Psychology is..
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Structuralism by Edward Titchener (student of Wundt)
- Focus on structure of mind
- break experience into emotions and sensations
“Tell me about things that are blue”
Wilhelm Wundt (father of psychology)
- first psych lab in Leipzig (1879)
- studies thought, experience, emotions
- analyze content of one’s mind through objective introspection
Functionalism (William James)
- influenced by Darwin’s natural selection
- how people adapt, live, work, play
Gestalt psychology (Max Wertheimer)
- “An organized whole”
- people naturally seek out patterns in available sensory information
Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud)
- emphasis on unconscious and early childhood
- insight therapy treating fear and anxiety
(Iceberg)
Behaviorism (John B. Watson)
- focus on observable behavior, ignore consciousness
- ( babies and rats)
7 modern perspectives in psychology
- Psychodynamic
- Behavioral
- Humanistic
- Cognitive
- Sociocultural
- Biopsychological
- Evolutionary
Psychodynamic perspective
- focus on unconscious, early development
- less emphasis on sex
- more emphasis on self
Behavioral Perspective
- B.F. Skinner
- operant conditioning
- Behavioral responses that are followed by pleasurable consequences are reinforced (crying child gets mothers attention)
Humanistic Perspective
- people have freedom to choose their own destiny
Cognitive perspective
- memory, intelligence, perception, problem-solving, learning
Cognitive neuroscience
- study of physical changes in brain and nervous system during thinking
Sociocultural perspective
- focus on relationship between social behavior and culture
- thinking and behavior seem as product of learning and shaping within family, social group, culture
Biopsychological Perspective
- Attributes human/Animal behavior to biological events (e.g. genetic influences, hormones, activity of nervous system)
Evolutionary Perspective
- focus on biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share
Types of professionals
- Psychiatrist
- physician specialized in diagnosis and treatment of psych. Disorders - Psychologist
- degree; specialized training in one or more areas of psych - Psychiatric social worker:
- master’s degrees, focus on environmental conditions that can have impact on mental disorders (e.g. poverty, drug abuse) - APRN
- RN specialized in treatment of psych. Disorders - Prof. Counselor
- specialized in psychotherapy, focus on environmental and biol. conditions - Marriage and family therapist
- focus on family and relational problems impacting mental health
The Scientific Approach
- Perceiving the question
- Forming a hypothesis
- Testing your hypothesis
- Drawing conclusions
- Report your results
Descriptive Methods
- Naturalistic observation
- watching in natural environment; realistic - Laboratory observation
- controlled situation; artificial behavior
Case studies
- Detailed investigation of one subject
- tremendous amount of info; but cannot be applied to other cases
Surveys
- Ask questions to large groups that represent sample of population of interest
- get large amount of data +
- May not always get truth from respondents
Correlations
A measure of relationships between to variables
- positive: variable related in same direction
- negative: variables relatives in opposite direction
Dependent & independent variable
Dependent:
- exposed or not
Independent:
- manipulated by experimenter
Correlation Coefficient
- number that represents strength and direction of relationship between two variables
