Introduction

What is Psychology?

Comes from 2 words – Psyc = breath of life as in soul or spirit or Mind.

                                     Logo = Knowledge or study

Originally define as the study of the mind

Today’s definition includes the study of the mind and behavior of humans and animals.

It is a science in the sense that true psychologists seek to understand humans by what is observable and measurable.

There are different Methods by which one may study humans and animals

Two aspects of Methodology

            Practical approach in terms of which method to use

            Philosophical approach focuses more on the nature of the science

Five methods of research in terms of Practical approaches:

            1. Experiments – Conducted to find cause and effects in controlled conditions

                                    Independent variable used to Cause a certain response

                                    Dependent variable is effect

                                    Other variables should be controlled

                                    Confounding variable – one not accounted for that skews the experiment

2. Observations – No IV or DV. Variables outside researchers control, should be noted

3. Surveys – involves many people with questionnaires and interviews

                                     Problems with reliability, validity, accuracy and consistency

4. Case Study – Detailed account of an individual – useful in appropriate application TX

5. Correlation – Measurement of the relationship between 2 variables. Not based on cause and effect.

Philosophical approach – Questions theories, pet biases based on collection of evidence to support a theory.

            How do we test a theory? Depends if it is a scientific theory or scientific theory.

                        Scientific theories are refutable and can be disproved but cannot be proven!

                                    A good scientist looks for evidence to disprove a theory

Unscientific theories are not disprovable – existence of God, etc

As a result of many theories being developed, the field of psychology includes various perspectives or approaches in applying these methods

Psychodynamic

Behaviorism

Cognitive

Humanistic

Bio-psychological

Social-cultural

Other ways to divide the field of psychology include

Developmental

Social

Comparative

Individual differences

Cognitive

Bio-psychological

Organizational

Health Psychology

The Roots Of Psychology

v  Relied on a lot of speculation, intuition and generalizing based on the observer’s own experience

v  It was not until the 19^th century that psychology began to use the scientific approach with

v  Controlled experiments

v  Careful observations

v  Technical measurements, which are being continually refined today.

Problems with Historical Data

v   Incomplete or lost information

v  Wars have destroyed what was not misplaced

v   Distorted information

v  Many interpretations gone awry

v   Delayed information

v  Freud’s family sealed information until 2012-2102

v   Destroyed information

v  James Watson destroyed all of his writings and observations

v   Selective information

v  Devoted followers want to provide certain images of the writers

Example of a translation error

v  Freud coined the term “Free Association”

v The word in English implies a connection between one thought or another.

v Freud’s term  in German  is “Einfall” meaning intrusion or invasion

v Free association was meant to denote something that is intruding into or invading conscious thought

The Influence of History on the Growth of the field of Psychology

v   Changes in educational demand

v   The impact of wars throughout history

v   Prejudice & Discrimination

v   Technological Advances

v   Changing Moral Issues

v   Exchange of information in the Information Age

v   The Zeitgeist within science prevents acceptance of new theories (Robert Whytt – 1763 vs Ivan Pavlov - 1890’s+)

v  (Zeitgeist - the intellectual and cultural climate or spirit of the times)