intro psych

PSYCHOLOGY

How psychology is used every day to

get desired behaviors

• Getting a child to eat• Getting your little

sister to do work for you

• “outpsych” your opponent (poker)

• Getting students to behave

*This is how ordinary people use psychology

Psychology• What does it mean?

Inner sensations- mental processes

Observable behavior

Psychology: A Definition

The science of behavior and mental

processes.

•The Need for Psychological Science

98% Certainty w/o going under1. The area of the US in square miles?

2. American battle deaths in Spanish-American War?

3. GM advertising budget in 1999?4. Percentage of officers in the U.S.

army that were female in 2000?5. The population of Afghanistan in

2001?

1. Area of US:2. Afghan

population:3. Battle deaths: 4. GM advertising:5. Female officers:

3.6 million sq. miles26.8 million385$2.9 billion9.953

Why The Need for a Psychological Science?

• Limits of intuition and common sense• 1. Hindsight bias• 2. OverconfidenceWe will come back to these later.

What psychologists study

1. Common everyday behaviors

– Eating, bathing, sleeping, speech patterns, ability to remember, etc.

2. Everyday Situations

- interview (role of appearance, gender, age, distance)

-parties (life of party vs. wallflower)

What psychologists study cont.

3. Abnormal behavior- Mental disorders

(examples?)- Crime, drugs, etc.- Psychologists first try

to diagnose the problem by determining the cause- Fired, marital problems,

history, etc.

4 GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY1. DESCRIBE2. EXPLAIN3. PREDICT4. INFLUENCE

* FOCUS IS ALWAYS ON BEHAVIOR *

Psychology’s Big Issues

Stability v. Change

Continuity v. Discontinuity

Nature v. Nurture

Stability v. Change• As the years pass, do

we change or remain the same?

• Do we become adults or are we always just big kids?

• Personality traits, physical appearance, sense of humor, tastes, etc…

Continuity v. Discontinuity• Does growth occur gradually or in stages?

– One continuous process or…– marked by significant transitions?– Stage Theorists

Psychology and other sciences

• Physics: instruments for measuring bodily changes

• Chemistry: how the body’s chemistry relates to mood, performance, and personality disturbance (adrenalin, hormones)– Medications

• Biology: information about sense organs, nervous system, and glands– Brain- basis of human

behavior– Understanding of heredity

Focus is always on??????

BEHAVIOR

Other sciences cont.• Anthropology: the study of the culture, or

way of life of people in all parts of the world– How people learn and are affected by their

surroundings– Gender roles determined by culture not biology

• Sociology: closely related to many areas of psychology– focus mainly on groups– Study of behavior of human groups

Nature v. Nurture• Biology versus Experience• Am I the way I am because I was

born that way or because of my surroundings? Can I ever be like these

people, or does nature give me limitations?

Psychology’s Perspectives

The Big Seven

Neuroscience Perspective

• Focus on how the physical body and brain creates our emotions, memories and sensory experiences.

If you could not remember the names of your parents and went to a psychologist who adheres to the neuroscience perspective, what might they say?

Evolutionary Perspective• Focuses on

Darwinism.• We behave the way

we do because we inherited those behaviors.

• Thus, those behaviors must have helped ensure our ancestors survival.

• Mother nature practicing selective breeding

How could this behavior ensured Homer’s ancestors survival?

Psychodynamic Perspective• Fathered by

Sigmund Freud.

• Our behavior comes from unconscious drives.

• Usually stemming from our childhood.

What might a psychoanalyst say is the reason someone always needs to be chewing gum?

Behavioral Perspective

• Focuses on our OBSERVABLE behaviors.

• Only cares about the behaviors that impair our living, and attempts to change them.

If you bit your fingernails when you were nervous, a behaviorist would not focus on calming you down, but rather focus on how to stop you from biting your nails.

BEHAVIORISTS

• How people learn• Rewards and

punishment

John B. Watson

Cognitive Perspective

• Focuses on how we think (or encode information)

• How do we see the world?

• How did we learn to act to sad or happy events?

• Cognitive Therapist attempt to change the way you think.

Meet girl Get Rejected by girl

Did you learn to be depressed

Or get back on the horse

Social-Cultural Perspective• Focus on how your culture effects your

behavior.

Even in the same high school, behaviors can change in accordance to the various subcultures.

Humanistic Perspective• Focuses on positive growth• Attempt to seek self-actualization• Therapists use active listening and

unconditional positive regard.

Mr. Rogers would have made a great Humanistic Therapist!!!

Approaches cont.• HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY

– people try to achieve their maximum potential (self actualization)

– Promote health and self-growth• ECLECTIC

– Combination of approaches