Overview of Psychology

• Framework in Psychology• Psychological Perspectives

“As long as our brain is a mystery, the universe – a reflection of the

structure of the brain – will also be a mystery.”

- Santiago Ramon y Cajal

“There is no scientific study more vital to man than the study of his

own brain. Our entire view of the universe depends on it.”

- Francis H.C. Crick

Psychology's Big DebatePsychology's Big Debate

Nature vs. Nurture

Genetics Genetics SocietySociety

ChemistryChemistry ObservationObservation

BiologyBiology ParentingParenting

Enduring Issues in Psychology• Person — Situation• Heredity —Environment• Stability — Change• Diversity• Mind — Body

Scientific Revolutions

• Copernican“Earth is not the center of the cosmos; it is just a spec of dust.”

• Darwinian“Far from being the pinnacle of creation we are actually a species of ape and derive from the same family as everything else.”

• Freudian“Even though we claim to be in complete control of ourselves, our behavior is actually governed by a cauldron of chemicals and

psychological processes that we are completely unaware of.”

• DNA“Life is basically chemicals”

Scientific Revolutions

• Potential (greatest revolution)– Understanding the very brain itself. This will change our view of who we are and how

we understand the cosmos.

– This will bridge science and all other fields-theology, art, music, sociology, economics, government…etc.

– Neuroecology or neurotheology for example.

What is Psychology?

• Discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external environment.

• Psychology: (Greek)

– Psyche (mind/soul)– Logia (study)

Areas by Profession

Clinical

Counseling

Education/SchoolIndustrial/OrganizationalOther

Hermann Ebbinghaus

“Psychology has a long past, but only a short history.”– Though psychology is relatively new as a formal academic

discipline, scholars have pondered the questions that psychologists ask for thousands of years.

Beginnings

• Psychology gets its roots from physiology and philosophy. – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Hippocrates among others.

• Pondered Questions:

What is free will?

How does the mind work?

What is the relationship of people to their society?

Beginnings Continued

• John Lock: (18th Century) Knowledge depends upon the experience of the sense organs. – Tabula Rasa

Structuralism and Functionalism • Two Great Schools Started by Two Great Minds:

Versus

Structuralism: What is Consciousness?

Principles• Interprets sensations, images,

and feelings.• Introspection.• Basic structures of mental life:

– Perception, Sensation, Affection

Success:• Created a model for studying

mental processes scientifically.

Wilhem Wundt • “Father of Psychology”• Established the first

psychology lab in Germany in 1879. (University of Leipzig)

Problem:• Can not be used to study

children, animals, and disorders.

Functionalism: What is consciousness used for?

Principle • Influenced by Charles Darwin.• How the mind functions aide in

adaptation.• Expanded psychology to

include emotions and observable behavior.

• Initiated the psychological testing movement.

William James/John Dewey

G. Stanley Hall: (1883)• First psychology lab in U.S.• Johns Hopkins University

Europe vs. United States

Early Dominant Schools after the death of

Structuralism and Functionalism:

Europe: Gestalt Theory (Max Wertheimer)

Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud)

“We must succumb to the will of an all powerful unconscious”

United States: Behaviorism (John B. Watson)

“Humans are pawns of the environment”

Three Major Forces in Psychology

Psychoanalysis: (First Force)

Behaviorism: (Second Force)

Humanism: (Third Force)

• (1950’s) Many psychologists believed that these more radical approaches were dehumanizing and thus created a more human condition oriented school. – “Humans are inherently good”

Seven Powerful Perspectives

Five Main Modern Additions Prognosis

Biological Sociocultural Biopsychosocial

Behavioral Evolutionary

Cognitive

Humanistic

Psychodynamic

Biological PerspectiveMethods• Genetics• Study biological processes in

the brain.• Localizing functions in specific

areas in the brain.

Other Names:• Neuropsychological• Physiological • Neurological

Theory• How internal events interact

with external events to produce perceptions, memories, and emotions.

Major Theorists:• Johannes Muller• Karl Lashley• David Hubel

Behavioral PerspectiveMethods• Controlled laboratory settings

ensuring all variables are accounted for.

• Conditioning• Primarily uses an animal

model to prove theories.• Token Society

Other Names:

• Learning Perspective• Black-Box Psychology

TheoryHow organisms learn newbehaviors or modify existingones, depending on whetherevents in their environmentsreward or punish thesebehaviors.

Major Theorists:• Ivan Pavlov• B.F. Skinner• Albert Bandura

Humanistic PerspectiveMethods • Focuses on such issues as the

self and self-actualization.• Evaluates topics such as-

health, hope, love, creativity, nature, being, becoming, individuality, and meaning.

• Montessori Schools.

Practical Applications:• Army “Be all you can be”• Navy “Accelerate your live”

TheoryHumans are naturally good

and naturally strive to be the

best.

Major Theorists:• Carl Rogers• Abraham Maslow• Rollo May

Cognitive PerspectiveMethods• Memory, language, problem

solving, volition, sensation, and perception.

Interesting Note:• Primarily created as an attack

against learning theory because of its inability to prove language acquisition at a logical and acceptable level.

TheoryExamines how we process, store,

and use information and how this

information influences what we

attend to, perceive, learn,

remember, believe, and feel.

Major Theorists:• Jean Piaget• Noam Chomsky

Psychodynamic PerspectiveMethods• Dream analysis• Psychoanalysis• Analyze past experiences

Other Names:• Psychosexual• Psychoanalytical (Practical)• Psychosocial (Ericksonian)

TheoryEvaluates unconscious dynamics

and internal conflicts regulate

human behavior. Childhood

experiences greatly influence

human development.

Major Theorists:• Sigmund Freud• Erick Erickson• Carl Jung

Evolutionary PerspectiveMethods• Naturalistic observation• Cameras and recorders• Comparison of behaviors

across species

TheoryChaotic environment desires tools

and behaviors geared towards a

dynamic accommodation process.

Major Theorists:• Konrad Lorenz • Karl von Frisch• Nikolas (Niko) Tinbergen• Charles Darwin

Sociocultural PerspectiveMethods• Analyze social settings and

look for similarities in human behavior across cultures.

TheoryEvaluates social forces and

how the social variables

change behavior.

Major Theorists:• Phillip Zimbardo• Stanley Milgram