditioning.
Skinner used operant conditioning to teach pigeons to do amazing things to get rewards.
He later wrote about how human communities could be shaped by this method .
B. F. Skinner
Click to reveal information about Watson and then Skinner.
You can remind your students that we will be learning more about behaviorist study of human behavior in Chapter 7 on Learning.

20. Trends in Psychology: Freudian/Psychoanalytic Psychology
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis, (late 1800’s):
He studied and helped people with a variety of mental disorders.
His school of study and treatment focused on the role of unconscious drives, wishes, and needs, and emphasized the importance of childhood experiences.
Click to reveal more information about Freud.
Instructor: you could mention that there will be more info on these later in the course, both in the study of personality and the study of psychotherapy.

21. Trends in Psychology: Humanism Humanists: Abraham Maslow
and Carl Rogers (1960s):
studied people who were thriving rather than those who had psychological problems.
developed theories and treatments to help people to feel accepted and to reach their full potential.
Click to reveal more information about Maslow and Rogers.
Instructor: you could mention that there will be more info on these later in the course, both in the study of personality and the study of psychotherapy.
Carl Rogers

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

23. Psychology’s Big Debate
Nature versus Nurture
Darwin ( )
OBJECTIVE 5| Summarize the nature-nurture debate in psychology, and describe the principle of natural selection.
Charles Darwin stated that nature selects those that best enable the organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
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24. The Big Issue in Psychology:
The Question Nature or Nurture?
To what extent are our traits already set at birth? (our Nature)
To what extent do our traits develop in response to our environment and experiences?
(our Nurture)
Click to reveal text.

25. We have differences that are shaped by our environment
We share a common origin that gives us an inborn human nature in common.
We have differences that are shaped by our environment
Nature
Nurture +
Click to reveal the new nature and nurture bubbles.
This interplay of nature and nurture may be more complex in humans than any other species.
Another way of looking at this, suggested in the text: Behaviors can be seen as “pushed” (constrained, really) by biology, and “pulled” (influenced) by the environment.

26. “Nurture works on what Nature endows.”
No animation.
“Nurture works on what Nature endows.”

27. Psychological Associations & Societies
The American Psychological Association (A.P.A.) is the largest organization of psychology with 160,000 members world-wide, followed by the British Psychological Society with 34,000 members.

28. Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis: Bio-Psycho-Social
OBJECTIVE 6| Identify the three main levels of analysis in the biopsychosocial approach, and explain why psychology’s varied perspectives are complementary. Biopsychosocial approach considers the influence of biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors on behavior. Each approach provides an incomplete explanation of behaviors.
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29. Seven Psychological Perspectives.
Many of the “trends” we looked at earlier became
full-fledged methods of dissecting psychological issues and are still used today. We now call them the
Seven Psychological Perspectives.
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30. Cognitive Perspective
There are many perspectives for describing psychological phenomena:
From different angles, you ask different questions:
Cognitive Perspective
Social-Cultural
Behavioral Genetics
Neuroscience
Psychodynamic
Behaviorist
Evolutionary
How reliable is memory?
How can we improve our thinking?
Could our behavior, skills, and attitudes be “downloads” from our culture?
Could our behavior, skills, and attitudes be genetically programmed instincts?
What role do our bodies & brains play in emotions? How is pain inhibited?
Can we trust our senses?
Click to reveal each box of questions.
Do inner childhood conflicts still plague me and affect my behavior?
How are our problematic behaviors reinforced? How do our fears become conditioned?
What can we do to change these fears & behaviors?
Why are humans prone to panic, anger, and making irrational judgments?

31. Let’s play: “What’s my perspective?”
“Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a problem in the orbital cortex.”
“Compulsions start as habits and are rewarded by the anxiety relief they bring.”
“No, it’s a sign of unresolved childhood issues.”
“OCD comes from our natural instinct to control our environment.”
“No, OCD is an inherited condition.”
Automatic animation.
Instructor: This would be “The Seven Psychologists and the client with OCD.”
Ask the students if they can identify the perspective used in making the comments.
I have created a different example than the “anger” one found in the book.
I have color-coded the statements so students can call out suggestions by color, “the orange one is…”
The answers: Orange: Neuroscience, Magenta: Psychodynamic, Blue: Behavior Genetics, Black: Behaviorist, Brown: Evolutionary, Gray: Social-Cultural, Green: Cognitive.
“OCD thinking and behavior is a reaction to our fast-paced, out-of-control lifestyles.”
“No, OCD is a matter of mental habits and errors that can be corrected.”

32. Psychology’s Subfields
Basic Research
Biological
Developmental
Cognitive
Personality
Social
Positive Psychology
Applied Research
Clinical Psychology
Counseling Psychology
Educational Psychology
Industrial-Organizational
Community Psychology
No animation.
Instructor: This slide lists categories that are covered in more depth in the next two slides.

33. Psychology’s Subfields Research Examples
Basic Research
Biological
Developmental
Cognitive
Personality
Social
Positive Psychology
Explore the structural problems in the brain that may be part of autism
Study how the stages of cognitive and emotional development vary in autism
Clarify the difficulties autistic children have with understanding sarcasm
Decide whether traits like neuroticism need to be measured differently in autism
Click to reveal an example for each type of research.
Find how autistic children can learn social skills as procedures if not by intuition
Explore what motivates people and contributes to life satisfaction

34. Psychology’s Subfields Research Examples
Applied
Clinical Psychology
Counseling Psychology
Educational Psychology
Industrial-Organizational
Community Psychology
Use exposure therapy to decrease phobic reactions in a traumatized client
Help someone achieve career goals despite family conflict and self-doubt
Evaluate aptitudes and achievement to plan for a student with learning problems
Figure out how a factory can improve coordination of tasks, roles, and personalities
Click to reveal an example of each type of applied psychology.
Instructor: This slide lists categories that are covered in more depth in the next two slides.
Help coordinate a city’s efforts to understand and prevent elder abuse
Use exposure therapy to decrease phobic reactions in a traumatized client

35. Psychology in context with other professions
Psychiatrists are physicians, M.D.s or D.O.s. They can prescribe medication.
In addition to psychologists, professionals in social work, counseling, and marriage and family therapy may be trained to do psychotherapy.
Click to reveal two bubbles.
Instructor: Below is the content of this slide in more detail, for your lecture/discussion:
Psychiatrists are physicians, M.D.s or D.O.s. Unlike psychologists in most states, psychiatrists can prescribe medication.
In addition to psychologists, the marriage and family therapy, counseling, and social work professions include people with a Master’s degree who can diagnose and treat mental disorders, although they are usually not trained to do intelligence testing.

36. First Application of Psychology: Improving your test performance
Scientific studies show us that:
Testing yourself boosts retention of material.
The retrieval practice effect/testing effect
Actively processing material helps master it.
Put it in your own words, make connections
Distributed Practice – studying over time is always more efficient than cramming.
Click to reveal each study result and advice that goes with it.
Spread studying over multiple days
Overlearn the material. Repetition is key.
If the concept “looks familiar” – that’s not good enough

37. Applying this knowledge: Use SQ3R to master a textbook
Survey
Scan/Skim what you are about to read, especially chapter outlines and section headings.
Question
Ask questions that the text might answer; write guesses.
Read
Look for the answer to your questions, reading a manageable amount at a time.
Click to reveal explantion of each step.
4th, Bonus “R”: wRiting new concepts, answers, reactions, connections.
Rehearse
Recall what you’ve read in your own words. Test yourself with quizzes.
Review
Look over text and notes - quickly review the main ideas of the whole chapter.