Chapter 1 - Introduction to Psychology

Issue 5- Individual differences versus universal principles

-how much behavior is due to the unique and social qualities of each person, and how do those individual differences differentiate us from others -how much of our behavior stems from culture and society in which we live, reflecting universal principles that underlie the behavior of all humans -neuroscience perspective tend to look for universal principles of behavior. -psychologists who employ the humanistic perspective focus more on the uniqueness of every individual. they consider ever person's behavior a reflection of distinct and special individuals qualities.

Issue 4 - Free will versus determinism

-how much of our behavior is a matter of free will and how much is subject to determinism -some psychologists who specializes in physiological disorders argue that people make intentional choices and that those who displace so called abnormal agree and contend that such individuals are the victims of forces beyond their control -while others disagree and contend that such individuals are the victims of forces beyond their control

Karen Horney ( horn-eye)

Focused on the social and cultural factors behind personality; she also was the founder of the American Journal of Psychoanalysis.

Psychology

is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Developmental psychology

studies how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death

Behavioral genetics

studies the inheritance of traits related to behavior

Humanistic perspective

suggests that all individuals naturally strive to grow, develop, and be in control of their lives and behavior ( humanistic psychologists maintain that each of us has the capacity to seek and reach fulfillment )

Experimental psychology

the branch of psychology that studies the processes of sensing, perceiving, learning, and thinking about the world

education of psychologists : doctorates

- most have a doctorate, either PhD ( doctor of philosophy) or PsyD ( doctor of psychology) - PhD is a research degree that requires a dissertation based on an original investigation -PsyD is obtained by psychologists who want to focus on the treatment of psychological disorders.

Neuroscience perspective includes

-how individual nerve cells are joined together -how the inheritance of certain characteristics form parents other ancestors influence behavior -how the functioning of the body affects hopes and fears -includes the study heredity and evolution which considers how heredity may influence behavior, and behavioral neuroscience, which examines how the brain and the nervous system affect behavior.

Conscious versus unconscious causes of behavior is issue 2

-how much of our behavior is produced by forces of which we are fully aware -how much is due to unconscious activity-mental processes that are not accessible to the conscious mind -clinical psychologists adopting a psychodynamic perspective argues that psychological disorders are brought about by unconscious factors, whereas psychologists employing the cognitive perspective suggest that psychologist disorders largely are the result of faulty thinking processes.

nature ( heredity ) versus nuture( environment ) is one of the major issues that psychologists address in trying to determine the causes of behavior

-how much of people's behavior is due to their genetically determined nature ( heredity ) -how much is due to nuture, the influences of the physical and social environment in which a child is raised -furthermore what is the interplay between heredity and environment Ever psychologist would agree that neither nature nor nuture alone is the sole determinant of behavior, rather it is a combination of the two. In a sense., the real controversy involves how much of our behavior is caused by heredity and how much is caused by environmental influences.

Psychologists who Rely on the cognitive perspective ask questions on subjects ranging from:

-how people make decisions -if a person can watch television and study at the same time

The phrase behavior and mental process when defining psychology encompasses many things:

-not just what people do but also their thoughts, emotions, perceptions, reasoning, processes, memories, and even the biological activities that maintain bodily functioning.

Issue 3 - Observable behavior versus internal mental processes

-should psychology concentrate solely on behavior that can be seen by outside observers, or should it focus on unseen thinking processes -some psychologists, especially behavioral prospective, contend that the only legitimate source of information for psychologists is behavior that can be observed directly -but cognitive perspective, argue that what goes on inside a person's mind is critical to understanding behavior and so we must concern ourselves with mental processes.

