PSY 1113
January 17, 2008
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Psychology: the study of behavior and mental processes
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Not a formal discipline until the 19
th
century
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Evolved from philosophy and biology
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Did not rely on empirical evidence
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READ PAGES 15 – 18 on the Roots of Psychology
o
Know trephining, phrenology, Wundt, structuralism,
intospection, James, functionalism, & Gestalt
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1880-1920
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Wundt studied inner sensations through introspection
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Psychology: the science of
mental life
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1900 Freud publishes
Interpretation of Dreams
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1920s – 1960s
o
Watson and the behaviorists thought you should only study
what you can observe
o
Psychology: the science of
observable behavior
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1960s – Present Day
o
Resurging interest in mental processes
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Why?
o
Psychology: the science of
behavior and mental processes
1.
Behavior: anything an organism does; can observe and
record
2.
Mental processes: internal subjective experiences we
infer from behavior
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Psychology in Context
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Post WWII
1.
Obedience, conformity, authoritarian personality,
leadership
o
1950s – 1960s
1.
Self-development and self-actualization
o
1970s
1.
Gender differences
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Present
1. Terrorism
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Major Theoretical Perspective:
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Theory: an explanation using an integrated set on principles that
organizes and predicts observations
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Perspective: a specific point of view in judging things or events
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Neuroscience/ Biological Perspective
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Views behaviors from the perspective of the brain, the nervous
system, and other biological functions
o
Emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions,
feelings, and thoughts
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The perspective involves:
1. Hormones
2.
Brain Chemistry
3. Heredity
4.
Evolutionary influences
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Psychodynamic Perspective
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Emphasizes unconscious dynamics
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Inner forces over which the individual has little control
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Behavioral Perspective
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A psychological approach suggests that observable behavior
should be the focus of study
o
Emphasizes how the environment and experience affect a
person’s or animal’s actions
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Cognitive Perspective
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A psychological approach that focuses on how people think,
understand, and know about the world
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Emphasizes mental processes in
perception
, memory, language,
problem solving, and other areas of behavior
o
This perspective includes:
1.
Intelligence testing
2.
Infant thinking
3.
Computer models of human thinking
January 22, 2008
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Humanistic Perspective
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Approach that suggest that all individuals natural strive to
grow, develop, and be in control of their lives and behavior
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Emphasizes free will
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Positive psychology, flow, ect. stem from this movement
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Psychology’s Key Issues
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Nature vs. nurture
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Does environment or heredity have stronger influence on our
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?
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Consciousness vs. unconsciousness
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How much of our behavior is produced by forces of which we
are fully aware?
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