The Nature of Psychology

• Psychology: the scientific study of behavior and the mind

  • Behavior refers to the actions and responses that we can directly observe

  • Mind refers to internal states and processes-such as thoughts and feelings- that can’t be seen directly and that must be inferred from observable, measurable responses.

• Clinical Psychology: the study and treatment of mental disorders

  • Clinical psychologists diagnose and treat people with psychological problems in clinical, hospitals, and private practice

• Cognitive Psychology: specializes in the study of mental processes, especially from a model that views the mind as an information processor

• Biopsychology: focuses on the biological underpinnings of behavior

• Developmental Psychology:  examines the human physical, psychological, and social development across the lifespan

• Experimental Psychology: focuses on basic processes such as learning, sensory systems (e.g., vision, hearing), perception, and motivational states (e.g., sexual motivation, hunger, thirst).

• Industrial-Organizational(I/O) Psychology: examines people’s behavior in the workplace

• Personality Psychology:  focuses on the study of human personality

• Social Psychology: examines people’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior pertaining to the social world: the world of other people

Psychology’s Scientific Approach

• Science is a process that involves systematically gathering and evaluating empirical evidence to answer questions and test beliefs about the natural world.

  • Empirical evidence is evidence gained through experience and observation; it includes evidence obtained from manipulating or “tinkering around” with things and then observing what happens.

• Thinking Critically about Behavior

  • Critical thinking involves actively understanding the world around you rather than merely receiving information.

    • It is essential to reflect on what that info means

• Goals of Psychology

  • Psychology has four central goals: description, explanation, control, and application

Basic and Applied Research

• Basic Research: which reflects the quest for knowledge for its own sake

• Applied Research: which is designed to solve specific, practical problems

Perspectives on Behavior

• Perspectives serve as lenses through which psychologists examine and interpret behavior

• Psychology’s Intellectual Roots

  • Early influences from John Locke and other philosophers from the School of British Empiricism

    • Held that all ideas and knowledge are gained empirically, that is, through the senses.

• Early Schools: Structuralism and Functionalism

  • Structuralism: the analysis of the mind in terms of its basic elements

  • Functionalism: which held that psychology should study the functions of consciousness rather than its elements

• The Psychodynamic Perspective: The Forces Within

  • Psychodynamic Perspective: searches for the causes of behavior within the inner workings of our personality (our unique pattern of traits, emotions, and motives) , emphasizing the role of unconscious processes

  • Psychoanalysis: the analysis of internal and primarily unconscious psychological forces

• The Behavioural Perspective: The Power of the Environment

  • Behavioral Perspective: Focuses on the role of the external environment in governing our actions

  • Behaviorism: a school of thought that emphasizes environmental control of behavior through learning

  • Cognitive Behaviorism: which proposes that learning experiences and the environment influence our expectations and other thoughts and, in turn, that our thoughts influence how we behave

• The Humanistic Perspective: Self-Actualization and Positive Psychology

  • The Humanistic Perspective(Humanism):  emphasized free will, personal growth, and the attempt to find meaning in one’s existence

  • Positive Psychology Movement: which emphasizes the study of human strengths, fulfillment, and optimal living

• The Cognitive Perspective: The Thinking Human

  • Cognitive Perspective: examines the nature of the mind and how mental processes influence behavior

  • Cognitive Neuroscience: uses sophisticated electrical recording and brain-imaging techniques to examine brain activity while people engage in cognitive tasks.

• The Sociocultural Perspective: The Embedded Human

  • Sociocultural Perspective: examines how the social environment and cultural learning influence our behavior, thoughts, and feelings

  • Norms: rules (often unwritten) that specify what behavior is acceptable and excepted for members of the group

  • Cultural Psychology (sometimes called cross-cultural psychology): how culture is transmitted to its members and examines psychological similarities and differences among people from diverse cultures

• The Biological Perspective: The Brain, Genes, and Evolution

  • Biological Perspective: examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behavior

  • Behavioral Neuroscience: which examines brain processes and other physiological functions that underlie our behavior, sensory experiences, emotions, and thoughts

  • Neurotransmitters: chemicals released by nerve cells that allow them to communicate with one another

  • Behavior Genetics: the study of how behavioral tendencies are influenced by genetic factors

  • Evolutionary psychology: seeks to explain how evolution shaped modern human behavior