Introduction To Psychology

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Psychology

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Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

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Behavior

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Outward or overt actions & reactions, such as talking, facial expressions & movement

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Mental Processes

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Internal, covert activity of our minds, such as thinking, feeling and remembering.

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Scientific Study

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A process of preventing possible biases from leading to faulty observations and to have a precise, accurate, evidence-proven and careful measurement to produce certainty rather than discrepancy/uncertainty.

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Psychological Goals

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In physics, the goals concern learning how the physical world works. In astronomy, the goals are to chart the universe and understand both how it came to be and what it is becoming.

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Four goals that aim in uncovering the mysteries of human and animal behavior.

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1. Description - What is happened? It involves observing a behavior and noting everything about it: what is happening, where it happens, to whom it happens and under what circumstances it seems to happen.
2. Explanation - Why is it happening? It explains the causes of the behavior. Finding explanation for behavior is a very important step in the process of forming theories of behavior.
3. Prediction - When will it happen again? It determines what will happen in the future.
4. Control - How can it be changed? It has a goal is to change a behavior from an undesirable one (such as failing in school) to a desirable one.

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Theory

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General explanation of a set of observations or facts.

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Psychology's Historical Overview

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In the realm of science, Psychology is only about 125 years old. But before it became a science, philosophers, doctors and physiologists were already thinking about man and his existence.

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Psychology's Detailed Historical Explanation

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Psychology is as old as human history. It began from the Ancient Greek Period followed by the Middle Ages and Modern Science Era. According to Socrates since 459 - 399 BCE, "Know Thyself." where he introduced Introspection by learning about one's self through self-examination. According to Aristotle since 384 - 322 BCE, Human behavior is subjected to certain rules and laws. The ancient Greeks theorized about various psychological problems and they believed that the gods punished the unruly people by causing them confusion and madness. Hippocrates, who lasted his life from 460 - 377 BCE which is 83 years old caused by brain abnormalities. In the Middle ages, Tests were used to determine if a person was possessed by evil. And in the Modern Science era, Evidences were supported by ideas about human behavior and mental processes.

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Psychology's Historical Background

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Philosophy (to Socrates and Aristotle) - philosophers tried to understand or explain the human mind and its connection to the physical body.
Physiology (to Helmholtz, Muller and Fechner) - Medical doctors and physiologists wondered about the physical connection between the body and the brain.

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Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

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The German psychologist who was born in Leipzig, Germany who attempted to apply scientific principles to the study of the human mind.

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Structuralism

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The structure of the human mind.

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Objective Introspection

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Wundt believed that the mind was made up of thoughts, experiences, emotions and other basic elements. These are all non-physical elements but he taught students how to think objectively about their own thoughts.

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William James (1842-1910)

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A psychologist who began teaching anatomy and physiology, but when he took a particular interest in psychology he began teaching psychology exclusively.

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Functionalism

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How the mind allows people to function in the real world-how people work, play and adapt to their surroundings.

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Other Psychology Contributors

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1. Structuralism (To Titchner) - Titchner, One of Wundt’s students, an Englishman who took Wundt’s idea to America.
2. Behaviorism (To Watson) - Watson challenged the functionalist viewpoint. His focus is only on observable behavior.
3. Classical conditioning (To Ivan Pavlov)
4. Psychoanalytic theory (To Sigmund Freud)
5. Gestalt psychology (To Max Wertheimer)

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Psychology is a science

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1. It is based on rigorous research and empirical evidence.
2. Evidence gathered are through careful observation, experimentation and measurement.
3. Psychology makes use of precise, accurate, evidence-proven and careful measurement to prevent possible biases from leading to faulty observations.
4. Psychology applies critical thinking.

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What psychology is not?

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Psychology bears little relation to the popular psychology (pop psych) found in many self-help books, on many TV, radio talk shows and internet websites.

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Scientific Method

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System of gathering data so that bias and error in measurement are reduced.

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5 Scientific Method Steps

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1. Perceive the question.
2. Form a hypothesis – tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on observations.
3. Test the hypothesis.
4. Draw conclusions.
5. Report your results so that others can try to replicate - repeat the study or experiment to see if the same results will be obtained in an effort to demonstrate reliability of results.

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Critical Thinking

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Critical thinking means making reasoned judgments. The word reasoned means that people’s judgments should be logical and well thought out.

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4 Basic Criteria for Critical Thinking and their definition

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1. There are very few “truths” that do not need to be subjected to testing. Religious beliefs and personal values may be accepted by “faith” but everything else in life should not be accepted at face value.
2. All evidence is not equal in value. People should look at how evidence is gather before deciding that it provides good support for some idea.
3. Just because someone is considered to be an authority does not make everything that person claims automatically true. One example is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the "Cottingley Fairies" case. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (author of Sherlock Holmes Novel Series) claimed that the pictures of these girls were real and authentic.
4. Critical thinking requires an open mind. Critical thinking requires a delicate balance between skepticism and willingness to consider possibilities.

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Pseudopsychologies

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Systems of explaining human behavior that are not based on or consistent with scientific evidence.

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Phrenology

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People including some reputable scientists of the Victorian era, used to believe that bumps on the skull were indicators of various personality traits.

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Palmistry

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Reading palms. There is overwhelming evidence that the lines of the palm have absolutely no relationship to personality & cannot predict the future.

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Graphology

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Analysis of personality through handwriting. Even respectable companies using handwriting analysis to select prospective employees yet graphologists score close to zero on tests of accuracy in personality measurement.

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4 factors why people believed in Pseudopsychology

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1. People like excitement.
2. People are prone to wishful thinking.
3. People are naïve and trusting.
4. People remember hits, ignore misses.