🗓️ Unit 1
What is Psychology?

PSYC 181 – Intro to Psych

Emma Marshall – Instructor

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

What is Psychology?

Science of Psychology

Psychology science is the study of the mind, brain, and behavior.

Psychologists study everything about the human experience from the basic workings of the human brain to consciousness, memory, language, reasoning, personality and mental health.

Psychologists Use the scientific method to study

Mental activity

Biological process that result in mental activity

All observable actions

Mind

Brain

Behavior

Psychological science requires critical thinking.

What is critical thinking?

1. What is the new information?
2. What is my belief about this information?
3. What led me to believe this?
4. What facts support it?
5. Does this new information (i.e., new science) require me to reevaluate or update my beliefs?

Psychological science helps us understand biased or inaccurate thinking.

Humans are naive scientists

During daily life

• People tend to:
  • Notice patterns
  • Draw conclusions based on those patterns

BUT they are often wrong!

Why?

Use Mental Shortcuts

Overly positive self evaluations

Ignore evidence

Patterns are seen as causal

After the fact reasoning

Psychological sciences can help you think critically by providing insight into the ways thinking is biased or inaccurate.

Confirmation bias – social media

Correlation does not equal causation – that two co-occurring events are related

Hindsight bias – really good at explaining events that have occurred but not very good at predicting events – post-event explanations tend to result in distortions – pulse night club – in hindsight there were lots of warning signs about the shooter – what kinds of information distortions occur from thinking about those signs

Heuristics – cognitive shortcuts that help us make fast decisions based on the world around us

Psychological science helps to explains how and why people think and behave

History of Psychology as a science

Modern Origins

William Wundt

Structuralism
Understanding the conscious experience through introspection

William James

Functionalism
How mental activities contributed to survival

Structuralism

Wilhelm Wundt is credited as one of the founders of psychology. He created the first laboratory for psychological research.

Wundt emphasized structuralism. He focused on understanding the structure and characteristics of the mind through introspection.

Introspection - Process by which someone examines their own conscious experience in an attempt to break it into its component parts

Functionalism

Modern Origins

German

Structuralism
Understanding the conscious experience through introspection

American

Functionalism
How mental activities contributed to survival

Timeline

Famous Psychologists

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud was a highly influential figure in the history of psychology.

One of his many books, A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis, shared his ideas about psychoanalytical therapy; it was published in 1922.

Role of the unconscious in affecting conscious behavior

Let’s talk about Freud

Historical Perspectives

Behaviorism

Focuses on observing and controlling behavior

John B. Watson

Father of behaviorism
Focused on observable behavior and ways to bring that behavior under control (not mental)

Ivon Pavlov

Classical conditioning
Conditioned reflexes to pair stimulus and response

B. F. Skinner

Operant conditioning
Modifying behavior through reinforcement and punishment

Gestalt psychology

Argues the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Kohler, Koffka and Wertheimer

Focuses on humans as a whole rather than individual parts. Kohler, Koffka and Wertheimer were German psychologists who immigrated to the U.S. to escape Nazi Germany.

Gestalt – “Whole”

Based on the idea that although a sensory experience can be broken down into individual parts, how those parts relate to each other as a whole is often what the individual responds to in perception.

Ideas of Gestalt continue to influence research on sensation and perception.

Humanism

Emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans

Carl Rogers

Client-centered
Where patient takes a lead role in the therapy session

Abraham Maslow

Motivation
Proposed a hierarchy of human needs in motivating behavior

Maslow asserted that so long as basic needs necessary for survival were met (e.g., food, water, shelter), higher-level needs (e.g., social needs) would begin to motivate behavior.

Carl Rogers developed a client-centered therapy method that has been influential in clinical settings.

Client-centered therapy involves the patient taking a lead role in the therapy session.

Rogers believed therapists need:

• unconditional positive regard
• genuineness
• empathy

Women in Psychology

The Cognitive Revolution

By the 1950’s, new disciplinary perspectives in linguistics, neuroscience, and computer science were emerging.

The mind became the new focus of scientific inquiry.

Contemporary psychology

Modern Psychology

Applied Psychology

Careers in psychology

Top Occupations Employing Graduates with a BA in Psychology (Fogg, Harrington, Harrington, & Shatkin, 2012)

Ranking	Occupation
1	Mid- and top-level management (executive, administrator)
2	Sales
3	Social work
4	Other management positions
5	Human resources (personnel, training)
6	Other administrative positions
7	Insurance, real estate, business
8	Marketing and sales
9	Healthcare (nurse, pharmacist, therapist)
10	Finance (accountant, auditor)

APA’s Pillars