Transcript Introduction to Psychology

Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY
(UPDATED with AP 2nd Edition
Dec-Jan 2014-5)
The Story of Psychology
History & Approaches
James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University
BFW Publishers
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Prologue: Psych’s Roots
Psychology…from psukhe …Ancient Greek for
breath…& later became to represent soul or spirit
Prescientific Psy.:
Major ?’s they looked at:
 Is the mind connected to the
body or separate from it
(distinct)?
 Are ideas inborn (innate) or
is the mind a blank slate filled
by experience?
 Psych came from 2 areas
of study: philosophy &
physiology
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Prologue: Psych’s Roots
Dualism: can have 2 separate parts……i.e. (that is), Mind & body
are separate—believed by Socrates, Plato, Rene Descartes
Monism: both = 1 …mind & body inseparable
believed by Hebrews, Aristotle, & St. Augustine
Knowledge (Some aspects) is innate (inborn): Socrates; Plato
Human mind is __?__ slate: Aristotle; John Locke
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Mod. 1—Sec. 1 Psychology’s Roots
Prescientific Psychology
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Ancient Greeks: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
Rene Descartes
Francis Bacon
John Locke
–Tabula Rasa (blank slate)
• Empiricism
Greeks, W. Europeans, & Birth of Empiricism
Ancient Greeks:
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle
Big questions arose: *Can MIND exist w/o the body?
**If the MIND is “afflicted” will it affect the body?
Socrates & Plato: We are BORN w/ knowledge (it’s INNATE)
Aristotle: NO! It has to be LEARNED, stored, & increased
1600’s:
Rene Descartes (French): "I am thinking therefore I exist.“
(Latin: Cogito ergo sum)
from the Discourse on Method
Autopsied animals—found brain fluids & nerves & knew they
affected us…
Know the term “animals spirits”…
…also said mind/knowledge lasts AFTER the body is dead
Bacon, Locke, & Empiricism
Francis Bacon: (British):
Humans look for PATTERNS, & find them as much as they can
This leads to FALSE BELIEFS: superstitions—beliefs in
omens, dreams, astrology, etc.
BACON’s ideas led to empiricism later…we have to see, note,
study, observe, be open minded. SCIENTIFIC!
John Locke: Essay on Human Understanding: How the
human mind works and learns
Tabula Rasa (“blank slate”): We are born “empty” like a
blank chalkboard… first others must “write” information to
help us learn…then we learn from our experience & later begin
to fill in the space, too, building memories as we learn
Empiricism: knowledge comes from experience, & so science
should rely on observation & experimentation for accuracy
Psychological Science Is Born:
The “ages” of human thought and change:
Renaissance  Age of Enlightenment  Age of Reason
 ALL this led to Empiricism – which is the use of the
Scientific method
 Looking at things analytically, not just seeing
something once & that equals “proof…”
 Where do you think superstitions came from?
 Superstitions result from “magical thinking” & lead us
away from facts
 Too often ppl saw 1-2 things happen (ANECDOTAL
evidence) & they quickly jump to conclusions ….which led
to lots of superstition
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Renaissance  Age of Enlightenment  Age of Reason
 ALL this led to Empiricism: = the Scientific method
 Knowledge comes from experience via the senses
 Science flourishes through observation & experimentation
…that is… empirical thinking
 versus anecdotal evidence ”I knew this one guy….”
Why is anecdotal evidence dangerous?
How can it lead to superstitions.. & “magical thinking?”
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Prologue: Psych’s Roots
 Wilhelm Wundt (“father of psy”): opened 1st psych lab,
Univ. of Liepzig, Germany (c. 1879: “b’day of psy”)
This was 1st place established specifically to study
empirically the ideas of psych
Wundt taught Edward Tiechner
(who later came to the USA
w/ psych & new ideas)
Wundt & Tiechner developed the
ideas of
 Structuralism
 Introspection
(but…NEITHER lasted  )
know these!)
