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Chapter one

What is Psychology?

Fields of Psychology

Developmental psychology

Physiological Psychology

Experimental psychology

Personality Psychology

Clinical and Counseling Psychology

Clinical:

Counseling:

Social Psychology

Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology

Enduring Issues

What are the principle issues common to many subfields of psychology?

Person-Situation

Internal factors:

External factors:

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Heredity-Environment

Nature:

Nurture:

Stability-Change

Diversity-Universality

Mind-Body

Psychology as a Science

Scientific method:

Theory:

Hypotheses:

Science vs. Non-science

Other Social Sciences

Sociology:

Anthropology:

Political Science:

The Growth of Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt (1879) and Edward Bradford Titchener: Structuralism Concerned with identifying the units of conscious experience

William James: Functionalism

Concerned with the ongoing use of conscious experience

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Sigmund Freud: Psychodynamic psychology

Focuses on the unconscious determinants of behavior

John Broadus Watson: Behaviorism

Concerned with observable, quantifiable, measurable behavior

Burthus Fredrick Skinner: Behaviorism revisited

Focused on the role of reinforcement

Gestalt Psychology

Defined psychology as: the study of the immediate experience of the whole organism-THE WHOLE IS DIFFERENT THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS

Existential and Humanistic Psychology

Existentialism

Humanists

Cognitive Psychology

Concerned with memory, thinking, language, learning, and decision making; mentalprocessing

Evolutionary Psychology

Focuses on the adaptive values of mental processes and behavior patterns and what

function they serve

Positive Psychology

Emphasizes and studies the origins and nurturance of mental wellness

Multiple Perspectives of Psychology Today

Women in Psychology

Successful explanations of human functioning at

one level need not invalidate explanations at other levels

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Human Diversity

Gender:

Feminist Psychology

Race and ethnicity

Race:

Ethnicity:

Culture

Research Methods in Psychology

1. Naturalistic Observation

Studied non-intrusively in its natural environment

2. Case Studies

Intensive analysis and description of an individual or small group hoping to

find commonalties between that individual and the entire population

3. Surveys

Asking predetermined questions using an interview or questionnaire

Wording effects:

4. Correlational Research

Used to investigate and clarify the relationships between variables

5. Experimental Research

Enables the researcher to focus on the possible effects of one or more factorsby:

1)

2)

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Independent and Dependent variables

Independent:

Dependent:

Experimental condition/group:

Control condition/group:

Experimenter Bias:

Random Assignment:

6. Multimethod Research

The Importance of Sampling

Representative sample:

Random sample:

Human Diversity and Research

Ethics and Psychology

Milgram study

APA code of ethics requires Informed consent from participants

o The nature of the study in clearly understandable language

o Must be documentedo Risks, possible adverse effects, and limitation on confidentiality

o If participation is course credit then alternative must be offered

o Cannot deceive related to risks or unpleasant emotional experiences

o Deception can only be used when absolutely necessary