• How many psychologists does it take to change a light bulb?

– Just one – but the bulb must be ready to change.

WELCOME TOPSY 21

Welcome to psychology…..

• Name a famous psychologist.

• What does a psychologist do?

• The “pop” culture view of the psychologist...

The Cerebral Cortex

What are we in store for this semester?????

• See syllabus...

A. Roots of psychology.

• A very brief “history”.• 1. Philosophy

– Socrates, Aristotle• Religion also

– Descartes, Locke

• 2. Science– Physiology, Biology, Medicine

• Psychology born: 1879– Wilhelm Wundt (philos. and physiologist)

B. Definition of psychology.

• Science of behavior and mental processes.– Behavior?– Mental processes?– Science?

C. Sub-fields of psychology.

• 1. Neuroscience:Study the links between brain and behavior. (Biological Psych – link between biology and behavior)

• 2. Developmental Psychology: Study the physical, social, and psychological changes and development from the womb to late adulthood.

C. Sub-fields of psychology.

• 3. Cognitive Psychology: Study mental processes; how we sense and perceive information.

• 4. Social Psychology: Study how the situation influences behavior; how people think about, influence, and relate to one another.

C. Sub-fields of psychology.

• 5. Personality Psychology: Studies individual differences and how those characteristics originated or developed.

• 6. Clinical/Counseling Psychology: Study, assess, and help troubled people.

• Many, many other sub-fields.

• See the breadth and diversity of psychology.

• No area or sub-field is “correct”• They are complimentary.

• But...

D. Is Psychology Simply Common Sense?

• Is most of what psychologists study information we could figure out on our own?

• Cultural “truisms” and “common sense” aren’t always accurate.

• Why we need to test our ideas.

•QUICK QUIZ!!!

FACT OR FICTION? TRUE OF FALSE?

• 1. The human brain produces its own natural opiates that ease pain and elevate mood.

• 2. Newborns can only see light and dark shades (not colors).• 3. Advertisers are able to shape our buying habits through

subliminal messages.• 4. Psychological research indicates that some people do

have ESP.• 5. The greater the reward promised for performing an

activity, the more one will come to enjoy that activity.

• OVERCONFIDENCE EFFECT:• The tendency to be more confident than correct.• Overestimate the accuracy of one’s beliefs.

• 6. The amount of information that can be stored in human memory is limited.

• 7. Most people would refuse to obey an authority who told them to hurt an innocent person.

• 8. Most of us suffer unrealistically low self-esteem.

• 9. The most common form of schizophrenia is the split personality, in which a person possesses two or more separate identities.

• 10. Without professional help, people who suffer psychological disorders inevitably get worse.

D. Is psychology simply common sense?

• Overconfidence Effect: The tendency to be more confident than correct.

• Hindsight bias:“I knew it all along phenomenon”.The tendency to exaggerate one’s ability to predict an outcome after that outcome is known.

• Why we need to test our ideas.• Why we need to state our hunches,

ideas, etc. (before we test them.)• If we don’t – relying on intuition

only.• What’s wrong with intuition and

basing knowledge of psych on personal observation?