❑ Introduction to psychology
o History: philosophy
▪ Psychology: the study of mental processes and behavior
▪ Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543): We’re not that special
▪ Rene Descartes (1596-1650): dualism (pineal gland); body can be studied
▪ Empiricism: John Locke (1632-1704) and David Hume (1711-1776); Tabula rasa
o Persistent themes
▪ Free will vs. Determinism
▪ Nature vs. Nurture
▪ Reason vs. Emotion
▪ Consciousness vs. Unconsciousness
o History: Physiology
▪ Johannes Muller (mid 1800s): nerves
▪ Hermann Von Helmholtz ( 1821-1894): Nerves [nervous system] and history
▪ Gustav Fechner (1801-1887): Fechner's law
o History: psychology
▪ Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920): first lab in Leipzig, Germany (1879); structuralism;
inner sensations
▪ William James (1842-1910): Functionalism (Darwinian influence)
▪ John B Watson (1878-1958): Behaviorism (pavlovian influence); S-R psychology
o Gestalt Psychology
▪ Gestalt psychology (Max Wertheimer); the whole sum of its parts
o History: Psychology
▪ Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Psychoanalysis; focus on unconscious
• Biological psychology
• Neuroscience approach
Perspective Focus Sample Questions
Neuroscience How the body and brain How are messages
create emotions, memories, transmitted within the body?
and sensory experiences How is blood chemistry
linked with moods and
motives?
Evolutionary How nature selects traits that How does the evolution
promote the perpetuation of influence behavioral
ones genes tendencies?
Behavioral genetics How much our genes, and To what extent are
our environment, influence psychological traits such as
our individual differences intelligence, personality,
sexual orientation, and
depression at tribulate to our
genes? To out environment?
Psychodynamic How behavior springs from How can a person’s
unconscious drives and personality traits and
conflicts disorders be explained as the
, disguised effects of
unconscious motivations and
early childhood traumas?
Behavioral How we learn observable How do we learn to fear
responses particular objects or
situations? What is the most
effective way to alter our
behavior, say, to lose weight
or stop smoking?
Cognitive How we encode, process and How do we use information
retrieve information in remembering? Reasoning?
solving problems?
Social-cultural How behavior and thinking How are we as Africans,
vary across situations and Asains, Australians, north
cultures Americans-alike as members
of one human family? As
products of different
environmental contexts, how
do we differ?
❑ Research methods
o I. Faulty logic: Hindsight bias; illusory correlations
o II. Paradigm/theory/hypothesis
o III. Variables: reliability and validity
o IV: Case Study; naturalistic observation, surveys, correlational research, experimental
research
❑
(1)Theories: Example: (2)Hypothesis: example; people
with low self-esteem are more
(2)low self-esteem
apt to feel depression
(3)feeds depression
(3) research and observations: Example: administer
tests of self-esteem and depression. See if a low score
on one predicts
, ❑ Correlational and experimental research
o Correlation coefficients; relationships vs. cause and effect; IV, DV, control group vs.
experimental group, placebo, random assignment
Low self-esteem Depression
Depression Low self esteem
This can cause low self
esteem and/or
Depressing events or biological predisposition
depression
❑ Correlation coefficient
indicates direction of relationship (positive or negative)
Positive correlation (moves in the
same direction)
Negative correlation (moves in
the opposite direction) +.3
indicates strength of the
relationship (0.00 to 1.00)
*the further the number
is away from zero, the
stronger it is.
Research Basic Purpose How conducted What is
method manipulated
o History: philosophy
▪ Psychology: the study of mental processes and behavior
▪ Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543): We’re not that special
▪ Rene Descartes (1596-1650): dualism (pineal gland); body can be studied
▪ Empiricism: John Locke (1632-1704) and David Hume (1711-1776); Tabula rasa
o Persistent themes
▪ Free will vs. Determinism
▪ Nature vs. Nurture
▪ Reason vs. Emotion
▪ Consciousness vs. Unconsciousness
o History: Physiology
▪ Johannes Muller (mid 1800s): nerves
▪ Hermann Von Helmholtz ( 1821-1894): Nerves [nervous system] and history
▪ Gustav Fechner (1801-1887): Fechner's law
o History: psychology
▪ Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920): first lab in Leipzig, Germany (1879); structuralism;
inner sensations
▪ William James (1842-1910): Functionalism (Darwinian influence)
▪ John B Watson (1878-1958): Behaviorism (pavlovian influence); S-R psychology
o Gestalt Psychology
▪ Gestalt psychology (Max Wertheimer); the whole sum of its parts
o History: Psychology
▪ Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Psychoanalysis; focus on unconscious
• Biological psychology
• Neuroscience approach
Perspective Focus Sample Questions
Neuroscience How the body and brain How are messages
create emotions, memories, transmitted within the body?
and sensory experiences How is blood chemistry
linked with moods and
motives?
Evolutionary How nature selects traits that How does the evolution
promote the perpetuation of influence behavioral
ones genes tendencies?
Behavioral genetics How much our genes, and To what extent are
our environment, influence psychological traits such as
our individual differences intelligence, personality,
sexual orientation, and
depression at tribulate to our
genes? To out environment?
Psychodynamic How behavior springs from How can a person’s
unconscious drives and personality traits and
conflicts disorders be explained as the
, disguised effects of
unconscious motivations and
early childhood traumas?
Behavioral How we learn observable How do we learn to fear
responses particular objects or
situations? What is the most
effective way to alter our
behavior, say, to lose weight
or stop smoking?
Cognitive How we encode, process and How do we use information
retrieve information in remembering? Reasoning?
solving problems?
Social-cultural How behavior and thinking How are we as Africans,
vary across situations and Asains, Australians, north
cultures Americans-alike as members
of one human family? As
products of different
environmental contexts, how
do we differ?
❑ Research methods
o I. Faulty logic: Hindsight bias; illusory correlations
o II. Paradigm/theory/hypothesis
o III. Variables: reliability and validity
o IV: Case Study; naturalistic observation, surveys, correlational research, experimental
research
❑
(1)Theories: Example: (2)Hypothesis: example; people
with low self-esteem are more
(2)low self-esteem
apt to feel depression
(3)feeds depression
(3) research and observations: Example: administer
tests of self-esteem and depression. See if a low score
on one predicts
, ❑ Correlational and experimental research
o Correlation coefficients; relationships vs. cause and effect; IV, DV, control group vs.
experimental group, placebo, random assignment
Low self-esteem Depression
Depression Low self esteem
This can cause low self
esteem and/or
Depressing events or biological predisposition
depression
❑ Correlation coefficient
indicates direction of relationship (positive or negative)
Positive correlation (moves in the
same direction)
Negative correlation (moves in
the opposite direction) +.3
indicates strength of the
relationship (0.00 to 1.00)
*the further the number
is away from zero, the
stronger it is.
Research Basic Purpose How conducted What is
method manipulated
