Psychology
Psychology – the study of the mind, brain and behavior The mind refers to mental activity/process Behaviors are observable actions
Goals of psychology – understand mental activity, social interactions, and how people ….. Description - to hear, learn, see, describe.. “what is going on?” Explanation – “Why is something going on?”
Prediction- “Can we try to guess what will happen next after we have the descriptions and explanations?”
Control- “Is there something we can develop an intervention that then targets all the stuff we know to alter the lives of humans”
Humans are intuitive psychologists
Foundations of psych
Psychological roots Nature/nurture- is it your environment or just how you are born Mind/body – mind and body are distinct but intertwined Descartes- dualism
Environmnetal psych
Philosophy goes to science Wundt- introspection
Structuralism
Conscious experience can be broken down into component parts
Functionalism
Response to Structuralism William James- mind was too complex to be broken down Mind develop through evolution
Gestalt
Response to structuralism “The whole is not the sum of its parts” Perception is subjective and dependent on context
Frued
Emphasis of the unconscious These unconscious mental processes were often in conflict and produced psychological disorders Brought up the idea of mental process that no one ever thought of Theses are what make you feel psychologically