Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology

The Nature of Psychology

• Psychology: the scientific study of behavior and the mind
  • Behavior refers to the actions and responses that we can directly observe
  • Mind refers to internal states and processes-such as thoughts and feelings- that can’t be seen directly and that must be inferred from observable, measurable responses.
• Clinical Psychology: the study and treatment of mental disorders
  • Clinical psychologists diagnose and treat people with psychological problems in clinical, hospitals, and private practice
• Cognitive Psychology: specializes in the study of mental processes, especially from a model that views the mind as an information processor
• Biopsychology: focuses on the biological underpinnings of behavior
• Developmental Psychology:  examines the human physical, psychological, and social development across the lifespan
• Experimental Psychology: focuses on basic processes such as learning, sensory systems (e.g., vision, hearing), perception, and motivational states (e.g., sexual motivation, hunger, thirst).
• Industrial-Organizational(I/O) Psychology: examines people’s behavior in the workplace
• Personality Psychology:  focuses on the study of human personality
• Social Psychology: examines people’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior pertaining to the social world: the world of other people

Psychology’s Scientific Approach

• Science is a process that involves systematically gathering and evaluating empirical evidence to answer questions and test beliefs about the natural world.

  • Empirical evidence is evidence gained through experience and observation; it includes evidence obtained from manipulating or “tinkering around” with things and then observing what happens.

• Thinking Critically about Behavior

  • Critical thinking involves actively understanding the world around you rather than merely receiving information.
  • It is essential to reflect on what that info means

• Goals of Psychology

  • Psychology has four central goals: description, explanation, control, and application

Basic and Applied Research

• Basic Research: which reflects the quest for knowledge for its own sake
• Applied Research: which is designed to solve specific, practical problems

Perspectives on Behavior

• Perspectives serve as lenses through which psychologists examine and interpret behavior
• Psychology’s Intellectual Roots
  • Early influences from John Locke and other philosophers from the School of British Empiricism
  • Held that all ideas and knowledge are gained empirically, that is, through the senses.
• Early Schools: Structuralism and Functionalism
  • Structuralism: the analysis of the mind in terms of its basic elements
  • Functionalism: which held that psychology should study the functions of consciousness rather than its elements
• The Psychodynamic Perspective: The Forces Within
  • Psychodynamic Perspective: searches for the causes of behavior within the inner workings of our personality (our unique pattern of traits, emotions, and motives) , emphasizing the role of unconscious processes
  • Psychoanalysis: the analysis of internal and primarily unconscious psychological forces
• The Behavioural Perspective: The Power of the Environment
  • Behavioral Perspective: Focuses on the role of the external environment in governing our actions
  • Behaviorism: a school of thought that emphasizes environmental control of behavior through learning
  • Cognitive Behaviorism: which proposes that learning experiences and the environment influence our expectations and other thoughts and, in turn, that our thoughts influence how we behave
• The Humanistic Perspective: Self-Actualization and Positive Psychology
  • The Humanistic Perspective(Humanism):  emphasized free will, personal growth, and the attempt to find meaning in one’s existence
  • Positive Psychology Movement: which emphasizes the study of human strengths, fulfillment, and optimal living
• The Cognitive Perspective: The Thinking Human
  • Cognitive Perspective: examines the nature of the mind and how mental processes influence behavior
  • Cognitive Neuroscience: uses sophisticated electrical recording and brain-imaging techniques to examine brain activity while people engage in cognitive tasks.
• The Sociocultural Perspective: The Embedded Human
  • Sociocultural Perspective: examines how the social environment and cultural learning influence our behavior, thoughts, and feelings
  • Norms: rules (often unwritten) that specify what behavior is acceptable and excepted for members of the group
  • Cultural Psychology (sometimes called cross-cultural psychology): how culture is transmitted to its members and examines psychological similarities and differences among people from diverse cultures
• The Biological Perspective: The Brain, Genes, and Evolution
  • Biological Perspective: examines how brain processes and other bodily functions regulate behavior
  • Behavioral Neuroscience: which examines brain processes and other physiological functions that underlie our behavior, sensory experiences, emotions, and thoughts
  • Neurotransmitters: chemicals released by nerve cells that allow them to communicate with one another
  • Behavior Genetics: the study of how behavioral tendencies are influenced by genetic factors
  • Evolutionary psychology: seeks to explain how evolution shaped modern human behavior