Video 1

The first video delivers a brief introduction to what psychology has been, is and will be.
Questions are asked like: why are we different from others, even though we are so
similar? Are we more shaped by experience or heredity? How can our brain have the
capacity to be creative, loving and caring, but also show mental illness and disorder?
The general definition of Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes. Psychologists try to predict and control behavior and find solutions for

problems that bother individuals or a whole society. There are different aspects of
psychology like the study of mental processes, studies in a social context for example for
educational or conflict and behavioral studies. The believe is that outer, behavioral signs
are a reflection of one's mind and inner reality. The research is not only targeting humans,
but also experiments with animals in order to find out more about the processing of
information.
An experiment is conducted: two high school girls are being spoken to by a new teacher.
The subject of the conversation is actually not very relevant, but the teachers appearance
is. Other then most, he is young and physically. A phone call forces the teacher to step out
of the room and to continue the conversation in a few minutes. As soon as he leaves, the
girls start giggling and laughing and are somewhat exited or even thrilled. The same
experiment is repeated, this time with a attractive female teacher and adolescent boys.
Again, the teacher is wanted on the phone and as she leaves, the boys start laughing and
seemed to be excited. Both groups show basically the same reaction with minor
differences.
Whatever behavior psychologists look at, they try to bring the observed behavior plus
aspects like the individual involved and the situation around him/her into relation. In the
sense of observing behavior, personal factors are genetics, the mental state or potentials,
basically inside factors. The personal factors are also called dipositional factors. The
counterpart, influences from the outside, is called situational factors. Those factors
include sense stimulation or other individuals and so on. A picture shows three cowboys.
All seemed to be in different sizes but as they are separated from their background, they
are actually all the same size. Another example doubles a unimportant word in a sentence.
The brain doesnt react to it right away, only after pointing out the mistake, we become
conscious of it. This is another example of a violation of expectations. A violation of
expectations also occurred in the experiment with the kids and the teacher. Both groups
were probably expecting an old or at least less attractive teacher. Their expectations had
been violated and therefore triggered exitement.
A experiment by Emanuel Donchin is introduced. The experiment is about studies of the
electroencephalograms, short EEG's, the brain waves. The waves are recorded through
electrodes on a persons head. A person is shown a list of mostly male names, but once in
a while, a female's name comes up. The person had to press a different button for male or
female. In the experiment, the P300 wave represents the brains response to an unexpected
but important event. This experiment was used to better relate mind and brain.
The smallest level of psychological research is the micro level(P300 experiment would
count as such). The studies involve the smallest and most detailed behavioral research
possible. Other examples of research on this level are memory in relation to the brain or
hormones in sexual behavior.
The next bigger level is the molecular level. On this level, psychologists focus their
attention on larger, more obvious processes like reaction time or body language. In this
example, body language is compared with the P300 wave from the micro level. They
both share the characteristics of expressing our thinking and feeling. Body language is,
like speech, a form of communication. The primary factors are facial expressions, body
movement and tone of voice. Generally, a positive speech is accompanied by positive
facial expressions, body movement and tone of voice. But this doesn't have to be the
norm. A negative or serious speech can be accompanied by positive or warm body

