An Introduction to the stuff you will be learning this year.

A Common Sense Quiz

Just to see what you already know about psychology ☺

PsychologyWhat is it?The study of our inner feelings and behaviors.

Do our feelings always match our behaviors?

If you call me a dumbass, I may feel sad inside.

But I will still act tough. (but I will be crying on the inside, so be gentle).

History of Psychology• Although the science of psychology started in the late 1800’s, the concept has been around a lot longer.

• There was evidence of trephination (cutting holes into a skull to let evil spirits out) back in the stone age.

It was like a bad SAW movie!!!!

The Ancient Greek Philosophers

• Plato – in the 4th century B.C., he explored the way government can influence individual behavior in The Republic. Believed that knowledge came from reflection and thinking (the brain).

• Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) – Plato’s student. Believed that knowledge came from experience (the heart). Discussed the nature of sensory perception in his Poetics.

• They were the first Europeans to reason that human beings have, in addition to a physical body, some kind of apparatus used for thinking, which they called the “psyche” (mind).

Fast forward through time…

• René Descartes (1637) – French

philosopher who believed in dualism

(humans have a dual nature – one part

mental and the other physical). Also

believed that we are born with innate

ideas.

• John Locke (1690) – British philosopher

who rejected Descartes’ notion of

innate ideas and insisted that the mind

at birth is a “blank slate” (tabula rasa).

Not to be confused with

this John Locke!

Prescientific Psychology

Some ideas are inborn

The mind is a blank slate

Socrates (469-399 B.C.) Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Plato (428-348 B.C.) Locke (1632-1704)

How are ideas formed?

Phrenology

• In the 18th century, philosophers

believed that every mental activity

(loving, reading, long division) was

viewed as the work of a particular area

of the mind.

• In 1808, Franz Joseph Gall, a German

physician, promotes the idea of

phrenology: the shape of a person’s

skull reveals mental faculties and

character traits.

A Major Breakthrough

• Charles Darwin (1859) – publishes On the Origin of Species, suggesting a biological kinship between humans and animals.

• For psychologists, this would mean that some discoveries about animal biology and behavior could be applied to people. (For example, pioneering research on nerve impulses in frogs helped psychologists understand human reflexes).

� By studying less complex beings (such as animals),

Darwin believed we could apply the information gained to a

better understanding of ourselves.

Waves of Psychology

• The science of psychology has gone through about 5 different waves since it started.

• Waves are different ways of thinking over time.

Wave One: IntrospectionKickin it old school

•Started with William Wundt’s first psychological laboratory and his concept of introspection (structuralism).

•Then William James wrote The Principles of Psychology and discussed functionalism.

•In reality these ideas do not have much impact on how psychologists think today. These guys were

considered hot, back in the day!!!!

What the heck is this?

The whole is more than the

sum of its individual parts.

SMILE!!!!!!!!

Wave Two: Gestalt Psychology• Led by Max Wertheimer, these guys focused not on how we feel, but on how we experience the world.

• The whole of an experience can be more than the sum of its parts.

Think for a moment of all the reasons that you love your mom.If you add all those reasons up, do they equal your love for your mom?Hopefully not!!!

This may seem like

one picture, but it can

be perceived as 2

different faces. Can

you find them?

Wave Three: Psychoanalysis

• This wave of thinking started with Sigmund Freud (in the early 1900’s).

• In a nutshell, during this time period people believed that most of your feelings come from a hidden place in your mind called the unconscious.

• We protect ourselves from our real feeling by using defense mechanisms.

Wave Four: Behaviorism• During this time period (early to mid 1900s), people started to ignore how you feel inside.

• All that mattered was how you acted.

• If you they could change your behavior, who cares how you feel.

• Very popular during the conservative 1950’s when social appearance mattered more than self expression.

Watson, Pavlov, Skinner

Wave Five: Eclectic• We are now in wave five….which is about variety.

• Psychologists pick and choose what theories to use depending on the situation and the client.

Just like Ben 10 choosing the right alien to fight the bad guy depending the situation.

Wave Five is made up of about 7 different perspectives.

In other words, psychologists today, pick and choose from about 7 schools of thought to help you with your problems.

