module 1: discovering psychology
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Module 1: Discovering Psychology
General Psych
• Systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes
– Behaviors = observable actions or responses (running)
– Mental Processes = not observable (thinking)
Definition of Psychology
Goals of Psychology• Describe different ways organisms behave
• Explain the causes of behavior
• Predict how organisms will behave • Control an organism’s behavior
Donna Williams
–Explain: genetic and biological factors (Autism)
–Predict: Autistic children usually have difficulty
learning in school: easily overwhelmed
-Control: rule to only meet one person at a time, to avoid being overwhelmed
-Describe: Tapping & Twirling fingers to escape reality
Modern Approaches to Psychology
• Biological• Cognitive • Behavioral
• Psychoanalytic• Humanistic• Cross-Cultural
Biological Approach
• Focuses on how our genes, hormones, and nervous system interact w/ our environments to influence learning, personality, memory, motivation, emotions, and coping techniques
Donna: Autistic brain uses the same area to process both objects and human faces; may have trouble distinguishing the two from each other.
Cognitive Approach
• Focuses on how we process, store, and use information and how this information influences what we attend to, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel– Donna: “Autism stops me from using my own words when I
want to. Or makes me say silly things I do not want to say.”
Behavioral Approach
• Analyzes how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, depending on whether events in their environments reward or punish these behaviors.
–Donna: no soap suds, no making the fruit in the bowl symmetrical, no lining feet up with furniture, etc…
Psychoanalytic Approach
• Childhood experiences greatly influence development of later personality traits and psychological problems—also unconscious, fears, desires, and motivations.
Donna: alcoholic and abusive mother, absent father which led to “Willie” and “Carol”
Humanistic Approach
• Emphasizes that each individual has great freedom in directing his or her future.
Donna: “I CAN FIGHT AUTISM…I WILL CONTROL IT…IT WILL NOT CONTROL ME”
Cross-Cultural Approach
• Studies the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on psychological and social functioning.
Historical Approaches
to Psychology• Structuralism: elements of the mind• Wilhelm Wundt; introspection
• Functionalism: Functions of the mind• William James; angry wolf
• Behaviorism: Observable Behaviors • John B. Watson; guarantee
• Gestalt Approach: sensations vs. Perception • Max Wertheimer; blinking lights
Women & Minorities in PsychologyRuth Howard
First African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (1934)
Mary CalkinsAlthough she completed all of the requirements for a Ph.D., she was denied a doctorate by the Harvard administration because she was a woman
Margaret Washburn1st woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology (1908)
Today, women earn more Ph.D.s in psychology than men, however, in 1991 there were more male full-time psychologists than women
-Between 1920 and 1966, only 8 Ph.D.s were awarded to Black students, compared to 3,767 doctorates to Whites-From 1892 to 1990, the cumulative membership of the APA was 128,000; 700 African American, 700 Latino, and 70 Native American
Areas of Specialization• Social & Personality
– Social psychology involves the study of social interactions, stereotypes, prejudices, attitudes, conformity, group behaviors, and aggression
– Personality psychology involves the study of personality development, personality change, assessment, and abnormal behaviors
• Developmental– Examines moral, social, emotional, and cognitive development throughout a
person’s life span• Experimental
– Includes areas of sensation, perception, learning, human performance, motivation, and emotion
• Biological– Involves research on the physical & chemical changes that occur during
stress, learning, and emotions
• Cognitive -Involves how we process, store, and retrieve information and how cognitive processes influence our behaviors
• Psychometrics -Focuses on the measurement of people’s abilities, skills, intelligence, personality, and abnormal behaviors
Module 2: Psychology & Science
Research Method
• Tool for answering questions
• 3 Types– Survey– Case study– Experiment
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