...Chapter 1—What Is Psychology? Learning Goals 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Explain what psychology is and how it developed. Describe six contemporary approaches to psychology. Describe two movements that reflect a positive approach to psychology. Evaluate careers and areas of specialization in psychology. Apply some strategies that will help you succeed in psychology. After studying Chapter 1, you will be able to: Define psychology. Describe the influence that philosophy, biology, and physiology had on the beginnings of psychology as a science. Compare the two early scientific approaches in psychology: structuralism and functionalism. Describe the focus of each of the six contemporary approaches to psychology. Describe the positive psychology movement, and discuss why this movement recently emerged in psychology. Discuss career opportunities in psychology. Profile the main areas of specialization in psychology. Say how studying habits may be optimized. Understand how to be a critical thinker. CHAPTER 1: OUTLINE Psychology is a science dedicated to the study of behavior and mental processes. In this chapter you are introduced to the history of this science, a variety of contemporary perspectives in psychology, the positive psychology movement, and an overview of psychology-related careers. At the end of the chapter, the reader learns about the most effective methods of studying and learning. There are three concepts important to the definition of psychology: science, behavior, and mental...
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...1—What Is Psychology? Learning Goals 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Explain what psychology is and how it developed. Describe six contemporary approaches to psychology. Describe two movements that reflect a positive approach to psychology. Evaluate careers and areas of specialization in psychology. Apply some strategies that will help you succeed in psychology. After studying Chapter 1, you will be able to: Define psychology. Describe the influence that philosophy, biology, and physiology had on the beginnings of psychology as a science. Compare the two early scientific approaches in psychology: structuralism and functionalism. Describe the focus of each of the six contemporary approaches to psychology. Describe the positive psychology movement, and discuss why this movement recently emerged in psychology. Discuss career opportunities in psychology. Profile the main areas of specialization in psychology. Say how studying habits may be optimized. Understand how to be a critical thinker. CHAPTER 1: OUTLINE Psychology is a science dedicated to the study of behavior and mental processes. In this chapter you are introduced to the history of this science, a variety of contemporary perspectives in psychology, the positive psychology movement, and an overview of psychology-related careers. At the end of the chapter, the reader learns about the most effective methods of studying and learning. There are three concepts important to the definition of psychology: science...
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...Psychology Essay Psychology has five distinctive perspectives from which psychologists study. Although these perspectives are all based off of the four goals of psychology as a whole, they each posses many differences. The neuroscience perspective focuses on how humans and animals function biologically. Scientists who study this contribute to two of psychology’s four goals, describing and explaining. This view describes how animals and humans operate day to day, as well as explains how and why they do so. The psychodynamic outlook is based on the view that behavior is motivated by unconscious inner forces over which the individual has little control. One of the most famous psychologists of all time, Sigmund Freud, came up with this perspective, arguing that things such as dreams or word slips indicate our true feelings and thoughts. This perspective also falls under the goal of explanation, as psychologists use the unconscious activity to explain such things. Behavioral psychologists believe that the main focus of study should be centered on observable behavior that can be measured impartially, rather than guessing the inner workings of the subconscious. By doing so, they can then predict and influence an individual or animal, thus contributing to two of the four goals. The cognitive view focuses primarily on how people think, understand, and know about the world around them. This view describes and explains how and why people observe their surrounding world,...
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...Foundations of Psychology General Psychology 300 December 4, 2011 Foundations of Psychology A variety of theories make up the foundations of psychology ranging from the physiological to the unconscious. Psychology traces its roots to philosophers such as Charles Darwin, psychologists such as Sigmund Freud or B.F Skinner and various physicians and biologists. Scientific Experimentation is the method of some of the perspectives use, while some rely solely on clinical observation. The biological foundation of psychology is biopsychology. Neuroscientists “investigate the electrical and chemical processes in the nervous system that underlie these mental events” (Kowalski, 2009, p. 6, para. 1). Mental events include thoughts, feelings, and fears just to name a few. When studying the brain, neuroscientists observed patients with severe brain trauma, concluding they showed lack of language and memory or a drastic change in personality. These results proved that the brain and behavior worked together. One of the issues arising from the study of biopsychology is the term localization of function, meaning to the extent to which different parts of the brain control different functions. The belief at one time was that each psychological function happened in a specific part of the brain, when after several observations realized psychological circuits are distributed throughout the brain and contribute to a psychological event. Once the biological foundation of psychology was built, it...
