2. “…The unexamined life is not worth living…”
- Socrates

3. What is psychology?
is both an applied and academic field that studies the human mind and the behavior.
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Psychologists study human issues that begin before birth and continue until death.

4. Research
psychology seeks to understand and explain thought, emotion, and behavior

5. Application
Include mental health treatment, performance, enhancement, self-help, ergonomics, and many other areas of affecting health and daily life.

6. Why study psychology?
1. Self- improvement
Improving memory, sleep habits, etc.
Improving self-esteem
Self-training
Coping skills

7. 2. Curiosity about psychometrics
What do college entrance tests show?
What career best fits my abilities
How do tests assess abnormal behavior?

8. 3. Developing better information
Helping people cope with challenges
Ability to interpret psychological research

9. 4. Prevention and intervention
5. Awareness of other possibilities
Some theories:
Psychology is theoretically diverse
Behavior is determined by multiple causes
Behavior is influenced jointly by heredity and environment

10. Areas of psychology
Abnormal psychology
is the study of abnormal behavior and psychopathology
focused on research and treatment of a variety of mental disorders
DSM-IV – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – to diagnose mental disorders

11. Biological psychology (biopsychology)
-studies how biological processes influence the mind and behavior
- closely linked to neuroscience and utilizes tools such as MRI and PET scans to look at brain injury or brain abnormalities

12. Clinical psychology
- focused on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders
Cognitive psychology
- is the study of human thought processes and cognitions.

13. Developmental psychology
- is the branch of psychology that looks at human growth and development over the lifespan.
Forensic psychology
- is an applied field focused on using psychological research and principles in the legal and criminal justice system

14. Industrial-organizational psychology
- is the area of psychology that uses psychological research to enhance work performance, select employee, improve conduct design, and enhance usability.
Personality, school, and social psychology

15. The origins of psychology
How did psychology originate?
When did it begin?
Who were the people responsible for establishing psychology as a separate science?

17. The beginnings of psychology: Philosophy and Physiology
Psychology did not emerge as a separate discipline until the late 1800s
Its earliest history can be traced back to the time of the early Greeks

18. 17th century – French Philosopher Rene Descartes introduced the idea of dualism
- mind and body were 2 separate entities that interact to form human experience

19. So what makes psychology different from philosophy?
Philosophers- relied on methods such as observation and logic;
Psychologists- utilize scientific methodologies to study and draw conclusions about human thought and behavior.

20. Psychology Emerges as a Separate Discipline
Wilhelm Wundt (Vilhelm Voont)– German physiologist in mid-1800s, used scientific research methods to investigate reaction times.

21. his book published in 1874, Principles of physiological psychology, outlined many of the major connections between the science of physiology and the study of human thought and behavior.

22. 1879 – he opened the first world’s first psychology lab at the University of Leipzig.
This event is generally considered the official start of psychology as a separate and distinct scientific disciple.
W. Wundt – is the father pf psychology

23. Structuralism - Psychology’s First School of Thought
Edward B. Titchener – (founder) one of Wundt’s most famous students
Structuralists – human consciousness could be broken down into much smaller parts.

24. Using a process known as introspection, trained subjects would attempt to break down their responses and reactions to the most basic sensation and perceptions.
E. B. Titchener died in 1927 – S essentially died with him.

25. The Functionalism of
William James
Mid-to late 1800s psychology flourished in America
William James- emerged as one of the major American psychologists during this period
The Principles of Psychology
***Father of American psychology

26. Functionalism – focus on how behavior actually works to help people live in their environment
Used method of direct observation
Believed that consciousness existed as a more continuous and changing process

27. Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic perspective
Founder- Sigmund Freud
Austrian Physician
fascinated with the mind’s influence on behavior and the physical body

28. Behavior Perspective
emphasizes objective, observable environmental influences on overt behavior
John B. Watson (1913) founder of behaviorism

29. Humanist perspective
Stressed free- will, self-actualization, and human nature as naturally positive and growth seeking
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
2 central figures in the development of humanism

30. 4 goals of psychology
Description
Explanation
Prediction
change

31. The science of psychology
Basic research- exploring new theories and advancing general scientific understanding.
(first 3 goals of psychology)
Applied research – designed to solve practical problems
(meets the 4th goal of psychology-change)

32. Cognitive perspective
Emphasis on thought, perception, and information-processing
Neuroscience/Biopsychology perspective
Emphasizes genetics and other biological processes in the brain and other parts of the nervous system.

33. Evolutionary perspective
focuses on natural selection, adaptation, and evolution of behavior and mental processes.
Socio-cultural perspective
emphasizes social interaction and cultural determinants of behavior and mental processes.