INSTRODUCTION TO P SYCHOLOGY

Ms. Donna P. Sombrea, MPsy

Department of Psychology
Emilio Aguinaldo College
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
Win a friend

“You have psychological

problem”-
“good Psychologist”

Crystal ball
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

This is not easy at all

 Nature of Psychology
The scope of psychology
The origins of psychology
Birth and growth of psychology as a science
Research in psychology
Role of theory in psychology
Research method in psychology
Goals in Psychology
Careers in Psychology
The birth of Sikolohiyang Pilipino
 WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
• PSYCHOLOGY comes from two Greek words:
psyche logos
Mind or soul study

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental

processes (Atkinson, 2000)

BEHAVIOR = observable actions of response

(e.g. eating, speaking, sleeping)
MENTAL PROCESSES= wide range of complex activities of
the mind that are not directly observable (e.g. thinking,
imagining, dreaming)
 Origin of Psychology
• SOCRATES - (Greek philosopher) interested
in cognitive processes and the meaning of
one’s existence.

“An unexamined
life is life not worth
living.”
 John Locke

EMPIRICISM

The view that knowledge George Berkeley

should be derived from
what is observable

David Hume
 Everything we know comes
from experience (through Some knowledge is innate
senses) (born)

John Locke
Plato

EMPIRICISM David Hume

Descartes
George Berkeley

NURTURE vs NATURE
The mind, at birth, is like tabula rasa or
The mind is born with knowledge and
empty vessel, a blank slate, on which
skills
experiences writes a life story
 Birth and Growth of Psychology as a Science

• 1879
– First psychological laboratory
– Psychology as a science

• Wilhelm Wundt (vilhelm voont)

– Established this first research laboratory at the
University of Leipzig in Germany (1832-1920)
– Principles of Physiological Psychology
• “An alliance between two sciences, physiology and
psychology” – Physiological Psychology
 Schools of Psychology
STRUCTURALISM FUCTIONALISM GESTALT PSYCHOANALYTIC BEHAVIORISM
PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY
Edward William James • Max Sigmund Freud John B. Watson
Titchener (1842-1910) Wertheimer (1856-1939) (1878-1958)
(1867-1927) “consciousness” • Kurt Koffka
John Dewey (1859- • Wolfgang “unconscious” “overt behavior”
“introspection” 1959) Kohler
Consists of the Ivan Pavlov
To whole “Consciousness
repressed thoughts, -Classical
experiences +behavior”
Gestalt: “unified impulses, wishes, conditioning
James Angell whole” motives, and emotions
Thought (1869-1949) of our past B.F. SKINNER
processes and -mental stream, (Burrhus Fredric
consciousness, mind Emphasizes the
structures of When conscious forces Skinner)
and body mportance of are revealed, he can
the mind -Operant
the context or help the patient resolve
Orientation of modern conditioning
background of his conflicts. Become
psychologist competent and live a
the experience Behaviorist:
is creating well-integrated life.
Research on emotions acknowledge
and observable meaning for a largely on the
behaviors (testing, specific event outcome of
education, diverse are NURTURE
in industry) (experience), not
nature
 Historical Approaches
A. STRUCTURALISM
– Study of experiences
– Introspection =“inward-looking”
• Technique: sound of a clicking metronome
(focus solely on the clicks and report only your immediate
reactions to them, your basic reactions and feelings)
Edward Titchener (1867-1927)
- established a psychological laboratory and
coined the term structuralism to embody
Wundt’s ideas.
- Focused on the investigation of thought
processes and the structure of the mind.
B. FUNCTIONALISM
William James (1842-1910)
-functions of consciousness rather than with structure
or content
- Consciousness
- enable the individual to adapt to the environment
- Basis of will and the cause of behavior
John Dewey (1859-1959)
- Added a stream of behavior to the stream of
consciousness
- Stimulus and response are not separate entities

Angry King Cobra (stimulus) FEAR (response): RUN TO SURVIVE

B. FUNCTIONALISM

James Angell (1869-1949)

Three principles of functionalism:
• Mental stream is a part of a larger
biological stream and mediates
between the organism and the
environment.
• Consciousness enables the organism
to survive by acting as a mediator and
support.
• Mind and body act as a unit to
enable the organism to adapt and
survive.
C. GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY
(Gestalt means “unified whole” In German)
Max Wertheimer
Kurt Koffka
Wolfgang Kohler
“experiences could only be studied as a whole- the
whole experience is qualitatively different from the
sum of the distinct elements of that experience.

