PSYCHOLOGY What is psychology Study of the mind Study more than just the mind Controls things Mind Human behavior What people are doing Why they are doing it Things psychologists wonder about Study of human experience everything about humanity Why people remember what they remember Why are babies fascinated when they look in the mirror Why is my roommate annoying Why did my girlfriend cheat on me How did that guy train his dog to get his slippers Why do people get drunk with power Modern psychology first started in the 1870s Wilhelm Wundt 1832 1920 Opened the first actual psychology lab University of Leipzig Started by examining consciousness Psychology has been studied since the dawn of time because people are always wondering why people do the things they do first person to systematically experiment on the mind Trained new people to experiment with psychology Iron ball hitting ground aware longer hear sound knowing that you heard it takes longer Edward Titchner Structuralism Introspection Looking inward at oneself Main method describe experience while staring at something what did picture do for you It s hard to get a detailed introspection out of people Founded structuralism if there is no consistency we can t explain things too much variability between people William James Functionalism Focused on why we do things Strongly influenced by Darwin the behaviors we do are usually adaptive go toward survival Advance the purpose of surviving make more people Structuralism and functionalism old perspectives not around much anymore More modern perspectives Behaviorism Founded by John Watson Advanced by B F Skinner These two defined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior What was actually seen can t see frustration and rudeness He threw a ball at him actual behavior that went on Ignores mental processes Focused on objectivity and consistency Humanism a mode of therapy focusing on current environment and needs Previously Freud you weren t loved as a child Humanism what s going on in your life RIGHT NOW no money no gf Emphasizes the growth of a healthy person Focuses on you advancing to your fullest potential Very positive form of therapy everything is okay you re going to be okay Cognitive Psychology Focuses on internal processes away from behaviorism Things that are harder to observe Perception Thinking Memory Language Strongly linked to brain functioning what part of brain is active during this Finias Gage and the stake long term memory destroyed Cognitive neuroscience the specific study connecting parts of brain to study Currently Psychology is defined as The scientific study of behaviors and mental processes Actively searching for answers experimenting and hypothesizing why Behavior Any activity that can be observed recorded and measured Methods Interviews Questionanaires Lab tasks Electrical recordings Mental processes internal Sensations Seeing Feeling Tasting Perceptions Thoughts and beliefs Emotions and dreams The awareness of what your sensations are taking in what makes people happy or sad what are people s feelings reporting is a behavior can t be sure of honesty The scientific study of behaviors and mental processes Structuralism not consistent focused on mental processes not behavior not Functionalism guided by experimental reasoning looked into what people were doing scientific but not the mental process behaviorism looked at behaviors not mental process humanistic psychology somewhat scientific somewhat behavioral cognitive psychology very scientific Current fields in psychology Neuroscience experience how the body and brain influence emotion memory and sensory closely linked to biology uses neuro imaging MRI taking pictures of brain during tasks increased blood flow to certain areas of the brain during certain tasks study peoples brain damage Clinical psychology Investigates mental disorders their causes and treatments Therapy rehab Cognitive psychology investigates mental processes o thinking o emotion o memory o sensation o decision making o intelligence IQ tests Syllogism o Not all students who fail tests are lazy o Some cultures are not able to do syllogisms Developmental psychology Studies behavior across the lifespan Study older adults s a with Alzheimer s or dementia o taught older adults how to text message Babies commonly studied as they learn to talk walk etc o think things that are hidden have ceased to exist Social psychology studies the behavior of people in groups how people influence one another why do people conform to authority thinking they killed someone why people help other people why people hurt each other steriotypes why people hold beliefs about certain other groups of ppl attraction Industrial organizational psychology how psychology applies to the work place how to make people better more efficient workers hiring processes and interviews do intelligence tests actually correlate into better ppl at jobs how to train people better efficiency promotion 8 31 10 Tuesday Critical Thinking in Psychology Common Sense Opposites attract Birds of a feather flock together Absence makes the heart grow fonder Out of sight out of mind The Error Prone Mind Hindsight Bias knew it all along o After knowing what actually happens believing that you should have seen something coming War in Iraq Oil Spill Overconfidence o People often overestimate EVERYTHING Chance of voting Dropping classes Picking winners Test knowledge World events Scientific Attitude Scientific Method Curiosity Skepticism Humility Observation Theory o Organized explanation of observations Hypothesis Must be testable falsifiable Test the hypothesis Replicate o retest o A Note On Theory Scientific Theory o An explanation through organized observations o Can predict future behavior o Scientific theories are proven viewed as basically law o Theories need to be broad Operational Definitions Need operational definitions of vague terms o Success o Intelligence Promotions Doing well academically Ability to learn Ability to solve problems IQ o Aggression Angry behavior Competitiveness hard working Need to be specific Describing Behavior 3 main methods o Case studies In depth studies of a distinctive individual Usually chosen because of being somehow remarkable Example H M Had his hippocampus removed in surgery No new long term memories Fine short term memory could learn new procedural memories o Draw a star in mirror Pros Cons Easy to follow one person Shows a remarkable case Explains
View Full Document
Unlocking...