What is Psychology?

• Psychology- is the scientific study of behavior and mental process.
• psyche meaning "breath, principle of life, life, soul"
• logia comes from the Greek logos, meaning "speech, word, reason"
• Theory

  • set of hypothesized statements about the relationship among events.
  • propose reasons for relationship among events.
  • can be used to derive explanation and predictions.
• pure research- conducted without concern for immediate application. the researcher is interested in the topic.

  applied research- to find solutions to particular problems.
• practice- applying psychological knowledge to help individuals change their behaviors so that they can meet their goals more effectively.
• teaching- sharing psychological knowledge in classroom seminars and workshops.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  clinical psychologist- help people with psychological disorders adjust to the demands of life. Evaluate problems, resolve problems, and change self-defeating behaviors.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  school psychologist- employed by school systems to identify and assist students who have problems that interfere with learning.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  counseling psychologist- use interviews and tests to define their clients' problems. Adjust problems but not psychological disorders.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  educational psychologist- focuses on course planning and instructional methods for a school system.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  developmental psychologist- study the changes in physical, cognitive, social, and emotional occurrence throughout the lifespan.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  social psychologist- concerned with the nature and causes of individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behavior in social situations.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  personality psychologist- identify and measure human traits and determine influences on human thought, processes, feelings, and behavior.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  environmental psychologist- study the ways that people and the environment, natural environment and human made environment, influence one another.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  experimental psychologist- specialize in the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, thought, motivation, and emotion.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  forensic psychologist- apply psychology to the criminal justice system.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  health psychologist- studied the effects on stress on health problems such as headaches, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  sports psychologist- help athletes concentrate on their performance and not on the crowd, use cognitive strategies to enhance performance and avoid choking under pressure.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  industrial psychologist- focus on the relationships between people and work.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  human factor psychologist- make technical systems such as automobile dashboard and computer keyboards more user friendly.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  organizational psychologist- study the behavior of people im organizations such as business.
• FIELDS OF PSYCH

  consumer psychologist- study the behavior of shoppers in an effort to predict and influence their behavior.
• Aristotle- 384 to 432 BCE
• Democritus- 400 BCE
• Socrates- 470 BCE
• Gustav Fechner- 1801 to 1887
• Charles Darwin- 1809 to 1882
• Wilhelm Wundt- 1832 to 1920
• Aristotle's contributions in contemporary psychology:

  • Science could rationally treat only information gathered by senses.

  • Enumerated five senses –vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

  • Explore nature of cause and effect.

  • Pointed out that people differ from other living things in their capacity for

  rational thought.

  •Declared people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

  • “human behavior, like movements of the stars and the seas, is subject to rules

  and laws.
• Democritus suggested that we could think of a behavior in terms of body and a mind.

  • behavior is influenced by external stimulation.
  • first to raise question on whether there is free will or choice.
• Socrates stated that people should rely on rational thought and introspection.
• introspection- is the careful examinations of one's own thoughts and emotions.
• Gustav Fechner

  published elements of psychophysics- showed how physical events stimulate psychological sensations and perception.
• Charles Darwin- British naturalist whose theory of natural selection influenced the functionalist school and the field of evolution psychology.
• Wilhelm Wundt- German psychologist who opened one of the first psychology laboratory and helped develop the field of structuralism.
• structuralism- attempted to break conscious experience down into objective, such as sight or taste, and subjective feelings, such as emotional responses, and mental images such as memories for dreams.

  
  

  notable individual: Wilhelm Wundt
• functionalism- focused on behavior as well as mind or consciousness. How our experiences help us function more adaptively in our environments.

  
  

  notable individual: William James
• adaptive behavior- are learned and maintained.

  
  

  maladaptive behavior- tend to drop out, and only the fittest behavior patterns survive.
• behaviorism- focused on learning observable behavior. Like heart rate, blood pressure, and brain waves.

  
  

  notable individuals: John Watson & B.F Skinner