Discovering Psychology PDF

Module 1 Discovering Psychology GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definition and Goals What is Psychology? GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definiti...

Module 1 Discovering Psychology GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definition and Goals What is Psychology? GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definition and Goals Psychology is the systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definition and Goals DESCRIBE EXPLAIN Four GOALS of Psychology PREDICT CONTROL GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definition and Goals DESCRIBE Describe the different ways EXPLAIN that organisms behave. Four GOALS of Psychology PREDICT CONTROL GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definition and Goals EXPLAIN DESCRIBE Explain the causes of behavior. Four GOALS of Psychology PREDICT CONTROL GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definition and Goals DESCRIBE EXPLAIN Four GOALS of Psychology PREDICT Predict how organisms will CONTROL behave in certain situations. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 A. Definition and Goals DESCRIBE EXPLAIN Four GOALS of Psychology CONTROL PREDICT Control an organisms behavior. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches Approaches to the understanding of behavior include: 1. Biological Approach 2. Cognitive Approach 3. Behavioral Approach 4. Psychoanalytic Approach 5. Humanistic Approach 6. Cross-cultural Approach GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches - focuses on how our genes, hormones, and nervous system interact with our environments to influence learning, personality, memory, motivation, emotions, Biological and coping techniques Approach Example:  Normal brain uses one area (blue—fusiform gyrus) to process faces of people and different area (red— inferior temporal gyrus) to process inanimate objects, such as chair.  Autistic brain uses the area that usually process inanimate objects (red—inferior temporal gyrus) to also process human faces. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches  examines how we process, store, and use information and how this information influences, Cognitive what we attend to, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel Approach Example: Cognitive approach to test anxiety. Students who experience test anxiety must have experienced excessive worrying, usually about doing poorly on exams. Excessive worrying about your performance can interfere with your ability to read accurately, understand what you are reading, and identify important concepts (Cassady & Johnson, 2002). GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches Cognitive Neuroscience Cognitive involves taking pictures and identifying the structures and Approach functions of the living brain during performance of a wide variety of mental or cognitive processes, such as thinking, planning, naming, and recognizing objects. Example: When listening to a conversation, 95% of right-handers use primarily the left side of their brains and very little of the right sides to process this verbal information. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches Behavioral  Studies how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, Approach depending on whether events in their environments reward or punish these behaviors. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches Example: Behavioral Approach to Test Anxiety Researchers found that the following self-management practices are related to increasing studying time and achieving Behavioral better grades: 1. Select a place that you use exclusively for study. Approach 2. Reward yourself for studying. 3. Keep a record of your study time. 4. Establish priorities among projects. 5. Specify a time for each tasks. 6. Complete one task before going on to another. 53% of freshmen who learned and used self-management practices survived into their sophomore year compared to the survival rate of only 7% of freshmen who did not learn self- management practices (Long et. Al., 1994). GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches B.F. Skinner (1989) made behavioral approach a major force in psychology.  He stressed the study of observable behaviors, the Behavioral importance of environmental reinforcers (rewards and punishment), and exclusion of mental Approach processes. Albert Bandura disagree with strict behaviorism and have formulated a theory that includes mental or cognitive processes in addition to observable behaviors.  According to Bandura’s social cognitive approach, our behaviors are influenced not only environmental events and reinforcers but also by observation, imitation, and thought processes. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches Sigmund Freud  Stresses the influence of unconscious fears, desires, and motivations on thoughts, behaviors, and the development of personality traits and psychological Psychoanalytic problems later in life. Example: Approach Psychoanalytic Approach to Test Anxiety Researchers found that students with high test anxiety are much more likely to procrastinate than students with low test anxiety (N.A. Milgram et al., 1992). Researchers also found that procrastinators tend to be raised by authoritarian parents who stress overachievement, set unrealistic goals for their children, or link achievement to giving parental love and approval (Pychyl el al., 2002). GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 Abraham Maslow: B. Modern Approaches - Emphasizes that each individual has great freedom in directing his or her future, a large capacity for achieving personal growth, a considerable amount of intrinsic worth, and enormous potential for self- Humanistic fulfillment. Approach Example: Humanistic Approach to Test Anxiety Researchers found that students who had higher expectations for academic success, such as performing well in courses, received better grades (Chemers et al., 2001). GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 B. Modern Approaches  Studies the influence of cultural and ethnic Cross-Cultural similarities and differences on psychological and social functioning. Approach Example: The highest test anxiety scores were reported by students in Egypt, Jordan, and Hungary. The lowest anxiety scores were reported by students in China, Italy, Japan, and the Netherlands. Test anxiety scores of students in the United States were somewhere in the middle (Zeidner, 1998). GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 C. Historical Approaches Psychology’s First Laboratory Modern day psychology was born in December 1879 at Germany’s University of Leipzig, when Wilhelm Wundt wanted to create an experimental apparatus to measure the “atoms of the mind”. Wilhelm Wundt (1832 to 1920): Wundt established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany. In 1883, Wundt’s American Student G. Stanley Hall went on to Wilhelm Wundt establish the first formal U.S. psychology laboratory, at John 1832-1920 Hopkins University. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 C. Historical Approaches Structuralism: Elements of the Mind  the study of the most basic elements, primarily sensation and perceptions, that make up our conscious mental experiences. Introspection method  A method of exploring conscious mental processes by asking subjects to look inward and report their sensations and perceptions. Example: Wilhelm Wundt  After listening to a beating metronome, the subjects 1832-1920 would be asked to report whether their sensations were pleasant, unpleasant, exciting, or relaxing. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 C. Historical Approaches Functionalism: Functions of the Mind The study of the functions rather than the structure of consciousness. Interested on how our minds adapt to our changing environment. Consciousness serves as a function , as it enables us to consider our past, adjust our present, & plan our future. Functionalist: An early school of thought promoted by James & influenced by Darwin; explored how mental & behavioral processes function & how they enable the organism to adapt, William James survive, & flourish. 1842-1910 Jame authored the “Principles of Psychology (1890)”. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 C. Historical Approaches Gestalt Approach: Sensation vs Perceptions Emphasized that perception is more than the sum of its parts and studied how sensations are assembled into meaningful perceptual experiences. “The whole is greater than the sum of its’ parts”. Max Wetheimer 1883-1943 THEGOATEATMEAT GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 C. Historical Approaches Behaviorism: Observable Behavior “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my won special world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might self— doctor, lawyer, artist…” (Watson, 1924). This definition endured until John B. Watson & B. F. Skinner redefined psychology as “the scientific study of observable behavior”. John B. Watson 1878-1958 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 D. Cultural Diversity: Early Discrimination Women in Psychology * Calkins was a faculty member and has established a laboratory in psychology at Wellesley College in 1891, she petitioned and was allowed to take seminars at Harvard. There she completed her Ph.D. however, Harvard administration declined to grant it because she was a woman (Furumoto, 1989). Mary Calkins * It was not until Margaret Washburn was Margaret Washburn awarded a Ph.D. in Psychology in 1908. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 D. Cultural Diversity: Early Discrimination Minorities in Psychology  In psychology’s early days, only a few northern White universities accept Black students, while all southern White universities denied admission to Black students.  The first African American woman to receive Ph.D. in psychology in 1934 was Ruth Howard, who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1934.  She had a successful career as a clinical psychologist and school consultant.  Between 1920 and 1966, only 8 Ph.D.s in psychology were awarded to Black students, compare to 3,767 doctorates to Whites (R.V. Guthrie, 1976). GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC Module 1 End of Module 1 Please prepare for a 15-item quiz. GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Prepared by: Leomar Hermosilla, RGC