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Psy101,Section004H

Coursewebpage: msu.edu/~ema/psy101Instructor: Dr.ErikAltmann

Whatispsychology?

•  Studyofbehaviorandmentalprocesses– Behaviorisdirectlyobservable– Mentalprocessesarenotdirectlyobservable•  Needbehaviortomakeinferencesaboutthem•  Knowingmentalprocesses,wecanpredictbehavior

•  Interpretingbehavioraccuratelyisdifficult–  It’sambiguous:Manypossibleinterpretations–  It’ssituational:Dependsoncontext–  It’svariable:Differsacrosspeopleandtime

Weseewhatwewanttosee

Whatisthis? Whatispsychology?

•  Studyofbehaviorandmentalprocesses– Behaviorisdirectlyobservable– Mentalprocessesarenotdirectlyobservable•  Needbehaviortomakeinferencesaboutthem•  Knowingmentalprocesses,wecanpredictbehavior

•  Interpretingbehavioraccuratelyisdifficult–  It’sambiguous:Manypossibleinterpretations–  It’ssituational:Dependsoncontext–  It’svariable:Differsacrosspeopleandtime

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Psychologicalresearch

•  Involvesaresearchquestionandaresearchdesign–  Justlikeanyotherresearch– Butthequestionsanddesignsareverydiverse•  Behaviorandmentalprocessesareverydiverse

•  Toillustrate,atouroftheMSUPsychdepartment...

MSUPsychologyprograms

•  BehavioralNeuroscience•  Clinical*•  Cognition&CognitiveNeuroscience*•  Ecological-Community•  Organizational•  Social/Personality**-Foundinmostpsychdepartments

BehavioralNeuroscience

•  Focusesonmodelsystems•  LilyYan– Studiescircadianrhythms•  Dailysleep/wake/alertnesscycle

– Modelsystemistherat

Clinical

•  Focusesonpsychopathology•  BrookeIngersoll– Whataredevelopmentalsignsofautism?Whatareusefulinterventions?

•  KellyKlump– Whatfactorsaffecteatingdisorders(e.g.,.genetic,environmental)?Howdotheyinteract?

Cognition&CognitiveNeuroscience

•  Focusesonmechanismsofthought•  ErikAltmann– Howdomemoryandperceptualprocessesleadtohumanerror?

•  ZachHambrick– Whatfactors(e.g.,training,talent)causeindividualdifferencesinperformance?

Ecological-Community

•  Focusesonneedsofreal-worldcommunities

•  RebeccaCampbell– Howdosocietalsystems(legal,medical,mental-health)respondtoneedsofrapesurvivors?

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Organizational

•  Focusesonworkperformanceinorganizations

•  SteveKozlowski– Howdoorganizationstrainemployeeseffectively?Howdoteamsadapttolong-durationmissions?

Social/Personality

•  Social:Focusesontheindividualinasocialcontext

•  Personality:Focusesonstablecharacteristicsoftheindividual

•  JoeCesario– Whatfactors(race,class,neighborhood)affectanobserver’sassessmentofdanger?

Otherbranchesofpsychology

•  School,counseling,educationalpsychology– AtMSU,housedinCollegeofEducation

•  Humanfactors(engineering)psychology,human-computerinteraction

•  Neuropsychology•  Forensicpsychology•  Behavioraleconomics,neuromarketing•  …

Textbook

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