PSY190 General Psychology

Introduction
 Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and
mental processes.
 Three key terms:
 Science: careful, controlled observation (scientific methods).
 Behavior: refers to all of a person’s overt actions that others
can directly observe.
 Ex: you walk or show a facial expression.

 Mental processes: refer to the private thoughts, emotions

feelings, and motives that others cannot directly observe.
 observe of public behavior to draw inference

 Ex: how do we know you are happy?

 Positive psychology is the study of happiness,

optimism, human strengths, and so forth.
Subfields of Psychology
Biological Psychology
Study how biological processes affect our behavior
and mental processes
Ex: the role of genetics in aggression
Also called Physiological psychologists

Developmental Psychology
Explore the causes and effects of changes in
behavior and mental processes over the life span.
Ex: language development in different stages
Subfields of Psychology
(con’t)
Cognitive Psychology
 study processes underlying perception, motivation,
emotion, memory, problem solving, and other
aspects of human thought.
 Ex: how do you solve a problem
 Engineering Psychology
 study human factors in the use of equipment and work to
design better versions of that equipment.
 Ex: ergonomic keyboard

Personality Psychology
 Study the characteristics that make individuals
similar to, or different from, one another
 Ex: identify optimism and its behavior sets
Subfields of Psychology
(con’t)
Clinical, Counseling, Community, and Health Psychology
understand the origins of disorders and to help people deal with
disorders (ex: depression and treatment)
Deliver services to minority and consider social system
Study the effects of behavior on health (ex: smoking)
Educational and School Psychology
Study and improve teaching and learning
Understand students’ problem and help them to improve
Subfields of Psychology
(con’t)
Social Psychology
Study how people affect others’ behavior and
thinking
Ex: creation of compelling advertisements

Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Explore factors that affecting work productivity and
satisfaction
Ex: increasing employees’ motivation, workers’
selection
Subfields of Psychology
(con’t)
Quantitative Psychology
 interested in developing and using statistical tools to
analyze data relevant to human behavior and mental
process
 Ex: trace the relationship between childhood experience
and adult behaviors

Other Subfields
 Sport psychology- explores relationship between
performance and psychological variables
 Forensic psychology- deals with psychology and law
 Ex: jury selections
 Environmental psychology- studies effects of physical
environment on behavior and mental processes.
 Ex: the effect of environmental stress on human performance
Brief History of
Psychology
 Modern psychology- 1879, Wilhem Wundt
 Empiricism- tabula rasa
 Learn from experience and observation
 Wundt and the Structuralism of Titchener
 Wilhelm Wundt wanted to study consciousness using scientific
methods. With his technique of introspection (looking inward), he
documented “quality” and “intensity” as elements of sensation.
 Edward Titchener further identified “clarity” as one of the
dimensions of consciousness
 his approach was called structuralism (structure of consciousness).
 Gestalt psychologists disagreed with Wundt’s methods and
suggested analyzing the whole conscious experience, not its
elements.
 Ex: understand the whole computer but not its component parts
Brief History of Psychology
(con’t)
Freud and Psychoanalysis
Focused on the role of unconscious
All behavior is motivated by mental conflicts
which occur without awareness

William James and Functionalism

Focused on the function of consciousness
Investigated how consciousness works to help
people adapt to their environments
Brief History of Psychology
(con’t)
John B. Watson and Behaviorism
Psychologists should not study mental events
but instead should observe people’s behavioral
reaction to stimuli without making inferences
about consciousness.
 Studying observable behaviors are more scientific
Watson inspired many psychologists to adopt
behaviorism as the method of choice for
scientific research in psychology.
APPROACHES TO THE SCIENCE
OF PSYCHOLOGY
Why there are so many approaches?
Ex: the reasons you stop to help a stranger
(e.g., biological factors, personality, cultural
traditions, learned behavior)

Each theoretical approach makes different

assumptions about the factors that cause
behavior and mental processes, and what
methods are most appropriate for studying
those factors.
The Biological Approach
Physiological factors determine behavior and
mental processes.
Study the psychological effects of hormones,
genes, activity of the nervous system (brain).
Ex: note changes in brain activity during
memory formation or decision making.
The Evolutionary
Approach
Based on Charles Darwin’s natural selection
Behavior results from evolution through
natural selection.
only adaptive behaviors will be passed on
Ex: cooperation
Researchers seek to understand the reasons a
behavior has evolved.
Why is it adaptive, and how has it been shaped
by environmental conditions?
The Psychodynamic
Approach
Behavior stems from unconscious process which is
stemming from sexual and aggressive impulses.

Many of the impulses are forbidden or punished.

Thus, turn into unconscious.

Ex: angry -> dreaming

Though less influential today

The Behavioral Approach
focuses on observable stimuli and responses
emphasizes learning in explaining behavior.
How do rewards and punishments shape, maintain,
and change behavior?
Ex: aggression-> learned from parent

The cognitive-behavioral approach examines how

learning influences thoughts and opinions, and how
such cognitions influence observable behaviors.
The Cognitive Approach
Study how mental processes are related to behaviors.
Behavior is a result of information processing (e.g.,
perception, memory, thought, judgment, and decision
making).
Ex: aggression->perceived, analyzed, and took action
Cognitive scientists work with biologists, linguists,
philosophers, computer scientists, and engineers to
identify the components of thought that interact to
produce behaviors.
The Humanistic Approach
Behavior is controlled by the decisions that people
make about their lives based on their perceptions
of the world.
Ex: world is friendly place-> be optimistic and secure
Ex: aggression->justified

Try to understand how experiences guide thoughts

and actions

Less influential today because its ideas are difficult

to test empirically.
Human Diversity and
Psychology
Psychologists are increasingly considering the
influence of sociocultural factors such as
gender, social class, and ethnicity in shaping
human behavior and mental processes.
Culture, the accumulation of values, religious
belief, and so forth, is an organizing influence
that determines much of behavior.
Cultures can be classified as individualist or
collectivist.
Tutorial Question 1
Jason, a 15-year-old student, is arrested
because of taking drug (amphetamine). What
explanation and suggestion will be given by
the following psychologists to help Jason?
 Biological psychologist
 Behavioral psychologist
 Humanistic psychologist