Theme 1

1. Theme 1 Introduction to Psychological Principles, Personalities, and Research Methods

2. What is Psychology? Spencer Rathus defines it as: the science that studies behavior and mental processes. Working definition: the study of human behavior and mental processes through assortments of avenues and theories.

3. What's the Difference? Psychologist A person who holds a PhD or PsyD in a field of psychology. Can be clinical or experimental Cannot prescribe medication except in New Mexico (by state law and standards). Psychiatrist A person who holds a MD with a specialization in psychiatric medicine. Can prescribe medications legally in all state.

4. A Brief History of Psychology Psychology was founded out of philosophical ideas in the middle 1800s. The first philosophical ideas of psychology were the early Greek ponderings on whether humans are born with innate knowledge of if we have to learn it. This was argued throughout philosophical history. Tabula rasa means blank slate and is what being born without prior knowledge was called.

5. A Brief History of Psychology Structuralism First formal school of psychology. Founded in Germany by Wilhelm Wundt. It believed that the mind consists of sensations, feelings, and images which make up experience. Has the only two laws in psychology. Functionalism American answer to structuralism. Founded in part by William James It believed in the function of the mind rather than the elements of experience.

6. A Brief History of Psychology Gestalt psychology Was the belief that humans tend to organize perceptions into wholes and to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns. Off-shoot of structuralism Psychoanalysis The school of psychology that emphasized the importance of the unconscious motives and conflicts as determinates of human behavior. Founded by Sigmund Freud. Popular well into the 20th Century

7. A Brief History of Psychology Behaviorism The school of psychological thought that defined psychology as the study of observable behavior and studied relationships between stimuli and responses. American answer to psychoanalysis Founders included John Watson B.F. Skinner probably made it the most famous Cognitivism Philosophy of psychology that states that how humans think determines behaviors. The theory most modern theorist base research on.

8. More Modern Theories Humanism Asserts self-awareness and strive to be the best we can be. Evolutionary Psychology Based off principles of Darwinian evolution Social-cognitive Theory Holds tenets of behavioral theory and cognitive ideas.

9. Personalities Founders

10. Wilhelm Wundt Founded psychology as a science Developed structuralism Is responsible for the first psychology lab in the world