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...Evolution of Cognitive Psychology General psychology studies behaviors and mental processes. Cognitive psychology focuses on scientifically studying mental processes (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008). Cognitive psychologists do look at behaviors but they focus on how those behaviors relate to the mental processes an individual is experiencing. As individuals always have thoughts, mental processes have been in abundance, but did not come under scrutiny until the last several decades. Recently, mental processes and thinking have begun to be examined to learn how those processes or thoughts can affect an individual’s behaviors (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008). As time has passed cognitive psychology has grown and evolved allowing a subdiscipline of psychology to be developed. Cognition Cognition is made up of several cognitive processes. The different processes can include memory, identifying, classifying, decision making, and attention (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008). Individuals use several mental processes daily and rarely think about the process used because it is second nature. Individuals respond to their environment in ways that can seem reflex, but the reflex is in reaction to how the body sends the information to the mind, it is instantly processed, and an action is sent to be completed. The word “cognition” comes from the Latin word “cognosco,” meaning to discover, recognize, learn, study, investigate, or make decisions (Ruisel, 2010...
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...re used Perspectives Paper Psychology as we know is the study of the mind and human behavior. Since earlier years, there has been research performed to find out how individuals think, feel, and act. There are many different perspectives that psychologists use as a means of studying human behavior and how individuals think and feel. One of those perspectives is known as the Behavioral Perspective. The main focus of this perspective is behaviors that are learned. The difference between behaviorism and other perspectives is that its emphasis is placed on behaviors that can be observed, not on internal states (Cherry, 2014). There are many major thinkers that made contributions to the Behavioral Perspective, and their theories have been valuable, and serve as a basis for the schools of thought in modern psychology. In this paper, I will be comparing and contrasting the Behavioral Perspectives of John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner, with the perspectives of another major thinker known as Edward C. Tolman. The main focus of John B. Watson and of B. F. Skinner was behaviorism while Edward C. Tolman’s focus was Cognitive Behaviorism (Cherry, 2014). John B. Watson’s Perspectives John B. Watson was a major thinker and also a psychologist who was later known as the father of behaviorism. During part of the 20th Century, he dominated with his perspective of behavior. Watson’s theory of psychology was that it was based on behaviors...
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...Psychoanalysis and Perspective Psychoanalysis and perspective can be used when analysing and deconstructing artworks. It can provide insight into the unconscious desires and defences of the artist. This is particularly the case when looking at expressionist and surrealist artworks, as these artists focus on representing and expressing their inner world, their unconscious thoughts, emotions and dreams. By looking at these artist’s lives and their artworks we can see connections between and gain insight into their psychological state and the psychology of the artworks. Psychoanalysis is a branch of science developed by Sigmund Freud. It is devoted to the study of human psychological functioning and behaviour and it can be used as a method for investigating he mind; increasing knowledge about human behaviour and as a way of treating psychological or emotional illness. Freud’s method of treating patients involved the person being analysed verbalising thoughts, associations, fantasies and dreams. The analyst interprets the unconscious conflicts that may be causing the patients symptoms or behavioural and character problems. This leads to an insight of the problem and how it might be resolved – often by confronting the patient’s defences, wishes and guilt. How a person reacts in certain situations is often symbolic of a deeper unconscious conflict and psychoanalysis delves right into the unconscious and subconscious. Psychoanalysis first developed in Vienna in the 1890s by...
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...Perspectives Paper In the world of psychology there are many perspectives, a few which will be looking at is of John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner and also that of Edward C. Tolman. They will also be contrasted and compared to each other in their views as to regarding how each perspective relates to the modern-day psychology. You will see the differences in their perspectives as well as what motivated them to come up with them. Each man had ideals of his own and ways that they expressed them and these were just some of those ways. They were behaviorist in their own right and their ideals to expand on their knowledge and to help society better itself come to pass with those ideals. Starting with John B. Watson, his perspectives were centered on classical conditioning. He believed that behaviorism was the way to go. It was the new movement. He believed that introspection forms no essential part of methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon readiness with which lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness (Goodwin, (2008). He felt more comfortable around animals than he did humans when it came to studying psychology so he settled for studying functionalist psychology, especially comparative psychology. He started out his first study with rat mazes and the hypothesis about kinesthetic sense. It was done in 1907, in which they would remove parts of the rat’s senses in some, like the eyes, middle of the ears, whiskers, or...
