Note 1: What is psychology?

The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are
affected by an organisms physical state, mental state, and external
environment.
Empirical: Relying on evidence gathered by careful observation,
experimentation, or measurement
Learning objectives
1.1 How psychobabble differs from serious psychology
1.2 Whats wrong with psychologists non-scientific competitors, such as
astrologers and psychics
Which is correct?
Unhappy memories can be repressed and then accurately recalled years later,
as if they had been recorded in perfect detail in the brain.

True
False

Which is correct?Most women suffer from the emotional symptoms of PMS.

True
False

Which is correct?Policies of abstinence from alcohol reduce rates of alcoholism.

True
False

Which is correct?: Playing classical music to an infant will make the child become
smarter.

True
False

Learning objectives
1.3 What it means to think critically
1.4 Why not all opinions are created equal
1.5 Eight guidelines for evaluating psychological claims

Thinking critically about Psychology: Critical thinking

The ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on
the basis of well-supported reasons rather than emotion and anecdote

Critical thinking guidelines

Ask questions; be willing to wonder
Define your terms

Dont oversimplify

Examine the evidence

Consider other interpretations

Analyze assumptions and biases

Tolerate uncertainty

Avoid emotional reasoning

Thinking critically Find the flaw
In a research proposal, a student said that he was going to do research on
meditation and mental illness.
Ask questions; be willing to wonder

Avoid emotional reasoning

Define your terms

Dont oversimplify

Examine the evidence

Consider other interpretations

Analyze assumptions and biases

Tolerate uncertainty

Apply what you know

Because we have never been visited by extraterrestrials, and have had no
communication from outer space, we can safely assume that intelligent life
exists only on our own planet.

Violates critical thinking guidelines

Does not violate critical thinking guidelines

Apply what you know

It is pretty obvious that smoking marijuana causes people to crave more potent
drugs, such as cocaine or heroine. Statistics show that almost all the people who
become addicted to drugs smoked marijuana before they began using more
potent drugs.

Violates critical thinking guidelines

Does not violate critical thinking guidelines

Learning objectives
1.6 The lesson of phrenology for modern psychology

1.7 How and when psychology became a formal discipline

1.8 Three early schools of psychology

Forerunners of modern psychology

Birth of modern psychology: In 1879, the first psychological laboratory was
officially established in Leipzig, Germany, by Wilhelm Wundt.
Introspection: Method by which individuals carefully observe, analyze, and
describe their own experiences
Psychologys past: Three early psychologies
1. Structuralism
2. Functionalism

3. Psychoanalysis
4. Structuralism

Early approach that emphasized the analysis of immediate experience into basic
elements
Interested in what happens
Functionalism
Early approach that emphasized the function or purpose of behavior and
consciousness
Interested in how and why something happens.Functionalists broadened field of
psychology to include the study of children, animals, religious experiences, and
stream of consciousness.
Psychoanalysis
A theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy, originally formulated by
Sigmund Freud
Emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts
Learning objectives
1.9 The five major perspectives in psychology
1.10 Why the psychodynamic perspective is the thumb on the hand of
psychology
1.11 How humanism and feminism have influenced psychology
Major psychological perspectives
Biological perspective

Cognitive perspective

Learning perspective

Sociocultural perspective

Psychodynamic perspective

The biological perspective

Psychological approach that focuses on how bodily events affect behavior,

feelings, and thoughts
This perspective involves
Hormones

Evolutionary influences

Brain chemistry

The learning perspective

Heredity
Psychological approach that is concerned with how the environment and
experience affect a persons (or nonhuman animals) actions
This perspective involves
Behaviorism
Social-cognitive learning theories
The cognitive perspective
Psychological approach that emphasizes what goes on in peoples heads
This perspective involves
Social-cognitive learning theories
The sociocultural perspective
Psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural forces outside the
individual

This perspective involves

Social psychology or the study of rules, roles, groups, and relationships
Cultural psychology or the study of cultural
norms, values, and expectations
What do you think?
Melissa is a psychologist who studies the phenomenon in which people are less
likely help out in situations when they are in groups rather than by themselves.
What type of psychologist is she?

Learning
Cognitive

Sociocultural
The psychodynamic perspective
Psychological approach that emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the
individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or the movement of instinctual energy

This perspective involves

Unconscious thoughts, desires, conflicts
Humanist psychology
Psychological approach that emphasizes personal growth and the achievement
of human potential, rather than the scientific understanding of behavior

This approach
Rejected behaviorism and psychoanalysis
Emphasized creativity and achieving potential
What do you know?
Which psychological approach emphasizes personal growth and creativity?

Sociocultural
Cognitive
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Feminist psychology
Psychological approach analyzing the influence of social inequities on gender
relations and on the behavior of the two sexes

This approach
Recognized years of male bias in data collection and psychotherapy
Questions the use of research in justifying womens lower status or elevating
womens status (female bias)
Your turn

The psychological perspective that emphasizes the deep, internal causes of

peoples behavior is:

1. Biological perspective
2. Learning perspective
3. Cognitive perspective
4. Psychodynamic perspective
5. Sociocultural perspective
Your turn
The psychological perspective that emphasizes the deep, internal causes of
peoples behavior is:

1. Biological perspective
2. Learning perspective
3. Cognitive perspective
4. Psychodynamic perspective
5. Sociocultural perspective
Learning objectives
1.12 Why you cant assume that all therapists are psychologists, or that all
psychologists are therapists

1.13 The three major areas of psychologists professional activities

1.14 The difference between a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist

Academic/research psychologists
Research in areas of basic or applied psychology

Examples:
Experimental psychologists

Educational psychologists
Developmental psychologists
Industrial/organizational psychologists
Psychometric psychologists
What Do You Know?

Psychological practitioners: Counseling psychologists help people deal with

problems associated with everyday life.
School psychologists work with parents, teachers, and students to enhance
student performance.
Clinical psychologists diagnose, treat, and study mental or emotional problems.
Clinical psychologists are not
Psychotherapists
Anyone who does any type of psychotherapy

Psychoanalysts
Individuals who receive training in psychoanalysis
Psychologists in other settings
Sports,Consumer issues,Advertising,Organizational problems,Environmental
issues,Public policy,Opinion polls,Military training,Animal behavior
Legal issues
What areas do Psychology undergraduates pursue?
What Psychology can do for you
Make you a more informed person

Satisfy your curiosity about human nature

Help you increase your control over your life
Help you on the job
Give you insights into political and social issues