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chapter 1
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1Psychology as a Science
Psychology is defined as the
scientific study of behavior and mental
processes.

II.
III.
A.

B.

What Psychologists Do
What Psychologists Do:
1. Pure research
2. Applied research
3. Practice psychology
4. Teaching
Fields of Psychology
1. Clinical psychology: help people
with psychological disorders
adjust to the demands of life.
2. Counseling psychology: similar
to clinical psychology but clients
typically have adjustment
problems and not serious
psychological disorders.
3. School psychologists: employed
by school systems to assist
students with problems that
interferes with learning. One focus
is that of placement of students in
special classes.
4. Educational psychologists: like
school psychologists, attempt to
facilitate learning but focus on
course planning, instructional
methods.
5. Developmental psychologists:
study the changes, physical,
cognitive, social and personality,
that occur throughout the life
span.
6. Personality psychologists:
focus on identifying and
measuring human traits,
determining influences on human
thought processes, feelings, and
behavior and explaining
psychological disorders.
7. Social psychologists: primarily
concerned with individuals
thoughts, feelings, and behavior in
social situations.
8. Environmental psychologists:
study the ways in which people

and the environment influence

one another.
9. Experimental psychologists:
conduct experiments and
specialize in basic processes such
as the nervous system, sensation
and perception, learning and
memory, thought, motivation, and
emotion.
10. Industrial psychologists: focus
on the relationship between
people and work.
11. Organizational psychologists
focus on the relationship between
people and organizations such as
business.
12. Human factors psychologists:
provide suggestions and create
technical systems such as
dashboards, computer keyboards,
etc. to be more user-friendly.
13. Consumer psychologists: study
the behavior of shoppers in an
effort to predict and influence
their behavior.
14. Health psychologists: examine
the ways in which behavior and
mental processes are related to
health.
15. Sport psychologists: help
people improve their performance
in various sports.
16. Forensic psychologists: apply
principles of psychology to the
criminal justice system.
IV.
III. Where Psychology Comes From: A
History
A. ARISTOTLE (384-322 BCE)
1. Argued that human behavior is
subject to rules and laws.
B. DEMOCRITUS (around 400 BCE)
1. Suggested that we could think
of behavior in terms of a body
and mind (interaction of
biological and mental
processes).
C. SOCRATES (c. 470-399 BCE)
1. We should rely on rational
thought and introspection to
achieve self knowledge.

D. GUSTAV THEODORE FECHNER

(1801-1887)
1. Published his landmark book
titled Elements of
Psychophysics in 1860, which
showed how physical events
(light and sounds) are related to
psychological sensations and
perceptions.
E. WILHELM WUNDT (1832-1920)
1. Established the first
psychological laboratory in
Leipzig, Germany on 1879.
2. Structuralism
a. Attempts to break conscious
experience down into
objective sensations such as
sight, or taste, and the
subjective feelings such as
emotional responses and
mental images.
V.
F. Functionalism
1. WILLIAM JAMES (1842-1919)
a. James was the founder of
functionalism or the idea
that in the study of
individuals the focus should
be on behavior as well as
the mind and
consciousness.
G. Behaviorism
1. Behaviorism is the school of
psychology that focuses on
learning observable behavior.
2. JOHN BROADUS WATSON (18781958)
a. Watson believed that if
psychology wanted to be a
science then it must limit
itself to observable,
measurable events
behaviorand nothing else.
3. B.F. SKINNER (1904-1990)
a. Believed that organisms
learn to behave in certain
ways because they have
been reinforced for their
actions. Behavior that has a
positive outcome will tend
to be repeated.
H. Gestalt Psychology
1. WERTHEIMER (1880-1943),
KOFFKA (1886-1941), and
KOHLER (1887-1967); the three
founders of Gestalt psychology.
2. Gestalt psychologists focused
on perception and on how
perception influences thinking
and problem solving.
3. Perceptions are more than the

I.

sums of their parts.

Psychoanalysis
1. Founded by SIGMUND FREUD
(1856-1939).
2. Psychoanalysts believe that
much of our lives are governed
by unconscious ideas and
impulses.
3. Freuds method of therapy
(psychoanalysis) aimed to help
patients gain insight into many
of their deep-seated conflicts
and to find socially acceptable
ways of expressing and
gratifying needs.

