1. What is Psychology?

2. Outline Why Study Psychology? The Job of a Psychologist
Behavior and Mental Processes
The Goals of Psychology
Psychology as a Science
The Job of a Psychologist
Fields Within Psychology
Applied Fields
History of Psychology
Early Views
Major Players
Modern Psychology
Psychology Today
Perspectives of Psychology
Perspectives Cont’d

3. Behavior and Mental Processes
Psychology – scientific study of human behavior and mental process
Behavior – any action that can be observed or measured
Cognitive activities – mental processes
Dreams, memories, etc.
Known only to the individual
Psychological constructs – used to study things we cannot see, touch, or measure

4. The Goals of Psychology
Explain behavior
Struggling with work/school
“Losing your cool”
Predict situational outcomes
When will you begin to struggle/fall apart?
Control emotions, behavior, etc.
How to maintain control in situations where you would have normally struggled

5. Psychology as a Science
Closely related to natural sciences
Biology, chemistry, physics
Still, considered a social science
Research
Surveys and experimentation
Human or animal research
Theories
Statements attempting to explain why or how something occurs
Discuss principles, or basic truth or law
Useful theories can be applied in prediction

6. Fields Within Psychology
Clinical
Most common
Child/adult mental health, learning disabilities
Not psychiatrists (medical doctors that can prescribe medicine)
Counseling
Marriage, work, relationships
School
Counselors in school
Future goals, peer/family problems, school issues

7. Field Within Psychology Cont’d
Educational
Course planning and instructional methods for an entire school system
Developmental
Changes throughout a person’s life span
Physical, emotional, cognitive, social
Personality
Identification and development of human traits

8. Fields Within Psychology Cont’d
Social
Behavior in social situations
Romance, conforming to standards, prejudice/discrimination
Experimental
Experiments into basic processes of the human body
Combined changes in biological and psychological events
Engage in basic research, or research that has no immediate application and is done for its own sake

9. Applied Fields Industrial and Organizational Human Factors Community
Behavior of people within organizations
Human Factors
Best ways to design products for people to use
Community
Design social centers like mental institutions, hospital and school programs

10. Applied Fields Cont’d Forensic Health Rehabilitation Cross-Cultural
Work with police investigations
Health
How behavior is related to physical health
Rehabilitation
Work with patients struggling with the effects of a disability
Cross-Cultural
Psychological issues across varying cultures

11. Exit Slip What are the primary goals of psychology?
Select and describe one of the following fields in psychology: Clinical, Developmental, or Experimental
Select and describe one of the following applied fields in psychology: Cross-Cultural, Industrial and Organizational, or Rehabilitation

12. Early Views Psychological studies date back to Egyptians
600s B.C. by Psamtik I
Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle
Introspection, or looking within
Associationism – our understanding of the world is associated with prior experiences
Middle Ages
Believed many disorders to be caused by the devil
Lack of scientific focus meant deadly consequences for those deemed “possessed”

13. Major Players Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) William James (1842-1910)
Structuralism – consciousness breaks down into objective sensations and subjective feelings
Objective – portrayed outside world; Subjective – emotional responses and mental images
William James ( )
Functionalism – emphasizes the purpose of behavioral and mental processes and what they can do for the individual
Instead of looking for structure, wanted to know purpose

14. Major Players Cont’d Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Psychoanalysis – unconscious motives and internal conflicts as reasons behind human actions
Wanted to unleash the power present in the unconscious mind
Also known as psychodynamic thinking, he argued that we are constantly fighting sexual and aggressive urges deemed socially inappropriate

15. Modern Psychology John B. Watson (1878-1958) B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
Behaviorism – Scientific study of observable behavior
If psychology is to be a science, it must be limited to measurable events
B.F. Skinner ( )
Contributed to behaviorism with concept of reinforcement
Rewarding people or animals for doing the correct thing
The Gestalt School
Gestalt Psychology – Emphasizes the tendency to organize perception of individual parts into meaningful wholes

16. Exit Slip
Define Structuralism
Define Functionalism
Define Behaviorism

17. Perspectives of Psychology
Biological
Biology influences behavior
Mental processes possible by nervous system, genes affect disorders, etc.
Evolutionary
People learn behaviors in order to “adapt” to society
Cognitive
Investigate the role of thought processes in human behavior

18. Perspectives Cont’d Humanistic Psychoanalytic
Personal experiences are the most important aspect of psychology
Psychoanalytic
Unconscious parts of mind shape our responses
Pulls heavily from Sigmund Freud

19. Perspectives Cont’d Learning Sociocultural Biopsychosocial
Past experiences and environments impact behavior
Socio-learning theory states people can change their environment AND learn from others, not just their own mistakes
Sociocultural
Effects of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socio-economic standing on behavior
Biopsychosocial
Mental actions influenced by combination of biological, psychological, and social factors