Module 1: Discovering Psychology

General Psych

• Systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes

– Behaviors = observable actions or responses (running)

– Mental Processes = not observable (thinking)

Definition of Psychology

Goals of Psychology• Describe different ways organisms behave

• Explain the causes of behavior

• Predict how organisms will behave • Control an organism’s behavior

Donna Williams

–Explain: genetic and biological factors (Autism)

–Predict: Autistic children usually have difficulty

learning in school: easily overwhelmed

-Control: rule to only meet one person at a time, to avoid being overwhelmed

-Describe: Tapping & Twirling fingers to escape reality

Modern Approaches to Psychology

• Biological• Cognitive • Behavioral

• Psychoanalytic• Humanistic• Cross-Cultural

Biological Approach

• Focuses on how our genes, hormones, and nervous system interact w/ our environments to influence learning, personality, memory, motivation, emotions, and coping techniques

Donna: Autistic brain uses the same area to process both objects and human faces; may have trouble distinguishing the two from each other.

Cognitive Approach

• Focuses on how we process, store, and use information and how this information influences what we attend to, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel– Donna: “Autism stops me from using my own words when I

want to. Or makes me say silly things I do not want to say.”

Behavioral Approach

• Analyzes how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, depending on whether events in their environments reward or punish these behaviors.

–Donna: no soap suds, no making the fruit in the bowl symmetrical, no lining feet up with furniture, etc…

Psychoanalytic Approach

• Childhood experiences greatly influence development of later personality traits and psychological problems—also unconscious, fears, desires, and motivations.

Donna: alcoholic and abusive mother, absent father which led to “Willie” and “Carol”

Humanistic Approach

• Emphasizes that each individual has great freedom in directing his or her future.

Donna: “I CAN FIGHT AUTISM…I WILL CONTROL IT…IT WILL NOT CONTROL ME”

Cross-Cultural Approach

• Studies the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on psychological and social functioning.

Historical Approaches

to Psychology• Structuralism: elements of the mind• Wilhelm Wundt; introspection

• Functionalism: Functions of the mind• William James; angry wolf

• Behaviorism: Observable Behaviors • John B. Watson; guarantee

• Gestalt Approach: sensations vs. Perception • Max Wertheimer; blinking lights

Women & Minorities in PsychologyRuth Howard

First African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (1934)

Mary CalkinsAlthough she completed all of the requirements for a Ph.D., she was denied a doctorate by the Harvard administration because she was a woman

Margaret Washburn1st woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology (1908)

Today, women earn more Ph.D.s in psychology than men, however, in 1991 there were more male full-time psychologists than women

-Between 1920 and 1966, only 8 Ph.D.s were awarded to Black students, compared to 3,767 doctorates to Whites-From 1892 to 1990, the cumulative membership of the APA was 128,000; 700 African American, 700 Latino, and 70 Native American

Areas of Specialization• Social & Personality

– Social psychology involves the study of social interactions, stereotypes, prejudices, attitudes, conformity, group behaviors, and aggression

– Personality psychology involves the study of personality development, personality change, assessment, and abnormal behaviors

• Developmental– Examines moral, social, emotional, and cognitive development throughout a

person’s life span• Experimental

– Includes areas of sensation, perception, learning, human performance, motivation, and emotion

• Biological– Involves research on the physical & chemical changes that occur during

stress, learning, and emotions

• Cognitive -Involves how we process, store, and retrieve information and how cognitive processes influence our behaviors

• Psychometrics -Focuses on the measurement of people’s abilities, skills, intelligence, personality, and abnormal behaviors

Module 2: Psychology & Science

Research Method

• Tool for answering questions

• 3 Types– Survey– Case study– Experiment