PSYC 1101 Introduction to General Psychology

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PSYC 1101 Introduction to General Psychology

• Learning Unit 1
• Overview of Psychology

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History of Psychology

• Pre-Scientific Psychology
• India
• China
• Ancient Middle East Hebrews

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History of Psychology Pre-scientific Psychology,
contd

• Ancient Greeks
• Socrates/Plato
• Aristotle
• The Relationship Between Mind and Body
• Rationalism vs. Empiricism
• Hippocrates Focus on natural causes
• Further information on the pre-scientific history
  of psychology will be found in The Roots and
  Branches of Psychology

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History of PsychologyScientific Psychology

• Scientific Psychology traces its roots to the
  older and more established fields of philosophy
  and biology
• Philosophy Uses reasoning and logical argument
  to discover the basic principles governing the
  world (including human behavior and mental
  processes)
• Biology the study of living organisms and life
  processes

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The Birth of Scientific Psychology

• 1879 University of Leipzig, Germany
• Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology
  laboratory - dedicated to the scientific study of
  mental processes (consciousness)

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History of Psychology

• Wundt was interested in understanding the
  structure of human consciousness
• Focused on identifying the basic elements or
  building blocks of consciousness particularly
  simple sensations, perceptions and feelings
• Established the use of the scientific method for
  research in psychology
• Developed the method of trained introspection

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History of Psychology

• Edward Titchener a British student of Wundts
  joined the faculty of Cornell University in New
  York in 1892
• Coined the term structuralism to denote the
  theoretical perspective that originated in
  Leipzig

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History of Psychology

• Functionalism
• Theoretical Perspective focused on the functions
  of human consciousness including thoughts and
  feelings
• Based on the work of American philosopher/psycholo
  gist William James at Harvard University
• James was influenced by Charles Darwins
  Evolutionary Theory

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History of Psychology

• James wrote first comprehensive textbook in
  psychology Principles of Psychology published
  in 1890
• Coined the phrase stream of consciousness

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History of Psychology

• Though their focuses differed, structuralists and
  functionalists agreed that psychology was
  properly defined as the scientific study of
  consciousness (mental processes)

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History of Psychology

• Another important figure in the early history of
  psychology (especially in America) was G. Stanley
  Hall
• Hall, who studied with both James and Wundt
• earned the first Ph.D. in psychology awarded by
  an American University
• established the first working psychology
  laboratory in America (1882)
• founded the first psychological journal in
  America (1887)
• was the first President of the American
  Psychological Association (1892)
• was a founder of developmental psychology
• and introduced Sigmund Freud to America (1909)

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History of Psychology

• Psychoanalysis
• Originated in the clinical work of Austrian
  physician Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s early
  1900s (Freud published his first major work in
  psychoanalysis in 1900)
• Freud was a psychiatrist specializing in the
  treatment of neuroses (mild to moderate
  emotional/psychological disorders)

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History of Psychology

• Psychoanalysis focused on
• Unconscious determinants of behavior
• The influence of early childhood experience on
  psychological development
• Was based on Freuds work with his neurotic
  patients
• Under the influence of psychoanalysis psychology
  expanded its definition of mental processes to
  include the unconscious

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History of Psychology

• Behaviorism
• John B. Watson, an American Psychologist, is
  known as the father of behaviorism
• A strictly empirical approach focused on
  observable behavior and its observable
  environmental determinants
• Developed in the early 20th century

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History of Psychology

• Watson argued in a 1913 article that if
  psychology was to be considered a legitimate
  science it must operate in strictly empirical
  fashion.
• The mind cannot be directly observed so, the
  proper focus of psychology is on behavior.
• Under the behaviorist influence psychology became
  defined as the scientific study of behavior

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History of Psychology

• Other significant contributors to Behaviorism
  include
• Ivan Pavlov Russian physiologist who studied a
  form of associative learning (classical
  conditioning)
• B.F. Skinner American psychologist who studied
  operant learning Skinner became the leading
  proponent of radical behaviorism

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History of Psychology

• Gestalt Psychology
• Early 1900s Founded in Germany by Max Wertheimer
  (first article published in 1912)
• Other key figures were Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt
  Koffka

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History of Psychology

• Like the structuralists, the early Gestalt
  psychologists studied sensations and perceptions
• In opposition to the structuralists, they were
  more interested in how the mind organizes simple
  sensations into complex perceptions the mind
  imposes structure in order to make sense of
  experience often making the whole greater than
  the sum of its parts The German term Gestalt
  can be (roughly) translated as form

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History of Psychology

• In addition to studying perception, the
  Gestaltists were interested in learning and
  focused attention on the ways in which people
  learn the meaning of things through experience
  and generalize that learning to new experiences.

