Introduction To Psychology PDF

Introduction to Psychology E.A. Asistio CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? Psychology as a Science  Psychology...

Introduction to Psychology E.A. Asistio CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY? Psychology as a Science  Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. psychē (meaning “breath, principle of life, life, soul,”) with –logia (which comes from the Greek logos, meaning “speech, word, reason”) Aim: describe, explain, predict, and control behavior and mental processes  Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Theory Set of hypothesized statements about the relationship among events. Propose reasons for relationship among events. Can be used to derive explanation and predictions  RESEARCH Pure research – research conducted without concern for immediate application. Undertaken What do because the researcher is interested in the topic. Applied research – research conducted to find solutions to particular problems. Psychologists PRACTICE do? Applying psychological knowledge to help individuals change their behaviors so that they can meet their goals more effectively. REASEARCH PRACTICE TEACHING TEACHING Sharing psychological knowledge in classroom seminars and workshops. Fields of Psychology  Fields of Psychology CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST Help people with psychological Use interviews and tests to define disorders adjust to the demands of their clients’ problems. life. Typically handles adjustment Evaluate problems, resolve problems but not psychological problems, and change self-defeating disorders. behaviors. SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS Employed by school systems to Facilitate learning by focusing on identify and assist students who course planning and instructional have problems that interfere with methods for a school system. learning. Help in decision-making on student placement.  Fields of Psychology DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGISTS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS Study the changes in physical, Concerned with the nature and cognitive, social, and emotional causes of individuals’ thoughts, occurrence throughout the lifespan. feelings, and behavior in social May focus on influences of heredity situations. and environment on development. PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGIST ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGISTS Identify and measure human traits Study the ways that people and the and determine influences on human environment, natural environment thought, processes, feelings, and and human made environment, behavior. influence one another.  Fields of Psychology EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGISTS FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGISTS Specialize in basic processes such as Apply psychology to the criminal justice the nervous system, sensation and system. perception, learning and memory, Deal with legal matters such defendant’s thought, motivation, and emotion. sanity during the commitment of a crime. May also treat psychologically ill offenders, consult with attorneys, and analyze offenders’ behaviors and mental processes. HEALTH PSYCHOLOGISTS SPORTS PSYCHOLOGISTS Studied the effects of stress on Help athletes concentrate on their health problems such as headaches performance and not on the crowd, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. use cognitive strategies such as Guide clients toward healthier positive visualization to enhance behavior patterns. performance and avoid choking under pressure.  Fields of Psychology INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGIST HUMAN FACTOR PSYCHOLOGIST Focus on the relationships between Make technical systems such as automobile people and work. dashboard and computer keyboards more user friendly. ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGISTS CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGISTS Study the behavior of people in Study the behavior of shoppers in organizations such as business. an effort to predict and influence their behavior. Historical Foundation of Psychology  Contributions in contemporary psychology: Science could rationally treat only information gathered by senses. Enumerated five senses – vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Explore nature of cause and effect. 384 to Aristotle Pointed out that people differ from other living things in their capacity for 432 BCE rational thought. Declared people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain. “human behavior, like movements of the stars and the seas, is subject to rules and laws.” Suggested that we could think of behavior in terms of a body and a mind. 400 BCE Democritus -Behavior is influenced by external stimulation. First to raise question on whether there is free will or choice. People should rely on rational thought and introspection. 470 BCE Socrates Introspection is the careful examination of one’s own thoughts and emotions.  1801 Published Elements of Psychophysics – showed how physical events stimulate Gustav Fechner to 1887 psychological sensations and perception. 1809 British naturalist whose theory of natural selection influenced the functionalist Charles Darwin to 1882 school and the field of evolutionary psychology. 1832 German psychologist who opened one of the first psychology laboratories and Wilhelm Wundt to 1920 helped develop the field of structuralism. Schools of Psychology STRUCTURALISM Attempted to break conscious experience down into objective sensations, such as sight or taste, and subjective feelings, such as emotional responses, and mental images such as memories for dreams. Believed that the mind functions by combining objective and subjective elements of experience. Used the method of introspection to identify the basic elements or “structures” of psychological experience Notable Individual/s: Wilhelm Wundt  FUNCTIONALISM Focused on behavior as well as mind or consciousness. How our experiences help us function more adaptively in our environments. Adapted Darwin’s theory and proposed: Adaptive behavior patterns are learned and maintained. Maladaptive behavior patterns tend to drop out, and only the fittest behavior patterns survive. Notable Individual/s: William James  BEHAVIORISM Focused on learning observable behavior. Observable refers to behaviors that are observable by means of special instruments like heart rate, blood pressure, and brain waves. John Watson – Founder of American Behaviorism B.F. Skinner – organisms learn to behave in certain ways because of reinforcements. Reinforcement – stimulus that follows a response and increases the frequency of the response. Notable Individual/s: John Watson (1878-1958) B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)  GESTALT Focused on perception and how perception influences thinking and problem solving. Emphasizes the tendency to organize perceptions into wholes and to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns. Gestalt – pattern or organized whole Learning can be active and purposeful. Insightful learning Notable Individual/s: Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) Kurt Koffka (1886-1941) Wolgang Kohler (1887-1967)  PSYCHOANALYSIS Proposes that much of our lives is governed by unconscious ideas and impulses that originate in childhood conflicts. Emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as determinants of human behavior. Aims to help patients gain insight into their conflicts to find socially acceptable Notable Individual/s: Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Contemporary Perspectives Biological Perspectives Study the relationships relationship between the brain, hormones, heredity, and evolution, on the other hand, and behavior and mental processes on the other. Studies role of heredity and evolutionary factors in behavior and mental processes. Cognitive Perspectives Focuses on understanding the mental processes to understand human nature. Investigates ways we perceive and mentally represent the world. Humanistic-Existential Perspective Emphasizes the role of subjective experience. Humanism – human capacity for self-fulfillment and role of consciousness, self-awareness, and decision making. Existentialism – views people as free to choose and as being responsible for choosing ethical conduct Notable Individual/s: Carl Rogers (1951) Abraham Maslow (1970 Psychodynamic Perspective Influenced by Freud’s theory but focuses less on unconscious process and more on conscious choice and self-direction Notable Individual/s: Karen Horney (1885-1952) Erik Erikson (1902-1994) Perspectives on Learning Contemporary Behaviorists – emphasis on environmental influences and learning habits through repetition and reinforcement. Social Cognitivists – emphasis on people’s capacity to modify and create their environments. Focus on role of cognition wherein people engage in intentional learning through observation. Social Perspectives Studies influences of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status on behavior and mental processes. Studying Psychology Scientific Method an organized way of using experience and testing ideas to expand and refine knowledge. Hypothesis in psychology, a specific statement about behavior or mental processes that is tested through research. Population a complete group of interest to researchers, from which a sample is drawn. Sample part of a population Random Sample a sample drawn so that each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected to participate. Stratified Sample a sample drawn so that identified subgroups in the population are represented proportionately in the sample. Volunteer Bias a source of bias or error in research reflecting the prospect that people who offer to participate in research studies differ systematically from people who do not  Methods of Research Observation Correlation Experimental Observation Case Study Carefully drawn biography that may be obtained through interviews, questionnaires, and psychological tests. Collect information about individuals and small groups. Mostly descriptions of a person’s psychological problem and how a psychologist treated them. May be subjected to inaccuracies due to: a. Memory gaps b. Factual errors c. Memory distortions to please/antagonize the interviewer d. Interviewer’s expectations Observation Survey A method of scientific investigation in which a large sample of people answer questions about their attitudes or behavior. Used to learn about behavior and mental processes that cannot be observed in a natural setting or studied experimentally. Subject to Inaccurate self-reports like case studies Observation Naturalistic Observation Observing people in their natural habitats every day. Allows psychologists to observe behavior where it happens or “in the field. Observers use unobtrusive measure to not interfere with their observations. Correlation Used in investigating the correlation or relationship between the observed behavior or a measured trait. Terminologies: Correlation coefficient - a number between +1.00 and - 1.00 that expresses the strength and direction of the relationship between the variable. Positive correlation and negative correlation Experimental Experiment – a scientific method that seeks to confirm cause-and-effect relationships by introducing independent variables and observing their effects on dependent variables Independent Variable a condition in a scientific study that is manipulated so that its effects may be observed. Dependent Variable a measure of an assumed effect of an independent variable. Experimental Groups in experiments, groups whose members obtain the treatment. Control Groups in experiments, groups whose members do not obtain the treatment, while other conditions are held constant. Placebo a bogus treatment that has the appearance of being genuine Blind in experimental terminology, unaware of whether or not one has received a treatment. Double-blind Study a study in which neither the subjects nor the observers know who has received the treatment. Ethics in Psychological Research Research on Humans informed consent a participant’s agreement to participate in research after receiving information about the purposes of the study and the nature of the treatments Confidentiality Deception 1. If the benefits outweigh the potential harm 2. If psychologists believes that the participants would be willing to participate had they known the benefits of the research 3. If the participants are debriefed – explain the purpose and methods of the research. Research on Animals APA Standard 1. If there is no alternative 2. If benefits of research can justify the harm. Minimalist View on Animal Research 1. Limitation/prohibition depending on the value of research, amount of distress to animals, and type of animals. 2. “Sometimes, a little harm leads to greater good” Research on Animals Legal Standard of Using Animals in Research Reduction - Fewer number of animals Replacement - Using computer or technology as substitutes. Refinement - Modifications to reduce pain and discomfort