On your own

• Take 10 minutes to briefly research

the science of Psychology on the
internet
• Use your whiteboard to write down
the following
– 3 topics that psychology will cover
– A question psychology tries to answer
– A definition of psychology
• Be prepared to share
 ABCs of Psychology
• You will have 10 minutes to work with your
group to come up with as many words that
relate to psychology that you can think of
• The catch? In order to win you must have a
word that begins with each letter of the
alphabet. You may omit 3 letters of the
 Intro to Psych
• What is psychology?
• Psychology = the scientific study of
behavior and mental processes
• Psychology is a social science that
studies why people behave the way
they do by using scientific method!
• Psychologists study animals as well as
people because some experiments are
not able to be conducted on humans.
What does it mean to be a “science”?
• Psychologists study behavior in a systematic
way.
• Use accepted scientific methods to come to
conclusions about why people behave the way
they do
Why aren’t I a psychologist? I am
really good at figuring people out.
• While we are all amateur psychologists in one
way or another we do not engage in scientific
research to prove that women are more moody
than men, or that brothers are the most
annoying people on earth! Our experiences are
very important but do not make us scientists.
• Sometimes our common knowledge or intuition
can NOT be trusted! Not always safe to assume!
Are these statements true or false?
• People who are physically handicapped
usually have psychological disorders.
• People suffering from serious psychological
BOOM
disorders are usually POW! to others.
a danger
They
• The largest drug are allinfalse!
problem the USA in terms
#whenintuitionfails
of people effected is marijuana.
• Frequent punishment is the best way to train a
child.
 Influe Descri
nce GOALS OF be
PSYCHOL
OGY

Basic- Predic Explai

Applied- t n
 The Four Goals of Psychology
• Describe = gather information about the behavior
being studied for better understanding (“WHAT?”)
• Explain = move beyond describing develop an
explanation of why people behave as they do;
hypothesis and theory stage (“WHY?”)
• Predict = use findings to understand future behaviors
(“How will someone react in similar situation?”)
• Influence = (sometimes)use findings to make changes
to improve situations
– Basic science – for research sake, to learn more
– Applied science – use findings to solve problems
• NOT ALL RESEARCH SEEKS TO CHANGE!
 Basic or applied?
• How does memory work? B
• What sort of strategies can a person use to
improve memory retrieval? A
• What parenting techniques are most effective for
A
dealing with temper tantrums?
• Which parts of the brain are responsible for
B
speech and what are their roles? B
• Who is more depressed men or women?
• What formA of therapy works best for people with
anxiety?
 Goals demo
• I need 4 volunteers to step outside
• Everyone remaining PREDICT what volunteers
will do.
• Lets DESCRIBE what they did.
• Volunteers can you EXPLAIN your behavior?
• How about predicting future behavior?
• Could we use this info to influence/change
behavior?
Which goals of psychology (describe, explain, predict or
influence) is being met by each of these studies? Why?
Basic or applied?

Researchers have recently identified a gene that predisposes

certain individuals to become obese because their satiety
mechanism doesn’t “turn on.”
Which goals of psychology (describe, explain, predict
or influence) is being met by each of these studies?
Why? Basic or applied?

Some developmental psychologists believe that a much

larger number of playground accidents will occur this year
among young children who watch Batman or Mighty
Morphin Power Rangers.
Which goals of psychology (describe, explain, predict or
influence) is being met by each of these studies? Why?
Basic or applied?

Comprehensive sex education should be required in all high

schools because studies demonstrate that such education
has reduced the teenage pregnancy rate.
Which goals of psychology (describe, explain, predict or
influence) is being met by each of these studies? Why?
Basic or applied?

