PSYCHOLOGY 101-5PRINGTERM
WEEK 1: 03/31/2022
Psychology - can be defined as a scientific study of behavior and mental processes o Can help determine how and why we think and behave
o The word "psychology" is a combination oftwo Greek words: psyche, meaning "the soul," and logos, meaning "the study of." o Everything psychology is also biological Our mind isthe physicalstructure of our brain Brains are built in a certain way
Introduction and Prehistory: Empiricism - John Locke (insisted that the mind at birth is a blank state] and Thomas
read emphasized empiricism, the primary ofsenses in acquiring knowledge
."Excellence isn't an act, but a habit" - Aristotle [developed ideas]
Growth ofPsychology: : Psychology's growth was prodigious in the first halfofthe 20th century incorporating
many points ofview
o Gestalt psychology was a great example ofthis expansion (created by Max Wertheimer]
Gestalt psychology emphasizes the idea and the whole is greater than sum ofits
part
Behaviorists like B.F Skinner and John Watson focused on what was observable and
measurable
o Ultimate goal was prediction and control of behavior
In 1960s: cognitive psychologist positioned that mental processes such as (anguage, memory, and problem solving should play a larger role in understanding human
behavior
Franz Mesmer -German physician whose system oftherapeutics, known as mesmerism,
was the forerunner ofthe modern practice of hypnotism.
o Mesmer believed that good physical and psychological health came From properly aligned magnetic forces; bad health, then, resulted from forces
essentially being out ofwhack
Hugo Munsterbergwas a pioneer in industrial/ organizational psychology
o His research on employee selection was especially significant
French psychologists Alfred Binet developed intelligence tests that helped identify
children in need ofeducation support
Physiology and Psychophysies : Wilhelm Wundt
o Father ofpsychology - Founder ofexperimental psychology o Focused on experimental introspections (scientific observations) or identifying elements of consciousness scientifically o Made a book (principles of Physiology Psychology &Introduction to
Psycho(ogy]
o 1879 -Created Institute of Psychology (created his (ab) 106 students in psychology o A studentofWundt, Edward Titchenerdeveloped an approach to analyzing
mental experience by breaking it down into its simplest component parts.
Psychoanalysis was developed by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud Through his use
ofstrategies such as transference, Free association, and dream interpretation, Freud developed a set oftherapeutic techniques that were centered on talk therapy
o Charcot
o Sigmund Freud used mesmerism
Research Designs:
: Psychologists test research questions using a variety of methods
Most research relies on either correlations or experiments
Correlations: Researchers measure variables as they naturally occur in people and
compute the degree in which two variables go together
o When scientists passively observes and measure phenomena
o We do not intervene and change behavior as we do in experiments
o Problems: From correlation alone, we can't be certain and correlation does not
mean causation
Experiments: Researchers actively makes changes in one variable and watch For
changes in another
The Brain and the Neruous System
o Learn aboutthe lobes
Caudate Nucleus 14 Meninges 13
Cerebral Cortex
Corpus Callosum
2
Hypothalamus
3
Thalamus
4
Pit