The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Behavior
Overt (i.e., can be directly observed, as with crying)
Mental Processes: Covert (i.e., cannot be directly observed, as with remembering)
Goals of Psychology
Description of Behaviors
Understanding
Prediction
Control
Positive use of control
To control unwanted behaviors (e.g., smoking, tantrums, etc.)
Negative use of control
To control people's behaviors without their knowledge
Psychology is not common sense
Psychology is not the mysterious
Psychology is not the parasciences
Pseudopsychologies
Any unfounded "system" that resembles psychology and is NOT based on scientific testing
Pseudopsychologies
Palmistry
Phrenology
Graphology
Astrology
Feng Sui
Phrenology was an attempt to assess personality characteristics by examining various areas of the skull. Phrenologists used charts such as the one shown here as guides. Like other pseudopsychologists, phrenologists made no attempt to empirically verify their concepts.
How many people believe in astrology?
Wilhelm Wundt
"Father" of psychology
Introspection
Looking inward (i.e., examining and reporting your thoughts, feelings, etc.)
Traditional Era of Psychology
Animism – Belief in gods and spirits determine life occurences
Greek Influences on Psychology
Plato and Aristotle – postulated that the "Soul" is the source of life
Every human person is made up of a core, which is the soul
Galen's four humours
Blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile that controlled the human condition
Four temperaments
Sanguine - cheerful
Melancholic - sad
Choleric –strict, irascible
Phlegmatic – slow and sluggish
René Descartes
Argued that the mind gives people the capacities for thought and consciousness: the mind "decides" and the body carries out the decision—a dualistic mind-body split that modern psychological science is still working to overcome
John Locke
"Tabula Rasa", latin for "blank sheet or blank tablet"
Structuralism
Dealt with structure of mental life
Attempted to discover the "building blocks" of conscious thought
Based on a pure, immediate sensory experience
Functionalism
How the mind functions to help us adapt and survive
Admired Darwin and his theory of natural selection
Behaviorism
Psychology must study observable behavior objectively
Studied relationship between Stimuli: Environmental events and Responses: Any identifiable behavior(s)
Albert Ellis
Founder of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Our thoughts influence our behaviors
Albert Bandura
Posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling
Gestalt psychology
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
Studied thinking, learning, and perception in whole units, not by analyzing experiences into parts
Jean Piaget
Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence
Full name: Jean William Fritz Piaget
Born: 9 August 1896, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Education: University of Neuchâtel (1918), University of Geneva, University of Zurich
Psychoanalytic Perspective
Our behavior is largely influenced by our unconscious wishes, thoughts, and desires, especially sex and aggression
All thoughts, actions, and emotions are determined by unconscious processes
Repression
When threatening thoughts are unconsciously held out of awareness
"Reservoir" – storage for repressed items
Free Association
Saying whatever comes to mind, regardless of how embarrassing or unimportant it may seem
By doing so without censorship and censure, unconscious material can emerge
Free Association Activity
Recorder says a word, subject says first word that comes to mind, recorder repeats that word and subject says first word that comes to mind, repeat 10 times
Humanism
Goal of psychology is to study unique aspects of the person
Focuses on human experience, problems, potentials, and ideals
Each person has innate goodness and is able to make free choices (contrast with Skinner and Freud)
Self-image
Your perception of your own body, personality, and capabilities
Self-evaluation
Positive and negative feelings you have about yourself
Frame of reference
Mental perspective used for interpreting events
Self-actualization (Maslow)
Fully developing one's potential and becoming the best person possible
Branches of Psychology
Clinical Psychology
Counseling Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Educational Psychology
Forensic Psychology
Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Sports Psychology
Biological Psychology/ Neuro Psychology
Biopsychology
All of our behavior can be explained through physiological processes
Uses brain scans to gather data (CT, MRI, PET)
Positive Psychology
Study of human strengths, virtues, and optimal behavior