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This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
• Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;
• Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images;
• Any rental, lease, or lending of the program. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006
What Is Psychology?
The science of behavior and mental
processes
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How Accurate Is the Image of Psychology?• Many psychologists do not conduct
psychotherapy.• Many stereotypes about psychologists
come from popular media with Freud being the most famous name
• Many psychologists use humans and animals as research participants, and study more than just learning and memory
• Psychology is not just common sense
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Defining Psychology• The science of human behavior and
mental processes
– Behavior: overt actions and reactions
– Mental Processes: thoughts, ideas, reasoning processes
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How did Psychology Begin?
A. The Early Traditions1. Structuralism
• Wilhelm Wundt (1832 – 1920)
• The study of the structure (the “what”) of immediate conscious experience
• Introspection
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2. Functionalism– William James (1842 – 1910)– Studied how and why the mind functions– Also interested in how people adapt to
the environment– Broadened scope of psychology– However, focus remained on
consciousness
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3. Gestalt Psychology– Studied a person’s total experience, not
just the parts of mind or behavior– Suggested conscious experience is
more than the sum of its parts
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Gestalt Psychology
• People mold sensory elements into patterns through which they interpret the world
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4. Freud and Psychoanalysis
• Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)
• Psychoanalytic perspective proposed:– Unconscious mental processes direct
and control behavior– Childhood experiences influence adult
behavior– Sexual energy (libido) fuels behavior
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5. The Behaviorist Revolution
– Behaviorism was founded by John Watson (1878 – 1958)
– Behaviorists attempted to make psychology a more rigorous science
– They focused on measuring only what is observable - behavior
– B. F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) is the most widely noted behaviorist
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Challenges to Behaviorism1. Humanistic Psychology
• Roots in the Gestalt movement
• Abraham Maslow (1908 – 1970)
• Carl Rogers
• Greater influence on therapy than on research
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Challenges to Behaviorism
2. Cognitive Psychology
– Focuses on mental processes
• Behavior reflects underlying cognitive processes
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What Trends Currently Shape Psychology?
The Changing Face of Psychology
1. Women in Psychology
• Between 1920 and 1975– Women received 25% of Ph.D.’s
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Women in Psychology• Today, women earn:
– 73% of bachelor’s degrees in psychology
– Nearly 70% of new doctorates
• Still underrepresented in experimental psychology and academia
• Research by and about women is more prominent today than in the past
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The Changing Face of Psychology
2. Ethnic Diversity in Psychology
1) Situation changing more slowly than it is for women2) Francis C. Sumner, known as the father of African American Psychology, chaired the psychology
department at Howard University in the 1920’s
3) Kenneth Clark, a student of Sumner, studied the harmful effects of school
segregation
4) Mamie Phipps Clark: studied the relationship between self-esteem and racial
identification
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Ethnic Diversity in Psychology• Diversity strengthens psychology
– Helping professions are more effective for more people
– Diversity brings a variety of research interests to the field
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Major Perspectives in Psychology
All psychologists see psychology as a science
There are still different “points of view,” called perspectives
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Major Perspectives in Psychology
1. The Psychoanalytic Perspective• Sigmund Freud• Emotional problems are due to anxiety
from unresolved, unconscious conflicts• Psychoanalysis attempts to resolve these
conflicts• Emphasis on the unconscious and early
childhood experiences
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Major Perspectives in Psychology
2. The Behaviorist Perspective• Based on behaviorism• Still influential• Still focuses on observable behavior
3. The Humanistic Perspective• Stresses free choice and a positive view of
human nature• Most influential in the 1960s• Recent renewal in interest
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Major Perspectives in Psychology
4. The Cognitive Perspective– Focuses on such processes as perception,
memory, and thinking
5. The Biopsychology Perspective– Also called the neuroscience perspective– Studies the interaction of behavior and
biology– Currently very influential
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Major Perspectives in Psychology
6. The Social and Cultural Perspective– Recognizes that behavior occurs in a
social and cultural context
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What Trends Currently ShapePsychology?
Current Trends
1. Positive Psychology– Emphasizes positive human values,
strengths, and virtues
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Current Trends2. Industrial / Organizational (I/O) Psychology
– Studies behavior in the work environment– Dramatic growth since the 1990s– These psychologists tend to work for
companies in human resources management and personnel
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Current Trends3. Evolutionary Psychology
– Based on the work of Charles Darwin– Argues that humans have evolved both
physically and psychologically– Assumes that adaptive behaviors will be
passed on to future generations
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Who Are Psychologists?• Professionals who:
– Study behavior and mental processes– Use behavioral principles in scientific
research or applied settings– Not all psychologists are practitioners who
treat mental health problems
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– Clinical Psychologists
• Diagnose and treat emotional and behavioral problems
• Have a Ph.D. or Psy.D.
• Usually work in hospitals, clinics, private practice
– Counseling Psychologists• Used to focus more on treating “normal”
problems
• Now, very similar to clinical psychologists
Types of Mental Health Practitioners
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Types of Mental Health Practitioners
• Psychiatrists are medical doctors, not psychologists
– Can prescribe medications and admit patients to the hospital
– Most psychoanalysts (including Freud) are psychiatrists, not psychologists
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– Psychologists don’t just help people with problems
– Provide career counseling and assist with community projects• School and community psychologists
– Provide services to well-adjusted people• Improving performance of professional
athletes, musicians
– Conduct research• Experimental psychologists
WHAT PSYCHOLOGISTS DO
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C. Making Psychology A Career
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