• Psychology is known as the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context or the science of behaviour and mental processes

• Critical thinking is known as the scientific attitude that prepares us to think smarter and harder

  • Curiosity

  • Skepticism

  • Humility

Psychology is Born

• Tabula Rasa is a blank slate

• William James wrote the principles of psychology

• Wilhelm Wundt - created the first psychological laboratory, staffed by Wundt and psychology’s first graduate students

  • In 1833, Wundt’s American Student, G. Stanley Hall went on to establish the first formal U.S. psychology laboratory, at John Hopkins University

• Structuralism

  • Edward Bradford Titchener joined the Cornell University faculty and introduced structuralism

  • Structuralism is an early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener, it used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind

    • Introspection

      • looking inward

• Functionalism

  • the study of down-to-earth emotions, memories, willpower, habits, and moment-to-moment streams of consciousness

  • this was coined by philosopher-psychologist William James under the influence of evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin

• Psychology’s first woman was Mary Whiton Calkins

• The first official female psychology Ph.D. was Margaret Floy Washburn

• Behaviourism

  • was coined by John B. Watson and later B.F. Skinner

  • this was known as the study of observable behaviour without reference to mental processes

  • the view that psychology should be an objective science

  • many agreed that behaviorism was one of the two major forces in psychology

• Sigmund Freud coined Psychoanalytic psychology

• Humanistic psychology

  • led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

    • they found both behaviourism and Freudian psychology too limiting

  • A historically significant perspective that emphasized the human growth potential

• Cognitive psychology is the study of mental processes such as occur when perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate and solve problems

• Cognitive neuroscience is the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition

• The nature-nurture issue is the longstanding controversy over the relative contribution that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviours. Today’s science sees traits and behaviours arising from the interaction of nature and nurture

• Natural selection is the 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

• Evolutionary psychology is the study of the evolution of behaviour and the mind, using principles of natural selection

• Behaviour genetics - the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behaviour

• Culture is the enduring behaviours, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

• Positive psychology is the scientific study of human flourishing, with the 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

• Behavioural psychology - the scientific study of observable behaviour, and its explanation by principles of learning

• Biological psychology - the scientific study of the links between biological and psychological processes

• Psychodynamic psychology - a branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behaviour and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders

• Social-culture psychology - the study of how situations and cultures affect our behaviour and thinking

• SQ3R is a study method incorporating five steps

  • survey

  • question

  • read

  • retrieve

  • review

• Psychometrics is the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes and traits

• Developmental psychology is a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan

• Educational psychology is the study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning

• Counselling psychology is a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being

• Clinical psychology is a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders