Introduction to Psychology PDF

Introduction to Psychology  Defining Psychology Psyche – mind or soul Logos – study Nature of Elegant Defintion of Psychology Scientific Study Psychology It relies on objective measures and...

Introduction to Psychology  Defining Psychology Psyche – mind or soul Logos – study Nature of Elegant Defintion of Psychology Scientific Study Psychology It relies on objective measures and data before making inferences about our thoughts, motivations, emotions and many more Behavior Is simply defined as any form of action or anything we do that can be observed directly Mental Processes Mental – refers to the mind Procesess – refers to series of actions or procedure Nature of Psychology Goals of Psychology Describe Providing concrete or observable details Explain Understand how and why the behavior occurred Predict When and how it is likely to occur again Control Changing a behavior or learning a new one  Historical Origins The Forerunners of Psychology Socrates Thoughts and knowledge come from within us Plato Importance of rational thinking Aristotle Importance of inductive reasoning Rene Descartes Nativist view John Locke Empiricist view Hippocrates Illnesses have natural causes Franz Josef Gall System of phrenology  Historical Origins Beginnings of Experimental Psychology Hermann von Helmholtz Vision and audition Ernst Weber Concept of threshold Gustav Theodor Fechner Experimental study on mental processes Elements of Psychophysics Wilhelm Wundt Psychological laboratory Study of conscious experiences Introspection Historical Origins Early Schools of Thought in Psychology Structuralism Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener Emphasis on basic units of experience Conscious experience : basic elements In order to understand the mind, one should study its components and structures (concerned with the discovering the structure of the mind) Perception, consciousness, feeling and thoughts Functionalism William James Functions of the mind as it adapts to its environment To understand what the mind does, how it acquired those processes, and what are its uses to human experiences Concerned with practical applications of findings Historical Origins Early Schools of Thought in Psychology Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud Shifted the study of conscious experiences to unconscious ones Believed that unconscious force determine and control our behavior Much of our behavior is governed by hidden motives and unconscious desires Discovered that many problems of adults could be traced to childhood experiences which had been repressed Understanding mental disorders – theory of personality development Talking-out method Behaviorism Edward Thorndike and John B. Watson Observable and measurable behaviors It stressed the importance of learning and environment Stressed on empirical approach – used of objective fact gathered through actual observation of what an organism does, not what he thinks Historical Origins Early Schools of Thought in Psychology Gestal Psychology Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler Understanding of behavior depended on the perception of the configuration, organization or patterns of experiences To study behavior, we must look at the totality of the organized experience Believed that perception is more than a simple summation of the different elements of a pattern Psychological Perspectives Modern Perspective in Psychology Psychodynamic Perspective Conscious awareness determine our behavior Behavioral Perspective Overt and measurable behaviors Cognitive Perspective Information processing approach Humanistic Perspective Natural tendencies toward growth and the realization of our full potentials and abilities Neuroscience Perspective Influence of the nervous system, the brain, and other bodily functions on behavior  Psychological Perspetives Fields of Psychology Biological Psychology Studies the relationship between biological functions and processes to behavior Developmental Psychology Is the study of growth and change across the life span Clinical Psychology Is an applied discipline of psychology that studies the origin of maladaptive behavior and its corresponding treatment Experimental Psychology It examines behavior through experimentations and studies how people perceive, learn, or think about the world Educational Psychology Focus on how children learn and the adjustments they make in school Industrial Psychology Studying issues and problems of individuals in the field of work Psychological Research Methods Descriptive Research Archival Research Test hypothesis through examining existing data on the psychological event being studied Survey Research Systematically investigates behavior through the administration of survey questionnaires or interview Case Study Is an in-depth and detailed investigation of a single individual or small group or persons Naturalistic Observation Involves investigating behaviors as they occur in natural situations or environment Correlational Research Examines the relationship between two sets of variables from which inferences can be made Psychological Research Methods Experimental Research Independent Variable and Dependent Variable Independent Variable (IV) – variable that is manipulated in the experiment Dependent Variable (DV) – variable the experimenter measures Experimental Manipulation and Treatment Experimental Manipulation – are the changes the experimenter makes in the variables and environmental setting Treatment – refers to the experimental manipulations given to a particular group in the experiment Control Group and Experimental Group Control Group – baseline of the behavior being studied Experimental Group – receives the treatment Random Selection and Random Assignment