lesson 1. many things that happen to us leave no record in memory true or false? true: most of...
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You are born with all the brain cells you will ever have True or False? False: Recent research shows that some parts of the brain continue producing new cells throughout lifeTRANSCRIPT
Introduction and History of Psychology
Lesson 1
Many things that happen to us leave no record in memory
True or False?
True: Most of the information around us never reaches memory, and what does reach memory often gets distorted
You are born with all the brain cells you will ever have
True or False?
False: Recent research shows that some parts of the brain continue producing new cells throughout life
Intelligence is a purely genetic trait that does not change throughout a person’s life
True or False?
False: Intelligence is the result of both heredity and environment, and may change throughout your life
The most common form of mental disorder occurs in 30% of the population
True or False?
True: Depression, the single most common disorder, may affect up to a third of the population at some point in their lives
Repeated exposure to the same face leads us to like it less
False: Familiar people (and their faces) are generally liked more than less familiar people
True or False?
What Is Psychology – and What Is It Not?
Psychology is a broad field, with many specialties, but
fundamentally, psychology is the science of the brain and
mental processes
What Is Psychology – and What Is It Not?
Psychology – The scientific study of the brain and mental processes
Psychology is not Mere speculation about human nature A body of folk wisdom about people
that “everybody knows” to be true
Pseudopsychology –Erroneous assertions of practices set forth as being scientific psychology
What Is Psychology – and What Is It Not?
Psychology disputes unfounded claims from pseudopsychology
What DoPsychologists Do?
Psychology is a broad field with many specialties, grouped
in three major categories: experimental psychology,
teaching of psychology and applied psychology
What DoPsychologists Do?
Experimental psychologists• Conduct most research across
psychological spectrum• May work in private industry or for the
government • Often teach at college or university
I/O Sports
School
Counseling
Forensic
Psychobiology
Use knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems
Clinical
What DoPsychologists Do?
Applied psychologists
What Are Psychology’s Historical Roots?
Modern psychology developed from several
conflicting traditions, including structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt
psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis
Devoted to uncovering basic structures that make
up mind and thought
History
Structuralism
Functionalism
Psychoanalysis
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Structuralism
German Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)Generally acknowledged as
establishing modern psychology as a separate field of study
Structuralist: Focused on the basic elements of human mental experience
Very important was his systematic approach to draw others to psychology
Believed mental processes could best be understood in
terms of their adaptive purpose and function
Tradition
Structuralism
Functionalism
Psychoanalysis
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Functionalism
American William James (1842-1910) ‘Father of Psychology’ in the USAFunctionalist: focused on the actions
of the conscious mind and goal of behaviours
Functionalists study how animals and people adapt to their environments
Interested in how we construct “perceptual
wholes”
Tradition
Structuralism
Functionalism
Psychoanalysis
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Gestalt Psychology
A group of German psychologists who disagreed with the structuralism and functionalism
Argued that perception looks at the whole not a sum of its parts; “whole pattern” is Gestalt in German
Studied how sensation is assembled into perceptual experiences
A forerunner to other, later, cognitive approaches
Argued psychology should deal solely with observable
events
Tradition
Structuralism
Functionalism
Psychoanalysis
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Behavioralism
Russian Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) started the movement
Famous for Pavlov’s Dog’s experiment -- conditioning
Led to research exploring the development of behaviour
Behaviourists: believe psychology should concern itself only with observable facts of behaviour
Asserted mental disorders arise from conflicts in the
unconscious mind
Tradition
Structuralism
Functionalism
Psychoanalysis
Gestalt psychology
Behaviorism
Psychoanalysis
Austrian Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)More interested in the unconscious
mind unlike other psychologists of the time
Theorized to use free-association to reveal unconscious processes
Psychoanalyst: studies how unconscious motives and conflicts determine human behaviour
His views remain a tool in many applications today
END