The Field of PsychologyThe history of psychology is rooted in philosophy and the natural science. It has only existed for about 135 years and it deals with the interaction between mind and behavior.StructuralismStructuralism is a psychology theory invented to observe how people think feel and behave. To figure out how the mind works through external events and experiences.FunctionalismFunctionalism is a psychological theory developed by William James at Harvard University. Its purpose is to study the causes and consequences of behavior.GestaltGestalt is a psychological theory developed in Germany. It states that we have to look at the whole individual to understand it’s function, rather than just one part of a person.PsychoanalyticSigmund Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory. He was the first to suggest, based on work in clinical studies, that symptoms came from the mind and were based on an individual’s mental state rather than their physical state.BehaviorismIvan Pavlov (1903)Discovered Classical ConditioningJohn B. Watson (1913)“Science of Behavior”B.F. Skinner (1953)Developed operant conditioningHow the consequences of behavior affect decisionsHumanismCarl Rogers (1951)“Person Centered” TheoryAbraham Maslow (1970)Hierarchy of needs“Self Actualization”to reach your full potentialCognitiveAtkinson & Shiffrin (1968)Scientific exploration of memory and other cognitive processesCognitive neuroscienceSimilar to cognitive psychologyLooks at connection between mind and body – grounded in research not just philosophical connectionImportant Theories1. The sociocultural theory suggests that we are influenced by other people and vice versa. It is the belief that our culture influences us.2. The biopsychology theory looks at other aspects of our biology and physiology to understand how they affect our mental psychology.3. The evolutionary theory studies the shared and universal human characteristics that we all possess. This theory draws from natural selection.Applied/ “Clinical” Professionalsa. Must be licensedb. Psychologists:i. Licensed psychologists can administer psychotherapyii. Only a few states where psychologists can prescribe drugsc. Psychiatrists can also administer psychotherapyi. Are also medical doctorsii. Can administer prescriptionsd. Clinical Social Workeri. Can administer psychotherapye. Professional Counselori. Either masters or bachelors degree in some psychological fieldResearchf. How do we know what we know?i. Is the foundation of the psychological fieldii. Applications of psychology in theory and the field are based in researchiii. Psychology – the study of how we think, feel and behaveg. The Need for Psychological Sciencei. Intuition1. Believing something because it feels right2. Okay in some instancesa. We need to do more than have intuitionii. Common Sense1. We can’t rely on common sense2. Maybe common sense and research finding may be the same but we need empirical evidenceiii. Empirical Evidence1. Claims and research findings based in observation or experimentation – very importanth. Hindsight Biasi. The “I knew it all along” phenomenonii. “Hindsight is 20/20”iii. does not provide a good foundation based in researchi. Over confidencei. Sometimes we think we know a lot more than we actually knowii. Many times researchers must replicate experiments to see if the findings are truly the samej. The Scientific Attitude:i. A. Curiosityii. B. Skepticism1. Don’t be gullibleiii. C. Humilityk. Critical Thinkingi. Examine the argumentii. Evaluate the quality of the research1. EX: choosing strategies that are well founded and proven to bring about good results2. Consider who the subjects were, how the data was found and how they collect that dataiii. Consider alternate arguments1. Are there other explanations or theories?iv. Avoid emotional reasoning1. Authority/expertise, own biasa. “if they say this, it must be true”b. no, it must be substantiatedv. Remember, not much is black and white, all or nothing1. There are very few things in life that are purely black and white in nature2. This is not always possible in psychologyvi. Don’t oversimplifyvii. Tolerate uncertaintyviii. Be open mindedix. What do you believe and why?1. This is important2. Critically evaluate experiments, research and findings that are presented to youPsychology is a Natural Sciencel. Reliance on empirical evidencem. Scientific method to construct theoriesi. theories lead to hypothesesii. hypotheses lead to research and observationsiii. research and observations generate or refine theoriesn. 1. Theoryi. A general explanation of something that we are observing1. A set of observations or factsii. A way to attempt to explain what we are seeing and observingiii. Theories are built to form more theoriesiv. Attempts to explain and predict behavior or events1. Ex: low self-esteem contributes to depression2. Ex: what will happen is someone undergoes cognitive physical therapy if they have lower self esteem or depression?o. 2. Hypothesisi. A testable predictionii. Often prompted by a theory1. Then becomes a hypothesisiii. Accept, revise or reject theory1. After being thoroughly tested and experimented through researchiv. EX: people with low self-esteem score higher on a depression scalep. 3. Research and Observationsi. EX: Administer tests of self-esteem and depression. See if a low score on one predicts a high score on the other.ii. After testing hypotheses, draw conclusions1. Then report results2. Start replication of the tests4. Variable:a. Characteristic that can be measured or describedi. Examples: height, disruptiveness, depression5. Operational definition:a. Procedure or steps (operations) used to measure or control a variablei. How are we going to measure depression?b. EX: disruptive = bothers others 5 or more times during a class periodi. This student would then be classified as disruptive by this definition6. Descriptive Methods:a. 1. Naturalistic Observationsi. observed in a natural environment1. researchers go to where the subjects are and observe them there (in their natural environment)ii. observers can be biased1. need a control for thisiii. sometimes people act differently when they know they are being watched1. Hawthorn affect2. Need to try to be as non-intrusive as possibleb. 2. Case Studyi. an in-depth exploration of a single individualii. PRO:1. Able to obtain a lot of informationiii. CON:1. Only about one person2. Cannot generalize from a