1. Mr. Cameron – Jeannette Senior High School
Intro. to Psychology
Mr. Cameron – Jeannette Senior High School

2. Why Study Psychology?
Psychology – the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Behavior – any action that other people can observe or measure
Examples:
Walking, talking, eating, pressing a button
Heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity

3. Behavior and Mental Processes
Cognitive activities – private, unobservable mental processes such as sensation, perception, thought, and problem solving
Dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories
Brain waves that indicate dreaming can be measured
Cell activity in an eye responding to color can be measured

4. Behavior and Mental Processes
Psychologists also want to measure emotions
Emotions affect behavior and mental processes
Emotions must be studied through psychological constructs
Psychological constructs – concepts that enable a person to discuss something that cannot be seen, touched , or measured directly

5. Goals of Psychology
Observe behavior and mental processes to gain a better understanding
Enables psychologists to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior
Dealing with anxiety
Positive visualization

6. Psychology as a Science
Psychology is a social science (sociology, history)
Closely tied to natural sciences (biology, physics)
Answer questions by following scientific research steps
1. Conducting surveys and experiments
2. Collecting and analyzing data
3. Drawing conclusions

7. Psychological Theories
Psychologists organize their research into theories
Theory – Statement that attempts to explain why things are the way they are & happen the way they do
Discuss principals that govern behavior and mental processes
Principals – Rule or law

8. Areas of Psychology 1. Clinical Psychologists
Make up the largest group of psychologists
Help people with psychological problems

9. Areas of Psychology 2. Counseling Psychologists
Use interviews and tests to identify problems
Treat people who have adjustment problems

10. Areas of Psychology 3. School Psychologists
Aid students with problems that interfere with learning
4. Educational Psychologists
Focus on course planning and instructional methods

11. Areas of Psychology 5. Developmental Psychologists
Study changes that occur throughout a person’s life (behavior, thoughts, feelings)

12. Areas of Psychology 6. Social Psychologists
Study people’s behavior in social situations
Physical and psychological factors of attraction
Ways men and women behave in situations
Reasons people conform to group standards
How behavior changes when in a group

13. Areas of Psychology 7. Forensic Psychologists
Testify about the psychological competence of a defendant

14. History of Psychology Began as part of philosophy
Wilhelm Wundt “father of psychology”
Studied conscious experiences
Sensations, images, feelings?
Observed and measured stimuli
Stimuli = lights, sounds, pain
Stimulus – physical energy that evokes a sensory response

15. Structuralism Wundt also used “introspection”
Introspection is “looking inward”
Basic elements of consciousness:
1. Objective sensations
2. Subjective feelings
Structuralism – Human mind functions by combining these basic elements of experience (Objective and Subjective)

16. Functionalism Developed by William James
How the mind functions to help us survive and adapt
Influenced by Charles Darwin (natural selection)
James wanted to know how the mind helps us adapt
Adaptive behavior is learned because it is successful
Adaptive (successful) behavior is repeated and eventually becomes a habit…studying = success!

17. Behaviorism Cartoons!

18. Behaviorism Behaviorism – Study of observable behavior
John B. Watson…introspection was “unscientific”
Observed the relationship between stimuli and an animal’s response (can’t ask animals questions)
Used Pavlov’s idea of conditioning to explain behavior
Conditioned response – learned behavior to a particular stimulus

19. John B. Watson
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well- formed, and my own special world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant- chief, and yes, beggarman and thief”

20. B.F. Skinner
Believed behavior is controlled by positive reinforcements (rewards)
Worked with animals, ideas applied to humans
If rewarded, an animal is more likely to perform act
People behave in certain ways because they have been reinforced for doing so

21. Gestalt School Gestalt is German for “form, pattern, or whole”
Gestalt psychologists studied thinking, learning, and perception in whole units, not by analyzing experiences into parts

22. Gestalt School Playing the same song on a guitar and on the drums
Playing a song with only one note per hour
Perception is affected by the context in which it appears
The human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts

24. Example 1

25. Example 2

26. Example 3

27. Example 4

28. Psychoanalysis
Emphasized unconscious motives and internal conflicts in determining human behavior
Believed that mental life is like an iceberg…huh?
Unconscious – Area of the mind that lies outside of our personal awareness
Our behavior is deeply influenced by unconscious thoughts, impulses, and desire…especially those concerning sex and aggression

29. Psychoanalysis
Freud theorized that many unconscious thoughts are threatening, so they are repressed
Repressed – Restrained, held out of awareness
Unconscious thoughts are revealed by dreams, emotions, and slips of the tongue
Believed all thoughts, emotions, etc. are determined
There are no accidents, every thought has a cause!

30. Psychoanalysis
Freud was one of the first psychologists to appreciate that childhood affects adult personality
“The child is father to the man”…what does this mean?
Known for creating psychoanalysis, “talking therapy”
Gained his understanding of behavior through meetings
Theorized that behavior is aimed at satisfying needs / desires
Help people find socially acceptable ways of meeting needs

31. Contemporary Perspectives
The study of psychology has changed over the years
Theories of Skinner and Watson have been modified
Many contemporary psychoanalysts do not use the same methods as Sigmund Freud
New perspectives still use historical traditions of psych
Each perspective emphasizes different topics/approaches

32. Biological Perspective
Emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior
Assume our mental processes (thoughts, fantasies, & dreams) are made possible by the nervous system
Look for connections between events in the brain
Study brain activity when listening to music, solving problems, experiencing psychological disorders
Interested in the influences of hormones and genes

33. Hormones and Genes
Hormones – Chemicals that glands release into the bloodstream to set in motion body functions
Body functions can include growth or digestion
Genes – Basic unit of heredity
Biological psychologists study the influence of genes on personality traits, psychological health, as well as various behavior patterns

34. Evolutionary Perspective
Focuses on the evolution of behavior and mental processes
Darwin believed that the most-adaptive organisms have a greater chance of surviving to maturity
People who are resistant to certain diseases are more likely to transmit those genes to future generations
Behavior (aggression) have a hereditary basis

35. Cognitive Perspective
Emphasize the role thoughts play in behavior
Study mental processes to understand human nature
Look at the ways people perceive information, make mental images, solve problems, and dream
Cognitive psych. study the mind

36. Humanistic Perspective
Stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment and the importance of consciousness, self-awareness, and the capacity to make choices
Considers people’s personal experiences to be the most important aspect of psychology
Unlike behaviorists (stimuli acting upon us) believe that we are free to choose our own behavior
View people as basically good & desiring to help others

37. Psychoanalytic Perspective
Stresses the influence of unconscious forces on human behavior
Focus less on unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses
Focus more on conscious choice and self-direction

38. Learning Perspective Emphasizes the effects of experience on behavior
Social learning theory – People can change their environments or create new ones
Behavior is learned either from direct experience or by observing other people
We learn to act hostile/friendly based on the situation

39. Sociocultural Perspective
Studies the influence of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status on behavior and mental processes
Helps people appreciate the cultural heritages and historical issues of various ethnic groups
Ethnic groups – United by heritage, race, language, and history
Sociocultural theorists also study gender

40. Sociocultural Perspective
Gender is not simply a matter of being male or female
Involves cultural expectations and social roles
These can affect self-concepts, aspirations, & behavior
Sociocultural psychology addresses the similarities and differences between men and women
As of 2005, women made up 72% of psychology PhD’s