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Introduction
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and
mental processes.
Three key terms:
Science: careful, controlled observation (scientific methods).
Behavior: refers to all of a person’s overt actions that others
can directly observe.
Ex: you walk or show a facial expression.
Developmental Psychology
Explore the causes and effects of changes in
behavior and mental processes over the life span.
Ex: language development in different stages
Subfields of Psychology
(con’t)
Cognitive Psychology
study processes underlying perception, motivation,
emotion, memory, problem solving, and other
aspects of human thought.
Ex: how do you solve a problem
Engineering Psychology
study human factors in the use of equipment and work to
design better versions of that equipment.
Ex: ergonomic keyboard
Personality Psychology
Study the characteristics that make individuals
similar to, or different from, one another
Ex: identify optimism and its behavior sets
Subfields of Psychology
(con’t)
Clinical, Counseling, Community, and Health Psychology
understand the origins of disorders and to help people deal with
disorders (ex: depression and treatment)
Deliver services to minority and consider social system
Study the effects of behavior on health (ex: smoking)
Educational and School Psychology
Study and improve teaching and learning
Understand students’ problem and help them to improve
Subfields of Psychology
(con’t)
Social Psychology
Study how people affect others’ behavior and
thinking
Ex: creation of compelling advertisements
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Explore factors that affecting work productivity and
satisfaction
Ex: increasing employees’ motivation, workers’
selection
Subfields of Psychology
(con’t)
Quantitative Psychology
interested in developing and using statistical tools to
analyze data relevant to human behavior and mental
process
Ex: trace the relationship between childhood experience
and adult behaviors
Other Subfields
Sport psychology- explores relationship between
performance and psychological variables
Forensic psychology- deals with psychology and law
Ex: jury selections
Environmental psychology- studies effects of physical
environment on behavior and mental processes.
Ex: the effect of environmental stress on human performance
Brief History of
Psychology
Modern psychology- 1879, Wilhem Wundt
Empiricism- tabula rasa
Learn from experience and observation
Wundt and the Structuralism of Titchener
Wilhelm Wundt wanted to study consciousness using scientific
methods. With his technique of introspection (looking inward), he
documented “quality” and “intensity” as elements of sensation.
Edward Titchener further identified “clarity” as one of the
dimensions of consciousness
his approach was called structuralism (structure of consciousness).
Gestalt psychologists disagreed with Wundt’s methods and
suggested analyzing the whole conscious experience, not its
elements.
Ex: understand the whole computer but not its component parts
Brief History of Psychology
(con’t)
Freud and Psychoanalysis
Focused on the role of unconscious
All behavior is motivated by mental conflicts
which occur without awareness