VI.
IV. How Todays Psychologists View
Behavior and Mental Processes
A. The Cognitive Perspective
1. Investigate how we perceive
and mentally represent the
world.
2. The focus is also on learning,
memory, planning, decision
making, language and problem
solving.
B. The Humanistic-Existential
Perspective
1. Humanism stresses the human
capacity for self-fulfillment.
2. Existentialism views people as
free to choose and be
responsible for choosing ethical
conduct.
3. Abraham Maslow (1970) and
Carl Rogers (1951); two
prominent psychologists in this
area.
C. The Psychodynamic Perspective
1. Freuds influence continues to
be felt though contemporary
psychodynamic theorists would
likely call themselves
neoanalysts.
2. Famous neoanalysts include
Karen Horney (1885-1952) and
Erik Erikson (1902-1994).
a. Focus less on the
unconscious and more on
conscious choice and selfdirection.
D. Perspectives on Learning
1. Learning is essential in
describing, explaining,
predicting and controlling
behavior.
2. Social-cognitive theorists
suggest that people can modify
or even create their
environments.
E. The Sociocultural Perspective

1. Addresses the many ways in

which people differ from one
another, diversity.
2. Influences of ethnicity, gender,
culture, and socioeconomic
status on behavior and mental
processes are studied.
a. Ethnicity
i. Ethnic groups are united
by their cultural
heritage, race,
language, and common
history.
ii. Highlight the impact of
social, political, and
economic factors on
human behavior and
development.
Kenneth Clark and
Mamie Phipps Clark.
Jorge Sanchez
Lillian Comas Diaz
Richard Suinn
b. Gender
i. Refers to the culturally
defined concepts of
masculinity and
femininity.
Mary Whiton Calkins
Mary Salter
Ainsworth
Elizabeth Loftus
V. How Psychologists Study Behavior
and Mental Processes
A. Critical Thinking: Sorting Out Truth
from Fiction
1. Principles of Critical Thinking
a. Be skeptical.
b. Insist on evidence.
c. Examine definitions of
terms.
d. Examine the assumptions or
premises of arguments.
e. Be cautious in drawing
conclusions from evidence.
f. Consider alternative
interpretations of research
evidence.
g. Do not oversimplify.
h. Do not overgeneralize.
i. Apply critical thinking to all
areas of life.
B. The Scientific Method: Putting
Ideas to the Test
1. Scientific method is an
organized way of using
experience and testing ideas in
order to expand and refine
knowledge.
a. Formulating a research
question.

b. State the hypothesis

c. Test the hypothesis
d. Draw conclusions based on
findings
e. Publish research
f. Replicate study
C. Samples and Populations
1. Individuals who are studied are
referred to as a sample. A
sample is a segment of the
population. The population is
the group targeted for study.
a. Random and Stratified
Sampling.
i. Random sample: each
member of the
population has an equal
chance of being selected
to participate.
ii. Stratified sample:
subgroups in the
population are
represented
proportionately in the
sample.
b. Volunteer bias: people who
volunteer as participants
differ systematically from
people who do not.
D. Methods of Observation
1. The Case Study
a. Information collected about
individuals and small
groups.
2. The Survey
a. Employs questionnaires and
interviews. Also uses the
examination of public
records.
3. Naturalistic Observation
a. Observe people in their
natural habitats.
E. Correlation
1. Determines the strength of the
relationship between variables.
a. Positive correlation: the
higher scores on one
variable tend to correspond
with higher scores on the
second variable. Low with
low.
b. Negative correlation: Higher
scores on one variable tend
to correspond with lower
scores on the second.
F. The Experimental Method
1. The preferred method for
answering questions about
cause and effect.
i. Independent variable:
manipulated by the

experimenters so that
the effects of various
levels may be
determined.
ii. Dependent variable: the
measured outcome or
result.
a. Experimental and Control
Groups
i. Experimental groups
obtain the treatment.
ii. Control groups do not
receive the treatment.
b. Blind and Double Blind
Experiments
i. Placebo fake treatment
or sugar pill.
ii. Blind: subjects are
unaware of the
treatment.
iii. Double blind: neither the
subjects nor the
experimenters know
who has obtained the
treatment.
G. Ethics of Research with Humans
1. Basic standards.

a. Intended to promote
individual dignity, human
welfare and scientific
integrity.
b. Do not undertake research
methods that are harmful.
2. Research with Humans
a. to help researchers consider
the potential harm of their
methods. Review research
according to ethical
guidelines.
H. Ethics of Research with Animals
1. Psychologists use animals to
conduct research that cannot
be carried out with humans
(effects of early separation from
mother)
2. Animals may be harmed only
when there is no alternative
and researchers believe that
the benefits of the research
justify the harm.

VII.
VIII.

Prepared by: Mr. Jerhenze

Andrew de Luna