Psychology (Y) -- what is it?

General definition: “The systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes” (p. 4)

4 general goals:

- description (answering “what?” & “how?“)

- explanation (answering “why?“ - giving a causal account)

- prediction (of future behavior & mental processes)

- controlling (problematic behavior & mental processes)

But is that all?

- could it be that the real point of understanding ourselves is:

-- to begin to live better lives?

-- eventually to find ourselves more full of life’s fundamental vibrancy, passion and magic? (this is not in your book)

Modern approaches in psychology

1. Biological Y- a focus on the bodily, physiological aspects of psychological phenomena. Esp. brain, neurology (as in neuroscience), genetics, endocrine system.

2. Cognitive Y - a focus on cognition, i.e., how people think -- e.g., logic, memory, perception, learning, using language, etc.

3. Behavioral Y - a focus on directly observable behaviors as an attempt to be true to the empirical nature of science (empirical = based on direct observation).

4. Psychoanalytic Y (a.k.a., psychodynamic) -- Freud -- a focus on the unconscious (dynamics, impulses and memories of which we're not consciously aware). Usually with an emphasis on childhood experiences.

5. Humanistic Y -- a focus on people's fundamental freedom to find meaning and value in their lives, and to move toward growing and fulfilling their unique potentials in life.

6. Cross-cultural Y - a focus on the social aspect of psychological phenomena -- how our psychologies are shaped by our culture (and vice versa).

<end of modern approaches>

Psychology’s historical approaches

Antecedents (not in book):

Philosophy - considered psychological questions & issues (e.g. the nature of

emotions, thought, values, etc.) via introspection and inference

Biology - studied life in general, including human life, via scientific, empirical investigation

Psychology - arose out of a marriage of biology's empirical attitude and

philosophy's interest in psychological phenomena.
 
 

Structuralism: Y that looks for the basic elements of conscious experience.

-- Wilhelm Wundt (the father of Y) -- first Y laboratory established in 1879

-- had people have experiences in his lab., and then asked them to report on them -- a mixture of empirical and introspective approaches (introspection = looking at & reporting subjective experience)

Functionalism: Y that looks at what consciousness does, rather than its elements.

-- William James -- studied how our minds adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Gestalt: Y that looks for how consciousness perceives meaningful wholes that are more than the sum of their component parts.

-- Max Wertheimer

Behaviorism (early forms): Y that looks only at directly observable behaviors to discover the principles that explain how organisms learn behaviors.

-- John Watson & B.F Skinner -- an emphasis on rewards & punishments

-- an attempt to be completely true to the empirical spirit of science by excluding introspection and subjective experience.

<end of historical overview>

Vocational view of Y

Psychologists -- usually someone who has obtained a doctoral degree (I.e., a Ph. D., Psy. D. or Ed. D.) in psychology, although some states (including GA) require only master’s degrees.

Clinical Psychologists -- psychologists who have taken an additional clinical year of supervised clinical practice, and whose focus is on psychotherapy & mental illness.

Psychiatrists -- go to medical school and get M.D.s. In their focus on mental illness, they tend to stress drugs, with some varying interest in psychotherapy.
 
 

Areas of specialization:

1. Social and personality Y -- an emphasis on social factors and the study of personality

2. Developmental Y -- an emphasis on how people change throughout the lifespan, often with an emphasis on childhood.

3. Experimental Y -- a research oriented emphasis on psychological experimentation

4. Biological Y -- as we’ve noted, an emphasis on physiology & bodily factors

5. Cognitive Y -- as we’ve noted, en emphasis on how people process information

6. Psychometrics -- an emphasis on testing and measuring various aspects of people’s psychologies -- e.g., intelligence, personality attributes, abilities.