Thus we have:

THE SEVEN SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Modern

Approaches/Perspectives•Biological

•Cognitive

•Behavioral

• Evolutionary

•Psychoanalytical

•Humanistic

Approach

•Cross-Cultural

Biopsychology (Neuroscience) Perspective

• All of your feelings and behaviors have

an organic root.

• In other words, they come from your

brain, body chemistry,

neurotransmitters, etc…Let us imagine for a second that your dog died

(sad but it will happen). You become

depressed. You stop eating and sleeping.

What would a psychologist from this school say

is going on and how might they help you?

How might a biological psychologist study test anxiety?

Evolutionary Perspective• Focuses on Darwinism.• We behave the way we do because we inherited those behaviors.

• Thus, those behaviors must have helped ensure our ancestors survival.

How could this behavior ensured Homer’s ancestors survival?

How might someone from this approach

study test anxiety?

Psychoanalytic Perspective• Focuses on the unconscious mind.

• We repress many of our true feelings and are not aware of them.

• In order to get better, we must bring forward the true feelings we have in our unconscious.

If a man has

intimacy issues

and cannot form

relationships

with others.

What do you

think someone

from this school

may think?

Perhaps they may

delve into the man’s

unconscious and

discover that he was

bullied when he were

younger. The bullying

may have caused fear

in getting close to

others. How might a Psychoanalyst approach test anxiety?

Behavioral Perspective

• Focuses on observable behaviors while putting feelings to the side.

• We behave in ways because we have been conditioned to do so.

• To change behaviors, we have to recondition the client.

Pretend that you

fail psychology

class. You become

depressed. In turn,

you begin to binge

and gain weight.

What do you think a

behaviorist may do?

They would probably ignore

the fact that you are

depressed and just focus on

your overeating.

Maybe make you run a mile every time you eat over 2000 calories.

How might a Behavioral Psychologist approach test anxiety?

Humanist Perspective• Peaked in the late 1960’s and 70’s….so it focused on spirituality and free will.

• We have to strive to be the best we can be “self-actualization”.

• Happiness is defined by the distance between our “self-concept” and “ideal self”.

How might a Humanist approach test

anxiety?

Cognitive Perspective• Focuses on how we

think (or encode information)

• How do we see the world?

• How did we learn to act to sad or happy events?

• Cognitive Therapist attempt to change the way you think.

You meet a girl…

Hopes are high!!!

She rejects

you…don’t even

get digits.

How do you react to the rejection?

Some learned get back

on the horse

And try again.

Some learned to give up

and live a lonely life of

solitude.

How might a cognitive psychologist study

test anxiety?

Social-Cultural Perspective• Says that much of your

behavior and your feelings are dictated by the culture you live in.

• Some cultures kiss each other when greeting, some just bow.

• Does your culture place value on individual or the group?

This is the culture of some

men!!!

(this is the point when girls

rolls their eyes).

How might someone using this approach study test anxiety?

A Mnemonic to Help You Remember the 7

Approaches• Each finger on your hand and the palm can represent a different perspective:

– The thumb = Psychodynamic

• Stick out your thumb and make a gesture over your shoulder while turning your head in that direction. You are “looking back,” just as a psychodynamic psychologist does when they are focusing on the past and unconscious conflicts stemming from childhood.

– The index finger = Cognitive

• Point to your head like you are thinking. The cognitive perspective looks at how we process, store, and interpret information.

– The middle finger = Behavioral

• How do you know what it means to “flip someone off”? You learned it. This relates to the idea of rewards, punishments, and modeling. Flipping the bird is also an observable behavior, and behaviorists focus on what can be seen and measured only.

– The ring finger = Humanistic

• Try to lift your ring finger straight (without any other fingers going up also) – it can’t be done! Now use your other fingers to push it up… much better. Humanists believe that we need others to help us “reach our fullest potential,” and Rogers’ theory of unconditional positive regard does the trick.

– The pinky finger = Biological

• Finish my sentence: “Pinky and the ______.” Behaviorists look at the tie between our behavior and our biology. But our knowledge base for this is still relatively small – like our pinky.

– The palm = Sociocultural

• Make a “gathering” movement with both hands, bringing them to your chest. We are gathering all people together, all cultures. To understand others we must understand the culture they are from. Differences are good!

