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Aristotle’s word psyche refer to the essence of
life

plus the Greek word logos, which means the “the

study of.”
 Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental process

Systematic methods

What can be directly observed

Thoughts, feelings, motives

 Goals of Psychology
• Describe. Information gathered in scientific studies helps
psychologists describe behavior and mental processes
accurately
• Predict. Psychologists have developed tests that enable
employers to predict more accurately which job applicants
will perform their jobs well.
• Understand. Behavior and mental processes can be
understood using theories or tentative explanations of facts
and relationships in science.
• Influence. Psychologists design interventions that would
help a teenage boy with severe depression; to help college
students select their careers; or help parents raise a child
with conduct disorder.
 Early Approaches
• Western Philosophy
• Biology and Physiology
• Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
1879 – established 1st psychology
lab
-Wundt’s Structuralism
– structures of the mind
– introspection
systematic, detailed
self-report
 Early Approaches
Gestalt Psychology
Max Wertheimer
• a professor of psychology at the University of Frankfurt in
the early 1900s
• He led a group of psychologists known as Gestalt
psychologists.
• Gestalt psychologists thought that human consciousness
could not be meaningfully broken down into raw elements,
as structuralist tried to do.
• Their approach to psychology was based on the German
concept of Gestalt, or whole.
• “The whole is different from the sum of its parts.”
 Early Approaches
Functionalism

William James
• Emphasized how a mental process operates as
opposed to the structure of a mental process.
• James’ perspective on psychology became known as
functionalism.
• Functionalism’s focus on the adaptive value of behavior
as influenced by Charles Darwin’s Theory of evolution.
Darwin’s theory speculated that certain behaviors or
traits that enhance survival are naturally selected.
 Psychodynamic Approach
• Freud

• Psychoanalysis
– unconscious thought
– conflict between
biological drives and
demands of society
– early childhood family
experiences
 Early Approaches
Behaviorism: A True Science of Psychology
• In the 1920s, functionalism was slowly being
replaced by a school of thought referred to as
behaviorism.
• A growing number of psychologists believed that
in order for psychology to be taken seriously as a
true science, it must focus on observable
behavior and not on the mind.
• Behaviorists believed that only overt, observable
behaviors could truly be measured consistently
form person to person.
 Early Approaches
John B. Watson’s Behaviorism
• Watson first presented “Little Albert” with the
stimulus of a white rat.
• Watson conditioned Little Albert to fear a
white rat, a rat that Albert had played with
earlier without fear.
• This demonstrated for Watson that
observable stimuli and responses should be
the focus of psychology.
 Early Approaches
B.F. Skinner and Behavioral Consequences

• Skinner, like Watson, believed that psychology

should focus on observable behavior; but Skinner
added a dimension to Watson’s framework:
consequences.
• He believed that psychologists should look not
only at the stimuli in the environment that cause
a particular response but also at what happens to
a person or animal after the response – what
Skinner called the consequence of the behavior.
 Humanistic Approach
• Positive Human Qualities/
Potential

• Free Will

• Notable Humanistic
Theorists
– Carl Rogers
– Abraham Maslow
 Cognitive Approach
• Mental Processes
Involved in Knowing

• Information
Processing
how humans interpret
incoming info, weigh it,
store it, and apply it
 Early Approaches
The Birth of Positive Psychology

• Positive Psychology emphasize human strengths

and on how humans attain happiness
• American Psychologists Martin Seligman and Ed
Diener
• Positive psychology has produced an explosion of
research over the past decade describing the
factors that contribute to happiness, positive
emotions, and well-being.
 Modern Perspectives and the Eclectic Approach

• Evolutionary perspective proposes that natural

selection is the process at work. Behaviors that
increase your chances of surviving are favored or
selected over behaviors that decrease your
chances of surviving.
• Cognitive perspective explains behavior with an
emphasis on thoughts and interpretations based
on memory, expectations, beliefs, problem
solving, or decision making.
 Evolutionary Approach
• Explanations of Human Behavior:
– adaptation
– reproduction
– natural selection

• Notable Evolutionary
Psychologist
– David Buss
 Biological Approach
Neuroscience
nervous system
• structure
• function
• development
• genetics
• biochemistry

The brain is the physical basis of all thoughts and emotions

 Modern Perspectives and the Eclectic Approach

• Psychodynamic perspective is a collective

term that refers to those assumptions about
behavior originally conceived by Freud, which
have been modified by his followers.
 Sociocultural Approach
• Social and Cultural Environments

• Differences
– between ethnic and cultural
groups
– within and across countries
 Behavioral Approach
• Environmental Determinants of
Observable Behavior

• Reject Explanations
Referencing Thought

• Notable Behaviorists
– Ivan Pavlov
– John Watson
– B.F. Skinner
 Modern Perspectives and the Eclectic Approach

• Humanistic perspective explains behavior as

stemming from your choices and free will. These
choices are influenced by your self-concept and
by your self-esteem. This view of the self and
these feelings toward the self will lead you to
choose certain behaviors over others.

• Eclectic approach integrates or combines several

perspectives to provide a more complete and
complex picture of behavior.
Areas of Specialization
Physiological Psych /
Health Psychology
Behavioral Neuroscience

Clinical & Counseling Sensation and

Psychology Perception

Industrial / Organizational
Psychology Areas Learning

Of
Social Psychology Specialization Cognitive Psychology

Developmental
Personality Psychology
Psychology

Psychology of Women
Motivation & Emotion
and Gender
 References:

• King, L. (2013). Experience psychology. (2nd ed.)

Columbia. McGrawHill

• Lahey, B. (2012). Psychology: An Introduction.

(11th Ed.) NY: McGraw Hill.

• Pastorino, E. & Doyle-Portillo, S. (2013). What is

Psychology? Essentials. (2nd Ed.) Canada:
Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.