Chapter 1
● Birth of Psychology
○ Based of Philosophy and Physiology
■ First research lab set up by Whilem Wundt in1879
■ Wundt thought psych should be the intellectual study of
consciousness
● Perspectives in Psychology
○ Structuralism VS Functionalism
■ Structuralism: Psychology should be the study of the basic structures of
consciousness by using introspection (Whilem Wundt)
■ Functionalism: Psychology should study the functions and purpose of our
consciousness, trying to figure out why we do what we do (William
James)
■ Functionalism had a more lasting impact on modern psychology,
leading to behavioralist and applied psychology
○ Psychodynamic
■Sigmund Freud focused on unconscious behavior
■ Psychoanalytic Theory states that our behaviors, motivations, and sexual
drives are all based on our unconscious
■ The unconscious according to freud is thoughts that one is not aware of
but that still influence our behavior
○ Behaviorism
■John B Watson believed in Behaviorism, where psychology should only
be the study of observable behavior
■ BF Skinner was a big proponent. Very into animal research for
behaviorism
■ External environment shapes and governs behaviors
○ Humanism
■Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow believed in humanism
■ The belief that humans and their behavior is unique, which makes animal
research irrelevant
■ Optimistic view of human nature, stresses the importance of freedom and
potential growth for every human
○ Biological
■ The brain is functionally responsible for internal experience. Most
problems in psychology relate to organic brain disfunction
■ Emphasizes that behavior and conscious experience are a product of:
■ Brain processes
■ Hormonal and neurochemical processes
■ Genetic factors
■ Implications:
■ Largely monistic view
■ Treatment for abnormal conditions should be biomedical
○ Cognitive
, ■ About decision making and internal information processing and how it
might be correct or incorrect, etc
■ Humans are information processors and problem solvers
■ Modern variant of structuralism and functionalism
■ Gestalt Psychology
■ Concerned with how elements of experience are organized
into wholes, not just elements of experience
■ Context changes interpretation of what you see, hear,
taste, smell, etc
■Max Wertheimer (1880-1941)
○ Sociocultural
● Behavior is driven by groups with whom you affiliate
● Focuses on the manner in which culture is transmitted through its members and the
similarities and differences between people across cultures
○ Individualism: Emphasizes that personal goals and self-identity is based on one's
own attributes and achievements
○ Collectivism: Individual goals are subordinated to the group and personal identity
is defined by ties to family
● Evolutionary
○ Focus on the adaptive value of behavioral and psychological traits and their
emergence across generalizations
■ Useful constructs for conceptualizing behavioral adaption
■ Less useful for informing complex, maladaptive, psychological disorders
and their treatment
● Psychology Modern
○ After WW2, Clinical Psychology grew as a profession
○ Now Psychology has many specialties
■ Clinical Psychology: Evaluation, diagnoses, and treatment of those with
psychological disorders
■ Counseling Psychology: Similar to clinical psychology but specialize in
everyday issues. Often work with families, marriages, or career help
■ School Psychology: Assist development in children in schools, and assist
with school related problems
■ Business/Industrial Psychology: Assist in the job world, usually as HR.
Make sure workers are happy and satisfied in their current job
● Key figures and critical milestones in Psychology
○ Francis Cecil Sumner
■ First African American Phd in psych, studied racial bias and educational
justice
○ Mary Whiton Calkins
■ Denied a PhD, later elected first woman president of APA in 1905
○ Margret Washburn
, ■ First female psychologist to earn a PhD in America, wrote boke titled
Animal Mind in 1908
● Key Terms to Understand
○ Psychology is empirical: based on objective observations made through research
○ Psychology is theoretically diverse: a variety of perspectives are needed to fully
understand behavior
○ Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context: Dense connections exist
between what happens in psychology and in society
Chapter 2
● The Scientific Approach
○ Goals:
■ Measurement and description
■ Understanding and prediction
■ Application and control
○ Steps in an investigation
■ Formulate a hypothesis
■ Select method and design study
■ Collect data
■ Analyze data and draw conclusions
■ Report findings
● Two Types of Research
○ Basic Research: Studies elementary principles
○ Applied Research: Aims to develop novel treatments and applications using
information collected by basic researchers
● Experimental Research
○ Independent Variable: Condition or event manipulated by experimenter
○ Dependent Variable: Aspect thought to be affected by independent variable
○ Experimental Group: Participants or subjects who receive the special treatment
○ Control Group: Similar subjects who do not receive the treatment given to the
experimental group
○ Extraneous Variables: Factors besides the independent variable that may affect
then dependent variable, and therefore need to be controlled
○ Operational Definition: Explicitly defined set of parameters that will be used to
identify, assess, or quantify a given variable
○ Conditions:
■ Control Condition: The factor being studied is omitted while all other
conditions of the experiment are maintained
■ Experimental Condition: The condition in which the variable of interest is
applied
○ Procedural Issues:
■ Blindness: the participant is unaware pf their specific treatment condition
■ Double-blind: both the experimenter and participant are unaware of the
treatment condition
■ Randomization: Participants are randomly assigned to treatment groups
