GENPSYCH Chapter 1

Psychology

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes/thought.

Origin of the word “Psychology”

Psyche + Logos

Psyche

Soul/mind, breath, principle of life, life.

Logos

study/reason.

Psychology is both—

a clinical practice and a science.

Behavior

Response/reaction from a stimulus.

Stimulus

Energy coming from the environment.

Covert vs. Overt

Hidden vs. Observable

Normal vs. Abnormal

Behavior that is Accepted vs. Not Accepted by society.

Learned vs. Unlearned

Behavior that is acquired though experience/education vs. innate, inherent, and natural.

Simple Smile (Description)

Teeth is unexposed.

Simple Smile (Occurance)

The person is not participating in any outgoing activity and is smiling to himself.

Upper Smile (Description)

Incisors are shown accompanied by eye-to-eye contact.

Upper Smile (Occurance)

Used as a greeting when encountering friends, family, and loved ones.

Broad Smile (Description)

A smile where both the upper and lower teeth are exposed.

Broad Smile (Occurance)

Situations of pleasurable excitement. Associated with laughter and during play.

Broad Smile is also known as—

Duchenne Smile

Duchenne Smile was named after—

Guillame Duchenne

Guillame Duchenne

19th-century anatomist who studied facial expressions.

Paul Ekman

American Psychologist who is a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relationship to facial expressions.

Lip-in Smile (Description)

The front teeth bite the lower lips.

Lip-in Smile (Occurance)

Commonly seen in the faces of shy or coy individuals. Implies that the person feels subordinate.

Oblong Smile (Description)

Lips are drawn fully back from both the upper and lower teeth, forming an “oblong” with the lips.

Oblong Smile (Occurance)

The person is being polite.

Different Mental Processes

• Thoughts

• Feelings

• Sensation

• Perception

• Memory

• Dream

• Motive

Thoughts

mental conditions(ideas, opinion/attitudes, and beliefs) about ourselves and the world around us.

Feelings

subjective self-contained experiences (can be biased), evaluative (judging), and independent of sensations/thoughts (can be pleasant vs. unpleasant)

Sensation

the process of perceiving through our senses/stimulation of sensory receptors (sight, hearing, taste, smell)

Perception

the way sensory information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced (by the brain)

Memory

specific information or representation of past experience.

Dream

rich array of sensory. Motor, emotional experiences that occurs during sleep.

Motive

a specific physiological or psychological state of arousal that directs an organism’s energies toward a specific goal.

Goals of Psychology

• Description

• Explanation

• Prediction

• Control

Description

Answers the what. “What is the behavior?” Psychologists are always asked to say something about the individual. (Traits, character, personality, behaviors, etc.)

Explanation

Answers the why. “Why would they act that way?” Cause & factors. Psychologists attempt to go beyond the obvious and explain why people act the way they do.

Prediction

By analyzing past behavior, psychologists aim to predict and anticipate how a certain behavior will appear again in the future.

Control

To decrease negative behaviors. (Treatment of mental illnesses and enhancing well-being, etc.)

Foundations of Modern Psychology

• Separated from Philosophy in 19th-century.

• Influences from physiology remain.

Founders of Modern Psychology

• Socrates

• Plato

• Aristotle

Socrates

• Emphasized the importance of self-knowledge and self-understanding, which are said to be relevant in the fields of therapy and psychological research.

• Proposed the two realities; the physical body and the soul/psyche.

Plato

• A student of Socrates who expanded Socrates’ psyche.

• According to him, there are three parts of the psyche.

Plato’s three parts of the Psyche (Lowest to Highest)

• Physical Appetite

• Spirit/Passion

• Reason

Physical Appetite

• Basic biological needs of man.

• hunger, thirst, sexual desire, etc.

Spirit/Passion

• Basic emotions.

• love, anger, ambition, aggressiveness, etc.

Reason

• “The divine essence that lets man think deeply.”

• Provides man with wisdom, allowing them to make wise choices, achieve understanding, and eternal truth.

Aristotle

• A student of Plato.

• Proposed that the mind is a Tabula Rasa (Blank Slate)

• Presented hylomorphism and mentioned that moderation is the key to happiness.

Tabula Rasa

Describes the idea that people begin life as a blank slate onto which experiences are mapped, forming a person.

Wilhelm Wundt

• Philosopher and Physician

• Established the first psychological laboratory in 1879 at the University of Leipzig, Germany. This event is considered as “the birth of Psychology as a science.”

• Applied laboratory techniques to the study of the mind.

Birth of Psychology as a Science

Wilhelm Wundt establishing the first psychological laboratory in 1879 at the University of Leipzig, Germany.

William James

• The Father of American Psychology.

• Proposed Functionalism Theory.

Sigmund Freud

• Proposed the Psychoanalytic Theory

• Oral fixations.

Edward B. Titchener

• Wundt’s student, a professor at Cornell University.

• Expanded the term structuralism.

• Proposed introspection.

Introspection

The examination of one’s own emotional states and mental processes as a major method of data collection.

John B. Watson

• Proponent of the Behavioral Perspective

Max Wertheimer

• Proponent of Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt Psychology

• A school of thought concerned with the organization of mental processes.

• Processing of entire patterns & configurations not as separate parts/components.