9/15/14
What Is Psychology?
1
Psychology is
The discipline concerned with behavior and
mental processes and how they are affected
by an organism’s physical state, mental state,
and external environment.
Symbolized with a Ψ
Empirical
Relying on evidence gathered by careful
observation, experimentation, or
measurement
The Study of the Mind
© Masterfile
Psychology is study of
behavior and mental
processes such as
thought and emotion.
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
1
9/15/14
Thinking critically about
Psychology
1
Can you distinguish between psychobabble
and empirical psychology?
Critical thinking
The ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective
judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons rather than
emotion and anecdote
1
Critical thinking guidelines
Ask questions
Define your terms
Examine the evidence
Analyze assumptions and biases
Avoid emotional reasoning
Don’t oversimplify
Consider other interpretations
Tolerate uncertainty
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
Analyze the respective contributions of philosophy and the physical
sciences as the “roots” of modern psychology.
2
9/15/14
The Roots of Psychology
Psychology
Methods borrowed
from the
physical sciences
Questions posed
by philosophy
© Norman Pogson/Photos.com
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
How Did the Science of Psychology Begin?
Compare and contrast the early movements in psychology –
structuralism, Gestalt psychology, functionalism, behaviorism,
psychodynamic theory, and humanism – in terms of leading
figures, core principles, and contributions to modern
psychology.
Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
© INTERFOTO/Alamy
Wilhelm Wundt conducted
the first documented
psychology study.
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
3
9/15/14
© Bettmann/CORBIS
© Cengage Learning 2013
Max Wertheimer and Gestalt Psychology
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
William James and Functionalism
© Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works
Functionalists proposed that the
mind was shaped by natural
selection; they asked What’s this
human tendency “for”? modern
evolutionary psychology is one
descendant of James’ ideas.
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
The Behaviorist Movement
The behaviorists studied
observable animal behavior to try
to understand human learning.
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
4
9/15/14
The Cognitive Revolution
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
Courtesy of Cornell University
Ulric Neisser argued
that internal cognitive
processes could be
studied objectively,
as well as behavior.
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
Sigmund Freud and Psychodynamic Theory
© Paul Van Scott/Final Score Products
Freud emphasized
that many important
mental processes
happen outside
conscious awareness.
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
© Michael Rougier/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Humanistic Psychology: Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
Humanistic approaches proposed
that human nature is inherently
good, and people seek to improve.
L04 L05 L06
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
5
9/15/14
What Are Psychological Perspectives?
Differentiate the seven major perspectives of modern psychology in terms of
typical research questions, research methods, and focal causes of behavior.
Analyze the ways in which the seven major perspectives can be integrated
to address a single psychological process or topic.
Biological Psychology
Developmental
Biological
© Stockbyte/Photos.com© photomak/Shutterstock
© Elena Snegireva/Photos.com
Clinical
Evolutionary
© Jacob Wackerhausen/Photos.com
© Dmitriy Shironosov/Photos.com
© Norman Pogson/Photos.com
© Elena Shchipkova/Photos.com
Social
Cognitive
Personality
© Norman Pogson/Photos.com
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
1
Clinical psychologists are
not…
Psychotherapists
Anyone who does any type of psychotherapy
Psychoanalysts
Individuals who receive training in psychoanalysis
Psychiatrists
Medical doctors who diagnose and treat mental disorders
6
9/15/14
© Cengage Learning 2013
© Jupiterimages/Photos.com
al
ci y
So log
ho
yc
ps
P
di ers
ffe on
re al
nc ity
es
C
ps lini
yc ca
ho l
lo
gy
al
ic y
og g
ol olo
Bi ch
y
ps
e
tiv
ni gy
og lo
C cho
y
ps
D
ps eve
yc lo
ho pm
lo e
gy nt
al
Integrating the Perspectives
Personality:
Biological:
Evolutionary:
Cognitive:
Social:
Developmental:
Clinical:
We
Aggressive
We
are
Aggression
Aggressive
We
learn
more
Aggressive
aggress
individuals
to
aggressive
be
ispeople
associated
more
against
behavior
tend
aggressive
tend
when
with
people
when
we
decreases
to
have
are
low
we
anonymous
who
low
very
levels
see
sharply
challenge
impulse
high
aggression
of serotonin.
self-esteem.
from
and
control.
our
the
unaccountable.
rewarded.
status.
mid-20s on.
Evolutionary psychology
L01 L02 L03 L04 L05 L06
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
What Does it Mean to Be a Psychologist?
Explain why psychology’s role as a “hub science”
allows psychologists to pursue a wide range of
career paths with respect to professional
specialties and research areas.
“The Backbone of Science,” by Kevin W. Boyack et al., 2005, Scientometrics, 64(3).
With kind permission from Springer Science+Business Media.
Psychology as a Hub Science
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
7
9/15/14
“The Backbone of Science,” by Kevin W. Boyack et al., 2005, Scientometrics, 64(3).
With kind permission from Springer Science+Business Media.
Psychology Undergrad’s Take Many Different Career Paths
What Is Psychology?
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
What Are
Psychological Perspectives?
What Does It Mean
to Be a Psychologist?
8