● Birth of Psychology
○ Based of Philosophy and Physiology
■ First research lab set up by Whilem Wundt in1879
■ Wundt thought psych should be the intellectual study of
consciousness
● Perspectives in Psychology
○ Structuralism VS Functionalism
■ Structuralism: Psychology should be the study of the basic structures of
consciousness by using introspection (Whilem Wundt)
■ Functionalism: Psychology should study the functions and purpose of our
consciousness, trying to figure out why we do what we do (William
James)
■ Functionalism had a more lasting impact on modern psychology,
leading to behavioralist and applied psychology
○ Psychodynamic
■Sigmund Freud focused on unconscious behavior
■ Psychoanalytic Theory states that our behaviors, motivations, and sexual
drives are all based on our unconscious
■ The unconscious according to freud is thoughts that one is not aware of
but that still influence our behavior
○ Behaviorism
■John B Watson believed in Behaviorism, where psychology should only
be the study of observable behavior
■ BF Skinner was a big proponent. Very into animal research for
behaviorism
■ External environment shapes and governs behaviors
○ Humanism
■Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow believed in humanism
■ The belief that humans and their behavior is unique, which makes animal
research irrelevant
■ Optimistic view of human nature, stresses the importance of freedom and
potential growth for every human
○ Biological
■ The brain is functionally responsible for internal experience. Most
problems in psychology relate to organic brain disfunction
■ Emphasizes that behavior and conscious experience are a product of:
■ Brain processes
■ Hormonal and neurochemical processes
■ Genetic factors
■ Implications:
■ Largely monistic view
■ Treatment for abnormal conditions should be biomedical
○ Cognitive
, ■ About decision making and internal information processing and how it
might be correct or incorrect, etc
■ Humans are information processors and problem solvers
■ Modern variant of structuralism and functionalism
■ Gestalt Psychology
■ Concerned with how elements of experience are organized
into wholes, not just elements of experience
■ Context changes interpretation of what you see, hear,
taste, smell, etc
■Max Wertheimer (1880-1941)
○ Sociocultural
● Behavior is driven by groups with whom you affiliate
● Focuses on the manner in which culture is transmitted through its members and the
similarities and differences between people across cultures
○ Individualism: Emphasizes that personal goals and self-identity is based on one's
own attributes and achievements
○ Collectivism: Individual goals are subordinated to the group and personal identity
is defined by ties to family
● Evolutionary
○ Focus on the adaptive value of behavioral and psychological traits and their
emergence across generalizations
■ Useful constructs for conceptualizing behavioral adaption
■ Less useful for informing complex, maladaptive, psychological disorders
and their treatment
● Psychology Modern
○ After WW2, Clinical Psychology grew as a profession
○ Now Psychology has many specialties
■ Clinical Psychology: Evaluation, diagnoses, and treatment of those with
psychological disorders
■ Counseling Psychology: Similar to clinical psychology but specialize in
everyday issues. Often work with families, marriages, or career help
■ School Psychology: Assist development in children in schools, and assist
with school related problems
■ Business/Industrial Psychology: Assist in the job world, usually as HR.
Make sure workers are happy and satisfied in their current job
● Key figures and critical milestones in Psychology
○ Francis Cecil Sumner
■ First African American Phd in psych, studied racial bias and educational
justice
○ Mary Whiton Calkins
■ Denied a PhD, later elected first woman president of APA in 1905
○ Margret Washburn
, ■ First female psychologist to earn a PhD in America, wrote boke titled
Animal Mind in 1908
● Key Terms to Understand
○ Psychology is empirical: based on objective observations made through research
○ Psychology is theoretically diverse: a variety of perspectives are needed to fully
understand behavior
○ Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context: Dense connections exist
between what happens in psychology and in society
Chapter 2
● The Scientific Approach
○ Goals:
■ Measurement and description
■ Understanding and prediction
■ Application and control
○ Steps in an investigation
■ Formulate a hypothesis
■ Select method and design study
■ Collect data
■ Analyze data and draw conclusions
■ Report findings
● Two Types of Research
○ Basic Research: Studies elementary principles
○ Applied Research: Aims to develop novel treatments and applications using
information collected by basic researchers
● Experimental Research
○ Independent Variable: Condition or event manipulated by experimenter
○ Dependent Variable: Aspect thought to be affected by independent variable
○ Experimental Group: Participants or subjects who receive the special treatment
○ Control Group: Similar subjects who do not receive the treatment given to the
experimental group
○ Extraneous Variables: Factors besides the independent variable that may affect
then dependent variable, and therefore need to be controlled
○ Operational Definition: Explicitly defined set of parameters that will be used to
identify, assess, or quantify a given variable
○ Conditions:
■ Control Condition: The factor being studied is omitted while all other
conditions of the experiment are maintained
■ Experimental Condition: The condition in which the variable of interest is
applied
○ Procedural Issues:
■ Blindness: the participant is unaware pf their specific treatment condition
■ Double-blind: both the experimenter and participant are unaware of the
treatment condition
■ Randomization: Participants are randomly assigned to treatment groups
