PSYCHOLOGY 100 Please sign in Notecard #1 Notecard #2 Email address Name Email address One interesting fact about you or one thing you are interested in Notecard #2 We’ll use soon

PSYCHOLOGY 100 Introductions Syllabus Class Schedule Lecture Prologue - The Story of Psychology

Melanie Mack Zabel, MS, CL INSTRUCTOR Melanie Mack Zabel, MS, CL Office: LDC 215, Desk A Email: mzabel@whatcom.ctc.edu Phone: 383-3809 Take roll

COURSE OUTLINE Syllabus Class Schedule

EMINENT PSYCHOLOGISTS Notecard #2 Write the name of one eminent psychologist from the past Write the name of one living eminent psychologist & the work for which he or she is known

PROLOGUE THE STORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

THE STORY OF PSYCHOLOGY What is Psychology? Psychology’s Roots Psychology’s Big Issue Psychological Perspectives Levels of Analysis Subfields of Psychology

PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) http://faculty.washington.edu

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IS BORN 1879 Wilhelm Wundt, University of Leipzig, Germany “Atoms of the mind”- the fastest and simplest mental processes Considered the birth of psychology as we know it today Wundt (1832-1920)

PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE IS BORN Measured lag between participants’ recognition that he heard a ball hit a metal platform and his pressing a telegraph key Launched the first psychology laboratory

Edward B. Titchener, Cornell University, NY STRUCTURALISM Edward B. Titchener, Cornell University, NY Wundt’s student Used introspection to explore the structural elements of the mind Participants reported their experiences and how they relate to one another

FUNCTIONALISM William James American Philosopher Functions of thoughts & feelings How they enable us to adapt, survive, & flourish 1890 Psychology textbook James (1842-1910) Mary Calkins

Studied effects of emotional responses on behavior Unconscious mind SIGMUND FREUD Austrian physician Studied effects of emotional responses on behavior Unconscious mind Childhood experiences Personality theorist Psychoanalytic theory Freud (1856-1939)

PSYCHOLOGY 1920’S TO PRESENT Originated in many disciplines and countries Defined, until the 1920’s, as the science of mental life Introspection was dismissed

Emphasized the scientific study of observable behavior BEHAVIORISTS Watson (1878-1958) Skinner (1904-1990) John B. Watson B.F. Skinner Emphasized the scientific study of observable behavior

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY Maslow (1908-1970) Rogers (1902-1987) http://facultyweb.cortland.edu http://www.carlrogers.dk Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers Emphasized current environmental influences Growth potential Need for love and acceptance

COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE Cognitive Revolution 1960’s Importance of earlier ideas How the mind perceives, processes, and retains information Cognitive Neuroscience Links cognitive psychology and brain activity

The scientific study of PSYCHOLOGY TODAY The scientific study of Behavior (what we do) Mental processes (inner thoughts & feelings) Perception, thinking, memory, & language Learner.org - Psychology: Past, Present, & Promise

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION Largest organization of psychology with 160,000 members world-wide Followed by the British Psychological Society with 34,000 members. http://www.apa.org/index.aspx

PSYCHOLOGY’S HISTORIC BIG ISSUE Nature versus Nurture Controversy over the relative contributions of biology and experience Aristotle: there is nothing in the mind that does not come from the external world through the senses John Locke: the mind is a blank slate upon which experience writes

NATURAL SELECTION Among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations Nurture works on what nature endows Every psychological event is simultaneously a biological event

PSYCHOLOGY’S THREE MAIN LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

PSYCHOLOGY’S CURRENT PERSPECTIVES Focus Sample Questions Neuroscience How the body and brain enables emotions. How are messages transmitted in the body? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives? Evolutionary How the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of one’s genes. How does evolution influence behavior tendencies? Behavior genetics How much our genes and our environments influence our individual differences. To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment?

PSYCHOLOGY’S CURRENT PERSPECTIVES Focus Sample Questions Psychodynamic How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas? Behavioral How we learn observable responses How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking?

PSYCHOLOGY’S CURRENT PERSPECTIVES Focus Sample Questions Cognitive How we encode, process, store and retrieve information How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Problem solving? Social-cultural How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures How are we — as Africans, Asians, Australians or North Americans – alike as members of human family? As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ?

BASIC VS. APPLIED RESEARCH Basic Research: Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base Applied Research: Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

BASIC RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY’S SUBFIELDS Psychologist What she does Biological Explore the links between brain and mind Developmental Study changing abilities from womb to tomb Cognitive Study how we perceive, think, and solve problems Personality Investigate our persistent traits Social Explore how we view and affect one another

PSYCHOLOGY’S SUBFIELDS: APPLIED Psychologist What she does Clinical Studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders Counseling Helps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges. Educational Studies and helps individuals in school and educational settings Industrial/ Organizational Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace.

CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY VS. PSYCHIATRY Clinical psychologist (Ph.D.): studies, assesses, and treats people who have psychological disorders Psychiatrists (M.D.): medical professionals who sometimes provide medical treatment (such as drugs) as well as psychological therapy to individuals with psychological disorders