chapter 1

Working at Psychology

6% independent practice 7% medical school/other academic 8% school/other educational 11% business/nonprofit 17% governmental/VA medical center 25% hospital/other health service 26% university/4-year college

PhD vs PsyD

PhD = doctor of philosophy PsyD = doctor of psychology Also, know diff between psychologists and psychiatrists

Psychology

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes, encompassing not just what people do but also their biological activities, feelings, perceptions, memory, reasoning, and thoughts.

What is the future of psychology likely to hold

Psychology will become increasingly specialized, will pay greater attention to prevention instead of just treatment, will become more and more concerned with the public interest, and will take the growing diversity of the country's population into account more fully.

What are psychology's key issues and controversies

Psychology's key issues and controversies center on how much of human behavior is a product of nature or nurture, conscious or unconscious thoughts, observable actions or internal mental processes, free will or determinism, and individual differences or universal principles.

What are the major approaches in contemporary psychology?

The neuroscience approach focuses on the biological components of the behavior of people and animals. The psychodynamic perspective suggests that powerful, unconscious inner forces and conflicts about which people have little or no awareness are the primary determinants of behavior. The behavioral perspective deemphasizes internal processes and concentrates instead on observable, measurable behavior, suggesting that understanding and control of a person's environment are sufficient to fully explain and modify behavior. Cognitive approaches to behavior consider how people know, understand, and think about the world. The humanistic perspective emphasizes that people are uniquely inclined toward psychological growth and higher levels of functioning and that they will strive to reach their full potential.

Cross-Cultural Psychology*

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

Educational Psychology

is concerned with teaching and learning processes, such as the relationship between motivation and school performance Ex: What teaching methods most effectively motivate elementary school students to successfully accomplish academic tasks?

Industrial/organizational Psychology

is concerned with the psychology of the workplace Ex: Jessica is asked to develop a management strategy that will encourage safer work practices in an assembly plant

School Psychology

is devoted to counseling children in elementary and secondary schools who have academic or emotional problems Ex: the teachers of 8-year old jack are concerned that he has recently begun to withdraw socially and to show little interest in schoolwork

Social Psychology*

is the study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others Ex: it is thought that pornographic films that depict violence against women may prompt aggressive behavior in some men

Study Alert

know the basic outlines of history of the field

Behavioral Genetics

studies the inheritance of traits related to behavior

Experimental Psychology

studies the processes of sensing, perceiving, learning, and thinking about the world Ex: A psychologist is intrigued by the fact that some people are much more sensitive to painful stimuli than others are

Free will

the idea that behavior is caused primarily by choices that are made freely by the individual

Determinism

the idea that people's behavior is produced primarily by factors outside of their willful control the view that behavior is largely produced by factors beyond people's willful control is known as determinism

race is a biological concept, not a psychological one

true

Origins of Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt laid the foundation of psychology in 1879, when he opened his laboratory in Germany. Early perspectives that guided the work of psychologists were structuralism (led by Wilhelm Wundt), functionalism (led by William James), and gestalt theory.

Structuralism

Wundt's approach, which focuses on uncovering the fundamental mental components of consciousness, thinking, and other kinds of mental states and activities Wundt described psychology as the study of conscious experience, a perspective he called structuralism

Introspection

a procedure used to study the structure of the mind in which subjects are asked to describe in detail what they are experiencing when they are exposed to a stimulus early psychologists studied the mind by asking people to describe what they were experiencing when exposed to various stimuli. This procedure was known as introspection

Gestalt Psychology

an approach to psychology that focuses on the organization of perception and thinking in a "whole" sense rather than on individual elements of perception the statement "in order to study human behavior, we must consider the whole of perception rather than its component parts" might be made by a person subscribing to which prospective of psychology? gestalt psychology

Functionalism

an early approach to psychology that concentrated on what the mind does- the functions of mental activity- and the role of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environments

Sport Psychology

applies psychology to athletic activity and exercise

Psychodynamic (perspective 5)

believes behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious forces over which a person has little control Jeanne's therapist asks her to recount a violent dream she recently experienced in order to gain insight into the unconscious forces affecting her behavior. Jeanne's therapist is working from a psychodynamic perspective nature, unconscious, internal emphasis, determinism, and universal emphasis

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 (perspective 4)

contends that people can control their behavior and that they naturally try to reach their full potential "My therapist is wonderful! he always points out my positive traits. he dwells on my uniqueness and strength as an individual. i feel much more confident about myself - as if I'm really growing and reaching my potential." the therapist being described most likely follows a humanistic perspective. nurture, conscious, internal emphasis, free will, and individual emphasis

in the nature-nurture issue, nature refers to heredity, and nurture refers to the _____.

environment

Developmental Psychology*

examines how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death Ex: at what age do children generally begin to acquire an emotional attachment to their fathers?

Cognitive (perspective 2)

examines how people understand and think about the world both nature and nurture, both conscious and unconscious determinants of behavior, internal emphasis, free will, individual emphasis

Behavioral Neuroscience*

examines the biological basis of behavior Ex: what chemicals are released in the human body as a result of a stressful event? What are their effects on behavior?

Health Psychology*

explores the relationship between psychological factors and physical ailments or disease Ex: Janetta's job is demanding and stressful. She wonders if her lifestyle is making her more prone to certain illnesses, such as cancer and heart disease

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

Behavioral (perspective 3)

focuses on observable behavior "It is a behavior that can be observed that should be studied, not the suspected inner workings of the mind." this statement was most likely made by someone with which perspective? behavioral perspective nurture, conscious, observable emphasis, determinism, both individual and universal

Personality Psychology*

focuses on the consistency in people's behavior over time and the traits that differentiate one person from another Ex: Luis is unique in his manner of responding to crisis situations, with an even temperament and a positive outlook

Cognitive psychology*

focuses on the study of higher mental processes Ex: What mental strategies are involved in solving complex word problems?

Counseling psychology

focuses primarily on educational, social, and career adjustment problems Ex: Joan, a college freshman, is worried about her grades. She needs to learn better organizational skills and study habits to cope with the demands of college.

Clinical neuropsychology

unites the areas of biopsychology and clinical psychology, focusing on the relationship between biological factors and psychological disorders. Ex: a strong fear of crowds leads a young man to seek treatment for his problem

Neuroscience (perspective 1)

views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning nature(heredity), unconscious determinants of behavior, internal mental processes, determinism, universal principals