2. Chapter 1 Understanding Mind and Behavior

3. Psychology The scientific study of mind and behavior Psyche –Greek: soul, spirit, mind –Mind and Consciousness Depends on an intact functioning brain - can be studied scientifically

4. Studying the Mind Motivation Learning and Memory Perceptions Personality Social Interactions Abnormal Behavior All defined in terms of observable behavior

5. The Mind-Body Problem What is the relationship between mind and body? Dualism: –The idea that the mind and body are distinct entities Aristotle Descartes

6. The Mind-Body Problem What is the relationship between mind and body? Monism: –The idea that the mind and body are different aspects of the same substance Spinoza Most current psychologists –Brain activity = mind

7. Major Perspectives in Psychology Biological/Behavioral Perceptual/Cognitive Developmental/Individual Differences Social Cultural/Health

8. The Nature-Nurture Issue The relative effect of hereditary influences (nature) and environmental influences (nurture) Which is most important for behavior? –Genes –Learning –Both

9. Determinism The philosophical position that everything (and every behavior) has some cause –Cause might be immediate environment or genetic history

10. Common Sense Is psychology a science of the obvious? –Are humans innately endowed with the ability to analyze behavior? –People vary in background knowledge, intellectual abilities, general understanding

11. Common Sense In analyzing behavior, people tend to: –Overgeneralize –Oversimplify –Show a self-serving bias

12. The Roots of Psychology PhilosophyBiology Psychology

13. The Roots of Psychology: Philosophy John Locke: Empiricism –“Nothing is in the intellect that has not been in the senses” –Tabula Rasa - “blank slate” Empiricism –A method of obtaining knowledge through observation and experimentation

14. The Roots of Psychology: Philosophy The Associationists (Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Hartley) –The formation of complex ideas is accomplished through the association of simpler ideas –An empiricist viewpoint

15. The Roots of Psychology: Philosophy Gottfried von Leibniz: Nativism –“Nothing is in the intellect that has not been in the senses except the intellect itself” Immanuel Kant –Humans are endowed with a priori knowledge Nativism –Some kinds of perception and forms of thinking are innate

16. The Roots of Psychology: Biology How does the brain relate to behavior? Francis Gall: Phrenology (early 19th century) –Discredited –Localized Function?

17. The Roots of Psychology: Biology Johannes Muëller: Law of Specific Nerve Energy (early 19th century) –each sensory nerve carries information for that sense Hermann von Helmholtz: Doctrine of Mechanism (late 19th century) –all physiological processes can be explained by physics and chemistry

18. The Roots of Psychology: Biology Paul Broca & Carl Wernicke (mid 19th century) –damage to specific brain areas results in specific language deficits Gustav Fritsch & Eduard Hitzig (late 19th century) –Applying current to brain results in muscle movement

19. The Roots of Psychology: Biology Charles Darwin (late 19th century): The Origin of Species –Humans are part of a biological continuum

20. Psychology Becomes a Science Wilhelm Wundt: Structuralism –the study of consciousness in terms of its basic elements a “chemistry” of the mind –examining consciousness through introspection

21. Psychology Becomes a Science William James: Functionalism –the study of the usefulness of consciousness and the utility of behavior –wrote first psychology textbook –influenced by Darwin Other Functionalists: –Angell –Dewey –Carr

22. Psychology Becomes a Science John B. Watson: Behaviorism –environment is the primary determinant of behavior –based theories on the work of Pavlov B.F. Skinner –psychology is the science of behavior –consciousness unimportant, because it cannot be observed directly

23. Other Advances in the 20th Century Gestalt Psychology –the whole is greater than the sum of its parts Psychoanalytic Psychology –Sigmund Freud and the unconscious mind Humanistic Psychology –humans are unique in the potential for self- improvement The Neurosciences –interdisciplinary approach to the study of the brain

24. What do Psychologists do? Occupations with a BA in Psychology

25. Advanced Degrees in Psychology Masters of Arts Ph.D. –required to perform original research –degree granted by university Psy.D. –required to undergo supervised training Ed.D. –degree granted by school of education

26. Specialty Areas in Psychology Clinical Cognitive Comparative Counseling Developmental Industrial/ Organizational Quantitative Educational/School Psychology General Experimental Psychology Personality Neurosciences/ Physiological Social