Welcome to Psychology!

Miss Minaker

Get to know youTwo facts about yourself

One will be trueOne will be false!

What is Psychology?With the person sat next to you, discuss:

What you think psychology is.What does a psychologist do?

If you have no ideas, that’s fine!

Psychology is not...An easy subjectJust common senseWishy-washy and unscientificPsychiatry/ analysisAll about feelings

Psychologists are not..All the sameAlways analysing peopleAble to read people’s mindsOnly interested in crazy people

Psychology is...The study of people, behaviour and the mindScientific and rigorousNot an easy subjectA broad subject with many different areasAlways changingFascinating and worthwhile!

Topics in PsychologyMemoryAnimal behaviourChild developmentSport psychologyIntelligenceAggressionEvolutionary

psychologyObedience and

conformity

RelationshipsSleep and dreamingDrug addictionForensic psychologyEducationTherapyPsychosurgeryAgingAnd many many

more...

Information about the courseHandout

Questions?

A psychological experiment...In pairs, one person is going to be the

experimenter, one person is going to be the participant. Decide.

The experimenter will be given a triangle of numbers from 1 number to 17 numbers.

Starting from the top, the experimenter will read out one line of numbers to the participant, who will then have to repeat them back correctly.

How many numbers do you think the participants will be able to remember?

A psychological experiment...What did we find?

In an experiment in 1956, George Miller, a psychologist discovered that the capacity of short term memory was 7 plus or minus 2. Do our results fit with his?

How would this information be useful in everyday life?Phone numbers?

How about this?What about the letters below? How many can you

remember. You have 10 seconds to learn them.

FBI GTG JLS LOL USA CIA BBC IBM BRB OMG ABC ITV

Could you remember more? Why?

Miller stressed the importance of “chunking” information.

Could you use this information in everyday life?

Any questions?