– The “evolved sixth finger” = Evolutionary

• Hold up a finger from your other hand and pretend that you have 6 fingers instead of 5. Evolutionary psychologists focus on how traits/behaviors evolve over time (usually aided our ancestors’ survival or increased their genetic line)

Psychology Today

We define psychology today as the scientific study of behavior (what we do) and mental

processes (inner thoughts and feelings).

Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis: BioPsychSocial Approach

FOLDABLE

• LISTEN to the folding and cutting directions

• In the middle, label top quadrant as “Historical Perspectives”

– In each square, list perspective, name of theorist and definition of perspective. You may use handout, notes or textbook as a reference.

Pull the back pages out to reveal another areas for labels. Label this as “Modern Perspective.”

List perspective, names associated with this perspective, define it AND draw an icon to aid in your recall of this perspective.

Andrea Yates

Case, Bolt pg 9

Applying the 7 Approaches to Real-Life

Situations: Andrea Yates

• On June 20, 2001, after her husband had left for work, Andrea Yates, a Houston mother, drowned her five children in the family bathtub. She told police she drowned them from burning in hell. A jury rejected her insanity defense, and she was sentenced to serve life at a psychiatric prison. In a second trial (the first was appealed), the jury acquitted her, and she was sent to a hospital, not prison.

What do you believe to be the causes

of Andrea Yates’ murder of her

children?

Biological• Research indicates that brain chemistry plays a role

in psychological disorder. Yates was diagnosed as suffering from postpartum depression with psychosis, and she had been taken off her antipsychotic medication about a month before the children’s deaths. Andrea’s husband, Russell, claimed he had been pleading with doctors to again prescribe Haldol, used in treating people who hear voices or have delusional thoughts.

• Mood disorders run in families and Andrea’s was no exception. A sister and 2 brothers were also on antidepressants.

Cognitive

• Do we find the cause in her private mental functioning?

• Andrea experienced low self-esteem.

• At the time she killed her children, she believed she was possessed and that the sign of Satan (666) was marked on her scalp.

• She told the police that her children “weren’t developing correctly” and that drowning them was the only way to save them.

Psychodynamic

• Andrea was ruled by her irrational (and

unconscious) desire to be free from the

burden of so many children and the life of a

submissive housewife. These desires resulted

in her drastic actions.

Behavioral

• Doctors had strongly recommended no more

children when they saw how seriously ill (mentally)

Andrea was becoming with each child. Yet, her

husband ignored their warnings and impregnated

her a fifth time. Is it possible that Andrea saw her

previously loving care only resulting in the

punishment of more children and more

responsibility, and therefore, she changed her

actions towards the children to achieve a different

result?

Sociocultural

• The individualism of American society plays a critical

role in its accelerating rate of depression.

• Her extended family was not around to help when

she needed them so desperately.

• Her husband was not socially supportive. He claimed

he had never changed a diaper. How could he leave

her alone with the five children when she could

barely care for herself?

• Why did her doctor take her off her antipsychotic

medication?

One More Example:

“The Responsibility Room”

• Which psychological approach do you think is behind

our school’s Responsibility Room system?

• This is the official language:

“Reality Therapy states that everyone is responsible

for his own behavior – not society, not the

environment, not heredity, not the past, but each

person now. It is helping people learn how to take a

look at what they are doing and then teaching them

to evaluate their behavior and to make a plan to do

better…”

• What do you think?

How Psychology

Developed

Psychology

Today

Seven Unifying

Themes

Personal

Application

1870 1880

1875

First demonstration laboratories

are set up independently

by William James (at Harvard)

and Wilhelm Wundt (at the

University of Leipzig).

1879

Wilhelm Wundt establishes

first research laboratory

in psychology at

Leipzig, Germany.

1881

Wilhelm Wundt establishes

first journal devoted to

research in psychology.1883

G. Stanley Hall establishes

America’s first research

laboratory in psychology at

Johns Hopkins University.

1890

William James publishes his

seminal work, The Principles

of Psychology.1892

G. Stanley Hall founds American

Psychological Association.

1913

John B. Watson writes

classic behaviorism

manifesto, arguing that

psychology should study

only observable behavior.

1914

Leta Hollingworth publishes

pioneering work on the

psychology of women.1914 - 1918

Widespread intelligence

testing is begun by military

during World War I.

1916

Lewis Terman publishes

Stanford-Binet Intelligence

Scale, which becomes

the world’s foremost

intelligence test.

