What Psychology is All About 09 09 2015 Psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes Observation of phenomenon in our environment scientific processes o Behaviors are observable phenomenon not limited to just humans animals too o Mental processes are internal Subfields of Psychology Neuroscience or biopsychology biological foundations of behavior Brain s reaction to fear producing stimuli Cognitive higher mental processes What factors help people remember new information Developmental change over time How personality becomes altered over adulthood Personality individual differences Why some people tend to worry over small things Health psychology how psychological factors affect health The relationship between lifestyle habits and heart disease Clinical psychology psychological treatments and disorders The contribution of childhood stress to depression in adulthood Industrial Organizational human resources and workplace assessment Comparing satisfaction of employees and managers Social Psychology effects of groups on behavior Whether people comply with the instructions of an authority figure Experimental learning Patterns of reward that result in fastest increases in responding What Can I learn from Psychology 1 Predict and understand the behavior of individuals and groups 2 understand how to use and interpret data 3 evaluate the legitimacy of claims about behavior 4 know how memory and learning function 5 have insight into problematic behaviors 6 demonstrate the capacity to adapt to change 7 understand and operate effectively throughout the channels of an organization better understand how to act in a group situation Where Do Psychologists Work the largest single group work at colleges and universities either teacher or doing research or both second is independent practice other human services government clinics schools industry History What are psychology s major historical landmarks It came from philosophy medicine physiology and neurology Hippocrates proposed temperament sanguine cheerful melancholic sad etc 1879 first laboratory devoted to the experimental study of psychological phenomena created in Leipzig Germany by Wilhelm Wundt and brought to the US by Edward Titchner o Introspection record your thoughts maps out the thought process and used to understand structure of the mind structuralism Mainly perceptual experiences described with objective First step to measuring psychological phenomena in an objective statements way William James created the stream of consciousness and functionalism activities of the mind thinking feeling learning remembering serve to help us survive Heavily influenced by Darwin and natural selection Sigmund Freud created the field of psychoanalysis the symptoms without a physiological medical cause must be due to a psychological cause The things that happened to you as a child affect you as an adult Gestalt psychology started in the 1920s the whole is greater than the sum of the its parts our perception is guided by more than the individual components of each stimulus Ivan Pavlov behaviorist that created classical conditioning and operant conditioning John B Watson behaviorist Behaviorism focuses primarily on objective behavior behavior is learned as a reaction to our environment environment drives behavior How Do Psychologists View the World Today Perspectives Today Neuroscience views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning Behavioral regards observable actions as virtually the only acceptable knowledge on which to base the understanding of behavior Cognitive attempts to understand the ways that people think about their experiences and themselves Humanistic regards humans as having unique qualities that makes us different from other animals humans have the ability to make purposeful decisions Psychodynamic emphasizes the inner unconscious forces within the individual primarily those that stem from early consequences based in Freud s ideas What are psychology s main issues and controversies 1 to what degree are we influenced by our genetic predispositions 2 what is the role of the unconscious in behavior 3 do we have control over our behavior free will or are we ruled by external forces determinism 4 can personality really change over time or does it stop developing once we reach maturity 5 what role do individual differences play in understanding behavior 6 are people inherently good or must we struggle to keep our hurtful instincts under control Today s take away s Identify the main developments leading to today s psychology Understand the difference and relationships between subfield and perspectives Think about which perspective comes closest to your own views Recognize the value of a scientific approach Psychology s Methods Part 1 09 09 2015 Research Variable anything that takes on different values across a set of people research is all about variability Ex Name height weight etc Constant anything that has the same value across a set of people How Do Psychologists Make New Discoveries Scientific Process Ask a question operationalizing literature search looking to see what other people have found testable hypothesis logical and refutable design research collect data analyze data conclusions peer review and publication theory development modification Types of Research The type of research you do is determined by the question you are asking and driven by 1 of 4 purposes Describe Predict Explain Control Archival studies using existing information from an appropriate data source Case studies in depth look at one individual and unfortunately un replicable so it can lead to generalizing Naturalistic observations researchers watching behaviors in a natural observation without changing or controlling the environment Survey great way to access peoples rigidly held beliefs by asking them a series of questions however the way they are framed and who you ask determines how the question will be answered Sampling bias all members of the target group ex Students aren t represented in the group CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION SERIOUSLY LISTEN TO THIS Experiments randomly assigns individuals to different conditions and observe responses Double blind procedure researchers don t know which group is the experimental group or the control group same with the participants themselves Single blind procedure normal procedure in psychology where just the participants don t know which group they are in o Hindsight bias I knew it all
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