Chapter 1 Psychology Saturday September 13 2014 10 46 PM Psychology The Study of Mental Processes and Behavior Scientific Investigation of Mental Processes and Behavior Thinking remembering feeling etc Mental Processes Our inner processes how the brain works and what we think about Behavior Our outward behavior Limitations Individual Biology Biological limitations on our range of behaviors Psychological Experience Helps shape our thinking feeling behavior Cultural Context We function within a societal setting Boundaries Biopsychology Examines physical basis of psychological phenomena E g localization of function Culture Psychology shaped by cultural values ideals and ways of thinking E g cross cultural psychology Boundary with Biology Biopsychology Investigate electrical and chemical process in nervous system that underlie mental events Connection between the brain and behavior Localization of Function Different parts of brain control different aspects of functioning Left part of brain may be associated with language Complex functions such as emotions distributed throughout brain Phineas Gage Wernicke s area and Broca s area Boundary with Culture Psychology shaped by cultural values ideals and ways of thinking Psychological anthropologists study impact of culture on behavior Cross Cultural Psychologists test psychological hypotheses in different cultures Boundary with Philosophy Philosophers use logic and argumentation to address questions about thought feeling and behavior Apply reason to deduce the answer Psychologists use systematic observation and experimentation to explore mind and behavior Use scientific method to discover answer Scientific Nature of Psychology Wilhelm Wundt Considered father of psychology First psychology laboratory Focused on Introspection Looking inward and reporting everything in conscious experience Subjects reported everything that went through their minds when presented with a stimulus or task Structuralism Edward Titchener Goal of Structuralism was to use introspection to discover the basic elements of consciousness Suggests that experimentation is only method for study of a psychology Even attention or conscious thought would not be truly scientific because cannot be observed by anyone outside individual Functionalism Chapter 1 Psychology Page 1 Functionalism William James Thought basic elements of consciousness uninteresting Goal of functionalism was to discover function or purpose of conscious thought Women and Minorities in Psychology Mary Whiton Calkins 1863 1930 First female president of American Psychological Association 1905 Voted 12 leading psychologist in America 1906 Inez Prosser 1897 1934 First African American female to receive doctorate 1933 Margaret Floy Washburn 1871 1931 First female to receive doctorate 1894 Francis Cecil Summer 1895 1954 First African American to receive a doctorate 1920 Known as Father of Black Psychology because of focus on prejudice and racism Perspectives in Psychology Scientific progress depends on development of paradigms A broad system of theoretical assumptions employed by a scientific community to make sense out of a domain of experience Perspectives in Psychology A paradigm has the following A set of theoretical assertions that provide a model of the object of study e g how do atoms combine to form molecules A set of shared metaphors that compare the object to something else that is readily comprehended e g a molecule is like building blocks A set of methods that if used correctly produce valid and useful data e g molecules can be studied through reliable methods Rather than a set paradigm psychology has several perspectives broad ways of understanding psychological phenomena including theoretical propositions shared metaphors and accepted methods of observation Observation Perspectives are the approaches that guide current psychological thinking Each perspective evolved independently At the center of each perspective are elements the other perspectives tend to ignore There is not a single unified approach to psychology Four Perspectives of Psychology Psychodynamic Behavioral Cognitive Evolutionary Psychodynamic Perspective Focuses on dynamic interplay of mental forces 3 Key Premises People s actions are determined by the interplay of their thoughts feelings and wishes Many mental events occur outside of conscious awareness Mental processes may conflict with one another leading to compromise among competing motives Psychodynamic Perspective Sigmund Freud 1856 1939 Viennese physician who founded study of psychoanalysis Realized symptoms of illness were based in unconscious if Not consciously created and maintained Had no physical basis Unconscious wishes and motives influence conscious intention Similar to an iceberg most of unconscious is hidden below conscious awareness Methods Goal of understanding underlying wishes fears and patterns of thought from conscious thought and behavior People reveal themselves in everything they do Relies heavily on clinical data and case study method along with experimental validation Chapter 1 Psychology Page 2 Criticisms Case study is open to very different interpretations Initially not scientifically based Researchers now seek experimental tests to support Violates the Falsifiablility Criterion The ability of a theory to be proven wrong as a means of advancing science No way to demonstrate the failure of hypothesis Behaviorist Perspective Suggests that objects or events control all behavior because of previous learning No need to explore internal states such as feelings or self Focus on external environmental events and observable behavior Key Human and animal behaviors are caused by learning Ivan Pavlov 1849 1936 Russian physiologist studied digestive systems of dogs When Pavlov presented food to a dog it would salivate Pavlov then rang a bell neutral stimulus just before presenting food to the dog Almost immediately the dog would salivate to the sound of the bell with or without food present Behavior can be understood without reference to thoughts and feelings The mind is a tabula rasa that will be influenced by objects or events A psychologist cannot employ scientific process with scientific process with unconscious motives The behaviorist s goal is to focus on behavior and the use of established scientific methods Based on a desire by psychologists to separate from philosophy thus be perceived as a science B F Skinner 1904 1990 created systematic approach to study