used in the research on perception

D. PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
“unconscious”
-fascinated by the way the mind influences behavior.
*Glove Anesthesia- physiologically impossible*
Freud: cause by conflicts between what people believe to be
acceptable behavior and their unacceptable motives (e.g.
sexual or aggressive nature)
Techniques: hypnosis, dream analysis, and free
associations

“The first few years of life are important for later personality
development” this psychological method can be used to
change behavior
E. BEHAVIORISM
“Preoccupation with consciousness and the unconsciousness
would prevent psychology from ever becoming a true
science”
- John B. Watson (1878-1958)
Published an article: Psychology as the Behaviorist Views
It(1913)
-psychologist must ignore mental events and base
psychology only on overt behavior
Learned relationship- new relationship established between
the response and the stimulus in the environment
Overt behavior- observable/ visible
Ivan Pavlov Covert behavior- not visible
Classical conditioning
(Physiology of the learned relationship)
Physiological response (e.i. salivation produced by food)
- Elicited by sight/ sound –followed by food
E. BEHAVIORISM

B.F. SKINNER (Burrhus Fredric Skinner)

Operant conditioning
Explained: rewards on addiction to gambling and
parents attention on child’s tantrum

ABCs of psychology:
Antecedent conditions (precede behavior)
Behavioral response
Consequences

Behaviorist: acknowledge largely on the outcome

of NURTURE (experience), not nature
 Approaches ‘to Psychology

Biological Approach Behavioral Approach

Evolutionary Approach Cognitive Approach

Psychodynamic Approach Humanistic Approach

 Biological Approach
Biopsychology/ Physiological
Psychology
Biological processes (e.g. genes, hormones, physical conditions)
influence our behavior
Examine aggressive behavior or schizophrenia- hormonal imbalance
or a brain disorder

• Johannes Muller – studied that all nerves carry electrical impulses

• Paul Broca – studied patients with brain injury
• Luigi Galvani – first to use electrical stimulation to examine
workings of the brain
• Hermann von Helmholtz – measured speed of nerve conduction

Tools used in this approach:

Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Computerized Axial

Tomography (CAT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
 Evolutionary Approach
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)- Origin of Species
- Life forms exiting today are the result of evolution
(natural selection)
Genes: Trait and behavior- for survival, reproduction
(for succeeding generations)

Evolutionary theory suggests that many of the genes

we possess today are due to natural selections

Research: helping behavior and altruism, mental

disorder, temperament, and interpersonal attraction
 Psychodynamic Approach
Freudian Psychoanalysis-
-emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences
(first five years of life) and assumes that all behavior and
mental processes reflect the psychological struggles deeply-
seated in the unconscious (drives: food, sex, or aggression,
and the need to follow the standards imposed by society)

Defense Mechanism: Automatic responses to perceived

psychological threats and are often activated on the
unconscious level
Levels of the mind: conscious, preconscious and unconscious
Structures of the mind: id, ego and superego
Techniques used in psychoanalysis: hypnosis, dream
interpretation, free association and Freudian slips
Sigmund Freud’s levels
of the mind compared
to an iceberg
 Sigmund Freud’s structures of the human mind

Das Ich (“The I”)

EGO = realistic,
rational and planning;
governs, controls and
regulates our
personality

Das Uber-Ich (“The

Das Es (“The IT”) Over/ Above I”)

ID = illogical, amoral, SUPEREGO = idealistic,

pleasure-seeking and moralistic and
pain-avoiding perfection-striving
 Defense Mechanisms
(Ego/ Object relations)
• Denial – refusal to accept the
existence of a stressful situation.
• Introjection- inability to see an
individual as an integrated whole
(+,- qualities) “bad mother” “good projection

mother” / all-good or all bad (e.i.

borderline personality disorder)
• Projection – attributing your own
thoughts, feelings and impulses to
other people.
• Projective Identification- falsely
attributing to another one’s own
unacceptable feelings. (e.g.
jealousy)
• Displacement –
redirecting your thoughts,
feelings and impulses to
less threatening targets.
• Intellectualization –
avoiding emotional
aspects by focusing on
logic or intellectual
aspects.
• Rationalization – giving a
logical or rational reason
for an unacceptable
situation as opposed to
the real reason.
• Sublimation- the process
whereby energy originally
directed toward sexual or
aggressive goals is
redirected towards new
aims—often artistic,
intellectual or cultural
• Reaction Formation- Repressing
threatening beliefs, emotions or
impulses and unconsciously
replacing them with their
opposites.
• Repression- The essence of
repression lies simply in turning
away, and keeping it at a
distance, from the consciousness
(cause of neurotic symptoms;
obsession, compulsions,
hallucinations, psychosomatic
complaints, anxiety, depression).
• Suppression-intentional
avoidance of difficult inner
thoughts, feelings, and desires
(e.g. grief, complicated loss)
• Regression- adopting behavior
typical of an earlier and safer
time in one’s life.
 Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Melanie
Alfred Adler’s
Klein’s Object
Individual
Relations
Psychology
Theory

