PSY 01- Introduction to Psychology

MODULE 1: THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY

“PSYCHOLOGY IS A SUBJECT OF LIFE, DEATH AND IN-BETWEENS”

SANTASH KALUAN

MODULE OVERVIEW

Module 1 provides an introduction and overview of the historical development of

the science of Psychology. By exploring the past, students will be better able to
understand how psychology has developed into the discipline we know today.
Learning Outcomes:

● Define Psychology as a field of study and its four primary goals

● Identify key individuals and events in the history of Psychology
● Describe and differentiate the different schools of thought in psychology
● Develop a basic understanding of the processes of scientific development and
change
● Describe the basic ideas behind the seven modern perspectives

A. What is Psychology?

Greek word psyche means soul, and it is often represented as a butterfly. The

word psychology was coined at a time when the concepts of soul and mind were not
as clearly distinguished (Green, 2001). The root –ology denotes scientific study of, and
psychology refers to the scientific study of the mind. Since science studies only
observable phenomena and the mind is not directly observable, we expand this
definition to the scientific study of mind and behavior.

Psychology: The scientific study of mental processes and behavior.

Mental processes: anything the brain is capable of doing (thinking, learning, believing,
forming attitudes, imagining, etc.).

Behavior can mean most any activity (blinking, sweating, smoking, etc.

Psychology Goals

1. Description: What is happening?

2. Explanation: Why it is happening?

3. Prediction: When will it happen again?

4. Control: How can it be changed?

B. History of Psychology

1. Wilhelm Wundt and the School of Structuralism (1832-1920) “the father of

Psychology”

The formal development of modern psychology is

usually credited to the work of German physician, physiologist, and philosopher
Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920). Wundt helped to establish the field of experimental
psychology by serving as a strong promoter of the idea that psychology could be an
experimental field and by providing classes, textbooks, and a laboratory for training
students. In 1875, he joined the faculty at the University of Leipzig and quickly began to
make plans for the creation of a program of experimental psychology. In 1879, he
complemented his lectures on experimental psychology with a laboratory experience:
an event that has served as the popular date for the establishment of the science of
psychology. Students were trained to offer detailed self-reports of their reactions to
various stimuli, a procedure known as introspection. The goal was to identify the
elements of consciousness.

- To apply scientific principles for study of human mind and behavior, established
the first laboratory in Germany,1879.
- Proposed School of Structuralism: approach of psychology that mind consists
of three basic elements – sensations, feelings, and images.
- Believed brain was made of up of nonphysical elements – thoughts, emotions,
experiences, feelings, etc. Subjects required to look inward (introspection) to
describe their emotions or feelings.

2. William James and the School of Functionalism (1842-1910) Harvard professor;

pioneer of American psychology.

- Consciousness – awareness - is a stream of everchanging thoughts; impossible to

break it down into individual elements.

- Most interested how humans function (School of Functionalism Psychology) and

adapt to and organize their environment. Thinking developed because it is adaptive.
 - Adaptive behaviors become habits

- Like physical traits, useful behavioral traits could be passed to future generations.

3. Gestalt Germany, 1930s

- School of Gestalt Psychology: emphasizing how we organize information wholes

and integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns.

- Focus on perception – the organization and interpretation of stimuli received and

within its context on how it influences behavior and problem solving.

- “Perceptions are more than the sum of their parts.”

4. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Psychoanalysis

- Austrian, develops first complex personality theory.

- School of Psychoanalysis Psychology: importance of unconscious motives and

conflicts as determinants of human behavior.

- Humans are motivated by primitive sexual drives, forbidden desires, and traumatic
childhood experiences. Focused on the effects of these conflicts – buried in the
unconscious – on our conscious.

- “The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one seventh of its bulk above water.”

5. John B. Watson (1878-1958) Behaviorism

- One of the first American psychologists to study the impact of learning on human
emotion.

- Made scientific inquiry a primary focus of research.

- School of Behaviorism: study of observable behavior and studies the relationship

between stimuli and responses.

