The History and Scope of Psychology

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• Why did Timmy hit Sally?

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The Early History and Scopeof Psychology
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Psychology

• The scientific study of behavior and mental
  processes

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What does that mean?

• Psychology is a SCIENCE we rely on academic,
  structured methods in order to answer questions
  about human behaviors

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What does that mean?

• BEHAVIORS are physical actions, generally things
  that we can observe, though they may be internal
  as well things like standing up, laughing,
  dancing, yelling, fighting, digestion or neural
  activity

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What does that mean?

• MENTAL PROCESSES are the internal workings of our
  minds, like our thoughts, feelings, and dreams

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• You are driving along in your car on a wild,
  stormy night. You pass by a bus stop, and you see
  three people waiting for the bus
• 1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to
  die.2. An old friend who once saved your
  life.3. The perfect man (or) woman you have been
  dreaming about.
• Which one would you choose to offer a ride to,
  knowing that there could only be one passenger in
  your car?

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• Twins, Genes vs. Environment
• Sexuality Nature v. Nurture

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• Socrates, and his student Plato (Greek
  Philosophers)
• Human behavior and knowledge is pre-disposed and
  genetically built-in (Nature).
• IE. If you are intelligent, you were born with a
  smart brain. If you are athletic, you were born
  with strong muscles and balance. If you are
  violent, depressed, or forgetful, you were born
  with a brain disorder.

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• Aristotle (Greek Philosopher)
• Human behavior and knowledge is not preexisting
  it grows from the experiences stored in our
  memories (Nurture).
• IE. You are violent because you watched it on
  television. You are smart because you studied.
  You are kind because you were loved.

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• John Locke (British Philosopher)
• Tabula rasa (Empiricism) literally means blank
  slate
• The theory that the mind is at birth a "blank
  slate" without rules for processing data, and
  that data is added and rules for processing it
  form solely by our sensory experiences.

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• Rene Descartes (French Philosopher)
• Early dissections led to the early understanding
  of mind/body connections (biological psychology).

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• Francis Bacon (English Scientist)
• Stressed the scientific principles of observation
  and experimentation when evaluating human
  behavior

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• Edward Titchener (Structuralism)
• Structuralism was the first school of psychology
• Broke down mental processes into the most basic
  components (structures) of conscious experience.
  
• What did you see? Hear? Taste? Smell? Feel?
  (Introspection)
• Based on this, how did you behave?

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• IE. If you were shown an apple, and asked to
  explain what you saw, you would describe the
  color, the shape, the smell, the texture, etc.
  all of the things that combine to make it an
  apple for you. If those experiences combined to
  create a tasty sensation, youd eat it. Someone
  else, shown the same apple, might describe the
  apple in similar, or very different terms, and
  either eat it or not

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• William James (Functionalism)
• Focused less on the how of sensation and
  perception, but rather on the why. Emphasized
  the process of how thoughts formed, changed, and
  how they adapted.

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• Wilhelm Wundt
• German professor who established the first
  psychology laboratory at the University of
  Leipzig, Germany.

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The Modern Perspectives
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Evolutionary Psychology

• Attempts to explain psychological traitssuch as
  memory, perception, or languageas adaptations,
  that is, as the functional products of natural
  selection

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• IE. Certain food aversions (toward bitter
  tastes, or certain colored foods) may help a
  species survive. The universality of facial
  expressions allows foreign cultures to
  communicate basic emotions (smile, peaceful
  meetingscowl, war)

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Humanistic Perspective

• Humanists believe that we choose most of our
  behaviors and these choices are guided by
  physiological, emotional, or spiritual needs.
  Humanists stress free will and individual choices
  that lead us to fulfilling our greatest
  potential.
• Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

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• Some examples of needs are
• We buy food because were hungry.
• We buy guns to feel safe.
• We read the singles ads for love and friendship.
• We fight to earn respect.
• We earn degrees to be educated.

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Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Psychoanalysts believe that the unconscious mind
  (including unresolved conflicts, childhood
  trauma, repressed memories) controls much or our
  thought and action.
• Sigmund Freud

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• IE. Adam chews on his pencils because his mother
  didnt breast feed him long enough or show him
  enough love as a child. The chewing on the
  pencil top unconsciously represents the bonding
  between child and mother.
• Dianes boyfriends always seem to look a lot like
  her father, who abandoned her when she was a
  child. The boyfriends unconsciously represent
  her need to find her father.