Evolutionary psychology stems from Charles Darwin's arguments in "On the Origin of Species

-suggests that the chemical coding of information in our cells not only determines trait such as their color and race but also behaviors that helped our ancestors survive and reproduce -Darwin suggested that a process of natural selection leads to the survival of the fittest and the development of traits that enable a species to adapt to its environment

Neuroscientists have strived to understand how the normal brain works, as well as what happens to it following injury or disease. They have begun to use technologies to enhance people's typical existing ability -receptive transracial magnetic stimulation ( TMS)

A form of noninvasive brain stimulation, can enhance cognitive ability. -researchers used receptive TMS to stimulate the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory. -stimulation over the course of a week led to increased brain connectivity and improved memory

Frequent depression, stress, and fears that prevent people from carrying out their normal activities are topics that interest

A heath psychologist, a clinical psychologist, and a counseling psychologist

Most psychologists work in

Academic settings, allowing them to combine the 3 major roles played by psychologists in society: teacher, scientist, and clinical practitioner. .

The common elements that link cognitive approaches

Are an emphasis of how people understand and think about the world and an interest in describing the patterns and irregularities in the operation of our minds

The humanistic perspective rejects the view that

Behavior is determined largely by automatically unfolding biological forces, unconscious processes, or the environment.

Proponents of psychodynamic perspective argue that

Behavior is motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which we have little awareness or control. ( they view dreams and slips of the tongue as indications of what a person is truly feeling within a seething cauldron of unconscious physic activity.

John Locke believed that

Children were born into the world with minds like "blank states" and that their experiences determined what kind of adults they would become

Psychologists try to

Describe, predict, and explain human behavior and mental processes, as well as help to change and improve the lives of people and the world in which they live.

The formal beginning of psychology as a scientific discipline is when 19th century Wilhelm Wundt established the first

Experimental laboratory devoted to psychological phenomena

Heath psychology

Explores the relationship between psychological factors and physical ailments or disease ( frequent depression and stress)

One sub speciality of experimental psychology is cognitive psychology

Focuses on higher mental process, including thinking, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, judging, decision making, and language.

Behavioral

Focuses on observable behavior

William James led the

Functionalist movement

17th century, Rene Descartes thought nerves were

Hollow tubes through which "animals spirits" conducted impulses in the same way that water is transmitted through a pipe. -when a person put a finger too close to a fire, heat was transmitted to the brain through the tubes

Cognitive perspective focuses on

How people think, understand, and know about the world. -the emphasis is on how people compared and represent the outside world within them selves, and how our ways of thinking about the world influence our behavior.

Another importnat reaction to structuralism was the development of gestalt psychology. -gestalt psychology emphasizes

How perception is organized. -studying how people consider individual elements together as units or whole -made contributions to our understanding of perception

Plato and Descartes argued that some knowledge was

Inborn in humans

The most common areas of employment for psychology majors are in the social services,

Including working as administrators, serving as a counselors, and providing direct care. -also enter the fields of education or business or work for federal, state, and local governments.

Cognitive perspective psychologists view thinking is

Information processing

Psycholists became increasingly dissatfied with the assumption that introdsepction could reveal the structure of the mind.

Introspection was not a truly scientific technique because there were few ways an outside observer could confirm the accuracy of others' introspections. -also people had difficulty describing some kinds of inner experiences.

to determine how basic sensory processes shape our sun standing of the world, Wundt and other structuralist s used a method called introspection.

Is a procedure in which people are presented. With a stimulus ( such as an image or a sentence ) and are asked to describe, in their own words and in as much detail as they can, what they were experiencing.

Industrial / organizational psychology

Is concerned with the psychology of the workplace

the perspective that replaced structuralism is known as functionalism. -Functionalism concentrated

On what the mind does and how behavior functions. -functionalists asked what role behavior plays in allowing people to adapt to their environments

Carol Rodgers and Abraham Maslow ( central futures of the development of humanistic prospective ) believe

People strive to reach their full potential if they are given the opportunity

Psychologist use what kinds of methods

Scientists Methods -the scientific method is the basis of all psychological research and is used to find valid answers.

Franc Josef Gall, 18th century, argued that a trained observer could discern intelligence, moral character, and other basic personality characteristics from the

Shape and number of bumps on a person's skulls.

