The Science of Psychology

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

What is a Psychologist?

Where are the Psychologists?

Fields in Psychology

Fields in Psychology

Potential Research Questions

What are the genetic contributors to depression?

What are the best treatment methods for people who suffer from extreme anxiety?

How does brain damage affect an individual’s ability to speak?

Why are some people good at reading maps?

Potential Research Questions

How can psychologists help college students make career choices?

How can we improve the communication between people from eastern and western cultures?

What happens to short-term memory as people get older?

Potential Research Questions

What qualities make for effective teachers?

What are the origins of human jealousy? How can we predict whether a person will

commit a dangerous crime? How can people be encouraged to

develop healthier diets?

Potential Research Questions

What factors make a good manager? Do lonely people have low self-esteem? Are women less likely to be hired as

executives than are men? What tests are best at identifying children

with learning disorders?

Jobs Held by Psychology Majors

Classical Roots of Psychology

Plato and Aristotle 1800s – psychology as a science

Scientific Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt1879, Leipzig, Germany Introspection

StructuralismTitchenerStructure of the mindSystematic introspection

Scientific Psychology (con’t)

FunctionalismFunction vs. structureDifferences rather than similarities

Gestalt“form quality”Whole > sum of partsMax Wertheimer

Contemporary Approaches

BehaviorismJohn WatsonObservable Behavior

Cognitive Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic

FreudHysteria

Contemporary Approaches

Humanistic Carl Rogers Abraham Maslow Positive Psychology

Biological Evolutionary/Sociobiological Sociocultural Multiple Perspectives