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Biopsychology (Neuroscience)

• Biopsychologists explain human behavior in terms
  of biological processes, including the functions
  of the brain, hormones, genetics, and the
  physical functions of the body.

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• IE. Chuck is always hungry due to a problem with
  his hypothalamus. Kathy cant sit still or pay
  attention due to an excess or loss of
  acetylcholine. James cant remember events for
  more than 10 seconds at a time due to a damaged
  hippocampus. Susan is an alcoholic because her
  mother and grandmother were.

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Behavioral Perspective

• Behavioral psychologists explain human thought
  and behavior by looking strictly at observable
  behaviors and what reaction organisms get in
  response to specific stimulus.
• Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, B.F. Skinner

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• Why does Regina get such good grades?
• For every A, Regina gets 100
• For every A, Regina doesnt have to wash the
  dishes for a month
• For every grade less than an A, Regina loses
  phone privileges for a month
• Regina knows that an A average will get her into
  a better college, and that going to a better
  college is associated with a higher salary

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Cognitive Perspective

• Cognitive psychologists explain human behavior in
  terms of how we mentally process and interpret
  our environment. Cognitive psychologists study
  internal, brain-based activities, such as memory
  processes, problem solving, perception, and
  language.

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• IE.
• Why cant Jennifer remember anything prior to
  her sixth birthday?
• Why can Steve speak fluently at the age of
  four, yet George cannot?
• If I put Carl and Howard in a maze, why is it
  that Carl can find his way out and Howard cannot?
• Given that they are of the same age and go to
  the same school, why is it that Kim feels safe
  and secure walking through the halls, and Missy
  feels scared and insecure?

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• IE. For Christmas, Steve gets a Reviewing for
  the AP Psychology Exam book. He goes into a
  deep depression for a week. Why?
• Steve interprets his parents motives for giving
  him the book as saying he isnt smart enough to
  pass the test on his own. Hes dumb and cant
  pass the test on his own. His parents dont like
  him and are secretly mocking his efforts. Hes a
  failure who will never amount to anything.

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Social-Cultural Perspective

• Sociocultural psychologists emphasize the
  influence of groups, culture, and the environment
  on the way that we think and act.

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• IE. At school, Gary dresses in a preppy manner,
  speaks intelligently, and shows respect for his
  peers and teachers. Later that night, at a
  concert with friends, Gary is wearing eyeliner
  and ripped jeans, cursing, smoking, drinking, and
  spitting at passer-bys.

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• IE. Stephanie went on a killing spree based on
  the violent movies she watched and the books she
  read, and was able to be so accurate because of
  the hours she had spent playing first-person
  shooter games on her gaming system.

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VS.
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Fields in Psychology

• What can I do with a degree in Psychology?

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Fields in PsychologyApplied v. Basic Psychology

• Applied refers to practical and interactive
  psychology.
• Basic refers mainly to the research fields of
  psychology.

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Clinical/Therapy

• Asses and treat mental, physical, behavioral or
  emotional disorders. Also may include
  rehabilitative services.

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Counseling

• Help people cope with life challenges, including
  career, marriage, and stress counseling.

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School

• Assisting school-aged children, adolescence
  issues, counseling, etc.

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Experimental

• Conduct research on learning, memory, sensation,
  perception, cognition, motivation, etc.

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Developmental

• Study mental and physical growth from prenatal
  through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and
  into old age.

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Social

• Study how people influence each others attitudes,
  prejudices, norms, interpersonal attractions, etc.

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Industrial/Organizational

• Practical issues of selecting and training a
  workforce.
• Productivity, job stress, motivation, automation.

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Forensic Psychology

• Provide advice to legislators, judges,
  correctional officers, lawyers and the police
• Is called upon, for example, to serve as an
  expert witness, diagnose and treat incarcerated
  and probationed offenders and screen and
  evaluate personnel in the law enforcement and
  judicial systems

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Sports Psychology

• Issues and techniques of sport-specific
  psychological assessment and mental skills
  training for performance enhancement. Involved
  with goal-setting, visualization and performance
  planning, self-confidence, overtraining and
  burnout counseling, team building, and
  sportsmanship.

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• What is the difference between a psychologist
  and a psychiatrist?

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Psychology v. Psychiatry

• Psychiatry is the focused study and treatment of
  mental disorders.
• Psychiatrists are medical doctors and can
  prescribe medications to treat the physical and
  mental causes of psychological disorders.