Introduction

to
Psychology

S. Hoyte
 “I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to
bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand
them.”
Benedict Spinoza,
A Political Treatise, 1677
Defining Psychology:
Psychology has been defined as:
• the scientific study of mind and behaviour. In this definition,
behaviour refers to the observable actions of a person or an animal.
• the science of behaviour and mental processes.
• interpretation of behavior which includes observable events, as well
as, thoughts, feelings, perceptions, reasoning processes, memories,
and biological activities.
The Subfields of Psychology
• Biopsychology
• Specializes in the biological bases of
behavior
• Sensation, perception, learning and
thinking
• Experimental psychology
• Methodological study of sensing,
perceiving, learning and thinking
• Cognitive psychology
• Emphasis on higher mental processes
i.e. thinking, memory, reasoning,
problem solving, judging, decision
making, and language
The Subfields of Psychology
• Physical and mental health
• Health psychology
• Explores relationship between
psychological factors and physical
ailments or disease
• provides an “ounce of prevention” to
avoid “years of cure”.
• Clinical psychology
• Investigates diagnosis and treatment of
psychological disorders
• Concerned primarily about the
diagnosis and treatment of mental
disorders.
The Subfields of Psychology
• Understanding our social networks
• Social psychology
• Studies how people are affected by
others
• examines how people’s thoughts,
feelings, and actions are affected by
others.
• Cross-cultural psychology
• Focuses on the similarities and
differences in psychological functioning
across cultures and ethnic groups
 The Subfields of Psychology
• New frontiers
• Clinical neuropsychology
• Focuses on relationships between
biological factors and psychological
disorders
• Evolutionary psychology
• Examines influence of our genetic
heritage and our behavior e.g.
depression, alcoholism, schizophrenia,
etc.
The Subfields of Psychology
• Understanding change and
individual differences
• Developmental psychology
• Incorporates the full life
span, from heredity to the
tomb this area
investigates how we grow
• Personality psychology
• Examines consistencies in
people’s behavior over
time and traits that
differentiate us from one
another
Goals of Psychology:
Psychology has four basic goals:
1. Describe particular behaviours by making careful scientific observations.
2. Explain by conducting experiments to determine their causes.
3. Predict when the behaviour being studied will occur in the future. The
psychologist will use research information or data to do this prediction.
4. Change inappropriate behaviour or circumstances by applying research
findings.

Theories are formed based on these goals. A theory is a formulation of

Psychology’s Roots
 Gestalt Psychology  Functionalism
• “the whole is different from the • Moved from structure to what
sum of its parts” the mind does and how
behavior functions
History of Psychology:
• Structuralism:
• Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920), a German is known as the founder of
experimental psychology. He offered the first formal psychology course
(physiological psychology) and wrote what is considered the most important
book in history of psychology, “Principles of Physiological Psychology.” He was
also responsible for the establishment of the first laboratory in 1879. He
proposed the study of experience. He believed that the study of the mind
could be conducted by examining the simplest kinds of mental processes: e.g.
simple sensations, memories and judgements. His aim was to measure the
speed of simple mental processes. Ultimately, he was interested in the
analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind.
History of Psychology: (cont’d)
• Structuralism: (cont’d)
• Edward B. Titchener (1867-1927) one of Wundt’s graduate students, was
responsible for coining the term, structuralism. His aim was learn about the
structure of the mind through analysing the elementary conscious
experiences, which he believed were the mind’s building blocks. He identified
the elements of sensory experience through method known as introspection:
a technique of reporting the contents of conscious experience. That is, the
observation of one’s own cognitions and emotions
History of Psychology: (cont’d)
• Functionalism: is an investigation in the function of mental
processes in adapting the individual to the environment.
• William James (1842-1910) was the leader in this school of psychology.
Unlike the structuralists, he did not believe that consciousness could be
separated into distinct elements/structures. According to Huffman et al
(1997), James felt that mental activities form a unit of experience that are
continually changing while remaining interrelated, one thought flowing
into another in a continuous “stream of consciousness.” He also relied on
the method of introspection, but used it more broadly than Titchener, as a
source of ideas rather than as proof or verification.
Development of Psychology
• The Renaissance:
• The Ancients and the Moderns – the Revival of Humanism
• Renaissance
• The Scientific Revolution:
• Philosophical Psychology in the 17th and 18th Centuries
• Examining the mind, mind and body, and other minds
• Shaping the field of psychology in the 19th century
• Neuroscience, methodologies, institutions, psychopathology, etc.
• Modern Times
“Once expanded to the dimensions of a larger idea,
[the mind] never returns to its original size.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes,
1809 – 1894
Perspectives in Psychology
 Biological
• Biological bases of
behavior
 Humanistic  Psychodynamic
– Free will – Behavioral influences
– Natural tendency to of inner forces
be in control of our
lives

