1. U1C1 What is Psychology?
Psychology

2. Main Idea
Originating in ancient times, psychology is a science consisting of many different fields that study human behavior and mental processes

3. Essential Question What is psychology? What do psychologists do?
How have psychological theories and practices changed over time?
What are some contemporary perspectives on psychology?

4. 1.1 Why Study Psychology?
Psychology is a science. Like other scientists, psychologists seek to explain and control behavior and mental processes and test their ideas through research methods
Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes
behavior is any action that people can observe or measure
cognitive activities are mental processes, including dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories
psychologists study people’s emotions, or feelings; emotions can affect both behavior and mental processes, for example, you might experience anxiety when you think about presenting a report in front of your class, your heart activity is an example behavior, but your thoughts about presenting the report are private mental processes

5. Goals of Psychology
Like scientists, who seek to observe, describe, explain, predict and control the events they study, psychologists observe and describe behavior and mental processes to better understand them
Goals of Psychology: behavior, mental processes, research
behavior example: Alex Rodriquez performs poorly during baseball playoff games, sometimes loses his cool; sports psychologists explain the behavior in terms of feelings of anxiety and the distractions that hinder the athletes’ performance, in other words, too much anxiety is harmful
mental processes example: controlling behavior by using mental processes such as positive visualization (imagining themselves in a critical game situation
research example: steps including conducting surveys and experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing logical conclusions

6. Psychology as a Science
theory: a statement that attempts to explain why things are the way they are and why they happen the way they do; psychological theories discuss principles that govern behavior and mental processes; for example a theory about fatigue will help predict when people will or will not sleep principle: a basic truth or law, such as the assumption that you will get better grades if you study more

7. 1.2 What Psychologists Do
Psychologists work in many different fields, but they all focus on studying and explaining behavior and mental processes

10. 1.3 A History of Psychology

13. 1.4 Contemporary Perspectives

16. Psychology “Module 1: History and Perspectives in Psychological Science”

17. Definition of Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
scientific study: scientific research methods are an essential key to unlocking psychology’s secrets
behavior: any directly observable thing you do
mental processes: things that cannot be observed directly-thoughts, feelings and dreams

18. Modern Psychology’s Roots
Wilhelm Wundt (VOONT): 1879-studied human consciousness-birth year of psychology
Edward B. Titchener: Wundt’s student, introduced structuralism, the first major school of thought in psychology
Gestalt (gih-SHTALT, means “configuration” in German) psychology: the whole is different than the sum of its parts
William James: Harvard professor, first American psychologist, first textbook in 1890, functions of consciousness-functionalism

19. Psychology in the Twentieth Century
Sigmund Freud ( ): believer of psychodynamic theory-our unconscious thoughts, inner conflicts, and childhood experiences significantly affect our personality and behaviors
“Freudian slip”: a misstatement about what you’d like to say-“Do you want to study for tomorrow’s kizz?”
“anal retentive”: excessively neat, clean, and compulsive

20. 20th Century Continued
Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, B.F. Skinner: behaviorism
Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers: humanistic psychology
Jean Piaget (pee-ah-ZHAY): child development
Kenneth Clark, Mamie Phipps Clark: educational psychologists (Brown v. Board of Education)

21. 6 Psychological Perspectives
Cognitive: how we process information
Biological: how our biological structures underlie a given behavior, thought, or emotion
Social-Cultural: how thinking and behavior change depending on the situation
Behavioral: how we learn through rewards, punishments, and observation
Humanistic: how healthy people strive to reach their full potential
Psychodynamic: how we are affected by unconscious drives and conflicts

22. Psychology in the 21st Century
developing areas are:
behavior genetics: how genes and environment influence our individual differences
evolutionary psychology: study of behaviors that helped our ancestors survive
positive psychology: scientific focus on wellness and on healthy people reaching their full potential