language. Body language can also help to identify liars. The control over body movement
and facial expression is easier then to control the tone of voice. Therefore, a liar could be
identified by his tone of voice. According to an experiment by Robert Rosenthal, a
positive tone of voice can have a positive influence on somebody else. The experiment
recorded doctors who had alcohol depended patients and found out that the success rate
was higher if the doctor used a less hostile voice in the conversation when he was talking
about his experience with the patients.
The biggest level is the so called molar level. This level involves the research in a larger
perspective, for example the cultural background or the social situation. The studies on
this level are about sexual attraction, violent behavior, worker moral, patient/therapist
interactions and prejudice. Mahzarin Banaji has made studies about prejudice in context
with race and brought the molar level in context with the micro level by showing how
attitudes are active in the brain. She is using an IAT(Implicit Association Test) test to
measure the positive or negative reactions of a person to a series of unknown black and
white faces plus occasionally words. The candidate had to press a button for his either
positive or negative attitude towards the word or picture. Pressing the buttons triggered a
reflex like reaction. After thousands of tests, it is obvious that white Americans show a
preference for other white Americans(so called in-group preference). In other words, in
the IAT test, most white Americans associated white Americans with good and black
Americans with bad. However, the results of African Americans taking the test have two
sides. About half of the African American test takers showed a preference for other
African Americans, the other half is showing the opposite, even though they are African
Americans. They associate white Americans with good and black Americans with bad. If
this experiment is taken to the micro level, the reaction should be visible in the brain.
With the help of functioning magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI), the reactions of the
brain can the observed. The Amygdala, the emotional center of the brain is in focus. The
same test(IAT) is practiced in an fMRI machine. The people who showed a high
preference for white also showed a high activity of the Amygdala. This means that the
majority of white test takers showed a emotional reaction to a black person. If those
results are transferred into the real world, the question arises how or if people with a ingroup preference will react to individuals outside of their group. In a extreme, would a
police officer with strong in-group preference or prejudice be more likely to shoot
somebody out of his preferred group?(This question actually became very real in recent
events).
The names for the different levels reveal that psychology actually can be seen like a
physical science with data based research, principles and practices. The history of modern
psychology began in 1879 with Wilhelm Wundt, a German who founded the first
experimental psychological laboratory. First experiments were done by measuring the
reaction times to attention, sensory stimulation, judgment or word association. The first
American laboratory like Wundt's was founded 1883 by G. Stanley Hall at the Hopkins
University. Hall was the first president of the American psychological association and he
translated Sigmund Freud's General Introduction to Psychoanalysis. In 1890, William
James published Principles of Psychology, considered the most important physiological
text of all times. James was Professor at Harvard and also studied medicine. He brought
consciousness, emotions, the self, personal values and religion into psychology. Those
new ideas were rejected by the first physiologists. Their argument was that psychology

should be more like the physical sciences and therefore focused research on
psychophysics. This includes the measuring of reactions to physical stimuli and also
experiments with animals and the research about the memory.

Define Psychology.
Psychology is the study of mental processes and behavior.

Distinguish between the micro, molecular, and macro levels of analysis.

The micro level is research to the smallest possible extend(brainwaves and so on). The molecular
level is research on a larger level, considering more obvious factors like body language. The
biggest level is the molar level, working in the context of large psychological problems like
society or cultural background.

Describe the major goals of psychology.

The major goal of psychology are to describe behavior, explain why, predict behavior and control
behavior.
There are different kinds of psychologists, but generally they study mind and behavior.
Research and conduct experiments and try to solve a variety of
problems(individual/social etc.) Kinds of questions psychologists could be interested in
are for example: general questions about social or ethical groups and their behavior.
Questions like how the use of smart phones influences verbal communication or how
sports in elementary school affects a childs learning ability.

Summarize the history of the major theoretical approaches to psychology.

The first major theoretical psychologists were Sigmund Freud with his theory about child
development. But without William James, who translated his work, he might have never reached
popularity. James published Principles of psychology which is still called one of the essentials
in theoretical psychology. Long before that, Greek philosophers like Aristotle or Plato had first
theories. After that, Rene Decartes was the next remarkable figure with his theory of the
separation of body and mind.

Describe seven current psychological perspectives.

Biological: Studies of brain and nervous system; hormones and genes.

Cognitive: A individuals perceptions, interpretations, beliefs and memories.
Behavioral: Behavior according to our environment and consequences of our
behavior.
Psychodynamic: processes in the unconscious mind.
Humanistic: our needs to grow and fulfill potential; constant characteristics
of an individual.
Developmental: predicting characteristics ) lifespan
Sociocultural: social and cultural influences
(the book shows only six)

Describe how the concerns of psychologists have evolved with the larger culture.

Since the perspectives of the founders or pioneers of psychology are basically all western (they
originated from Europe and America), other cultural factors were left out completely. Different
ways of perceiving actions and reactions to situations and so one were only to be experimented
with later. Also the mix of cultures and therefore even more possibilities of explaining behavior
and researching heredity is a factor modern psychologists have to consider.