What is Psychology?  Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes  Scientific? Not just common sense or guesses Psychology uses the scientific method Scientific Method is careful observations and the experimental testing of hypothesis  Behavior – what people do on the outside  Mental Processes – What is going on inside someone's head. We call this cognition.  Psychology includes the study of both humans and animals

Approaches to the field of Psychology 1. Biological 2. Evolutionary 3. Behavioral 4. Cognitive 5. Psychodynamic 6. Humanistic 7. Social

1. Biological Psychology  Investigates the biological basis of human behavior, thoughts and emotions. Looks at how the following biological mechanisms effect your behavior and mental processes. Brain Neurotransmitters Hormones Drugs (both legal and illegal) Gender differences in brain structure and function

2. Evolutionary Psychology  Asks the question: How did our species get to be the way we are? Language – Why do we talk? Altruism – Why are we nice to each other? Sexual attraction / mate selection – Why are some people considered beautiful?  Answers these questions by looking at what would most help us pass on our genetic code.  Very concerned with reproduction!

3. Behavioral  This approach only studies observable human behavior focusing on how we learn, react and manipulate our environment.  We learn observable responses through conditioning or by trying to get rewards/avoid punishments.  Mind is a BLACK BOX. Can’t see it? Don’t study it.  Big names  Pavlov – Dogs  Watson – Little Albert  Skinner – Operant Conditioning

4. Cognitive Psychology  School of psychology that studies mental processes Thinking, feeling, remembering, making decisions and judgments  Studies how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information.  Studies behavior and makes inferences about the mental processes behind the behavior  Thanks to new technologies like CAT scans, MRIs and fMRIs, we can open the black box.

5. Psychodynamic Psychology  Personality theory that says behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts  Unconscious is a dynamic cauldron of primitive drives, forbidden desires and nameless fears  Psychoanalysis – patient lies on a couch and recounts dreams and conducts free association.  Sigmund Freud

6. Humanistic Psychology  School of psychology that emphasizes nonverbal experiences and altered states of consciousness as a means of realizing one’s full human potential  Importance of love, belonging, human potential, and self-esteem.  Abraham Maslow  Not mainstream, more a cultural and spiritual movement.

7. Sociocultural Psychology  Study of how people influence one another  Topics include: First impressions Interpersonal attraction Attitude formation Prejudice Behavior in a group Obedience to Authority  Some Applications include: Support groups Family Therapy Sensitivity Training

Careers in Psychology 1. Clinical and counseling 2. developmental 3. educational 4. experimental 5. human factors 6. industrial–organizational 7. personality 8. psychometric

1. Clinical and Counseling Psychology  About 50% of all Psychologists  Counseling psychologists deal with “normal” problems, such as stress caused by career change or marital problems  Counseling psychologist’s focus more on the psychologically healthy individual where clinical focuses on individuals with serious mental illness (e.g. schizophrenia).  Clinical psychologists are concerned with diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders  Split time between treatment and researching the cause of psychological disorders and the effectiveness of different types of psychotherapy and counseling.

2. Developmental Psychology  Study of physical and mental growth from birth to old age  study of changing abilities from womb to tomb  Subfields Child psychology Adolescent psychology Life-span psychology

3. Educational Psychology  School Psychologist  psychological evaluations  consult with school personnel in relation to students’ learning, behavior, and environments  they are trained to look at the effectiveness of academic programs, classroom agendas, and treatment interventions, which assists in the development of specific interventions.

4. Experimental Psychology  Design research experiments  May or may not have a direct impact on the treatment of patients  Animal subjects  Drug trials

5. Human Factors  The science of understanding the properties of human capability (Human Factors Science).  The application of this understanding to the design, development and deployment of systems and services (Human Factors Engineering).  The art of ensuring successful application of Human Factors Engineering to a programme (sometimes referred to as Human Factors Integration).It can also be called ergonomics.

6. Industrial and Organizational Psychology  Study of psychological principles in industry and business  Examples Selecting and training personnel Productivity improvement Optimizing working conditions Managing the impact of automation on workers

7. Personality Psychology  Study of how people differ from one another on traits such as Conscientiousness Agreeableness Neuroticism Openness Extraversion

7. Psychometics  Test creation  Validity  Reliablity  Culture fair  Statistics

Psychiatry  A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders  Practiced by physicians who sometimes use medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychotherapy

Licenses in Psychology  Psychologists - Ph.D., Psy.D.  Psychiatrists - M.D.  Psychoanalysts - M.D. or Ph.D.  Social Workers (M.S.W.) - LSW  Marriage Family Therapists - M.A.