1. Interactive lecture Jolanta Babiak Winter semester 2017/2018
Psychology
Interactive lecture
Jolanta Babiak
Winter semester 2017/2018

2. Maximum number of points to gain 40
Grading
Content
Points
Test 1 50
Test 2
Make-up test
Maximum number of points to gain 40
Participation
Up to 10 points

3. Grading Less than 60 Failing (2) Points’ threshold grade 60-70
Satisfctory (3)
71-75
Satisfactory+ (3+)
76-84
Good (4)
85-92
Good + (4+)
Very good (5)

4. Content of lectures Introduction to the science of Psychology
Sensation and perception
Mind and consciousness
Memory and Learning
Behavioral processes: needs and motivation
Emotions as regulatory processes
Deprivation, frustration and stress
Human personality and temperament / test 1
Human personality and temperament cont.
Cognitive processes and intelligence
Cognitive processes and problem solving
Creative thinking
Social environment: group processes/ test 2
Social competences and emotional intelligence/ make-up test

5. Assigned readings
Gerrig R.J. (2012). Psychology and Life, London, Pearson Education, Ltd. –

6. Assigned Reading for lecture 1
Gerrig R.J. (2012). Psychology and Life, London, Pearson Education, Ltd. – chapter 1 and 2

7. Whenever she is stressed out she overeats
Why do I feel fearful in the presence of my brother-in-law?
I don’t remember anything from berfore my accedint
She is very intelligent
I am always waiting until last moment to start working on my tasks
He is understanding and empathetic towards his employees
I love bungee jumping
How to overcome fear of public speaking?

8. Psychology
Scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes
Mental processes: the workings of the human mind like thinking, planning, reasoning, remembering, creating, dreaming
Psychology draws from social sciences: sociology, anthropology; biological sciences – studies of brain processes and biochemical bases of behavior; cognitive science, health science

9. Psychology
Scientific: psychological research is conducted according to specific standards
Behavior: the means by which organisms adjust to environments: social or cultural contexts
Individual: subject of psychological analysis (in a natural habitat or controlled conditions: laboratory)

10. Psychology as a coalition of specialities
Scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes
Psychology as a coalition of specialities
Abnormal psychology
Behavior genetics
Clinical psychology
Cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive psychology
Community psychology
Consumer psychology
Counselling psychology

11. Psychology as a coalition of specialities, cont.
Cross-cultural psychology
Developmental psychology
Environmental psychology
Forensic and criminological psychology
Health psychology
Mathematical psychology
Organizational psychology
Personality psychology
Social psychology
Sports psychology

12. What holds psychology as a discipline together?
Biological bases of behavior
Cognitive and affective processes
Developmental processes
Social bases of behavior

13. The goals of psychology
Describe behavior – accurate observations about behavior: data e.g. interviews, questionnaires
Explain behavior – how behavior works: e.g. what conditions lead people to great acts of heroism? Why do some people fear public speaking? – understanding combination of factors
Predict behavior – making statements about the likelihood that a certain behavior will take place or relationship will occur
Control behavior – making behavior happen or not happen – the goal of some psychologists: improving peoples’ quality of life

14. Modern psychology - beginnings
Utilization of the tools of science – carefully controlled observation and experimentation applied to the study of humans
Wilhelm Wundt established first formal psychology research laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879

15. Schools of thought in psychology
Structuralism – structure of the minds – elements of the conscious thought; connections between elements and laws governing these connections; elementary experiences are organized into a whole
Functionalism – what does the mind (or mental processes) accomplish e.g. what is their function ‘thinking is for doing’
William James: function of consciousness is to guide behavior that will help the organism adapt to the environment “Principles of Psychology” 1890

16. Schools of thought in psychology, cont.
Behaviorism: observable behavior as a subject matter; Edward Thorndike’s cats
Gestalt psychology: making connections; Max Wertheimer: complex mental experiences exist on its own; perception is composed not of elements but of structured forms
Cognitive revolution: information processing

17. Psychological research process
Initial observation, belief or knowledge
Hypothesis
Designing the study
running the study, data analysis, comclusions
report the findings
follow-up studies

18. Quantitative and qualitative approaches to research
Quantitative: methods that measure psychological processes through numbers, e.g. scores on anxiety inventory
Qualitative: methods that measure psychological phenomena non-numerically e.g. from conversations, interviews, obesravtions of behavior naturalistically
The choice of theses methods depends on the purpose of the study

19. Research process – selected terms
Scientist’s biases: the distortion of evidence because of the personal motives and expectations of the viewer
Standardization
Operationalization
Variable
Independent variable
Dependent variable

20. Survey research Correlational studies Causal data analysis Reliability
Validity
Inferences