- We feel or do because of the association we have made.

- “Give me a dozen healthy infants, …to take any one at random and train him to
become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and,
yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents.”

C. Psychologists vs. Psychiatrists

Psychologists: study the physical and the psychological aspects of behavior

- Research Psychologists: study the origin, cause or results of behaviors

- Applied Psychologists: make use of findings of research psychologists

Psychiatrists: medical doctors with training to treat medical disorders

D. Subfields of Psychology
1. Clinical: diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders

2. Counseling: Clinical: diagnosis and treatment of less severe problems

3. Developmental: changes over a life span

4. Experimental: conducting research and studies

5. Social: behavior affected by presence of others

6. Personality: comparing and contrasting personalities

7. Physiological: Finding biological reasons for behavior

8. Industrial/Organizational: Relationship between people and their work environment

E. Modern Approaches Used in Psychology Today

1. Biopsychological Approach - views behaviors as the result of nervous system

functions and biology.

- Advantages: Understanding biological aspects of behavior can help in developing

medical treatment for some disorders; observable behavior.

- Hormones, heredity, brain chemicals, tumors, etc.

- Disadvantages: It does little to explain social influences on behavior.

2. Behavioral Approach – ( B.F. Skinner John B. Watson) behavior is product of

learning and associations.

- Advantages: It can help parents teach children appropriate behavior; strengthening

or weakening observable behaviors.

- Classical and Operant Conditioning

- Disadvantages: It takes away our “free will.”

3. Humanistic Approach (Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow) - people are basically
good and capable of helping themselves.

- Advantages: The “human potential;” It gives people power over their own lives and
behavior; the importance of environment.

- Achieving “self actualization – the ideal self.

- Disadvantages: No one is good all the time.

4. Psychoanalytic Approach (Sigmund Freud) - a system that views the individual as

the product of unconscious forces.

- Advantages: A framework for examining thought process below the consciousness.

 - Less emphasis today on early childhood experiences and more on the motivations
behind behavior.

- Disadvantages: It focuses on how people are only products of mostly negative

unconscious impulses.

5. Cognitive Approach - emphasizes how humans use mental processes to handle

problems or develop certain personality characteristics.

- Advantages: It analyzes how thoughts affects behavior; how information is stored,

recalled and utilized.

- Use of brain scanning technology to observe the living brain.

- Disadvantages: It downplays the role of emotions.

6. Sociocultural Approach - behavior is strongly influenced by the rules and

expectations of specific social groups or cultures.

- Advantages: It helps psychologists to counsel people from different cultures and to

understand social influences on behavior.

- Peer pressures and expectations of a culture – how to look, act behave.

- Disadvantages: It does not address physiological influences on behavior.

7. Eclecticism - process of making your own system by borrowing from other systems;

F. Research Methods, Ethics and Statistics

1. Methods of Research

a. Laboratory Study

Advantages: Researcher can be completely objective; Method usually provides

accurate information.

Disadvantage: Setting is somewhat artificial, may not reflect the “real world”.

b. Field Study

Advantage: Setting is more realistic than in a laboratory.

Disadvantage: It is often difficult to control all variables.

c. Survey Method
 Advantages: Researcher can gather information on feelings, opinions and
behavior patterns; Results can be amazingly accurate.

Disadvantages: Survey’s sample may not be representative of population as a

whole; Questions used may not be phrased objectively; Interpretation of results may be
distorted.

d. Naturalistic Observation –

Advantage: Behavior studied is completely natural.

Disadvantage: Researcher cannot interpret with subjects and may interpret

subjects’ responses incorrectly.

e. Interview

Advantage: Researcher can obtain personal detailed information.

Disadvantages: Subjects’ responses may not be completely honest;

Researcher’s biases can influence behavior.

f. Case Study Method

Advantage: Method provide background information that may shed light on

present behavior.