1920s

Gestalt pychology nears its

peak influence.

1933

Sigmund Freud’s influence

continues to build as he

publishes New Introductory

Lectures on Psychoanalysis.

1904

Ivan Pavlov shows how

conditioned responses are

created, paving the way for

Stimulus response psychology.

1905

Alfred Binet develops

first successful intelligence

test in France.

1908

Margaret Washburn

publishes The Animal Mind,

which serves as an impetus

for behaviorism.

1909

Sigmund Freud’s increasing

influence receives formal

recognition as G. S. Hall

invites Freud to give lectures

at Clark University.

1941 - 1945

Rapid growth in clinical

psychology begins in

response to huge demand

for clinical services created

by World War II and

its aftermath.

1947

Kenneth and Mamie Clark

publish work on prejudice that

is cited in landmark 1954

Supreme Court decision

outlawing segregation.

1950

Erik Erikson writes

Childhood and Society in

which he extends Freud’s

theory of Development across

the life span.

1951

Carl Rogers helps launch

humanistic movement

with publication of

Client-Centered Therapy.

1953

B. F. Skinner publishes his

influential Science and Human

Behavior, advocating radical

behaviorism similar to Watson’s.

1954

Abraham Maslow’s Motivation

and Personality helps fuel

humanistic movement.

1956

The cognitive revolution is

launched at watershed

conference where Herbert

Simon, George Miller, and Noam

Chomsky report three major

advances in just one day.

1961-1964

Roger Sperry’s split-brain research

and work by David Hubel and Torsten

Wiesel on how cortical cells respond

to light help rejuvenate the biological

perspective in psychology.

1963

Stanley Milgram conducts

controversial study of

obedience to authority,

which may be the most

famous single study in

psychology’s history.

1971

B. F. Skinner creates

furor over radical

behaviorism with his

controversial book

Beyond Freedom

and Dignity.

1974

Eleanor Maccoby and Carol

Jacklin publish their landmark

review of research on gender

differences, which galvanizes

research in this area.

1978

Herbert Simon wins Nobel

prize (in economics) for

research on cognition.

1980s

Increased global interdependence

and cultural diversity in Western

societies spark surge of interest in

how cultural factors mold behavior.

1981

Roger Sperry wins Nobel prize

(in physiology and medicine)

for split-brain studies.

1988

Research psychologists form

American Psychological Society

(APS) to serve as an advocate

for the science of psychology.

Early 1990s

Evolutionary psychology

emerges as a major new

theoretical perspective.1990s

The repressed memories

controversy stimulates

influential research by

Elizabeth Loftus and others

on the malleability and

fallibility of human memory.

Late 1990s

Martin Seligman

launches the positive

psychology movement.

2000

Eric Kandel wins Nobel Prize

(in physiology and medicine)

for his research on the

biochemistry of memory.

2002

Daniel Kahneman wins

Nobel Prize (in economics)

for his research on

decision making.

Psychology’s Three Big Debates

• Nature Versus Nurture– What is the relative contribution of

genes to environment

• Stability Versus Change– how much of one's behavior is

consistent and how much is changeable

over a lifespan

• Continuity Versus Discontinuity– development is solely and evenly

continuous, or whether it is marked by

age-specific periods

Psychology’s Subfields: Research

Psychologist What she does

BiologicalExplore the links between brain and mind.

DevelopmentalStudy changing abilities from womb to tomb.

CognitiveStudy how we perceive, think, and solve problems.

Personality Investigate our persistent traits.

SocialExplore how we view and affect one another.

Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

Psychologist What she does

ClinicalStudies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

CounselingHelps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges.

EducationalStudies and helps individuals in school and educational settings

Industrial/

Organizational

Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace.

A clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with psychotherapy.

Psychiatrists on the other hand are medical professionals (M.D.) who use treatments like drugs

and psychotherapy to treat psychologically diseased patients.

Clinical Psychology vs. Psychiatry

Where Do Psychologists Work?

• 49% Private Practice-Therapy Setting-Clinical Psychologist

• 28% Academic Setting- Research (Basic/Applied, Professor)

• 13% Variety –(Social Work, Group Home Coordinator)

• 6% Industrial/Organization Setting (Production Manager)

• 4% Secondary Schools-(School Psychologist/Counselor)

Don’t forget to write your answers on a separate piece

of paper to grade when you’re done!