Surveys show that women who graduate from college earn

as much money per year as men who graduate from high
school.
 STOP!
Can you apply
what we learned?
 Practice – Summarizing research using 4 goals
• I am going to read a Psychology related passage to you to
model what I want you to do.
• After I am done reading (so you actually listen)
– Describe the effect or behavior being discussed. One or two
sentences is fine. You do not need to write a lot.
– Discuss the explanation that came from the research. Why did
people engage in the behavior?
– According to this research what can we predict about human
behavior based on what was learned? What are people likely to
do in the future?
– Could this research be used to change or influence behavior?
Explain.
REVIEW GOALS
D
E
P
I
Contributions that helped shape differing explanations of human behavior

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
 Pre-history of Psych
• Rooted in philosophy/ Greek thinking
• Questions philosophers have been asking for
centuries
– Are people born with certain knowledge/traits or
do they gain those over time?
– Are people naturally good or bad?
– Are some types of people better than others?
– Are there universal truths?
 Early perspectives - Structuralism
• Late 1890s
• Wanted to understand the structure of the
mind
• Used introspection- participants report their
own thoughts and feelings
• First to use a systematic procedure to study
human behavior (more science, less
But how
philosophy) does it
make you
feel???
 Functionalism
• Same time as Structuralism, opposing view
• Instead of structure, focused on functions of
mind; purpose of mental processes
• Heavily influenced by Darwin’s idea of natural
selection
– William James believed function of all mental
work was the continuation of human survival
See what happened
to the dinosaurs?
Adapt or die!!!
 Inheritable traits
• Studied the importance of heredity
• Discovered that greatness tended to run in
certain families; concluded only certain gene
pools were successful
• Today we know that genetics, as well as
environment, play significant roles in
development
ARE RICH PEOPLE SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE THEIR
PARENTS WERE OR BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE
RESOURCES TO BE SUCCESSFUL?
 Nature v. Nurture debate
• What does this mean?

Argument about the importance of

genetics/biology (nature) and our
environment/experiences (nurture)
in shaping who we are

Do nature/nurture debate slides

 Purpose
• Meant to get you thinking about where our
behaviors come from.
• If it is nature what is it specifically about our
nature (biology) that causes us to act?
• If it is nurture what is it specifically about our
nurture (external influences) that causes us to
act?
• Today we are going to discuss your ideas on this
and then talk about Psychology’s ideas
 Brainstorm with your group – draw the following on your
paper and fill out. The lines under behaviors should be filled
in with potential explanations for behaviors (@ least 3 per).

Behaviors

Drug use Aggression

Beauty
rituals

Your explanations are not descriptions or judgments!

DON’T FORGET TO INCLUDE NAMES ON PAPER

 Contemporary Perspectives
Human behavior is explained through use of a number of
perspectives that help us to understand the origins of
behaviors.
Humans behave the way they do because…
But I didn’t
mean to give
him a wet
willy!
Psychologists today pick & choose from 7
major schools of thought, or perspectives
to help them determine why people act
the way they do.

First let’s share what your group came up with

 Biological AKA Biopsychology AKA
Neuroscience Perspective
Humans behave the way they do because…
• brain controls behavior
• chemicals in the body
• DNA - genetics/heredity
• imbalances/brain problems lead to
abnormal behavior

KEY WORDS:
BRAIN
PHYSIOLOGY
CHEMISTRY
GENES
 Evolutionary Perspective
Humans behave the way they do because…
• we have adapted with certain traits to help us survive
• we are driven by our need to reproduce and keep our
species going

KEY WORDS:
Survival
Natural selection
Adaptation
 Psychoanalytic Perspective
Humans behave the way they do because…
If a man has intimacy
• driven by wishes issues and cannot
and desires that form relationships
frighten them. with others. What
do you think
• Unconscious someone from this
feelings and school may think?
experiences cause Perhaps they may delve into the man’s
behavior that is not
unconscious and discover that he was bullied
easy to explain when he were younger. The bullying may
KEY WORDS: have caused fear in getting close to others.
Unconscious
Repression
Hidden
 Behavioral Perspective
Humans behave the way they do because…
• we are controlled by
our environment
(stimulus/response)
• behaviors continue if
we like response
• other behaviors
decrease if we dislike
response
Why do some students KEY WORDS:
go with the flow at Trained
school and others do Consequences
not? Punishments
Rewards
 Humanist Perspective
Humans behave the way they do because…
• we have free will that
guides our behaviors
• we can change and grow
• we have a desire to be the
best we can be

