Psy 101 - A short history of Psychology pg.

Psychology : The science of human behavior and mental processes Behavior is anything an organism does cry, yell run, talk, write, speak, etc Mental processes are internal subjective experiences we infer from behavior sensations, perception, dreams, thoughts, beliefs and feeling.

Short History of Psychology Year 1879 Description Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany. His first experiment focused on pressing a key as soon as respondent hear the sound of a ball hitting a platform. Thus began what many consider psychologys first experiment. Edward Titchener introduced Structuralism. He used introspection to search for the mind s structural elements in terms of immediate sensations, images and feelings. William James introduced Functionalism which focuses on the functions of human thoughts and feelings. Sigmund Freud developed the Psychodynamic perspective. He emphasized that childhood experiences and our unconscious thought processes affect our behavior. Until the 1920s psychology was defined as the science of mental life. Gestalt Psychology was founded by Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka. It focused on the totality or wholeness of the experience. The whole is not equal to the sum of its parts. John Broadus Watson published Behaviorism which marked the advent of the behaviorist perspective. He re-defined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior. Behaviorism flourished with B.F Skinner using the science of reinforcement and studied how consequences shape behavior. Carl Rogers published the Client Centered Therapy, helping to establish the humanistic psychology. This perspective emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individuals potential for personal growth. Abraham Maslow published Motivation and Personality, developing the concept of SelfActualization Increasing emphasis on Cognitive perspective. It focuses on the mental processes how people think, speak, think and solve problems, Greater emphasis on multi-culturalism and diversity in the study of psychology. New subfields developed such as clinical neuropsychology and evolutionary psychology.

1892 1890s 1900

1920

1924

1951

1954 1960s 1990s 2000

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Major Theoretical Perspectives in Psychology 1. Neuroscience Focused on how the body and brain enables emotions, memories and sensory experiences. 2. Evolutionary Focused on how the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes. 3. Behavior genetics Focused on how much our genes and our environment influence our individual differences. 4. Psychodynamic Focused on how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts 5. Behavioral Focused on how we learn observable responses. 6. Humanistic - Focused on fundamentally and uniquely human issues, such as individual free will, personal growth, self-actualization, self-identity, death, aloneness, freedom, and meaning. 7. Cognitive Focused on how we encode, process, store and retrieve information 8. Socio-cultural Focused on how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

Three Main levels of Analysis in Psychology Biopsychosocial Approach An integrated viewpoint which incorporates various levels of analysis from the biological, psychological and social-cultural factors to offer a complete picture of any given behavior or mental process.

Biological Influences (the Brain) - Genetics - Brain mechanisms - Hormonal influences

Psychological Influences (the Person) -cognitive processes - learned fears - emotions

Behavior or mental process

Socio-cultural influences (the Group) Cultural, societal & family expectations Peers and group influences Compelling models - media

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Sub-fields of Psychology Subfield Biopsychology Description Biopsychology examines how biological structures and functions of the body affect behavior. Deals with the study, diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders. Deals primarily on educational, social and career adjustment problems. Examines how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death. Concerned with teaching and learning processes such as relationship between intelligence and school performance and the development of better teaching techniques. Considers the relationship between people and their physical environment, including how physical environment affects our emotions and the amount of stress we experience in a particular setting. Focuses on legal issues, such as deciding on criteria for determining whether a defendant was legally sane at the time a crime was committed. Explores the relationship between psychological factors and physical ailments or disease. Deals with the psychology of the workplace. Focuses on the consistency of peoples behavior over time and the traits that differentiate one person from another. Devoted to counseling children in elementary and secondary schools who have academic or emotional problems. The study of how peoples thoughts, feelings and actions are affected by others. Applies psychology to athletic activity and exercise.

Clinical Psychology

Counseling Psychology

Developmental Psychology

Educational Psychology

Environmental Psychology

Forensic Psychology

Health Psychology

Industrial Psychology Personality Psychology

School Psychology

Social Psychology

Sports Psychology

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Methods of Research in Psychology A. Descriptive. The process of observing and describing behavior using different methods of research. These include: 1. Case Study Method an observation technique in which a person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing and understanding general principles about behavior. 2. Survey Method a technique for knowing self reported attitudes, motivations or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative or random samples in a given population.

3. Naturalistic Observation involves watching and recording the behavior of organisms in their natural environment. Method of Data Analysis : Descriptive studies involve the use of frequency distribution, measures of central tendencies and percentages to statistically analyze a set of data. B. Correlation. A study that determines the relationship between two variables to understand how closely two things vary together and how well either one predicts the other. Method of Data Analysis: Correlational studies involve the use of scatter-plot and the correlation coefficient, a statistical measure of the extent of the relationship between variables. C. Experimentation. To determine the cause and effect between and among variables, psychologists conduct experiments. Experiments enable the researcher to focus on the possible effects of one or more factors by: 1) manipulating the independent variable and 2) holding other controlling factors constant.

Method of Data Analysis: Statistical forms of analysis used are the t-test, ANOVA and the F ratio. Random Sampling Giving equal chance for all participants to be included as a sample in a study. This eliminates biases in and existing differences between those assigned to different groups. Independent Variable (I.V.) The experimental factor that is manipulated. IVs could be either organismic or environmental. Dependent Variable (D.V.) The measure of the effect of the manipulation of the IV. In other words, DV is the variable that may change in response to manipulation of the IV. Extraneous Variable (E.V.) A variable that the investigator is unable to control in the course of the experiment. This variable may eventually affect the measure of the dependent variable. Experiment. A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (IV) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (DV). In an experiment, the researcher use random assignment of participants and controls other relevant factors that may affect the manipulation of the IV.