The origins of the psychodynamic view are linked to one person:

Sigmund Fraud

The humanistic perspective assumes that people have the ability to make their own choices about their behavior rather than relying on

Social standards. -it stresses the role of psychology in enriching people's lives and helping them achieve self-fulfillment

Wilhelm Wundt goal was to study the structures of the mind and their relationship to conscious experience - an approach he called

Structuralism

Mary Calkins

Studied memory in the 20th century and became the first female president of the American Psychological Association

Behavioral neuroscience

Subfiled of psychology that focuses on the ways in which the brain, the nervous system, and the other biological aspects of the body determine behavior. ( thus, neuroscientists consider how our body influences our behavior. )

The gestalt psychology was led by Hermann Ebbinghaus and Max Wetheimer, gestalt psychologists proposed that "the whole is different fro the sum of its parts," meaning

That our perception, or understanding of objects is greater and more meaningful than the individual elements that make up our perceptions.

Behavioral perspective suggests

That the focus should be on external behavior that can be observed and measured objectively.

The emphasis fo the humanistic perspective is on free will

The ability to freely make decisions about one's own behavior and life. The notion of free will stands in contrast to determinism, which sees behavior as caused, or determined, by things beyond a person's control

Neurscoeicne perspective

The approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain, the nervous system, and other biological functions.

education of psychologists : a third of people working in the field of pscyhgoly have a master's degree as their highest degree

These psychologists teach, provide therapy, conduct research, or work in specialized programs dealing with drug abuse or crisis intervention.

seven thousands years ago, people assumed that psychological problems were caused by evil spirits. -to allow those spirits to escape from a person's body, ancient healers chipped a hole in a patient's skull with crude instruments - a procedure called

Trephining

Neuroscience

Views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning

Leta Stetter Hollingsworth

Was one of the first psychologists to focus on child development and on women's issue. -she collected data to refute the popular view in the 1900s, that women's ability periodically declined during parts of the menstrual cycle.

Margaret Floy Washburn

Was the first woman to receive a doctorate in psychology , and she did important work on animal behavior

John B. Watson ( first major American Psychologist to use a behavioral approach)

Watson believed that one could gain a complete understanding of behavior by studying the environment in which a person operated. -Watson believed rather optimistically that it was possible to bring about any desired type of behavior by controlling a person's environment.

Sport psychology

applies psychology to athletic activity and exercise

Psychodynamic

believes behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious forces over which a person has little control

Mamie Phipps Clark

carried out pioneering work on how children of color grew to recognize racial differences

Educational psychology

concerned with teaching and learning processes, such as the relationship between motivation and school performance

evolutionary psychology

considers how behavior is influenced by our genetic inheritance from our ancestors

Environmental psychology

considers the relationship between people and their physical environment

Humanistic

contends that people can control their behavior and that they naturally try to reach their full potential

Clinical psychology

deals with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological disorders

Cognitive

examines how people understand and think about the world

program evaluation

focuses on assessing large-scale programs, such as the Head Start preschool program, to determine whether they are effective in meeting their goals

Psychology of women

focuses on issues such as discrimination against women and the causes of violence against women

Forensic Psychology

focuses on legal issues, such as determining the accuracy of witness memories

Personality psychology

focuses on the consistency in people's behavior over time and the traits that differentiate one person from another

counseling psychology

focuses primarily on educational, social, and career adjustment problems

cross-cultural psychology

investigates the similarities and differences in psychological functioning in and across various cultures and ethnic groups

School psychology

is devoted to counseling children in elementary and secondary schools who have academic or emotional problems

Social psychology

is the study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others.

Anna Freud

made notable contributions to the treatment of abnormal behavior

The 5 major perspectives of psychology

neuroscience, cognitive, behavioral, humanistic, psychodynamic

Functionalists examine how

people satisfy their needs through their behavior and focused on the purpose of thinking and how the flexibility of the mind allowed people to continually change their thinking as they interacted with a complex world.

June Etta Downey

spearheaded the study of personality traits and became the first woman to head a psychology department at a state university

Structuralism focused on

uncovering the fundamental mental components of perception, consciousness, thinking, emotions, and other kinds of mental states and activities

Clinical Neuropsychology

unites the areas of biopsychology and clinical psychology, focusing on the relationship between biological factors and psychological disorders