Psych1101

• Psychology


  The systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes
• What psychologists study


  • Behaviors
  • Mental processes
• Psychology is a science - psychologists conduct research in accordance with the scientific method
• Psychologists rely on critical thinking and information gained from scientific research
• Types of behaviors


  • Overt behaviors (directly observable actions and responses)
  • Covert behaviors (private internal activities such as thinking, dreaming, remembering)
• Goals of psychology


  • Describe
  • Explain
  • Predict
  • Change/Control
• Describing behavior


  Observing events and behavior then looking at how they might be related
• Predicting behavior


  Predicting what events or behavior may occur based on their relationship
• Explaining behavior


  Suggesting and testing an explanation (in the form of a hypothesis)
• Controlling or changing behavior


  Creating programs or treatments to alter behavior
• Psychologists hope to benefit all humanity by describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling/altering the conditions that affect behavior
• Approaches to understanding behavior

  • Biological
  • Cognitive
  • Behavioral
  • Psychoanalytic
  • Humanistic
  • Sociocultural
  • Evolutionary
  • Biopsychosocial
• Biological perspective


  Examines how biology affects thinking, feelings, perception, and abnormality
• Biopsychology


  The study of the physical brain and body structures that underlie behavior and mental processes
• Evolutionary perspective


  Examines the role of evolution in explaining current behaviors
• Behavioral perspective


  Behavior is shaped and controlled by one's environment: effects of learning (rewards and punishments)
• Cognitive perspective


  Human behavior is due to the mental processing, storage, and retrieval of information
• Cognitive neuroscience


  Involves taking pictures and identifying the structures and functions of the living brain during the performance of mental or cognitive processes
• Psychodynamic perspective


  Human behavior is due to internal impulses, desires, and conflicts, influenced by childhood experiences
• Humanistic perspective


  Behavior is guided by one's self image and the need for personal growth and self actualization
• Sociocultural perspective


  Behavior is influenced by one's ethnic, cultural, and social context
• Biopsychosocial approach


  Studies how biological, psychological, and social factors influence human development
• Psychologists are trained in the methods and theories of psychology, have a minimum of a masters degree, and are guided by a code of ethics
• Specialties in psychology


  • Clinical
  • Experimental and research
  • Social and personality
  • Developmental
  • Health
  • Counseling
  • School
  • Educational
  • Industry/organizations
• Where psychologists work


  • Private practice
  • Colleges and universities
  • Hospitals and clinics
  • Human services
  • Business, industry, and government
  • Schools
• Primary activity of psychologists

  • Mental health services
  • Education services
  • Management/administration
  • Research
  • Applied psychology
  • Other
• Psychology is about 130 years old since 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt established a psychological lab in Germany to study consciousness
• Structuralism


  Focused on the elements of the mind
• Gestalt approach


  Studied sensations versus perceptions, with the view that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
• Functionalism


  Focused on the functions of the mind and how the mind helps us adapt to the environment
• Behaviorism


  Focused on observable behaviors, with the view that all behavior is due to conditioning and the environment shapes behavior
• Sigmund Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory, which focuses on the unconscious mind and its influence on behavior
• Humanistic psychology


  Focuses on human potentials, ideals, and feelings, as well as free will and self-actualization
• Psychology


  The systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes
• What psychologists study


  • Behaviors
  • Mental processes
• Psychology is a science - psychologists conduct research in accordance with the scientific method
• Psychologists rely on critical thinking and information gained from scientific research
• Types of behaviors


  • Overt behaviors (directly observable actions and responses)
  • Covert behaviors (private internal activities such as thinking, dreaming, remembering)
• Goals of psychology


  • Describe
  • Explain
  • Predict
  • Change/Control
• Describing behavior


  Observing events and behavior then looking at how they might be related