1. What is Psychology?○ Psychology - the scientific study of behavior and mental processes○ Behavior - any action or reaction of a living organism that can be directly observed○ Mental Processes - including thinking, feeling, and desiring that can only be indirectly observed.Goals:○ Describe particular behaviors by naming, classifying, and measuring them○ Explain why a behavior or mental processes occurred○ Predict the condition under which a future behavior or mental process is likely to occur○ Apply psy. knowledge to promote desired goals and prevent unwanted behaviors2. Early Approaches:○ Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) - German scientist who established first research lab. He wrote a landmark text and was first person to call himself a “psychologist”.○ Conducted studies on the “elements” of consciousness, including sensation, perception, and emotion.○ Pioneered introspection - where subjects reported detailed descriptions of their own conscious mental experiencesStructuralism:○ Edward Titchener (1867-1927) - establish a lab at Cornell University○ Titchener trained his students to use introspection to ID the structures, or basic components, of conscious experiences.○ Known as structuralism, it was an unreliable method because different subjects often reported different introspective findings about the same stimulus, and it couldn’t be used to study children, animals, or complex topics such as mental disorders.Functionalism:○ Devised by William James (1842-1910) - functionalists study the purpose, or function of behavior and mental processes.○ Rejects introspection for gathering information and instead studies how fear enables people and animals to adapt to their environments.○ It broadened the scope of psy. research to include the direct observation of humans and animals.Psychoanalysis:○ In contrast to structuralists and functionalists focusing on the study of conscious experiences, Sigmund Freud emphasized the role of the unconscious in determining behavior and personality○ Psychoanalysis focused its attention on conflicts between accepted norms of behavior and unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses.○ Freud believed that dreams, “slips of the tongue” (called “Freudian slips”), and memory blocks all provide glimpses into the unconscious mind.○ The modern psychodynamic approach incorporates many of Freud’s landmark theories.Gestalt:○ While the structuralists divided the object under study into a set of elements that could be analyzed separately, Gestalt focused on how we construct “perceptual wholes”.○ Gestalt theories and methodologies are used to explain perceptual organization.3. The Behavior Perspective:○ Believe both conscious and unconscious mental processes are unobservable. Instead they focus on scientific investigations on observable behaviors that can be objectively measured.○ Behaviorists believe that human behavior is learned and can be controlled through the presence or absence of rewards and punishment.○ Behaviorism emerged from Ivan Pavlov and showed animal behaviors are mostly learned rather than instinctive.○ American John B. Watson applied Pavlov’s work to human behavior and believed humans could be socialized in any direction through learning.○ Watson influenced B.F. Skinner and he became the leading advocate of behaviorism.The Humanistic Perspective:○ American Carl Rogers was a humanist. He believed every person has the ability to self-actualize or reach their full potential. He emphasized free will and choice in human behavior.○ Abraham Maslow was another leader in humanistic psychology. He developed a theory of motivation called Hierarchy of Needs.Psychodynamic Perspective:○ These are modern psychologists who follow Freud’s key theories. They tend to pay less emphasis on sexual instincts.○ The psychodynamic approach to therapy emphasizes repressed memories, free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of transference.Biological Perspective:○ Psychologists studying the biological perspective, study the physical bases of human and animal behavior.○ They believe behavior originates in the nervous system and the endocrine system.Cognitive Perceptive:○ The cognitive perspective focuses on the way human gather, store and process sensory information○ Influenced by the computer revolution, cognitive psychologists use an information processing model to conceptualize human memory, thinking, and problem-solving.Evolutionary Perspective○ The evolutionary perspective uses the principles of evolution to explain psychological processes and phenomena.○ Psychologists believe that natural selection plays a key role in determining human behavior. For ie, they point to natural selection to explain the male preference for mates who possess high social status and financial resources.4. Broad Discipline ○ Psychology embraces a wide range of specialty areas■ Clinical psychology and counseling attract the largest number of doctoral students○ Sample Career■ Clinical Psychology - specializes in the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and behavioral disorder■ Forensic Psychology - applies the principles of psy. to the legal profession, including jury selection and psychological profiling■ Education Psychology - uses knowledge of how people learn to help develop instructional methods and material■ Industrial-Organization Psychology - apply psy. to the workplace, including employee motivation, job satisfaction, and personnel