CHAPTER 1 Define psychology The scientific study of the mind brain and behavior What are the ABC s of psychology Affect what we feel Behavior what we do Cognitions what we think Structuralism Identify basic elements of the conscious experience through introspection However important aspects of human psychology occur outside of conscious experience William Wundt and Titchener started with structuralism Had people think about why they feel what they feel We don t realize what we do This is a limitation to structuralism Sometimes things that our brain does exists outside of our consciousness Functionalism William James Why do we have the psyche that we have More focused on natural selection Understand the adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics Natural selection The function of why our psyches work the way they do Survival and reproduction Behaviorism Skinner Uncover the laws of learning by looking at observable behavior had to be able to see measure behavior to be psychology Conditioning Rewards and punishments condition us to respond certain ways Cognitivism Piaget Thinking affects behavior Interpretation of rewards and punishments determines behavior Psychoanalysis Freud Internal psychological processes of which we re unaware Role of childhood experiences Having certain personality traits or responses due to certain things that have happened earlier In life Figure out why you are the way you are Contrast basic vs applied research Basic o Acquisition of knowledge for knowledge sake o Increase understanding of fundamental principles o Why did something happen Applied o Answers specific questions aimed at solving practical problems o Specific Know how common sense can be useful in psychology Serves as a heuristic or mental shortcut For example if you are in a dangerous situation and feel uncomfortable your common sense intuition says something is wrong it would be wise to listen to that Generating hypotheses that you can test Learning to think like a scientist means learning when and when not to trust your common sense Challenge for psychology Actions are multiply determined produced by many factors We should be skeptical of attempts to explain complex behaviors with a single causal factor Sometimes people try to explain psychological behavior with one single causal factor you do something for one reason only Really it is usually multiple factors that cause someone to do something Challenge for Psychology Lack of independence among factors Ex Anorexia Nervosa Anxiety Compulsive exercise Perfectionism Excessive concern with body image TV exposure to programs that feature thin models Problem All of these factors contribute to why someone might be anorexic not just one of them Challenge for Psychology Individual differences variations among people in their thinking emotion personality or behavior There are going to be people that respond differently to certain things Challenge for Psychology Reciprocal determinism we mutually influence each other s behavior Makes it hard to draw conclusions about causation 2 Example If we have someone who is very shy they wont be very talkative and not very outgoing and wont go up to meet new people When someone is really shy the people around that person don t talk to them and avoid them For the shy person this makes it even harder for them and makes them more shy Challenge for Psychology Behavior is shaped by culture Cultural differences can limit conclusions scientists can draw about human nature Example We can go from culture to culture and there will be major differences in those cultures Can lead to differences between males and females young and old etc Clinical Psychologist Perform assessment diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders Counseling psychologist Work with people experiencing temporary or self contained problems e g marital or occupational difficulties Difference between clinical and counseling Clinical Clinical don t work with temporary problems Work with people who have actual mental disorders Counselor Don t have to have a PHD Difference between psychiatrist and psychologist Psychiatrist can prescribe medicine needs an md Psychologist only needs a phd School psychologist Assess and develop intervention programs Developmental Psychologist Study why and how people change over time Most work with infants and children Experimental Social Cognitive Psychologist Use sophisticated research methods to study memory language thinking and social behavior of humans Bio psychologists Examine physiological bases of behavior Example Why do mice act certain ways They take their brains out and look Figure out what is changing in the brain 3 Forensic Psychologist Assess diagnose and assist with rehabilitation and treatment of prison inmates Others conduct research on eyewitnesses or juries Identify the main levels of analysis in psychological science consider how the focus of attention changes across levels lower levels tied most closely to biological influences higher levels tied most closely to social influences We can t just examine one level we have to use them all Levels Physiological level Molecular level Neurochemical level Mental level Behavioral Level Social Level Define pseudoscience a set of claims that seem scientific but aren t Pseudoscience lacks the safeguards against confirmation bias belief perseverance that characterize science Know some warning signs of pseudoscience Exaggerated claims Absence of connection to other research Lack of peer review not peer reviewed Failure to self correct when contrary evidence is presented Over reliance on anecdotes Uses fancy scientific language that doesn t make sense Talks about proof instead of evidence Know why we should care about pseudoscience Opportunity cost People may choose to get a treatment that does not work instead of one that could have helped them people are just trying to make some money and they know there are people out there that are looking for answers Direct Harm Inability to think scientifically society forward o some pseudoscience can lead to death because of its falsities Ex Rebirthing therapy o Scientific thinking skills apply to all areas of our lives need to think critically to move Differentiate theory and hypothesis Hypothesis Specific testable prediction derived from a scientific theory 4 Theory Explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world Use this hypothesis to disprove the scientific theory From a theory we have to create a
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