Disadvantages : Subjects’ responses may not be completely honest;

Researcher’s biases can influence behavior.

g. Psychological Test

Advantage: Tests provide accurate, objective information- there is little chance

of distorting results

Disadvantage: Tests are limited in the amount of information they can obtain.

h. Longitudinal Method

Advantage: Method provides information needed for certain kinds of research,

such as studies on development.

Disadvantage: Method is expensive and time consuming.

i. Experimental Procedure

- hypothesis: the results an experimenter expects

- subjects: focus on the experiment

- Independent and Dependent variables

- control group: subjects who do not participate in experiment

- placebo: a “sugar pill;” given to some in experiment to measure

 - experimental group: subjects who participate in experiment

G. Statistics: The Difficulty of Interpretation

- validity: Does test/study measure what it is supposed to measure?

- reliability: Test produces the same scores each time it is given.

- bias: Personal or sometimes unreasonable judgment that can affect results or

interpretation of results.

H. Writing A Hypothesis

- Should be: TESTABLE, DEFINEABLE, OBJECTIVE

“Smart people are more open-minded and flexible”.

“People with an IQ greater than 130 are more likely to try a new flavor of ice cream.

I. Ethics in Psychology

1. Subject must have the right to decline participation.

2. Openness and honesty are essential to experimentation.

3. Information obtained about a subject is confidential.

4. “Do no harm.” Examine potential risks.

5. Debrief

References:

Ciccarelli, Saundra K. and J. Noland White. Psychology. Fourth Edition

Coon, Dennis and Mitterer, John O. (2016), Introduction to Psychology Getways to mind
and Behavior 4th Edition, Cenage learning Inc., ISBN : 978 -1-305-09187-0.

Hoeksema, Susan Nolen, Fredrickson,Barbara L., Loftus, Geoff R., WAgeenar, Willem
A., Atkinson’s and Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology, ISBN: 13:978-1844807284.

A. Check your Knowledge

1. John Watson was the founder of the school of thought that became known as
__________.
a. functionalism
b. structuralism
c. behaviorism
d. humanism
2. Freud's theories differed radically from the views of his predecessors because of
__________.
a. its extensive use of laboratory research to support its claims
b. the emphasis it placed on Eastern philosophies and culture
c. the emphasis it placed on unconscious processes
d. its emphasis on environmental learning as the source for most personality
characteristics
3. . Which of the following is NOT associated with Gestalt psychology?
a. Koffka
b. James
c. Wertheimer
d. Kohler
4. Studying the elements of sensations, feelings, and images is most directly associated
with which school of psychology?
a. structuralism
b. functionalism
c. behaviorism
d. humanism
5. Watson felt that psychologists should study __________.
a. consciousness
b. observable behavior
c. mental imagery
d. elements of thought
6. Which school of psychology assumes that human activity cannot be broken down into
separate units for analysis but must be evaluated as wholes?
a. humanism
b. Gestalt
c. functionalism
d. behaviorism
7. Naturalistic observation is ____________________.
a. re-creating natural conditions in the laboratory as closely as possible to make an
experiment more valid
b. studying behavior in its natural context
c. basically the same process as objective introspection
d. observing behavior in the lab without taking formal notes or using technological
equipment to measure the experiment findings
8. Which of the following types of psychologists is most prepared to help a person who
hears voices and believes she is Joan of Arc?
a. forensic
b. counseling
c. school
d. clinical
9. Humanistic psychologists believe that:
a. humans are basically destructive and must constantly fight negative impulses.
b. psychologists should study only objective events such as stimuli and behaviors.
c. people are basically good and will generally strive to achieve positive social goals.
d. none of the above
10. Psychologists use techniques based on ___________.
a. cultural ethnocentrism
b. objective introspection
c. philosophical logic
d. the scientific method

B. Analysis/Application

1. How did the School of Structuralism differ from the School of Functionalism?
2. Present the basic ideas behind the seven modern approaches used in Psychology
today.
3. Why is Psychology considered a science, and what are the steps in using the
scientific method?
4. What is the difference between independent variable and dependent variable?
Present a research problem, and identify the dependent and independent variables.