Meyers Psychology for the AP Course 3rd Edition: UNIT 1

Meyers Psychology for the AP Course 3rd Edition: UNIT 1

UNIT 1: Psychology's History and Approaches

  • psychology - the science of behavior and mental processes
    • behavior - anything an organism does; any action we can observe and record
    • mental processes - the internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior ─ sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings

Module 1: Psychology and Its History

- The Scientific Attitude:

  • Curiosity: asking questions and have doubts (Does it work?)
  • Skepticism: sifting reality from fantasy and demanding evidence (How do you know?)
  • Humility: willing to be surprised and follow new ideas, accepting incorrect predictions
  • critical thinking - thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions; examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions

- Prescientific Psychology: 

  1. Socrates (469-399 BCE): mind is separate from body; knowledge is innate (born with us)
  2. Plato (428-348 BCE): agrees with Socrates and added that mind continues after death      
  3. Aristotle (384-322 BCE): data is needed; knowledge comes from observations so it is not innate or preexisting
  4. René Decartes (1595-1650): agreed with Socrates and Plato of innate ideas; believed that brain fluids flows through nerves to muscles
  5. Francis Bacon (1561-1626): founder of modern science; empiricism
  • empiricism - an idea that knowledge comes from experience; observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge

       6. John Locke (1632-1704): argued that the mind is a tabula rasa (a “blank slate”); experience writes mind

- Psychology Milestones: 

  • William Wundt (1832-1920): established the first psychology laboratory at University of Leipzig, Germany
    • Measured “atoms of the mind” ─ the fastest and simplest mental processes
  • G. Stanley Hall: established the first formal U.S. psychology laboratory, at Johns Hopkins University

- Psychology’s First Schools of Thought:

STRUCTURALISM

  • structuralism - an early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal structure of the human mind (STRUCTURE OF MIND)
  • Edward Bradford Titchener (1867-1927): used introspection to search for the mind’s structural elements
  • introspection - the process of looking inward in to directly observe one’s own psychological processes (SUBJECTIVE and not objective)

FUNCTIONALISM

  • functionalism - an early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function─how they enable and adapt, survive, and flourish (FUNCTION OF THINGS)
  • William James (1842-1910): teacher-writer who authored Principles of Psychology (1890)
  • Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930): mentored by James; became a pioneering memory researcher and first woman president of the American Psychological Association
  • Margaret Floy Washburn (1871-1939): first woman to receive psychology Ph.D. and synthesized animal behavior research in The Animal Mind (1908)

BEHAVIORISM

  • behaviorism - the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes; today most agree with (1) but not (2)
  • John B. Watson (1878-1958): championed psychology as scientific study of behavior and worked on controversial study with Rosalie Rayner (1898-1935) on a baby who became famous as “Little Albert” which showed that fear could be learned.
  • B.F. Skinner (1904-1990): leading behaviorist that rejected introspection and studied how consequences shape behavior

FREUDIAN (PSYCHOANALYTIC) PSYCHOLOGY

  • freudian (psychoanalytic) psychology - emphasized ways our unconscious mind and childhood experiences affect our behavior 
  • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): personality theorist and therapist; influenced humanity’s self-understanding with controversial ideas of psychoanalytic psychology

HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY

  • humanistic psychology - a historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential
  • Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow: focused on our potential for personal growth rather than on conditioned responses or childhood memories

- Today's Psychology Approaches:

  • cognition - how our mind processes and retains information
  • cognitive psychology - study of mental processes, when we perceive, learn, remember think, communicate, and solve problems
  • cognitive neuroscience - study of the brain activity linked with cognition, including perception, thinking, memory, and language
  • Ivan Pavlov: Russian psychologist who pioneered study of learning 
  • Jean Piaget: Swiss biologist who observed children
    • These two "Magellans of the mind" illustrated the diversity of psychology's origins
  • evolutionary psychology - study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection
  • nature-nurture issue - longstanding controversy over relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
    • Nurture works on what nature provides
  • Charles Darwin (1809-1882): argued that natural selection shapes behaviors and bodies
  • natural selection - principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
  • behavior genetics - study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior
  • culture - shared behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions that one generation passes on to the next
  • positive psychology - study of human flourishing; goal of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities thrive
  • biopsychosocial approach - an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural viewpoints
  • behavioral perspective - the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning
  • biological perspective - the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes (some biological psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists)
  • psychodynamic perspective - a branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders
  • social-cultural perspective - the study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking

- Study Techniques:

  • get a full night’s sleep
  • make space for exercise
  • have a “growth mindset”
  • set long-term goals, with daily aims
  • prioritize relationships
  • distribute your study time
  • process class information actively
  • overlearn
  • testing effect - enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information AKA retrieval practice effect/test-enhanced learning
  • SQ3R - study method incorporating five steps: 
    • Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, Review:
      • Survey: scan the headings
      • Question: try to answer each question before reading
      • Read: actively search for the answer to the question while reading; take notes
      • Retrieve: test yourself to retain information and the main ideas
      • Review: read over your notes

- Subfields in Psychology:

  • psychometrics - scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits
  • basic research - pure science that aims to increase scientific knowledge base
    • biological psychologists explore the links between body and mind
    • cognitive psychologists study human thinking (perception, language, attention, problem solving, memory, judgement and decision making, forgetting, and intelligence)
  • developmental psychology - branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, abd social change throughout the lifespan
    • developmental psychologists study our changing abilities from womb to tomb
  • educational psychology - study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning
    • educational psychologists study influences on teaching and learning
  • personality psychology - study of individuals’ characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting
    • personality psychologists investigate our persistent traits
  • social psychology - scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
    • social psychologists explore how we view and affect one another
  • applied research - scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
  • industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology - application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces
    • I/O psychologists help organizations and companies select and train employees, boost morale and productivity, design products, and implement systems
  • human factors psychology - field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use
    • human factors psychologists focus on the interaction of people, machines, and physical environments

- Helping Professions:

  • counseling psychology - branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being
    • counseling psychologists help people cope with challenges and crises and improve their personal and social functioning
  • clinical psychology - branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders
    • clinical psychologists assess and treat people with mental, emotional, and behavior disorders
  • psychiatry - branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by licensed physicians to provide medical treatments and psychological therapy
    • psychiatrists may provide psychotherapy and are medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and treat physical causes of psychological disorders
  • community psychology - branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups
    • community psychologists work to create social and physical environments that are healthy for all 

- Other Subfields:

  • experimental psychologists investigate variety of basic behavioral processes in humans and other animals
  • psychometric and quantitative psychologists study math-related methods used to acquire psychological knowledge
  • forensic psychologists apply psychological principles to legal issues
  • environmental psychologists study interaction of individuals with their natural and built (urban) environments
  • health psychologists contribute to promoting health and preventing disease
  • neuropsychologists investigate relationship between neurological processes (the structure and function of the brain) and behavior
  • rehabilitation psychologists work with people who have lost optimal functioning after an accident, illness, or other event
  • school psychologists involved in the assessment of and intervention for children in educational settings
  • sport psychologists study psychological factors that influence, and are influenced by, participation in sports and other physical activities