 Cognitive  Behavioral
– How people think, – Focus on observable
understand, and know events
about the world
 Key Issues in Psychology
 Nature versus nurture
• How much of our behavior is due to
heredity and how much is due to
environment?
 Conscious versus
unconscious
– How much of our
behavior is produced by
forces of which we are
fully aware?
 Observable behavior versus
internal mental processes
– Should psychology only focus on
what it can see?
Key Issues in Psychology (cont’d)
• Free will versus
determinism
• How much of behavior is a
result of free will?
• Individual differences
versus universal principles
• How much of our behavior
is a consequence of our
unique and special
qualities?
The Science of Psychology
The Scientific Method
 The approach used by
psychologists to
systematically acquire
knowledge and
understanding about
behavior and other
phenomena of interest
Scientific Method: The Process

Carry Out
Research:
Formulate an •Operationalize
Explanation: hypothesis
Identify Questions of
•Specify a theory •Select a research
Interest method
•Develop a hypothesis
•Collect data
•Analyze the data
Scientific Method: Developing
Explanations
 Theories
– Broad explanations and
predictions concerning
phenomena of interest
 Hypothesis
– A prediction stated in a way
that allows it to be tested
Scientific Method: Conducting Research
Research
Systematic
inquiry aimed at
the discovery of
new knowledge
Provides a means
to understand the  Operationalization
degree to which
theories and  Process of translating a
hypothesis are hypothesis into specific,
accurate testable procedures that
can be measured and
observed
Research Methods
 Archival research
– Use of existing data in
order to test a hypothesis

 Naturalistic observation
– Observation of naturally occurring
behavior without intervention
 Research Methods (cont’d)

 Case study
– An in-depth,
intensive
investigation of an
individual or small
group of people
Research Methods (cont’d)
 Variables
– Behaviors, events, or other
characteristics that can
change, or vary in some way

 Correlational research
– The relationship between
two sets of variables is
examined to determine
whether they are
associated, or “correlated”
– Ranges from +1 to -1
– Correlation does not mean
“causation”
Research Methods (cont’d)
 Experiment
– The relationship between two (or
more) variables is investigated by
deliberately producing a change in
one variable in a situation and
observing the effects of that
change on other aspects of the
situation
– A method of research that seeks to
determine cause-effect
relationships between variables
Experimental Research
 Experimental manipulation
– The change that an
experimenter deliberately
produces in a situation
 Treatment
– The manipulation
implemented by the  Experimental group
experimenter – Any group receiving a
treatment
 Control group
– A group that receives no
treatment
 Experimental Research (cont’d)
 Independent variable
– The variable that is
manipulated by the
experimenter
 Dependent variable
– The variable that is
measured and is expected
to change as a result of
changes caused by the
experimenter’s
manipulation of the
independent variable
“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool.”
Proverbs 28:26
Research Challenges: Ethics
 Protection of participants from physical and
mental harm
 The right of participants to privacy regarding
their behavior
 The assurance that participation in research
is completely voluntary
 The necessity of informing participants about
the nature of procedures prior to
participation in the experiment
 Informed consent
– Deception and debriefing
Challenges in Research
 Choosing participants who
represent the scope of
human behavior
 Should animals be used in
research?
 Threats to Experiments
 Experimental bias
– Factors that distort how the
independent variable
affects the dependent
variable in an experiment  The Hawthorne Effect
• Experimenter  The Placebo Effect - A discussion of the
expectations placebo effect is aided by the
examination of medication research –
• Participant
Physicians Desk Reference - that use
expectations
placebos in a “placebo control group”
and examine reported side effects and
benefits by subjects
Phineas Gage
https://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/12/04/the-incredible-case-of-
phineas-gage/