Introduction to Psychology
Chapter 1
Psychology
• The scientific study of human behavior and
mental processes
• Behavior- any action that people can
observe or measure
– includes walking, talking, eating, sleeping, etc.
– measured by observation or laboratory
instruments
Cognitive Activities
• Mental processes
• Include dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and
memories
Psychological Constructs
• Theoretical entities, or concepts, that enable
one to discuss something that cannot be
seen, touched, or measured directly
• Ex: anxiety about presenting a project
Goals of Psychology
• Scientists seek to observe, describe,
explain, predict, and control the events they
study
• Psychologists observe and describe
behavior and mental processes to better
understand them
• This allows them to explain, predict, and
help clients control their behavior
Explaining Behavior
• Example: Sports psychologists can help athletes
improve performance by measuring athletes’ heart
rates and other body processes and by interviewing
athletes.
• Psychologists explain behavior that might hinder an
athlete’s performance.
Mental Processes
• Predicting and Controlling
• Psychologists predict that athletes perform best when
anxiety is moderate.
• help athletes control their behavior and mental
processes by teaching them how to control anxiety.
• Positive visualization is one method sports
psychologists use to help athletes perform better.
• focus on helping people reach their own goals.
Fields in Psychology
Major Fields
Clinical
• Largest group
• help with anxiety, depression, weight
control, drugs, relationships, etc.
• use interviews and tests
Counseling
• Usually treat people with adjustment
problems rather than serious disorders
• Example
– hard to make friends, careers, family
– help clarify goals and overcome problems
School
• Identify and help students who have
problems that interfere with learning
• Example
– peer group, family, learning disorders
Educational
• Focus on course planning and instructional
methods for whole school
– ways learning is affected by psychological,
cultural, economic, instructional factors
Developmental
• Study changes that occur throughout a
person’s life
– physical, emotional, cognitive, social
– influences of heredity and environment on
development
Personality
• Identify human characteristics and traits and
study development
• Look for origins of problems and disorders
Social
• Concerned with behavior in social situations
Experimental
• Conduct research into basic processes such
as functions of the nervous system,
sensation and perception, learning and
memory, thinking, motivation
Applied Fields
Industrial and Organizational
• Focus on people and work
• employed to improve working conditions
and worker output
Human Factors
• Attempt to find the best ways to design
products for people to use
Community
• Study and create social systems that
promote and foster individual well-being
– mental health centers, hospital programs,
school-based programs
Forensic
• Work within the criminal justice system
– testify on competence of defendant, select and
train officers, cope with stress
Health
• Examine ways behavior and mental
processes are related to physical health
• preventing and reducing risk of disease
Rehabilitation
• Work with patients that are struggling with
the effects of a disability
Cross-cultural
• Study behaviors and mental processes under
different cultural conditions
Chapter 1
History of Psychology
Main Idea
• Since ancient times, philosophers and
scientists have studied behavior and mental
processes. Psychologists throughout history
have continued to refine and develop these
studies.
Early Views and Beliefs
• Psychology is as old as human history.
• Written account of the interest in people’s
actions, motives, and thoughts can be traced
to ancient times.
Ancient Greece
• Socrates developed a method of learning
called introspection, which means to
carefully examine our own thoughts and
feelings.
• Aristotle outlined associationism, the
theory that association with past
experiences is a basic principle of mental
activity.
Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism
• Wundt founded a field of psychology known as
structuralism.
– focused on the basic elements of consciousness.
• Wundt broke down consciousness into objective
sensations and subjective feelings.
William James and Functionalism
• Experience is a continuous “stream of
consciousness.”
• Functionalism is the study of how mental
processes help organisms adapt to their
environment.
Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis
• psychoanalysis- emphasizes unconscious motives
and internal conflicts in human behavior.
• psychodynamic thinking- assumes that most of what
exists in an individual's mind is unconscious and
consists of conflicting impulses, urges, and wishes.
• the key to human behavior is satisfying desires.
Modern Developments
• John B. Watson and Behaviorism
• Founded the school of behaviorism, which
defined psychology as the scientific study of
observable behavior
• Holds that people can be totally conditioned by
external events and that belief in individual choice
is just an illusion
The Gestalt School
• Gestalt psychology is an alternative to behaviorism and
structuralism.
• It was developed by German psychologists Max
Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler.
• It is based on the idea that our perceptions of objects are
more than the sum of their parts. They are wholes that give
shape, or meaning, to the parts.
• Gestalt psychology rejects the structuralist
idea that experience can be broken down
into individual parts or elements.
• It also rejects the behaviorist idea that only
observable behavior is important.
Contemporary Perspectives
The Biological Perspective
• Emphasizes the influence of biology on our
behavior
• Assume our mental processes--thoughts,
fantasies, and dreams-- are made by the
nervous system
– The Brain
• Focus on the influence glands, hormones,
and genes
• Influenced by associationism and
neroscience
Cognitive Perspective
• Emphasizes the role thoughts play in
determining behavior
• Influenced by Structuralism, functionalism,
and Gestalt psychology
• Compare the brain to a computer
• Believe that behavior is influenced by
values, perceptions, and choices
Humanistic Perspective
• Stresses the human capacity for self-
fulfillment and the importance of
consciousness, self-awareness, and the
capacity to make choices
• Consciousness shapes human personality
• Consider personal experiences most
important
• Help people explore feelings, manage
negative impulses, and realize potential
Psychoanalytic Perspective
• Stresses the influence of unconscious forces
on human behavior
• Influenced by Sigmund Freud
– believed that aggressive impulses are common
reactions to the frustrations of daily life and we
seek to vent them on other people
Learning Perspective
• Emphasizes the effects of experience on
behavior
• Important to observing, describing,
explaining, predicting, and controlling
behavior
• John B. Watson and Behaviorism
– personal experiences and reinforcement guide
individual development
• Social-Learning Theory
– people can change their environments and
create new ones
– people’s expectations and values influence
whether they choose to do what they have
learned
Biopsychosocial
• Mental processes are influenced by the
interaction of biological processes,
psychological dispositions, and social
factors
• George Engel used it to explain heart
disease
– must consider more than just biology