Carl Jung’s Karen

Analytical Horney’s
Psychology Feminist or
Psychoanalyti
c Social
Theory
Psychoanalysis/ psychodynamic
 Behavioral Psychology/
Behaviorism
• Proposed by John Watson who wrote the article
psychology as the behaviorist views it
• Emphasizes the objective and scientific study of overt
(visible/observable) behaviors
• Asserts that environmental factors and consequences
(rewards and punishment) influence our behavior
• Behavior and mental processes are results of learning
• New variation: cognitive-behavioral / social-cognitive
 Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov
Antecedent conditions or
preceding events produce
specific behaviors

Operant Conditioning
Burrhus Frederic Skinner
Consequences increase or
decrease the likelihood of a
behavior to occur again

Cognitive-behavioral view (Social-Cognitive)- explores how

learning affects the development of ideas and beliefs, and, in
turn, how these learned thinking patterns affect overt behavior.
 Cognitive Approach
• Uses information processing method in studying how
we gather, encode, store and retrieve information
• Focus is on how mental processes (e.g. Perception,
decision-making, planning, reasoning, problem solving,
language) influence our behavior
• Important contributors:

Jean Piaget – stages of cognitive development

Noam Chomsky – language acquisition
Leon Festinger – cognitive dissonance
Albert Ellis – rational emotive behavior therapy
Aaron Beck – cognitive therapy
 Humanistic Approach
 Emphasizes that capacity of people to improve and
actualize themselves
 Believes that people are innately good and their
behavior is a matter of choice
 Values the free will of man
 Focus is on the subjective world of the person

Important contributors in humanism,

phenomenology and existentialism:
Carl Rogers – man has a natural tendency toward
psychological growth and self-direction
Rollo May and Viktor Frankl – used existentialism
which emphasizes free will and meaning in life
Abraham Maslow – proposed the hierarchy of
needs and man’s tendency to self-actualize
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Abraham Maslow Self-
Actualizati
on and
Growth
Needs
Esteem Needs

Belongingness and
Love Needs

Safety Needs

Physiological Needs
 Careers in Psychology
A. Clinical Psychology
o A specialization on the
diagnosis, treatment and
research of mental disorders.
o Different from psychiatry in the
sense that clinical psychologists
cannot prescribe medications.

B. Counseling Psychology
o A specialization on the
assistance of individuals in
learning to deal with their issues
and problems that does not
involve mental illnesses.
C. Biological Psychology
o Deals with the biological bases of
behavior and the relationship between
physiological processes and human
behavior

D. Educational and School Psychology

o Deals with theories and research about
teaching and learning
o Involves IQ testing, diagnosis of
learning disabilities and academic
problems, creation of school programs
to improve achievement
o Psychology of exceptionalities = focus
is on exceptional children (e.g. gifted,
mentally deficient, developmentally
delayed)
E. Social Psychology
o Study of how people think about,
influence and relate to one
another

F. Personality Psychology
o Focus is on the personality traits or
characteristics that make each
person unique

G. Cognitive Psychology
o Study of mental processes like
sensation, perception, learning,
memory, judgment, decision-
making, problem-solving, planning.
H. Developmental Psychology
o Studies the physical, cognitive and
socioemotional development of a
person as well as the factors that
shape behavior from birth to old age.

I. Industrial/Organizational (I/O)
Psychology
o Focus is on the improvement of the
efficiency, productivity and job
satisfaction of the workers and
organizations.

J. Quantitative Psychology
o Focus is on the development of
methods for analyzing data and test
validity evaluation
 Other Specialty
Divisions of Psychology
Health psychology
Studies the effects of behavior on health and of illness on
behavior
Sports psychology
Studies the factors related maximum athletic performance
Environmental psychology
Deals with the effects of physical environment on behavior and
mental processes
Engineering psychology and ergonomics
Application of psychological principles to improve the ability of
humans to operate more effectively in a technological society
Forensic psychology
Application of psychological principles to the legal/criminal
justice system
 Thank you for listening!

All inquiries will only be entertained through email address donnapsombrea@gmail.com

and during class schedule