The Basics of Psychology

Samantha Roy

EDU 290

Dr. William Merrill

The History and Scope of Psychology

Psychology’s Roots- Philosophy Biology Philosophy’s questions and biology’s methods

= psychology

Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G MyersImage from: http://www.nctc.edu/Libraries/Home_Page/Psych_head.sflb.ashx

Psychology’s Birth – 1879

Wilhelm Wundt- created the first psychology lab University of Leipzig (Germany) Father of Experimental Psychology Founder of Modern Psychology

Psychology- the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Behavior- anything an organism does that is an observable or recordable action

Mental Processes- internal subjective (debatable) experiences inferred from behavior

Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers

Philosophers

John Locke (1632-1704) at birth the mind is a blank slate empiricism- rely on observation and

experimentation William James

1st psychology textbook

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Biology - Pavlov (Russian Physiologist)

discovered the learning principles classical conditioning

unconditioned stimulus (US) conditioned stimulus (CS) unconditioned reflex (UR) conditioned reflex (CR)

came up with the dog experiment

Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers Image from: http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/pavlov/images/serie2.gif

Biology- Freud (Austrian Physician)

Personality Theorist three different components

Id all of the biological components of personality immediate satisfaction

Ego the mediator between the id and the superego

Superegouses morals to do what is right

Image and information:

http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html

Biology - Piaget (Swiss Biologist)

Developmental Psychology Cognitive Theory

Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years) Key component – Object

permanence Pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years)

Key component – egocentrism Operation stage (7 to 11 years)

Key component - conservation Formal operational stage (11 years

and on) Key component – abstract

reasoning

http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html Image from: http://www.stelizabeth.com/Resources/

Biology – Erik Erikson

8 stages of Psychosocial development 1. Trust vs. Mistrust (birth to 1 year) 2. Autonomy vs. Shame & doubt (2-3 years) 3. Initiative vs. Guilt (3-5 years) 4. Industry vs. Inferiority (6-12 years) 5. Identity vs. Role Confusion (13-18 years) 6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood) 7. Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood) 8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair (old age)

www.simplypsychology.com.org/erik-erikson.html

Four Primary Perspectives

1) Behavioral

i) only relies on observable behaviors to determine influences of the environment on behavior

2) Cognitive

i) thought is what influences behavior

Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G MyersImages from: http://helpingpsychology.com and http://fhuhs.org/departments/socialstudies/

Four Primary Perspectives

3) Neurosciencei) how biology

and neurochemistry affect behavior

4) Psychodynamici) how

unconscious thoughts and conflicts influence behavior

Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers Image from: http://www.personal.psu.edu/

Big Issue in Psychology

a) Nature vs. Nurture Nature –

inherited and genetic Nurture –

all of the environmental issues after birth example – all of your experiences

What concept do you believe has the largest impact on a child?

Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers

Nature vs. Nurture

http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html

Subfields of Psychology

a) Developmentali) mental and physical changes

throughout a persons life with a particular emphasis on the earlier stages in life

b) Clinical

i) Studies, assesses, treats people with psychological disorders

Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers

Subfields of Psychology cont.

c) Industrial/Organizationali) applied to work, selection, leadership,

management, work and family conflicts, organizational culture, and performance

d) Sportsi) mental aspects of sports and competition to

maximize performance

Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers

Fun Facts about psychology!

Placebo pills can have just as much effect on a human as the actual treatment

Freud is taught at a number of universities, expect for in their psychology department

Almost all identical twins are not considered “identical”

A lot of people déjà vu about a conversation or a dream

You can only remember 3 to 4 things at a time You are hard wired for imitation and empathy

www.psychologytoday.comExploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers