Psych Day 1

Psychology is the discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s external and internal environment. Type shi

Commonly confused with Pop psychology. Scientific psychology is based on research and empirical evidence.

Psychologists have beef with astrologers and psychics

Pseudopsychologies: unscientific psychology (astrologers and psychics aka Reigan from mob psycho)

People believe in this for three reasons

Uncritical acceptance (we don't take time to process information)

Confirmation bias (quick to trust because aligns with beliefs)

Common sense Problem

Psychologists predict behavior by forming hypotheses and testing scientists

Common sense problem

Birds of the feather flock tgt

Opposites attract

Three ways of doing psychology

Experimental psychologists

Teacher of psychology

Applied psychology

Psychotherapists os an unregulated term for anyone who does any kind of psychotherapy (could have no credentials or training at all)

Licensed therapists differ according to their training and approach

Critical thinking helps people evaluate competing findings on psychological issues that are personally or socially important

Empiricism: knowledge is derived from sensory experience

Willhelm Wundt is the founder of scientific psychology

Structuralism: breaking the mind into separate parts (Edward Tichener)

William james created functionalism (why do we think the way we do)

Evolutionary psychology: why do we have a need to belong? What contributes to attraction? What explains gender differences?

Behaviorism: people seek pleasure and avoid pain

Socio-cultual theory: groups define what is normal and what is normal determines thought and behaviors.

Psychoanalytic perspective: there is more to us than we think (more to us than what we are consciously thinking) “unconscious mind”

Cognitive perspective: how we think, problem solve, belief formation.

Personality psychology: behavior is a product of personality and situation

Feminist psychology: analyzes the influence of social inequalities on gender relation and behaviors of the two sexes.