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Psychology today is defined as

• The science of behavior and mental processes
• It is also a profession that applies scientific
  knowledge of behavior and mental processes to
  solving real life problems

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Psychologys Current Theoretical Perspectives

• With the exception of Psychoanalysis and
  Behaviorism, the early theoretical perspectives
  have not survived as viable and distinct schools
  of thought in psychology though they have each
  influenced various contemporary perspectives
• Today psychology is characterized by a variety of
  theoretical perspectives each focusing on
  psychology from a particular point of view

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Psychologys Current Theoretical Perspectives

• The Biological Perspectives
• Neuroscience
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Behavior-Genetics
• Each of these perspectives is focused (in
• different ways) on the role that biological
  factors
• play in influencing behavior and mental
• processes

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The Biological Perspectives

• Neuroscience
• How do the nervous system (especially the brain)
  and other biological systems enable and affect
  psychological processes (for example)
• Behavior
• Moods
• Emotions
• Perceptions

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The Biological Perspectives

• Evolutionary Psychology
• How does the principle of natural selection
  explain the many common psychological traits that
  characterize human beings as a species
• Behavior-Genetics
• How do our genes and our environment interact to
  produce individual differences in psychological
  traits and characteristics

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The Psychodynamic Perspective

• The psychodynamic perspective is a family of
  related perspectives that originated with
  Psychoanalysis
• The psychodynamic perspective focuses on the
  influence on behavior of unconscious drives and
  conflicts and considers early childhood
  experience to be critical for psychological
  development

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The Behavioral Perspective

• The behavioral perspective originated in
  Behaviorism and still emphasizes the primacy of
  observable behavior and the learning process
• It has broadened to consider the influence of
  mental activities on the learning process

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The Cognitive Perspective

• The cognitive perspective considers the most
  important factor influencing our psychological
  functioning to be the way in which we process,
  store, and retrieve information
• It studies how we use information in remembering,
  reasoning, and problem-solving and how the way in
  which we process information affects our
  perceptions and emotions

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The Social-Cultural Perspective

• The social-cultural perspective is interested in
  how the social and cultural contexts in which we
  developed and in which we presently live affect
  our thinking and behavior

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The Humanistic Perspective

• The humanistic perspective hypothesizes that the
  primary motivating force in humans is a drive to
  become self-actualized
• It emphasizes the capacity of individuals to
  exercise free will and to overcome environmental
  obstacles that stand in the way of personal growth

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The Scope of Psychology

• Psychology began as a research discipline
• Today it has a dual identity
• It continues as a scientific research discipline
  that studies behavior and mental processes
• It is also a profession that applies knowledge
  gained through research to solve real life
  problems

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The Scope of Psychology

• Research in psychology can be categorized into
  two broad areas
• Basic Research
• Focused on building psychologys knowledge base
• Applied research
• Focused on learning how psychological knowledge
  can be most effectively applied to solve
  practical problems

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Mental Health Professionals

• Doctoral Level Professionals
• Clinical Psychologists
• Counseling Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Masters Level Professionals
• Professional Counselors
• Clinical Social Workers
• Marriage and Family Therapists

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Is it Nature or is it Nurture?Psychologys
biggest big issue

• The question of which is a better explanation for
  psychological events Is the event caused by
  biological factors (especially genetics) OR is it
  caused by experience (past or present)?
• Today the question is understood as how much do
  both nature AND nurture contribute to various
  psychological phenomena

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Other Enduring Issues in Psychology

• Is stability or change more characteristic of
  human behavior?
• Is human behavior more accurately characterized
  as rational or irrational?
• Is human behavior more strongly influenced by
  personal or situational factors?

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Three Main Levels of Analysis in Psychology

• Biological Influences
• Genetics
• Natural Selection
• Biological Response to Environmental Stimuli
• Psychological Influences
• Learned reactions and responses
• Emotional responses
• Cognitions and Perceptions
• Social Influences
• Culture/society/family
• Peer and group influences
• Media and other influential models

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Biopsychosocial Approach

• The integration of biological, psychological and
  social influences better explains most
  psychological phenomena than any single set of
  factors alone.