Welcome to Psychology! Mrs. Freudenfels Spring, 2016 Rm. 214

Why do we need psychology? What is the story of psychology? “Know thyself.” –Socrates, Greek philosopher Idea of consciousness: awareness of self in space and in time Roots of psychology are in philosophy, biology, sociology Psychology is a 130 year old science, but rests on thousands of years of philosophy and history

Defining Psychology The word, psychology, comes from the Greek psyche, which means “soul,” and logos, which means “logic or science.” How did we get to psychology? Modern Psychology is a product of the scientific revolution Ancient Greek philosophers turned away from the whims of the gods and towards questions of the natural world. – What is knowledge and how do we gain it? – What is our relationship with emotions?

Defining Psychology The scientific study of behavior and mental processes – Behavior: anything we do that can be measured, including all of our outward actions and reactions (talking, facial expressions, and movement). – Mental processes: internal activity of our minds, such as thinking, feeling, and remembering Why scientific? – Researchers must be objective in their studies – Scientific method

Goals of psychology Description, explanation, prediction, control Description: observing a behavior and noting everything about it  promotes questioning Explanation: – Establishing a theory: a set of ideas, combined in a logical way, that explains and connects known facts and predicts events

Goals of psychology cont. Prediction: determining what will happen in the future Control: the modification of behavior; changing a behavior from an undesirable one to a desirable one

Folk Psychology-ideas passed through the generations Old dogs can’t learn new tricks Look before you leap A penny saved is a penny earned Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Influential Individuals Plato: Rationalists -We make sense of the world through reason; first to discuss how we learn Aristotle: Empiricists -We make sense of the world through our senses (babies) John Locke: Tabula Rasa -We start off with a blank slate, a “tabula rasa.” Wilhelm Wundt: Father of psychology opens first psychology lab in Lipsig, Germany (1879); brings objectivity and measurement to psychology

Astrology Astrology: knowledge of the starts; looking at the stars and planets as life forces Zodiac: Greek for “animal”; The ancient Greeks improved upon the art of astrology by dividing the heavens into 12 groups known as constellations. Each of these groups is named after a personification (zodiac) that correlates with the nature of each constellation Horoscope: a combination of “hour” and “instrument for viewing”

Astrology: Science or Pseudo-Science?

Modern Psychological Perspectives Psychodynamic (Freud): unconscious mind and early childhood memories Behavioral (Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner): continuing to do a behavior because it merits a reward Humanistic (Maslow): what is the best way for an individual to reach self-actualization-one’s full potential or ideal self Cognitive: how people think and process information Sociocultural: the effect that people have on one another both individually and in a larger group Biopsychological: Mind-body connection

What to write: (Please write your name in the inside cover of the book) Per Psychology Your name Book number Homeroom teacher Current grade Your signature

Ethics If a psychologist asked you to participate in a study, what would you want or ask the psychologist? bjjg bjjg IRB: Institutional Review Board

Reliability vs. Validity Is a test reliable?  Each time you do the test, do you get the same answer? Is a test valid?  Is the assessment testing what it’s supposed to test? Can you have reliability without validity?

Ethical Guidelines Informed consent Random assignment Double blind experiment Humanitarian Justification/Debriefing Right to withdraw Risks and benefits Confidentiality

Have you ever tried to guess a person’s occupation based solely on their appearance? Do the following hold true: 1.People wearing suits are executives. 2.Men with long hair are musicians.

Correlation A measure of the relationship between 2 or more variables – A variable is anything that can change or vary Correlation coefficient: one number that represents 2 things – Direction of the relationship (Does life expectancy go up or down as smoking increases?) – Strength (how strong is one variable going to predict the other variable)

So, if we found out that there was a high correlation between cigarette smoking and life expectancy, does that mean that smoking causes your life expectancy to be shortened? No, the biggest error that people make is assuming that one variable is the cause of another. Correlation doesn’t prove causation. (other factors in this situation: eating the right foods, exercising, etc.)

The Scientific Method