PYSC 101 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 4 Lecture 1 January 9 Module 1 Psychologists at Work Describe psychology Understand the different subfields of psychology Where do psychologists work What s the difference between a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes Subfields of psychology Behavioral Neuroscience examines the biological basis of behavior Ex The effects of behaviors when chemicals are released in the human body as a result of a stressful event Clinical Psychology deals with the study diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders Cognitive Psychology focuses on the study of higher mental processes Ex Thinking Counseling Psychology focuses primarily on education social and career adjustment problems Developmental Psychology examines how people grow and change from moment of conception through death Ex A child s personality changes with age Experimental Psychology studies the processes of sensing perceiving learning and thinking about the world Ex A psychologist is intrigued by the fact that some people are much more sensitive to painful stimuli than others are Health Psychology explore the relationship between psychological factors and physical ailments or disease Ex stress Social Psychology the study of how people s thoughts feelings and actions are affected by others Ex interactions between one another Psychology As A Career The most common areas of employment for psychology majors are in the social services A lot of psychologist s can also be found working at universities or private practices The least common area of employment for U S psychologist is in school districts Psychologists vs Psychiatrists Psychiatrists are medical doctors Psychologists are not medical doctors o PhD means Doctor of Philosophy o PsyD means Doctor of Psychology Module 2 Evolution of Psychology Who were the first psychologists What are the modern perspectives of psychology Psychology s Key Issues and Controversies First Psychologists William Wundt o Started the formal beginning of psychology as a scientific discipline o His perspective is now known as structuralism o Structuralism focuses on uncovering the fundamental mental components of consciousness thinking and other kinds of mental states and activities o Used a procedure called introspection that studied the structure of the mind in which subjects were asked to describe in detail what they were experiencing when they were exposed to a stimulus William James o His perspective is now known as functionalism this challenged structuralism o Functionalism concentrated on what the mind does and the role of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environment Hermann Ebbinghaus and Max Wertheimer o Their perspective is now know as gestalt psychology o Gestalt psychology focuses on the organization of perception and thinking in a whole sense rather than on the individual elements of perception Modern Perspectives Neuroscience perspective o The approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain the nervous system and other biological functions looks at body o Includes the study of heredity and evolution Psychodynamic perspective o The approach based on the view that behavior is motivated by unconscious inner forces over which the individual has little control inner voice o Origins of this perspective came from Sigmund Freud Behavioral Perspective o The approach that suggests that observable measurable behavior should be the focus of study o Origins of this perspective came from Skinner and Watson Cognitive Perspective o The approach that focuses on how people think understand and know about the world o Ex How a computer operates Humanistic Perspective o The approach that suggests that all individuals naturally strive to grow develop and be in control of their lives and behavior o Origins of this perspective came from Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow o Ex A person has everything within them to succeed Psychology s Key Issues and Controversies Nature vs Nurture o How much of people s behavior is due to their genetically determine nature and how much is due to their physical and social environment as a child o Developmental psychologist focused on neuroscience prospective will be interested in nature o Developmental psychologist focused on behavioral perspective would be interested in nurture Conscious vs unconscious causes of behavior o How much of our behavior is due to forces which we are fully aware of and how much is due to unconscious activity Observable behavior vs internal mental processes o Observable behavior is what an outsider can see where as internal mental processes is what an individual thinks Free will vs determinism o Free will is the idea that behavior is caused primarily by choices that are made freely by the individual o Determinism is the idea that people s behavior is produced primarily by factors outside of their willful control Individual differences vs universal principles o How much of our behavior is a consequence of our unique and special qualities and how much is universally human Lecture 2 January 14 Module 3 Research in Psychology What are the four main steps to a scientific method What is a theory What s a hypothesis What are the three main types of research Four Main Steps to a Scientific Method Identifying the question of interest Formulating an explanation Carrying out researched designed to support or refute the explanation Communicate the findings Theories are broad explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest A hypothesis is a prediction stemming from a theory stated in a way that allows it to be tested An operational definition is the translation of a hypothesis into specific testable procedures that can be measured and observed Types of Research Descriptive Research o Archival research is research in which existing data is examined to test a hypothesis Ex Census documents college records and newspaper clippings o Naturalistic observation is research in which an investigator simply observes some naturally occurring behavior and does not make a change in the situation Ex Count the number of people texting while walking out of the Mountain Lair o Survey research is research in which people chosen to represent a larger population are asked a series of questions about their behavior thoughts or attitudes Pitfall to this research is that people can with hold information o Case Study is an in depth