U1C1 What is Psychology?

1. U1C1 What is Psychology? Psychology

2. Main Idea Originating in ancient times, psychology is a science consisting of many different fields that study human behavior and mental processes

3. Essential Question • What is psychology? • What do psychologists do? • How have psychological theories and practices changed over time? • What are some contemporary perspectives on psychology?

4. 1.1 Why Study Psychology? • Psychology is a science. Like other scientists, psychologists seek to explain and control behavior and mental processes and test their ideas through research methods • Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes • behavior is any action that people can observe or measure • cognitive activities are mental processes, including dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories • psychologists study people’s emotions, or feelings; emotions can affect both behavior and mental processes, for example, you might experience anxiety when you think about presenting a report in front of your class, your heart activity is an example behavior, but your thoughts about presenting the report are private mental processes

5. Goals of Psychology • Like scientists, who seek to observe, describe, explain, predict and control the events they study, psychologists observe and describe behavior and mental processes to better understand them • Goals of Psychology: behavior, mental processes, research • behavior example: Alex Rodriquez performs poorly during baseball playoff games, sometimes loses his cool; sports psychologists explain the behavior in terms of feelings of anxiety and the distractions that hinder the athletes’ performance, in other words, too much anxiety is harmful • mental processes example: controlling behavior by using mental processes such as positive visualization (imagining themselves in a critical game situation • research example: steps including conducting surveys and experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing logical conclusions

6. Psychology as a Science theory: a statement that attempts to explain why things are the way they are and why they happen the way they do; psychological theories discuss principles that govern behavior and mental processes; for example a theory about fatigue will help predict when people will or will not sleep principle: a basic truth or law, such as the assumption that you will get better grades if you study more

7. 1.2 What Psychologists Do • Psychologists work in many different fields, but they all focus on studying and explaining behavior and mental processes

10. 1.3 A History of Psychology

13. 1.4 Contemporary Perspectives

16. Psychology“Module 1: History and Perspectives in Psychological Science”

17. Definition of Psychology • Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes • scientific study: scientific research methods are an essential key to unlocking psychology’s secrets • behavior: any directly observable thing you do • mental processes: things that cannot be observed directly-thoughts, feelings and dreams

18. Modern Psychology’s Roots • Wilhelm Wundt (VOONT): 1879-studied human consciousness-birth year of psychology • Edward B. Titchener: Wundt’s student, introduced structuralism, the first major school of thought in psychology • Gestalt (gih-SHTALT, means “configuration” in German) psychology: the whole is different than the sum of its parts • William James: Harvard professor, first American psychologist, first textbook in 1890, functions of consciousness-functionalism

19. Psychology in the Twentieth Century • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): believer of psychodynamic theory-our unconscious thoughts, inner conflicts, and childhood experiences significantly affect our personality and behaviors • “Freudian slip”: a misstatement about what you’d like to say-“Do you want to study for tomorrow’s kizz?” • “anal retentive”: excessively neat, clean, and compulsive

20. 20th Century Continued • Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, B.F. Skinner: behaviorism • Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers: humanistic psychology • Jean Piaget (pee-ah-ZHAY): child development • Kenneth Clark, Mamie Phipps Clark: educational psychologists (Brown v. Board of Education)

21. 6 Psychological Perspectives • Cognitive: how we process information • Biological: how our biological structures underlie a given behavior, thought, or emotion • Social-Cultural: how thinking and behavior change depending on the situation • Behavioral: how we learn through rewards, punishments, and observation • Humanistic: how healthy people strive to reach their full potential • Psychodynamic: how we are affected by unconscious drives and conflicts

22. Psychology in the 21st Century • developing areas are: • behavior genetics: how genes and environment influence our individual differences • evolutionary psychology: study of behaviors that helped our ancestors survive • positive psychology: scientific focus on wellness and on healthy people reaching their full potential