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Early theories:
Structuralism vs. Functionalism
 Structuralism used
introspection (looking in) to
explore the elemental structure of
the human mind
 Wundt & his student Edward
Titchener
(Titchener brought new area
of study, “psychology,” to USA)
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*William James:
(btw: had famous bro.: Henry, Amer. author)
Functionalism focused on how behavioral processes
function… i.e, how they enable organism to adapt,
survive, & flourish— adapt behaviors to survive
A huge fan of Darwin, James related psych to Darwin’s
ideas… FATHER OF AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGY!!
& Functionalism LED to Evolutionary Psych, a big area of
Psych today
Wm. James also taught Mary Calkins
at Harvard… She later became
1st female pres. (1905) of APA
(Amer. Psychological Assoc.)
Why did he teach her in classroom
by herself?
Why did she NOT get a Ph.D in Psychology
as the male Harvard students had?
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Some important terms from “Psych’s Roots:”
Be sure you can identify/explain these below:
*a school of thought promoted by James and influenced by
Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes
function – how they enable the organism to adapt, survive,
and flourish.
*the view that knowledge originates in experience and
that science should, therefore, rely on observation and
experimentation.
*early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchner;
used introspection to “reveal the structure” of the human
mind.
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Psych’s Roots: Ppl very important in early psychology:
 Wundt--German philosopher and physiologist; “Father of
Psy.” (1879-1st lab) & his student E. Tiechner (struc./introsp)
 James--American philosopher; wrote 1st major psy text:
Principles of Psychology (1400 pp.)
ideas live on today in evolutionary psychology
(late 1800’s); his
 Pavlov--Russian physiologist; classical conditioning:
learning thru survival or automatic means (1900)
 John Watson (early 20th cent.): 1st to use the term
“behaviorism”
 B.F. Skinner: operant conditioning: “it’ all environment
& learning!” (1940’s – 1990’s)
 Freud--Austrian physician; psychoanalytical
method…became today’s psychodynamic (1880’s-1930’s)
 Piaget--Swiss biologist; developmental psych.(human devel.)
Later relates to cognitive.. How we change as we get older
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Psych’s Roots (p. 7) & dramatic growth:
Approx# in 1940? 1980? 2000?
Figure 1- British Psychological Society membership
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Prologue: Psychology’s Roots
 Definition of Psychology:
The science of behavior (what we do) & mental
processes (sensations, perceptions, dreams,
thoughts, beliefs, plans, feelings, etc.)
 Science: empirical (scientific) study of something
 Behavior: the observable things we do…things we &
others see us do
 Mental processes: sensations, perceptions, dreams,
thoughts, beliefs, & feelings…things going on in us but
cannot be seen or observed
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Contemporary
(more recent)
Psych
3 Big Issues today in Psych study:
1. Nature vs. Nurture: Is it genes (genetics,
heredity) OR is it experience, learning,
2. Stability vs. Change: Are our traits the
same thru life…or do we change as we age?
3. Rationality (reasonable; logical) vs.
irrationality: Are humans logical …OR…ruled
by emotions, etc.?
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Psych’s Single Biggest
Issue: (Nature v. nurture…
..heredity v. experience…)
1. Nature vs. Nurture: Is it
genes (genetics, heredity)
OR is it experience, learning,
etc. that make to develops
our psy. traits & our
behaviors?
 This is the MAJOR , most
often discussed issue
 AKA heredity vs.
environment (now mainly
use term experience
instead….Why?)
 Innate vs. __?__ slate:
means what? Who
(philosophers, etc) went w/
which idea??
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Psych’s 2 OTHER Big Issues (not as critical as
Heredity vs. experience)
Stability vs. Change:
Do our traits stay basically the same thru life…or
do we change a lot as we age?
Do shy kids tend to stay shy?
Do adventurous kids get more adventurous ..or
more cautious?
