With

Professor Sherry Sherrill

Terminology Definitions vs. Applied

Research / Science

Ethics

Diversity

Real World Application of concepts

Technology

Preparation for future classes

Preparation to transfer (4-year)

This is required. (you will not be wasting your money!)

You WILL use it.

Many assignments require the text.

You WILL need to have it as soon as possible.

Chapter 1 sections in available on Blackboard.

Module 1: Why do we understand the world around us the way that we do? (Ch 1, 3, 8, 9, 11)

Module 2: How did we become who we are? Why do we do what we do? (Ch 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

Module 3: Psychology in Practice (Ch ,

4, 7,8, 9, 10, 12, 13)

What is Psychology?

History of Psychology

Fields of Specialization

Research

Why Ethics? (Introduction)

The systematic and scientific study of behavior and mental processes of both humans and other animals.

What are mental processes?

*(Cognitive Processes/Cognitions)

What are behaviors?

Why is it systematic?

Psychology….a science?????

Q: What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?

American Psychological Association (APA)

Principle A: Beneficence & Nonmaleficence

Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility

Principle C: Integrity

Principle D: Justice

Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding representing appropriate breadth and depth in selected content areas of psychology including relevant ethical issues, including a general understanding of the APA Ethics Code (2002).

Follow the APA Ethics Code in the treatment of human and nonhuman participants in the design, data collection, interpretation, and reporting of psychological research.

Recognize that ethically complex situations can develop in the application of psychological principles.

Recognize the necessity of ethical behavior in all aspects of the science and practice of psychology.

To better under understand human behavior & improve safety.

To improve assistance to those with learning difficulties.

To design more effective teaching methods.

Improve health & well-being to reduce burden on the government and taxpayers

To assist courts by helping to understand the mind of criminals, evidence and the limits of certain types of evidence and testimony.

Two basic types / reasons for research:

Basic Research

To Test a hypothesis

Applied Research

To Solve a problem

Types or Methods of research used in psychology:

Survey Method

Observational Studies

Case Studies

Experimental Design

Correlational Design

Survey Research: Method of collecting information (data), using interviews or written questions, about individual’s behaviors and attitudes. (Self-report data)

Inexpensive, easy and not overly time consuming

May collect factual information or opinions

Examples:

End of course / teacher evaluations

The US Census

Customer Satisfaction

Program Evaluation

Survey Method: Interviews or questionnaires used to collect information.

Inexpensive, easy and not time consuming.

Data collected may be biased for many reasons. (Demographic bias, sex bias, impact of how questions are presented, convenience samples)

Researchers watch organisms within their natural settings

An advantage is that you are less likely to have an observer effect (when we modify behavior when being watched), and more likely the subjects will act naturally.

Another advantage is not having to rely on subject reports (inaccuracy -intentional or not)

A disadvantage could occur when a researcher allows preexisting biases to impact recorded observations.

Q: What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?

A: The type of training they receive, their theoretical approach, and how much they charge you as a patient.

High School Diploma

Associates Degree

Bachelors Degree

Masters Degree

Doctoral Degree

AKA: Theoretic Perspective

Based on the person’s individual beliefs, education and training.

How the person interprets the world around them.

The meaning (causes) they attribute to a particular mental illness or other psychological concept.

A psychiatrist has medical training and is a “doctor” who has specialized in assessment and treatment of mental disorders.

They have a medical or biomedicaltheoretical approach. They believe that mental illness is due to

genetics, illness, or injury. Focus on the BODY.

They typically charge MUCH more than other clinicians.

A psychologist typically has one of three basic types of degrees:

a PhD (doctorate of philosophy that included in depth research in study)

a PsyD (doctorate in psychology, that does not have in depth research requirements during study)

An EdD (doctorate in education, specializing in counseling)

A Psychologist:

More likely to do ‘therapy’ or counseling techniques compared to a psychiatrist.

Typically charge much less than a psychiatrist, but depends on the therapy setting (private practice vs. community mental health)

Cognitive Psychology: Focus on how organisms process information. Includes study of thinking, memory, language, problem solving, and creativity.

Developmental Psychology: Factors that influence development from conception through death (lifespan)

Social Psychology: Studies the impact of the social environment on the individual.

