1. WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? Scientific study of human life
Find casual relationships between human behaviour and experience
Theory that explains observations about behaviour
What makes people ‘tick’
The study of behaviour, mental processes and experience

2. Psychology compared with common sense
studies behaviour systematically
produces evidence that can be tested, quantified, and analysed
attempts to be objective
not confined to everyday experience
builds on and draws from a body of knowledge
aims to predict with a measure of certainty

3. Major Branches of Psychology
Cognitive
Physiological
Social
Developmental
Individual Differences
(including psychopathology)
What do these deal with?

4. Approaches in Psychology
Psychodynamic
Freud, Jung, Klein
Behaviourist
Watson, Skinner, Thorndike
Humanistic
Rogers, Kelly
Cognitive
Gardner, Bruner, Beck
Evolutionary
Darwin…

5. Individual Differences
The Psychology Tree
Life Stages
Hormones
Neuroanatomy
Loss & Change
Brain Structure
Physiological
Developmental
Child Development
Attitudes & prejudice
Moral, Social, Gender
Social
Language
Social influence
Learning & Problem Solving
Intelligence
Cognitive
Personality
Memory
Individual Differences
Attention
Perception
Abnormal Psychology
Animal Case Studies
Psychometrics
Comparative
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Cognitive
Evolutionary
Behaviourist
Neo-Behaviourist

6. Applications of Psychology
Occupational
Clinical (includes counselling & psychotherapy )
Organisational
Educational
Forensic

7. Tests, Questionnaires & Surveys
How Do Psychologists Do Research?
Observations
Experiments
Interviews
Tests, Questionnaires & Surveys
……..or a combination of these

8. Quantitative Research
Quantitative or Qualitative ?
Quantitative Research
Produces evidence & results in numeric form
Results can be analysed and tested for statistical significance
Scope of research may have to be limited to allow this
Usually produces clear results, but these will not always take account of individual diversity
Results may not be reliable or properly understood & applied
Qualitative Research
Produces evidence in non-numerical forms, usually words (eg. diary studies)
Gives rich data that is detailed and can easily encompass diversity and individuality of experience
Can be quite flexible in scope
May not produce clear results
Sometimes subjective and “unscientific”