PsychologyWhat is it?

• Simply put, it is the study of individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors• Seeks answers to questions about

us• How we think, feel, and act

Do our feelings always match our behaviors?If you call me stupid, I may feel sad inside.

But I will still act tough.

Remember!...it’s a Science

• Systematic and scientific study:– Describe, observe, or gather information– Explain behavior

• Hypothesis or Theory

– Predict future behavior– Influence behavior

Example: the Weekend Effect

History of Psychology

• Although the science of Psychology started in the late 1800’s, the concept has been around a lot longer.

• There was evidence of trephination (cutting holes into a skull to let evil spirits out) back in the stone age.

Roots of Psychology

• Socrates and Plato (400 B.C)– Dualism – mind and body are

separate– Knowledge is innate

• Aristotle (300 B.C.)– Student of Plato– Monism – mind and body are

one– Knowledge grows from

experience

• Rene’ Descartes (1600s)– Link between body and

mind– Importance of neural

pathways

• John Locke (1600s)– An Essay Concerning Human

Understanding– Mind at birth is blank slate

Wilhelm Wundt

Performed first psychological experiments in first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig in Germany (c. 1879)

Waves of PsychologyDifferent ways of thinking over time

• The science of psychology has gone through about 5 different waves since it started

Wave One: Introspection•Edward Titchener (student of Wundt)

– Introduced structuralism – aim to discover elements of the mind – “atoms of the mind”

– Used introspection – looking inward• Self-reflective method – thinking about mental processes

and then reporting them• Proved unreliable

•William James (Functionalist)– Taught first psychology class at Harvard (1875)– Wrote The Principles of Psychology

• 1st Psyc textbook– Activities of thinking, feeling, learning, and

remembering all serve one major function… survival

• Applied Darwin’s evolutionary theory discussed functionalism.

•In reality, these ideas do not have much impact on how psychologists think today

Structuralism vs. FunctionalismDifficulties with structuralism led to rise of

functionalism

Structuralism• “The psychology of

the is”

• What are the mental processes?

• How do they operate?

Functionalism• “The psychology of

the is-for”

• Why do humans think, feel, and behave like they do?

Wave Two: Gestalt Psychology

“The whole is greater than the sum of all parts”Gestalt = “whole pattern”

•Led by Max Wertheimer, these guys focused not on how we feel, but on how we experience the world.

Think for a moment of all the reasons that you love your mom.

If you add all those reasons up, do they equal your love for your mom?

Hopefully not!!!

This may seem like one picture,

but it can be perceived as 2 different faces.

Can you find them?

Gestalt Psychology

PROXIMITY

CLOSURE

What do you see in the picture below?

Gestalt Activity

I NEED 10 VOLUNTEERS

NOW, WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU SAW

NOW LET’S TRY IT AGAIN WITH GROUP 2

WHICH GROUP WAS LIKELY ABLE TO RECALL MORE OF

THE OBJECTS?

Wave Three: Psychoanalysis

• This wave of thinking started with Sigmund Freud (in the early 1900’s)– Components of the mind included an

unconscious– Believed many such urges to be sexual or

aggressive in nature

• Used free response and dream analysis to reveal operational & unconscious processes

Example: How do unresolved conflicts from one’s childhood affect adult behavior

• Over 40% of convicted serial killers suffered physical abuse as a child– Close to 75% suffered

psychological abuse

Aileen Wuornos•Highway prostitute who would pick up men, shoot them, and rob them

•Physically and sexually abused as a child

Psychoanalysis vs. PsychodynamicWhat’s the difference?

• Psychoanalysis–Relates to

Freud’s theories

–The original psychodynamic approach

• Psychodynamic–Refers to Freud’s

theories as well as his followers• Alfred Adler• Carl Jung• Erik Erikson

Wave Four: Behaviorism• During this time period (early to mid

1900s), people started to ignore how you feel inside

• All that mattered was how you acted (behaved).

• If psychologists could change your behavior, they can change the way you think.

• Very popular during the conservative 1950’s when social appearance mattered more than self expression.

Wave Five: EclecticWe are now in wave five, which is about variety

Psychologists pick and choose what theories to use depending on the situation and the client

Wave Five is made up of about 7 different perspectives.

In other words, psychologists today pick and choose from about 7 schools of thought.

Thus we have:THE SEVEN SCHOOLS OF

PSYCHOLOGY

Biopsychology (Neuroscience) Perspective

• All of your feelings and behaviors have an organic root.

• In other words, they come from your brain, body chemistry, neurotransmitters, etc…

• Let us imagine for a second that your dog died (sad but it will happen).

– You become depressed– You stop eating and drinking

• What would a psychologist from this “school” of psychology say is going on?

• How might they seek to help you?

Evolutionary Perspective

• Focuses on Darwinism

• We behave the way we do because we inherited those behaviors.

• Thus, those behaviors must have helped ensure our ancestors survival.

Examples: •Language Acquisition

•Phobias

Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Focuses on the unconscious mind.

• We repress many of our true feelings and are not aware of them.

• In order to get “better”, we must bring forward the true feelings we have in our unconscious.

If a man has intimacy issues and cannot form relationships with others.

What do you think someone from this school may think?

Behavioral Perspective

• Focuses on observable behaviors while putting feelings to the side

• We behave in ways because we have been conditioned to do so

• To change behaviors, we have to recondition the client.

Pretend that you fail psychology class. You become depressed. In turn, you begin to binge eat and gain weight.

What do you think a behaviorist may do?

• They would probably ignore the fact that you are depressed and just focus on your overeating

• Maybe make you run a mile every time you eat over 2000 calories

Behavior-Genetics PerspectiveHow genes and environment influence our individual differences

• Think about some of your individual traits– Intelligence– Temperament– Personality

• Which would you attribute to genetics (nature)?

• Which would you attribute to experiences (nurture)?

• Which could be attributed to both?

(NATURE) (NURTURE)

Humanist Perspective

• Peaked in the late 1960’s and 70’s….so it focused on spirituality and free will

• We have to strive to be the best we can be – “Self-actualization”

• Happiness is defined by the distance between our “self-concept” and “ideal self”.

WIFI

Battery Life

Cognitive Perspective• Focuses on how we

think (or encode information)

• How do we see the world?

• How did we learn to act sad or happy based on events?

• Cognitive Therapist attempts to change the way you think.

You meet a girl…Hopes are high!!!

She rejects you.

How do you react to the rejection?

Some think “Get back up and try again.”

Some think “What’s the use?” and give up and live a lonely life of solitude.

Social-Cultural Perspective• Says that much of your

behavior and your feelings are dictated by the culture in which you live

• Some cultures kiss each other when greeting, some just bow

• Consider:– How do people of different

genders and ethnicities interact with one another?

Psychiatry (Psychiatrists)

– M.D. – Medical Doctor

– Branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders

– Practiced by physicians who sometimes use medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychotherapy

Clinical Psychologists

• Ph.D. in Psychology

• Study, assess, and treat people with psychological disorders without the use of medical interventions– Cognitive therapy– Behavioral therapy