Module 1 – What is psychology?

Module 1 – What is psychology?

Introduction
So begins the adventure of learning about psychology. If you follow the study schedule and
the process set out for completing each study module, you should find success in this course
comes easily. Go well!

Overview
Those of you who have not studied psychology before may have come into this course with a
view that psychologists are men and women who wear white coats and spend most of their
time counselling people with problems. While there certainly are psychologists who do
spend most of their time counselling clients, psychology is a much broader field than such a
description implies.

As noted in chapter 1 of your textbook, psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and
mental processes, and there are many subfields in which an individual psychologist may
choose to work. In this module, we will be looking briefly at these different subfields and the
major approaches to the study of psychology. Some of these subfields and approaches will be
discussed at greater length in later modules.

Module objectives
At the completion of this module, you should be able to do the following:

Defining psychology
a. Define psychology.
b. Define biopsychology.
c. Define cross-cultural psychology.
d. Discuss the following philosophical issues: Free will versus determinism, nature versus
nurture, rationalism versus empiricism, reason versus emotion, continuity versus
discontinuity, individualism versus relationality, conscious versus unconscious, and
mental versus physical.
e. Outline the key figures and propositions of the two early schools of psychology:
structuralism and functionalism.

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Perspectives in psychology
a. Define paradigm.
b. Outline the key figures, basic principles, metaphors and methods of the major theoretical
perspectives in psychology: the psychodynamic, behaviourist, humanistic, cognitive, and
evolutionary perspectives.
c. Describe the process of natural selection.

Psychology in Australia and New Zealand

a. Describe the education and training required to practise as a psychologist in Australia.
b. Explain the functions of the major subdisciplines in psychology.
c. Outline the roles of professional associations for psychologists.
d. Describe some of the career options available for psychology graduates.

Reading activity
Now read Chapter 1 of your textbook (Burton, Westen, & Kowalski, 2009).

As you read, stop at the end of each section and answer the questions in the
Learning Objectives section of the Study Guide that accompanies the text. This
will help you complete a summary of the main points.

Presentation
The lecture should help consolidate your understanding of the material in this
module. Take some time now to listen to the recorded lecture. It has been
recorded in 3 parts for more convenient listening. Click on the links on the
StudyDesk.

Module 1 part 1

Module 1 part 2

Module 1 part 3

Self assessment 1.1

Test your understanding by completing the Chapter 1 – Multiple Choice Quiz.

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Learning activity (optional)

Activity: Myths and misconceptions about psychology and

human nature
Background reading

● Chapter 1 of Burton, Westen, and Kowalski (2009) textbook.

Aim

This activity is designed to illustrate the importance of perspectives in

psychology. Consider the simple perceptual phenomenon shown in the pictures
below.

Do the following figures depict a vase? Or do they depict the profiles of two
faces? The answer depends on your perspective on the whole picture. Were we
not to impose some perspective on this figure, we would see nothing but patches
of black and white.

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Figure 1.1: Illustration of perspective

(Source: Wellman, P. J. (2002). Instructor’s manual to accompany Psychology: brain behavior, and culture
(3rd ed., p. 15). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)

Background
A key point made in the discussion of psychological perspectives is that two persons can
view the same object and hold different understandings of that object. For example, two
scientists can view a subject such as language. One might see this topic as the result of

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learning while a second scientist might see the impact of innate language acquisition
mechanisms.

The face-vase figure shown above helps to illustrate the importance of perspectives for
perception and understanding. Note how minor changes to the image can bias the perception
toward experiencing the face or the vase.

Survey
This survey makes you think about various issues studied by psychologists. Consider your
perspectives on each of these issues.

Please evaluate each of the following statements as either True (T) or False (F).

1. ______ Familiarity breeds contempt.

2. ______ Lower animals are motivated only by basic drives involving hunger or sex.
3. ______ Everyone dreams.
4. ______ Opposites attract.
5. ______ Practice can easily be used to improve memory.
6. ______ Hypnosis can be used to help people accurately recall a crime scene.
7. ______ Actions speak louder than words.
8. ______ Psychologists typically use psychoanalysis to understand people.
9. ______ Schizophrenia involves a split in personality.
10. ______ Women are more aggressive than are men.
11. ______ You are most likely to get help from a bystander if there are only a few people
nearby.
12. ______ Dream analysis can reveal the latent causes of psychological disorder.
13. ______ Most persons would refuse to take part in a study in which they were asked to
deliver lethal levels of electric shock to another person.

Scoring for the survey

Your current perceptions of the following issues have been partly shaped by your past
experiences. Your current understanding of each psychological issue will therefore develop
as you learn more about each topic. Keep this in mind as you continue to read the remaining
topics of your Psychology textbook.

1. False. Exposure to stimuli results in increased preferences for those objects.

2. False. Animals appear to be motivated by higher needs such as curiosity and affiliation.
3. True. Everyone does dream.
4. False. We are more likely to fall in love with a person who is similar to us.
5. False. Practice will not improve memory.

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6. False. People will recall some forgotten details, but are also susceptible to recalling
information that did not occur.
7. True. Actions may not be predicted by what people say.
8. False. Psychologists use a variety of technique to understand people.
9. False. Schizophrenia is a disorder of thought, language, and emotion.
10. False. Men are more aggressive than women.
11. True. Larger crowds lead to less intervention.
12. False. Dream analysis may not reveal dream meaning.
13. False. Milgram found that a large number of participants would deliver lethal shocks to a
‘learner’.

Self assessment 1.2

Review your learning by completing the Chapter 1 – Glossary Quiz.

Additional reading (optional)

If you are interested in finding out more about the topics covered in this module, the
following books are available in the USQ library:

Brennan, J. F. (1995). Readings in the history and systems of psychology. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall.

Hothersall, D. (1995). History of psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Koocher, G. P., & Keith-Spiegal, P. (1998). Ethics in psychology: Professional standards

and cases. New York: Oxford University.

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Internet resources
You can access the Burton, Westen, & Kowalski (2009) Web site to learn more about the
topics found in each chapter of your textbook. Type the following URL into your web
browser:

<http://www.johnwiley.com.au/highered/psych>

In addition to the study materials provided for this course, and the textbooks you have
purchased, you might find the following sites helpful. The URLs for each site have been
grouped as much as possible according to the module to which they apply. Several other sites
of general interest have been included also.

I would be interested in any feedback you have to offer on how useful (or otherwise) you
consider these resources to be.

Module 1: What is Psychology?

<http://www.psywww.com/resource/bytopic.htm#history> (accessed 5/11/08)

<http://www.psy.uwa.edu.au/> (accessed 5/11/08)

<http://www.langara.bc.ca/psychology/> (accessed 5/11/08)

General references
The following URLs can be included as a general search engine for those modules where
only a couple of web sites are listed.

<http://www.princeton.edu/~psychlib/links.htm> (accessed 5/11/08)

<http://www.psywww.com/resource/bytopic.htm> (accessed 5/11/08)

(This allows the search by psychology topic.)

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