1. Wilhelm Wundt and the structuralists studied

questions still asked today primarily by

a) behavioral psychologists

b) cognitive psychologists

c) psychodynamic psychologists

d) humanist psychologists

2. With which definition of psychology would John

Watson and B. F. Skinner most agree?

a) Psychology is the science of behavior.

b) Psychology is the science of mental

processes.

c) Psychology is the science of behavior and

mental processes.

d) Psychology is the science of behavior and

mental processes specific to contexts.

3. The question “Is intelligence more influenced

by heredity or experience?” deals with a big

issue in psychology known as

a) stability vs. change

b) mind-body dualism

c) rationality vs. irrationality

d) nature vs. nurture

4. If Aristotle and Locke, who both believed that

what we know is acquired from experience,

were alive today, they would best agree with

the

a) behavioral approach

b) psychoanalytic approach

c) humanistic approach

d) psychodynamic approach

• The world’s largest organization devoted to

the advancement of psychology is the

• a. World Psychology Organization

• b. American Psychological Society

• c. American Psychological Association

• d. Psychologists of North America

• According to Wilhelm Wundt, the focus of

psychology was on the scientific study of

• a. observable behavior

• b. conscious experience

• c. unconscious motivation

• d. the functions of behavior

• e. self concepts

Which of the following statements gives the best

explanation of the birth of psychology?

• A. a man by the name of Wilhelm Wundt

established the first research laboratory in

the late 1800’s

• B. A man by the name of Wilhelm Wundt

began to perform hypnosis on individuals in

the late 1800’s

• C. A man by the name of Sigmund Freud

established the first research laboratory in

the late 1800’s

• D. A man by the name of Sigmund Freud

began to perform hypnosis on individuals in

the late 1800’s

5. Which psychological approach is most

concerned with the importance of encoding,

storage, and retrieving information

a) information technology

b) behavioral approach

c) biological approach

d) cognitive approach

6. Dr. Didden was hired by the TLC company to help them retain their employees without lowering the firm’s profits. After TLC removed cubicles and permitted employees to decorate their workroom as recommended by Dr. Didden, the absentee rate declined and no employees left for jobs elsewhere. Dr. Didden is most likely

a) a forensic psychologist

b) an industrial/organizational psychologist

c) a counseling psychologist

d) a clinical psychologist

7. A good definition of psychology is:

a. the understanding of unconscious processes

b. the study of the human mind

c. the scientific study of human behaviors

d. the exploration of personality traits

e. the scientific study of behavior and mental

processes.

8. Which of the following statements BEST reflects the current thinking about evolutionary psychology?

a) It is a widely accepted approach to the study of human behavior.

b) It is a simplistic rehash of ideas proposed by Charles Darwin over 140 years ago.

c) It is a radical perspective supported by a small group of “revolutionary” scientists.

d) It is a thought-provoking, innovative perspective that is rapidly gaining

influence.

9. The branch of psychology concerned with

everyday, practical problems is called

a) developmental psychology

b) abnormal psychology

c) applied psychology

d) cognitive psychology

10. Functionalism is the historical school of psychology that focused its attention on

a. unconscious processes and their effect on behavior

b. cognitive associations and how those impact learned actions

c. the effect of relationships between parents and children on behavior

d. the belief that mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function

e. the individual structures that make up the mind and how each affects and determines behavior

11. William James, who was a pioneer in the

development of functionalism, was most

heavily influenced by

a) Charles Darwin

b) Sigmund Freud

c) John Watson

d) B. F. Skinner

12. Historically, most of psychology’s research

has been conducted in

a) China

b) Japan

c) Mexico

d) the United States

13. Wundt’s technique of reporting one’s

conscious mental experiences is known as

a. introspection

b. structuralism

c. functionalism

d. psychodynamism

e. humanism

14. According to behaivorists, behavior is

governed primarily by

a) heredity

b) personal motives

c) the environment

d) unconscious desires

15. A psychiatrist typically has a

a) Doctorate in Psychology

b) Medical Degree

c) Doctorate in Physiology

d) Doctorate in Education

Chapter 1 Answer Key

1. B

2. A

3. D

4. A

5. D

6. B

7. E

8. D

9. C

10. D

11. A

12. D

13. A

14. C

15. B