Transcript Introduction to Psychology

Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY
(7th Ed)
Prologue:
The Story of Psychology
James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University
Worth 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
Where “discipline” of
PSYCHOLOGY came from:
 Philosophy + Physiology
= PSYCHOLOGY
Big Ideas in Philosophy:
 Is the mind connected to
the body or distinct?
*If body dies, does soul live on?
 Are ideas inborn (innate) or
is the mind a blank slate
filled by experience?
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Dualism: Humans can have 2 separate parts (body & mind separate)
vs.
--Socrates, Plato, Descartes
Monism: Both mind + body are ONE
-Hebrews, Aristotle, & St. Augustine
Basic Human Knowledge:
We have inborn knowledge inborn (innate):
Socrates; Plato
Human mind is ____ slate :
Aristotle; John Locke (Latin term?)
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Extra Reading Notes to get:
*History of Psych
*Psych subfields
*3 levels of analysis in Psych: the biopsychosocial
approach
…how biological aspects affect psych aspects & are affected by
socio-cultural aspects
…these all related to psych perspectives (evolutionary, behavioral,
cognitive, etc.)
*What are applied research…& basic research? How do
they differ? How do they interact?
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 Psychological Science Is Born
 Empiricism: Scientific method
 Knowledge comes from experience via the senses
 Science flourishes through observation &
experiment
 Vs. anecdotal evidence”I knew a guy….”
Why is anecdotal evidence dangerous??
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Prologue: Psychology’s Roots
 Wilhelm Wundt (“father of
psy”) opened the first
psychology laboratory at
the University of Liepzig,
Germany (c. 1879: “b’day
of psy”)
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Early theories: Structuralism vs. Functionalism
…what was each…whose idea…accepted today?
 Structuralism
used introspection
(looking inside
ourselves) to explore the
elemental structure of
the human mind
 Wundt & Edw.
Titchener
(Titchener brought
psych to US)
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 Wm. James: Functionalism focused on
how behavioral processes function…
-i.e, how they enable organism to
adapt, survive, & flourish
Relates to Darwin’s ideas
-James also taught
Mary Calkins at Harvard…
she became 1st female
pres. of APA (1905)
Why’d he teach her
by herself?
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Psych’s Roots: Psychological Science Develops
 Wundt--German philosopher and physiologist;
“Father of Psy.” (1879: “B-Day of Psych”)
 James--American philosopher; wrote 1st major psy
text: Principles of Psychology (1400 pp.)
 Pavlov--Russian physiologist; classical
conditioning: learning thru survival or automatic
means
 B.F. Skinner: operant conditioning: “it’ all
environment & learning!”
 Freud--Austrian physician; psychoanalytical
method…became today psychodynamic
 Piaget--Swiss biologist; developmental…later some
of cognitive
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Prologue: Psych’s Roots (p. 7):
Approx# in 1940? 1980? 2000?
Figure 1- British Psychological Society membership
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 Basic Definition of Psychology
 The science (study of) of behavior (what we do) &
mental processes (sensations, perceptions,
dreams, thoughts, beliefs, & feelings)
 The Empirical study of these (what is meant by
“empiricism??”
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Prologue: Contemporary Psych

Psych’s 3 Big Issues
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
went w/ which??
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Major ?’s Psy:
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.?
--think of examples…
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Prologue: Contemporary Psych
 Natural selection
 Charles Darwin:
We change/adapt in
order to survive
Nat. selection:
… says the off-spring
inheriting trait
variations that help
survival will be most
likely to breed &
passed strong traits to
succeeding (later)
generations
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(p.11) KNOW these!!!
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 Psychology’s Perspectives
 A lot depends on your viewpoint…how
you see something…
How we each see the same issue depends on
POV
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Prologue: Contemporary Psychology:
Applied research vs. basic research:
1. Biological psychologists explore the links
between brain and mind & the body
*neuroscientists, evolutionary psych., &
behavior geneticists are in this category
1. Developmental psychologists study changing
abilities from womb to tomb
2. Cognitive psychologists study how we
perceive, think, and solve problems
3. Personality psychologists investigate our
persistent traits
4. Social psychologists explore how we view &
affect one another
5. Psychometrics: measure of psych aspects (Ex:
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intelligence, etc.)
Prologue: Contemporary Psychology:
Applied research vs. basic research:
 Applied Psychology:
Using info gained from basic research…
EX:’s:
 Industrial/organizational (IO) psychologists
study and advise on behavior in the workplace
 Clinical psychologists study, assess, and
treat people with psychological disorders
(seeing patients or clients)
(Know diff. betwn. Clinical psych &
psychiatry !)
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Psychiatry: These are M.D.’s
 A branch of medicine dealing w/ psych.
disorders…usually the more severe disorders
 Practiced by physicians who sometimes use
medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as
psychotherapy
 Psychologists are Ph.D.’s, NOT M.D.’s
 MOST Psychol. today can’t write out Rx for
meds…referring MD does that
 Clinical psychologists are pushing for
psychopharmalogical license (as long as have the
pharm. background)
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