Psychology

An Introduction

What’s in a word?

Psy-cho-lo-gy…. Psyche. What does this Greek word

mean? “Mind” “Soul” Logia. What about this Latin root? “Study”

Defined: The academic and applied field involving the study of the human mind, brain, and behavior.

Behavior – like walking, talking, eating, watching TV…. Psychologists are interested in finding out WHY people do what they do!

Why do we recognize letter patterns as words? Why do we remember that we can’t touch a hot

stove because we will be burned in the process?

Why do we dream? Why do we get hungry? Is it a physical or

mental process? These are questions psychologists set out to

answer.

Basic Terms

Behavior is any action that other people can observe or measure.

Cognitive activities are mental processes such as dreams, perceptions, and memories.

Thinking is a cognitive activity. Consciousness is a state of awareness A theory is a statement that attempts to explain

why things are the way they are. A principle is a rule or law that CAN BE PROVEN.

Who cares?

Psychologists, like all scientists, use observation and experimentation to explain behavior and mental processes.

When people experience feelings such as performance anxiety or crippling fears, psychologists can offer help WITHOUT using chemicals.

For example: sports psychologists can help athletes get over their fears and perform at the top of their game.

How do they “do” psychology?

Psychologists must complete a four-year undergraduate program, a master’s degree, and a doctoral degree.

When we think of psychologists, we often think of “shrinks”…

Therapy, or analysis, is not the only reason people go into psychology.

Clinical Psychology – help individuals with problems such as anxiety or depression.

Clinical psychologists can be in private practice, can be counselors in schools or in the community, and can be psychiatrists – which means they are also Medical Doctors.

Counseling psychologists deal more with less significant issues, such as adjustment problems after a life-changing experience.

School psychologists deal with issues that affect the way a student learns.

Educational psychologists study reasons why students have trouble learning or trouble motivating themselves to learn.

Some help prepare standardized tests in an effort to determine the best candidates for successful collegiate careers.

Developmental psychologists study the changes that occur during a person’s lifespan.

These changes could be physical (height, weight), or emotional (self-esteem).

Just a few…

More… Personality psychologists study traits such as shyness or

aggression. They study gender roles and how specific roles are assigned to

men and women in various societies. Social psychologists are curious about how people interact

socially. Why are people attracted to other people? How does a person’s behavior change when in a specific social

situation? Experimental psychologists conduct research and experiments

into BASIC PROCESSES – such as hunger, the senses, feelings of depression, etc…

Of course, within each field are sub-fields such as forensic psychologists, environmental psychologists, consumer psychologists, and health psychologists…

WHICH FIELD WOULD YOU STUDY?

A Brief History Ancient Greeks, such as Socrates, followed a pattern of

introspection. Introspection means “looking within”. Plato’s student Aristotle discusses associationism –

meaning that some experiences remind us of experiences we have had in the past as late as 2,000 years ago in Peri Psyche… the first book ever written about “psychology”.

So – the Greeks started to believe that human beings could think for themselves and that human behavior is subject to rules and laws.

Aristotle believed that humans sought pleasure and avoided pain… He was on to something…

Then, Europe entered the Middle (Dark) Ages. During this time, the common belief was that

problems of the mind were signs that the demon spirits had taken over.

The best way to test this theory was to throw people into deep water…

If they could float, they were possessed. If they sank to the bottom, they were not

possessed… but… They were dead… because they drowned. Clearly, the people of the Middle Ages were

bright folks.

Finally, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, people began to recognize science!

1879 is considered the year psychology was founded as a real science.

In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt founded a psychological school, in Germany, based on his theory of structuralism.

Structuralists believed human consciousness functioned by combining objective sensations and subjective feelings.

Objective sensations, such as sight, sound, and taste were assumed to be the same for everyone and match what was true in the outside rule.

Subjective feelings were thought to include emotional responses and mental images.

A person can experience a banana objectively by looking at the shape and tasting it’s flavor.

A person can experience a banana subjectively by remembering the way it felt to bite into the banana.

In 1890, Harvard psychologist William James published The Principles of Psychology – the first psychology textbook.

James was one of the founders of functionalism – the belief that mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment.

Functionalists believed that adaptive behaviors are learned and maintained.

For example – if you study for an exam, score a good grade, you will study again for the next exam.

Humans adapt to our environments through learning patterns and repeating those patterns.

Functionalists were concerned with the purposes of behavior and mental processes. Why do we learn certain habits, but not others?

John Watson believed in behaviorism. This method believed that consciousness was

specific to each individual and that every brain had different thought processes.

He believed in the scientific study of behavior as a way to measure mental processes.

B.F. Skinner headed the school of Reinforcement – which shows that when an animal/human is reinforced, or rewarded, for performing an action, the animal/human will perform the task again.

People learn to behave in certain ways because they are reinforced to do so.

The Gestalt School, established in Germany, was established to research how context influenced people’s interpretation of information.

Gestalt Psychology is based on the idea that perceptions are more than the sums of their parts….

Perceptions are the ideas that give shape, or meaning, to thoughts.

Gestalt psychologists believe that learning is active. Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler, the

founders of the school, demonstrated that learning, specifically problem solving, is accomplished by true insight, not mechanical repetition.

Sigmund Freud – a Viennese physician – founded the school of psychoanalysis.

Psychoanalysis focuses on the importance of the unconscious…. We’ll learn more about him later…

Freud’s theory can also be called the psychodynamic thinking, which believed that most of what exists in an individual’s mind is unconscious and consists of conflicting impulses, urges and wishes.

Contemporary PerspectivesPerspective Subject Matter Key Assumption

Biological Nervous system, glands, hormones, genes.

Biology influences behavior and mental functions.

Evolutionary Physical traits, social behavior. Best organisms survive and pass their genes on to the next generation.

Cognitive Interpretation of mental images, thinking, language

Perceptions and thoughts influence behavior.

Humanistic Self-Concept People make choices based on their experiences.

Psychoanalytic Early childhood experiences, unconscious.

Unconscious motives dictate behavior.

Learning Environmental learning, observational learning.

Personal experience, reinforcement guide development

Sociocultural Ethnicity, gender, culture, socioeconomic status.

Multiple differences create individual differences.