PSYCHOLOGY

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PSYCHOLOGY

• THE SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF BEHAVIOR AND EXPERIENCE

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Why do we study psychology?

• To describe
• To predict
• To change our behavior and experience
• To make sound decisions
• To help people

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GOALS

• To challenge common sense
• To gain understanding and tolerance
• To prepare for times that will be both good and
  bad, and all points between

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We all know that

• If it doesnt kill us it will just make us
  stronger.
• We would never do that!
• We know the difference between red and blue.
• Our emotions impair our reasoning.
• Couples should stay together for the kids.
• Nice guys finish last.

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The systematic study of behavior and experience

• Wide scope
• Emphasis on evidence acquired using the methods
  of science
• What we do and how we feel about it

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How about animals?

• Do animals think?
• Are they smart?
• Do they feel emotions?

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How important is psychology?

• Abu Ghraib

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Why psychology?

• Katrina victims

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• Special Education

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• Enhancing performance

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What do psychologists do?

• Explore the connection between psychology and
  biology.
• Hormones
• Drugs
• Genetics
• Evolutionary influences
• Brain trauma
• Neurotransmitters

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Study our cognitive capabilities and processes.

• How do we think and acquire knowledge?
• How can we treat learning disabilities?
• How can we control our self talk?

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Study human development

• When should we able to perform various tasks?
• What is the process of our development- from
  conception to death.
• What causes things to go wrong

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Social psychology

• The study of the influences we exert on one
  another.
• Persuasion.
• The intersection of law and psychology.
• the jury system
• the death penalty

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Clinical psychologists

• Counselors who listen and treat
• Psychiatrists who can prescribe
• Psychoanalysts who analyze

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Industrialorganizational

• Using psychology in the work setting
• How do employers select, train and pay their
  employees
• NFL combine

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New frontiers

• School psychology
• special education
• bullies and victims
• the gifted
• Enrichment- helping captive animals eliminate
  undesirable behaviors and increase natural
  behaviors so that society will respect them and
  work to preserve their natural habitats

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Psychology as a Major?

• Suitable for many purposes
• Employment Without a Masters
• With a Masters
• P.H.D. programs
• Women - the new majority?
• Professional schools
• Typical classes

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The history of psychology

• From the dawn of time ..
• The Bible Proverbs
• The Greeks
• tragedies
• Aristotle- observation and
  rational analysis

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History cont.

• The Scientific Method applying the rigor of the
  physical sciences to behavior and consciousness
• 1880 Wilhelm Wundt
• The fist lab devoted to psychology
• Ran experiments, collected data
• Studied consciousness with little success

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History Cont.

• 1880 William James
• Functionalism
• Stark contrast to Wundt
• Focus on utility
• The Principles of Psychology
• Inspirational, timeless
• But no research

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History iv

• Darwin and the concept of evolution
• Can studying animal intelligence tell us about
  humans?
• Attempts to scale and rank
• animal intelligence

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History vitwo geniuses

• Pavlov- 1905, Moscow
• The discovery of Classical Conditioning and the
  dawn of behaviorism
• Freud- 1900, Vienna
• The birth of psychodynamic theory
• Personality and behavior are controlled by
  unconscious forces stemming from our childhood
• Dominated treatment and personality theory

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History-behaviorism

• Experience? Thoughts? Emotions?
• Who cares?!?
• In response to frustration with animal IQ studies
  and the vague nature and unsettling assumptions
  of psychodynamics
• GOAL to observe and quantify without inferences
• FOCUS use animals to uncover the basic laws of
  learning and behavior

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History of psychology beyond behaviorism

• Albert Ellis the power of
• Irrational thinking self talk
• I must be approved or loved
• by every significant person in
• my community
• If Im not thoroughly compe-
• tent in everything I do, Im
• worthless.