1. Week 1 Introduction to Psychology

2. Chapter 1 Overview Exploring psychology’s roots
Schools of thought in psychology
Descriptive research methods
The experimental method
Ethics in psychological research
Thinking about theories and research
Psychologists at work

3. Psychology: The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
What process do scientists use to answer questions about behavior and mental processes?
Psychology: The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Instead of relying on common sense, psychologists use the scientific method
Psychologists propose and test theories to explain behavior and mental processes
Theory: A general set of principles that explains how separate facts are related

4. What are the goals of psychology?
Description
Identifying and classifying behaviors and mental processes
Explanation
Proposing reasons for behaviors and mental processes
Prediction
Offering hypotheses about how a condition or set of conditions will affect behavior and mental processes
Influence
Using research results to solve practical problems

5. What are the goals of psychology?
Two types of research are done to accomplish psychologists’ four goals
Basic research
Research that seeks new knowledge to advance general scientific understanding
Applied research
Research conducted to solve practical problems and improve the quality of life

6. Exploring Psychology’s Roots
Psychology’s roots can be traced to the beginning of recorded history
But psychology as a formal academic discipline began in the 1800s

7. What did Wundt and Titchener contribute to psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt ( )
The “father” of psychology
Used introspection to analyze basic elements of conscious mental experience
Edward Bradford Titchener ( )
Wundt’s student
Established a psychological laboratory in the USA
Structuralism
Wundt and Titchener’s school of thought
Structuralism was criticized because of its methods
But structuralists established psychology as a science

8. Why is functionalism important in the history of psychology?
Focused on how humans and animals use mental processes in adapting to their environments
Broadened the scope of psychology to include behavior as well as mental processes
William James ( )
Functionalism’s most famous proponent
Believed that the “stream of conscious- ness” functions to help humans adapt to their environment

9. Christine Ladd-Franklin
Who were some of the individuals who overcame discrimination to make important contributions to the field of psychology?
Christine Ladd-Franklin
Completed PhD in the mid 1880’s at John Hopkins
but did not receive her degree until 1926
Formulated a well-regarded theory of color vision
Mary Whiton Calkins
Completed the requirements for a doctorate at Harvard
but Harvard refused to grant the degree to a woman
Established a psychology laboratory at Wellesley College
Developed the paired associates test

10. Margaret Floy Washburn
Who were some of the individuals who overcame discrimination to make important contributions to the field of psychology?
Margaret Floy Washburn
Received PhD from Cornell University
Wrote influential books including The Animal Mind (1908) and Movement and Mental Imagery (1916)
Francis Cecil Sumner
First African American to earn a PhD in psychology, in 1920
Chaired psychology department at Howard University

11. Who were some of the individuals who overcame discrimination to make important contributions to the field of psychology?
Albert Sidney Beckham
Established first psychological laboratory at a Black institution of higher learning – Howard University
Conducted important studies on intelligence and how it related to occupational fields
Kenneth Clark
Received national recognition for writings on the harmful effects of racial segregation
His writings affected Supreme Court rulings declaring national segregation unconstitutional

12. Who were some of the individuals who overcame discrimination to make important contributions to the field of psychology?
Jorge Sanchez
An Hispanic American psychologist
Studied bias in intelligence testing during the 1930s
Pointed out that cultural and language differences work against Hispanic students when they take IQ tests

13. Schools of Thought in Psychology
The major schools of thought in psychology today include
Behaviorism
Psychoanalytic psychology
Humanistic psychology
Cognitive psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Biological psychology
The sociocultural approach

14. How do behaviorists explain behavior and mental processes?
Behaviorists view observable, measurable behavior as the only appropriate subject matter for psychology
Behaviorism also emphasizes the environment as the key determinant of behavior

15. What do psychoanalytic psychologists believe about the role of the unconscious?
Sigmund Freud’s theory of personality and his therapy for psychological disorders is called Psychoanalysis
According to this theory, an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior are determined primarily by the unconscious

16. According to Maslow and Rogers, what motivates behavior and mental processes?
Humanistic psychology
Focuses on the uniqueness of human beings and their capacity for choice, growth, and psychological health
Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation
The need for self-actualization is the highest need in the hierarchy of needs
Carl Rogers developed client-centered therapy
An approach in which the client directs a discussion on his or her own view of the problem

17. What is the focus of cognitive psychology?
Cognitive psychology focuses on mental processes such as memory, problem solving, decision making, perception, and language
Information-processing theory
An approach within cognitive psychology that uses the computer as a model for human thinking

18. What is the main idea behind evolutionary psychology?
Evolutionary psychology focuses on how human behaviors necessary for survival have adapted in the face of environmental pressures over the course of evolution

19. How do biological psychologists explain individual differences in behavior and mental processes?
Biological psychologists look for connections between specific behaviors (such as aggression) and specific biological factors (such as hormones) to help explain individual differences

20. What kinds of variables interest psychologists who take a sociocultural approach?
The sociocultural approach focuses on how factors such as cultural values affect behavior
Proponents of this approach believe that these factors are as important as evolutionary and physiological factors in affecting behavior and mental processes