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...What is the point in studying psychology? Psychology is so important in many aspects because it’s the basis of how you understand people’s behavior and the human mind. The reason for studying psychology is different for every person. Personally at the beginning it was just because I have to take this course for my major. I soon came to learn this class is going to help me in a lot more ways than one. I started becoming more excited about it because it will help me with my future goal of becoming a nurse. A huge point in studying psychology for me is because in my future goal of becoming a nurse it will not only benefit me but it will benefit my patients due to an understanding of how their feeling, reacting, and also what they are thinking. Understanding a patient’s brain can be a huge factor in your job. A nurse must always be aware of how her interaction with her patient affects that patient, the patient's family, and ultimately the patient's outcome. For example a patient suffering anxiety over his illness may refuse to get out of bed, which could cause complications such as a respiratory infection or pneumonia. As a nurse if you suspect a patient won't participate in his recovery, you will need to provide emotional support and encouragement while adapting his treatment plan to his psychological health. A way you as a nurse could help the patient is set up a short term goals list where you could encourage them to do something small like attempt to get out of bed four...
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...feL82809_ch01_002-047.indd Page 2 8/2/10 9:46 PM user-f465 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Psychology /Users/user-f465/Desktop feL82809_ch01_002-047.indd Page 3 8/2/10 9:46 PM user-f465 /Users/user-f465/Desktop Key Concepts for Chapter 1 MODULE 1 What is the science of psychology? ● What Psychologists at Work are the major specialties in the field of The Subfields of Psychology: Psychology’s Family Tree psychology? ● Where do psychologists Working at Psychology PsychWork: Licensed Social Worker work? MODULE 2 What are the origins of psychology? ● What are the major approaches in contemporary psychology? ● What are psychology’s key issues and controversies? ● What is the future of psychology likely to hold? A Science Evolves: The Past, the Present, and the Future The Roots of Psychology Today’s Perspectives Applying Psychology in the 21st Century: Psychology Matters Psychology’s Key Issues and Controversies Psychology’s Future MODULE 3 What is the scientific method? ● What role Research in Psychology do theories and hypotheses play in The Scientific Method psychological research? ● What research Descriptive Research methods do psychologists use? ● How do Experimental Research Psychological Research psychologists establish cause-and-effect relationships using experiments? MODULE 4 What major issues confront psychologists conducting research? Research Challenges: ...
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...Psychology is the study of one’s behavior and mental processes. In other words the study of one’s feelings, thoughts, and why people act the way they do. When studying psychology there are five major schools of thought, Behaviorism, Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic, Humanistic, and Cognitive. Each of these different schools of thought has their very own views on behavior and one’s mind. Behaviorism is the study of psychology that believes in observation of one’s behavior with the thought that all of one’s behaviors such as emotions, thoughts, and even doing simple everyday things are all forms of behavior. Behavioralists believe that environmental stimuli are what contributes to one’s behavior and that this can all be studied through observation of animals and people. (Kowalski & Westen, 2011) John B. Watson is the founder of this field of study in psychology. Behaviorists also believe that it is impossible to study the mind without observation and usually conduct their studies by doing experiments to try and control behavior. An example of this would be Ivan Pavlov’s dogs. He did a study with dogs and learned that when they would hear a particular sound they would begin to salivate just like they would if they actually had food in front of them. By using this sound he could control the dogs. The psychodynamic perspective is the perspective that focuses on the dynamic interplay of mental forces. This perspective was made by Sigmund Freud who believed that just as we have conscious...
