What is Psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of

behavior and mental

processes.

Psychology attempts to explain, predict, modify,

and ultimately improve

the lives of people and

the world in which they

live.

Psychology is a word deriving from ancient

Greek roots:

Psyche soul or mind,

logia study

Psychology is the study of the mind and

behavior.

Major Subfields of Psychology Subfield Description

Clinical Psychology Studies, diagnosis, causes and treatment of mental disorders

Counseling

Psychology

Assists individuals in dealing with many personal problems

Developmental

Psychology

Studies how people change physically, cognitively and socially over the entire

life span

Educational

Psychology

Studies all aspects of educational process

Experimental

Psychology

Studies all basic psychological processes.

Cognitive Psychology Investigating all aspects of cognition-memory, thinking, reasoning, language,

decision making, and so on.

Industrial/

organizational

Psychology

Studies all aspects of behavior in work setting.

Psychobiology and

evolutionary

Psychology

Investigates biological bases of behavior and the role of evolution in human

behavior

Social Psychology Studies all aspects of social behavior and social thought-how we think about

and interact with others.

Perspectives and its

influential period

Principal

contributor

Subject matter Basic Premise

Behavioral (1913-Present) John B. Watson

Ivan Pavlov

B. F. Skinner

Effects of environment on the

overt behavior of humans and

animals

Only observable events (S-R) can be

studied scientifically

Psychoanalytic (1900-

Present)

Sigmund Freud

Carl Jung

Alfred Adler

Unconscious determinants of

behavior

Unconscious motives and experiences

in early childhood govern personality

and mental disorders

Humanistic(1950s-Present) Carl Rogers

Abraham

Maslow

Unique aspects of human

experience

Human are free, rational beings with

the potential for personal growth, and

they are fundamentally different from

animals

Cognitive (1950s-Present) Jean Piaget

Noam Chomsky

Herbert Simon

Thoughts, Mental processes Human behavior can't be fully

understood without examining how

people acquire, store and process

information

Biological (1950s-Present) James Olds

Roger Sperry

David Hubbel

Torsten Wiesel

Physiological bases of behavior

in humans and animals

An organisms functioning can be

explained in terms of bodily structures

and biochemical processes that

underlie behavior

Evolutionary (1980s-

Present)

David Buss

Martin Daly

Margo Wilson

Leda Cosmides

John Tobby

Evolutionary bases of behavior

in humans and animals

Behavior patterns have evolved to solve

adaptive problems; natural selection

favors behavior that enhance

reproductive success

Overview of Six Contemporary Theoretical Perspective in Psychology

Introduction

to

Cognitive Psychology

Some Questions of Interest

What is cognitive psychology?

How did psychology develop as a science?

How did cognitive psychology develop from psychology?

How have other disciplines contributed to the development of theory and research in cognitive psychology?

What methods do cognitive psychologists use to study how people think?

Cognitive Psychology Is

The study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information.

Problem Solving

Decision

Making

Reasoning

Language

Memory

Attention

Perception

Philosophical Antecedents Rationalist Acquire knowledge

through thinking and logical analysis

Plato (428-348 B.C.), Ren Descartes (1596-1650)

Empiricist Acquire knowledge via

empirical evidence

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), John Locke (1632-1704)

Rationalism

(Descartes) Empiricism

(Locke)

Synthesis:

Both have a role (Kant)

Psychological Antecedents:

The Two Fathers of Psychology?

Structuralism What are the elementary

contents (structures) of the human mind?

Introspection

Functionalism How and why does the

mind work?

Wilhelm Wundt

(1832-1920)

William James(1842-

1910)

Functionalism (James)

Synthesis:

Associationism (Ebbinghaus &

Thorndike)

Structuralism

(Wundt)

Psychological Antecedents

Associationism How can events or ideas

become associated in the

mind? (Ebbinghaus &

Thorndike)

Behaviorism What is the relation between

behavior and

environment?(Pavlov)

Edward Lee Thorndike

(18741949)

Associationism

(Thorndike)

Behaviorism

(Pavlov)

Synthesis:

Radical behaviorism

(Watson & Skinner)

Behaviorism

dominated

until.

Synthesis:

Cognitions should play

an active role in

psychology

(Gestalt, Bandura)

Less radical

behaviorist

cognitive map a

thought!

(Tolman)

Emergence of Cognitive Psychology

Early Role of Psychobiology

Lashley emphasized that the brain actively processes information

Hebb targeted cells as center of learning

Chomskys review of Skinners verbal behavior: reductio ad absurdum

Emergence of Cognitive Psychology

Add a Dash of Technology

End of 1950s: development of computers

Turing test and artificial intelligence

A cognitive revolution occurred and increased interest in the study of mental processes (cognitions)

Data gathering

Data analysis

Theory development

Hypothesis formation

Hypothesis testing

Application to real world

Goals of Research

Research Methods

Controlled experiments

Psychobiological research

Self reports

Case studies

Naturalistic observation

Computer simulations and artificial intelligence

In an Experiment

Manipulate the independent variable

Create experimental group

Create control group

Randomly assign participants

Measure the dependent variable

Same for all groups

Control all other variables

Typical Independent Variables

Characteristics of the situation

Presence vs. absence of a stimulus

Characteristics of the task

Reading vs. listening to words for comprehension

Characteristics of participants

Age differences

Typical Dependent Variables Percent correct/error rate

Accuracy of mental processing

Reaction time (milliseconds)

Speed of mental processing

Correlational Studies

Cannot infer causation

Nature of relationship

Positive correlation

Negative correlation

Strength of relationship

Determined by size of r

Psychobiological Studies

Postmortem studies Examine cortex of dyslexics after death

Brain-damaged individuals and their deficits Study amnesiacs with hippocampus damage

Monitor a participant doing a cognitive task Measure brain activity while a participant is reciting

a poem

Other Methods Self-reports

An individuals own account of cognitive processes

Verbal protocol, diary study

Case studies

In-depth studies of individuals

Genie, Phineas Gage

Naturalistic observation

Studies of cognitive performance in everyday situations outside of the lab

Monitor decision-making of pilots during flights

Computers in Research

Computer simulations of artificial intelligence Recreate human processes using computers

Fundamental Ideas

Theory

Data

Data can only be fully explained with theories, and theories are insufficient

without data thus creating the cycle of

science

Fundamental Ideas

Cognition is typically adaptive, but errors made can be informative

Example: Spoonerisms

A lack of pies (A pack of lies)

Its roaring with pain (Its pouring with rain)

Errors can be used to infer how speech production occurs

Fundamental Ideas

Cognitive processes interact with each other and with noncognitive processes

Emotions may affect decisions

Memory depend on perceptual processes

Learning better when motivated to learn

Fundamental Ideas

Many different scientific methods are used to study cognition

Basic research often leads to important applications, and applied research often

contributes to a more basic understanding of

cognition

Key Issues and Fields within

Cognitive Psychology

Nature Vs. Nurture

Rationalism Vs. Empiricism

Structures Vs. Processes

Validity of causal inferences Vs. Ecological validity

Applied Vs. Basic research

Biological Vs. Behavioral methods