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Psych’s 2 OTHER Big Issues
(not as critical as Heredity vs. Experience)
Rationality vs. irrationality:
Are humans basically
logical (reasonable) (like Mr. Spock, the Vulcan) …
OR… Illogical (irrational…ruled by emotions, etc.) ? EX’s?
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Contemporary Psych
Theories:
Evolutionary Psych: How
we become more successful
humans… What WORKS??
 Natural selection &
Charles Darwin:
We change &/or adapt in
order to survive
Those adapting well are more
likely to have offspring…
Natural selection: off-spring
inheriting trait variations
(mutations) that help
survival will be most likely to
breed …& to pass strong
traits to succeeding (later)
generations
In Psych, it is the behaviors &
thinking that change same
way to create a better
animal…
(THIS was basis for Wm.
James ‘s ideas of
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functionalism )
Psychology’s Biggest Question
• Nature – Nurture Issue
–Biology versus experience
–History
• Greeks
• Rene Descartes
• Charles Darwin
–Natural selection
***Psychology’s 3 Levels of Analysis***
Levels of analysis: the differing complementary (they complete each other)
views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing
any given phenomenon.
3 Levels of
Analysis
 Biological
 Psychological
 Social-cultural
The 3 TOGETHER are the Biopsychosocial Approach:
An integrated approach that incorporates biological,
psychological, & social-cultural levels of analysis (way we look at an
issue). (**We will look at EVERY issue from this perspective!!**)
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Psychology’s Subfields w/in Basic Research Psy.
& Applied Psychology
Basic Research: These psychologists do research,
not treatments, etc.
1. Biological psychologists explore the links
between brain/mind & the body..the physical body
2. Developmental psychologists study changing
abilities from womb to tomb..how aging affects us
3. Cognitive psychologists study how we perceive,
think, use language, & solve problems
4. Personality psychologists investigate our
persistent personality traits (or patterns)
5. Social psychologists explore how we view &
affect & interact w/ one another w/in groups..how
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groups affect our behaviors
Basic Research Subfields
Cognitive psychologists
Developmental psychologists
Educational psychologists
Experimental psychologists
Psychometric and Quantitative Psychologists
(Psych tests, etc.: IQ, personality, abilities, mental
problems, etc)
Social psychologists
Contemporary Psychology
Psychology’s Subfields w/in Basic Research Psy.
& Applied Psychology
Basic Research finds out information…applied psych
uses that info to help ppl in some way
Applied Psychology: USING info from Psych research
EX:’s:
 Industrial/organizational (I.O.) psychologists
study and advise on behavior in the workplace
 Clinical psychologists study, assess, and treat
people with psychological disorders (seeing
patients or clients) or with personal problems

more  
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Applied Research Subfields
Applied Psychology: USING info from Psych research
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 Industrial/organizational (I.O.) psychologists study and
advise on behavior in the workplace; also engineering
more user-friendly products
 Clinical psychologists study, assess, and treat people with
psychological disorders (seeing patients or clients) or with
personal problems
Forensic psychologists: legal aspects of psych
Health psychologists
Neuropsychologists
Rehabilitation psychologists
School psychologists
Sport psychologists
Be careful NOT to confuse…
 Psychiatry: These are M.D.’s…not
psychologists, which generally are Ph.D’s
Psychiatry is a branch of medicine dealing w/ psych.
disorders…usually the more severe disorder --& more
likely to use medical (for example, drug &/or surgical)
treatments as well as psychotherapy
 Trained in medicine first…psych disorders later
 Clinical psychologists are Ph.D.’s, NOT M.D.’s, but
takes about same amt. of time!
 MOST Psychol. can’t write out Rx for meds at this
time, but this is changing fast!
(Right now if can’t, a referring MD does that)
But this is changing as Ph.D. psych’s push for the licensing to
Rx for psych disorders
 Several states now allow this, though most still do NOT
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