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...Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Gina S Washington Psychology 360 May 28, 2014 Keisha Pou Cognitive Psychology Definition Paper Cognitive Psychology According to psychologist, cognitive psychology is associated with behaviorism due to the shrill differences of the perspectives (Willingham, 2007). While behaviorism neglects to deal with mental processes, cognitive psychology target to create a logical description of these processes typical to humanity. Opposed to other perspectives in psychology, cognitive psychology has a reputation founded in the scientific and experimentation technique (Willlingham, 2007). The key goal is clarify how humans convert ideas into actions and thoughts by the composite and frequent peculiar process of cognition (Eyesnck, 2004, Willingham, 2007). The human psyche nature is addressed through nature and observation through cognitive psychology while using abstracts to produce observable behavior and nature causing a further understanding of these processes (Willingham, 2007). Through the fall of behaviorism and by the help of technology, neuroscience and the application of concept abstract is when psychology essentially came to life (Willingham, 2007). The cognitive methodology has infused contemporary psychology by way of scientific interpretation of the convoluted human psyche, also the opportunity to infuse this knowledge in treatments of dysfunction and human disease (Eyseneck, 2004). Cognitive Psychology Defined Cognitive...
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...Developmental psychology did not appear in the late 1800's like many fields of psychology. It appeared in the beginning of the 20th century and one of the main founders of developmental psychology was G. Stanley Hall (Smuts, 1996). There were many studies and experiments that were taken that helped process Developmental psychology into what it is today. Developmental psychology was not an easy subject to study. Since Developmental psychology is the study of how humans develop throughout the course of their life span, this made Developmental psychology a very broad field to study. In order to find out the origins and history of developmental psychology, we must first see how it all started beginning with the study of children. Without child psychology, developmental psychology would not exist because In order to study how humans develop we must first study the early stages, beginning with infants and children. Studying children was not an easy task at that time. There were many confusion in the process of studying infants and children. The researchers did not know if children had any bias or what infants sees and feels so the first step that was taken in studying infants and children's were studying their cognitive thinking and their perception. Many researches have been done and some of the results were that infant's cognitive components are being challenged actively (Keil, 2000). Since their cognitive components are being challenged actively, the children's environment would...
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...Ethics Awareness Inventory Ronnie Paul University of Phoenix PSY/490 – Capstone Course in Psychology Christine Rose, MA, LPC 2 Ethics Awareness Inventory A program designed to evaluate an individual’s ethical style is called The Ethics Awareness Inventory (Collak, 2012). For most people, right and wrong is evaluated from their own perspective and is very valuable to the individual once discovered. The EAI program will ask the participant a series of questions and then evaluate the answers. Once the test is completed, the program will reveal the type of ethics one possesses. Although, tests results may vary from person to person, most individuals base their ethical views on obligation, results, equity and character. Furthermore, there are some who’s ethical styles are blended, which can put them in two different categories at the same time. This assignment requires that I take the EAI and break down my own personal conclusions of ethical style and perspective. An individual’s code of conduct is directly connected to their own personal ethics. Moreover, personal ethics play an important role in one’s social, spiritual and organizational issues. Personal Summary of EAI My personal conclusion is I view ethics based on character (Williams Institute, 2006). My personal view points are based on personal virtue. I place high regard on honesty, wisdom, justice, personal integrity and benevolence. I...
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...of Phoenix Material Origins of Psychology and Research Methods Worksheet Part I: Origins of Psychology Within psychology, there are several perspectives used to describe, predict, and explain human behavior. The seven major perspectives in modern psychology are psychoanalytic, behaviorist, humanist, cognitive, neuroscientific/biopsychological, evolutionary, and sociocultural. Describe the perspectives, using two to three sentences each. Select one major figure associated with one of the perspectives and describe his or her work in two to three sentences. Type your response in the space below. Psychoanalytic – Construction which alerts the relative of conscious and unaware psychological processes. Freud Sigmund was the founder of the psychoanalytic school. . behavioral perspective- : A Psychologist who analyses obvious or scientific behavior. John Watson was the founder of the behaviorist school. humanistic perspective- expressed discretion and a position of self-realization because every people try to build up self actualisation. cognitive perspective- is how we accumulate and store data through views and perceptions. neuroscientific/biopsychological perspective-examines behavior through genetic processes of the brain and other parts of the nervous system. evolutionary perspective- Tensions natural selection, adjustment, and development of behavior and psychological processes. sociocultural perspective- social interactions and social determinants...
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