KEY WORDS:
Potential PSYCH IS GROOVY
Growth
Change
 Cognitive Perspective
Humans behave the way they do because…
• mental processes like
memory, perception
• each person creates their
own patterns of thought She rejects you…
based on how they You meet a girl… don’t even get
view/interpret experiencesHopes are high!!! digits.
• change way you think and How do you react to the rejection?
behavior will change
Some will
KEY WORDS: give up and
Experiences live a lonely
Perceptions life of
Thought patterns Some will try again.
solitude.
 Socio-Cultural Perspective
Humans behave the way they do because…

• our actions are guided

by cultural learning/
expectations
• Societal pressures
influence our actions

KEY WORDS:
Culture
In some cultures people never Society
move out of their parents’ homes. Norms
NOOOOOOO! Traditions
Super models – Why don’t they eat more?
Eating disorders?
REMINDER
MOST PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE NOT PURELY ONE OR THE OTHER. INSTEAD, PSYCHOLOGISTS
WILL PICK AND CHOOSE PERSPECTIVES DEPENDING ON THEIR FIELD, PATIENT’S NEEDS,
RESEARCH FOCUS, ETC. ONE THEORY, OR PERSPECTIVE, CANNOT POSSIBLY EXPLAIN THE
COMPLEX NATURE OF HUMANITY! THEY ALL ARE IMPORTANT!
 Maria gets very angry when her children
disobey her.
• Can you apply each perspective to her
behavior.
– Biological
– Evolutionary
– Psycho
– Behavioral
– Humanist
– Cognitive
– Socio-Cultural
 Review
• Describe a behavior of yours, or someone
close to you (no names please).
• Now use at least 3 perspectives to explain why
you/other person may engage in this behavior.
You don’t necessarily have to believe
explanation is true rather just show me that
you understand how behavior would be
explained using the chosen perspective.
– See my example
 Personal behavior analysis
• I sweep and clean constantly when I am at home
– Evolutionary: We keep our homes clean in order to maintain a level
of health so our offspring don’t get sick.
– Socio-cultural: I feel a lot of social pressure to be seen as a good
mom which means having a well kept home. Also, our society says we
should take care of the things we own.
– Cognitive: I believe that people will view me as incompetent and lazy
if they come to my house and it is a mess
– Biological: I have driven by anxiety to compulsively clean.
– Humanist: I want to be the best mom I can be.
– Behavioral: People compliment my home on being very clean and I
like this praise so I continue to clean my home often.
– Psycho: As a child my mother punished us for not cleaning. I don’t
remember but it effects me today.
Psychology as a Profession
 2 big categories
• Psychologist = evaluates, diagnoses,
treats, and studies behavior and mental
processes; work in specific field
• Psychiatrist = a branch of medicine that
deals with mental, emotional or
behavioral disorders. “DOCTORS” can
prescribe medicine
Many of these have subfields within them. The field
of Psychology is vast in terms of possible jobs!
 Psychology fields
• Clinical = diagnose and treat people with
serious emotional/mental disturbances
Counseling = usually helps people deal with
problems of everyday life (more healthy
patients)
 Psychology fields
• Developmental = studies changes that occur
as an individual matures; may focus on a span
of life like infancy, adolescence, old age, etc
(age related)
• School psychologist= provide mental health
services for students to help improve their
learning and behavior at school
 Psychology fields
• Industrial organization (IO) = applies
psychological concepts to the workplace
environment
• Human factors= use psych science to improve
products, esp technology