Personality Psychology: Studies how personality develops, how it influences people’s behaviors, and how to assess the basic elements that make an individual unique.

Experimental Psychology: The primary activity is conducting research in a variety of areas that fall under the realm of psychology.

Biological Psychology: Studies the relationship between behavior and physiological and neurological events or conditions. (AKA Physiological Psychology)

Health Psychology: Studies the interaction between behavioral factors and physical health.

** Geropsychology: Studies issues that are unique to the aging population and their experiences.

School Psychology: Focuses on the evaluation and resolution of learning and emotional problems.

Other fields of specialization:

Industrial-Organizational (I/O)

Business

Engineering Psychology

Rel. b/w machines & people

Positive Psychology

Self-fulfillment & happiness

Forensic Psychology

Assist police and courts

Clinical and Counseling Psychology: Both study and practice assessing, diagnosing and treating psychological problems.

Counseling focuses on less severe problems than clinical psychologists. (schools; social and academic problems)

Once upon a time….. The “crazy” people were thought to be

possessed.

Someone with psychosis might have been sent to an exorcist.

A person with depression might have been prescribed a “blood-letting” for severe depression.

Could it be that the people condemned in the Salem witch trials actually had schizophrenia?

The study of Psychology is rooted in the fields of philosophy and physiology.

Philosophy speculated about the mind.

Physiology investigated the body.

Philosopher, Rene Descartes, believed in dualism, which refers to the belief that the mind and body are two distinct entities.

The physical body is mechanical and follows the laws of physics.

The mind, or soul, does not follow any known rules.

(at the time, or is it still this way?)

Dualism is contrary to the belief that behavior is caused or determined by physical events either within or outside of the body. This is known as determinism.

Determinism is central to the current science of psychology.

The actual study of psychology as a discipline did not begin until German scientist, Wilhelm Wundt, opened the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879.

Wundt defined psychology as the systematic study of the structures of the conscious adult mind.

Structuralism

Structuralism: focused on breaking down conscious experience into its basic elements or structures in an attempt to understand the mind.

Introspection: (looking inward) Clearly breaking down, analyzing, and reporting sensations.

Included analysis of thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

Introspection is AKA: “Experimental Self-Observation”

The basic flaw associated with introspection was that therapists and researchers would often obtain inconsistent results. (it lacked reliability)

Structuralism was abandoned.

William James agreed that psychology should study the mind, but dismissed introspection as a reliable method of studying this.

He proposed “Functionalism” which focused on the functional, continually changing, personal nature of conscious experience.

Functionalism attempted to learn how mental processes, such as learning, thinking, and perceiving, helped organisms adapt to their environment.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Psychoanalytical / Psychodynamic Perspectives to understanding issues of psychology.

“Psychoanalysis” The “talking cure” became known as catharsis where people discuss their problems and may feel better. (still important)

Psychoanalysis was the procedure used in interviewing patients with neurotic symptoms.

Criticized because its assertions (or theoretical claims) cannot be tested in a laboratory.

Freud’s psychoanalytical approach focused on three primary things:

Early childhood experiences.

The unconscious mind (hypnosis and interpretation of dreams)

Sexual urges and drives as main motivational factor in behavior.

Widely known and criticized for focus on sex. (contr. to psychology’s bad ‘rep.’)

John B. Watson (1878-1958) Behaviorism: Approach of study that focuses on the relationship between environmental events and an organism’s behavior.

Believed it was impossible to study the mind objectively.

Opposed introspection.

Behaviorism emphasized the stimulus-response relationship.

The goal of behaviorism was (and still is) to identify how we learn. (Much more to come on learning (and conditioning) later in text.)

Gestalt Psychology: The German approach that argues that the “whole” of an experience is more than “the sum of its parts.”

When sensory “elements” are brought together, they form a unique and new experience.

The Gestalt approach is still used today, especially in the study of visual illusion.

Understanding how single things add up to a new experience.

**The Phi Phenomenon

“Moving lights, film”

Humanistic Psychology: Approach of study that focuses on the role of free choice and our ability to make conscious rational decisions about how we live our lives.

“Be all that you can be!” Optimism

Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers (will be discussed more later)