The document introduces psychology as the systematic study of behaviors and mental processes, explaining its goals: description, explanation, prediction, and control. It highlights the nature vs. nurture debate and the evolution of psychology from philosophical roots to modern approaches, such as cognitive and sociocultural psychology. Additionally, it outlines the scientific method in psychological research and significant historical figures and schools of thought that shaped the field.

1. Introducing Psychology
By
Aqsa shahid

2. Section 1
Why Study Psychology?

3. INTRODUCTION WARM-UP QUESTION
Answer this question on the card:
Why are you sitting in Psychology class when there are
so many other things you could be doing?

4. What do psychologists
study?
Psychology
the systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental
processes
Behaviors
refers to observable actions or responses in both
humans and animals
Mental processes
not directly observable, refer to a wide range of complex
mental processes, such as thinking, imagining,
studying, and dreaming

5. GREEK DEFINITION
• The word psychology is derived from two Greek
words “psyche” and “logos”.
• Psyche means soul (life) and logos means
knowledge (explanation) or the study of the soul.

6. NATURE VS. NURTURE IN PSYCHOLOGY
• Psychologist Francis Galton coined the terms 'nature
versus nurture’
• Nature refers largely to our genetics.
• It includes the genes we are born with and other hereditary
factors that can impact how our personality is formed and
influence
• Nurture encompasses the environmental factors that
impact who we are. This includes our early childhood
experiences, the way we were raised, our social
relationships, and the surrounding culture.

7. The Goals of Psychology
• Description
• Explanation
• Prediction
• Control

8. Description
• The first goal of psychology is to describe the
different ways that organisms behave.
• Psychologists seek to describe very specifically
the things that they observe.
Example: how babies learn to talk to how we fall in
love, how we make decisions, and more.

9. Explanation
• The second goal of psychology is to explain the cause
of behavior
• Telling what, where, when, and how are sometimes not
enough. A key goal for many psychologists is to answer
the question of, “Why?”
• Example: psychologists have developed hypotheses
and theories to explain a huge variety of events, from
why we get hungry to why we either like or don’t like
parties.

10. Prediction
• The third goal of psychology is to predict how organisms
will behave in certain situations
• Psychologists also seek to predict the circumstances
under which a variety of behaviors and mental process
are likely
• example, research that predicts the conditions under
which we are most likely to offer help to a stranger in
need

11. control
• The fourth goal of psychology is to control an
organism’s behavior
• We often encounter situations in which we want
to either limit or increase certain behaviors or
mental processes—whether our own or those of
others
• Example: how to limit unhealthy stress or how to
increase what we remember from a class

12. PSYCHOLOGY AS A SCIENCE
• Psychologists attempt to understand people by thinking and
learning
• through careful, controlled observation and rigorous
analysis.
• It is based on supported judgment and fact-finding.
• As science psychology has four basic characteristics:
1) It is systematic and uses scientific methods
2) It includes measurement
3) The results can be verified and the procedure must
be repeatable
4) It has objectivity in explaining behavior

13. Use of Systematic Method
• Usually asks and answers questions about why
people think, act, and feel
• as they do reduces the chances of coming to
false conclusions

14. • Blind men and elephant story
• Humans have a tendency to
claim absolute truth based on
their limited, subjective
experience
• As they ignore other people's
limited, subjective experiences
which may be equally true.

15. Scientific Method
1. Define a Question to Investigate
2. Hypothesis
3. Gather Data
4. Analyze the Data Results
5. Conclusions

16. 1. DEFINE A QUESTION TO INVESTIGATE
• As scientists conduct their research, they make observations
and collect data. The observations and data often lead them
to ask why something is the way it is.
• Scientists pursue answers to these questions in order to
continue with their research.
• Once scientists have a good question to investigate, they
begin to think of ways to answer it.

17. 2. Hypothesis
• Based on their research and observations, scientists
will often come up with a hypothesis.
• A hypothesis is a possible answer to a question. It is
based on: their own observations, existing theories,
and information they gather from other sources.
• Scientists use their hypothesis to make a prediction, a
testable statement that describes what they think the
outcome of an investigation will be.

18. 3. GATHER DATA
• Evidence is needed to test the prediction. There are
several strategies for collecting evidence, or data.
• Scientists can gather their data by observing the natural
world, performing an experiment in a laboratory, or by
running a model.
• Scientists decide what strategy to use, often combining
strategies.
• Then they plan a procedure and gather their data. They
make sure the procedure can be repeated, so that other
scientists can evaluate their findings.

19. 4. ANALYZE THE DATA
• Scientists organize their data in tables, graphs, or
diagrams.
• If possible, they include relevant data from other
sources.
• They look for patterns that show connections between
important variables in the hypothesis they are testing.

20. 5. CONCLUSIONS
• Based on whether or not their prediction came true,
scientists can then decide whether the evidence clearly
supports or does not support the hypothesis.
• If the results are not clear, they must rethink their
procedure.
• If the results are clear, scientists write up their findings
and results to share with others.
• The conclusions they draw usually lead to new
questions to pursue.

21. Section 2
A Brief History of
Psychology

22. PHASES IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
• Philosophical Stage (Soul/Mind)
• Structural Stage (Consciousness)
• Behaviorist Stage (Behavior Stage of Psychology)
• Modern Definition

23. The Origins of Psychology
• 5th and 6th Centuries
– Greeks studied human behavior and decided
people were rational and not dominated by
gods
– Greeks set the stage for the development of
sciences

24. GREEKS AND PHILOSOPHY/PSYCHOLOGY
• The history of psychology (and most other sciences) starts
with the history of philosophy, with the Greeks’ efforts.
• Philosophy- defined as the study of knowledge and reality.
• Hippocrates- suggests that an individual’s physical and
psychological health is influenced by humours—four
bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile)
that collectively determine a person’s character and well-
being and predict the individual’s responses to various
situations.
• He also correctly identified the brain as the organ of

25. • Socrates and Plato believed that “truth” lies in the mind and
is highly dependent upon our perceived, or subjective,
states.
• Socrates looked for concepts that are the “essence” of
human nature and searched for elements that various
concepts have in common. He tried, for example, to
identify why something — anything — is beautiful.
• His student, Plato, believed that we could use reasoning to
uncover these core ideas deeply embedded in every human
soul.
• The ideas of these two philosophers represented early
studies of mental states and processes.

26. • Aristotle the most famous thinker of the Greek period, made
key contributions to the foundations of psychology.
• He worked on sensations, dreams, sleep, and learning
• He believed that the brain was an organ of minor importance.
• Aristotle was one of the first to promote empirical, or testable,
investigations of the natural world.
• He looked inward at sensory experiences In his studies, he
formed ideas about how living things are hierarchically
categorized
• Charles Darwin—worked on evolutionary theories, that
humans are closely related to animals.

27. SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY
• Structuralism
• Functionalism
• Inheritable Traits
• Gestalt Psychology

28. Historical
Approaches
Structuralism
● Wilhelm Wundt- is acknowledged for
establishing modern psychology as a
separate field of study
○ Set up the first psychology lab in
Leipzig, Germany
○ Two types of elements: sensations
and feelings
○ Believes an individual observes,
analyzes, and reports his or her
mental experiences
● Structuralist- a psychologist who studied
the basic elements that make up
conscious mental experiences
● Introspection- a method of self-
observation in which participants report
their thoughts and feelings

29. Functionalism
● William James- taught the
first class in Psychology at
Harvard University
○ Wrote the first textbook
○ “The Principles of
Psychology”
● Functionalist- a psychologist
who studied the function
instead of the structure of
consciousness

30. Inheritable Traits
Sir Francis Galton
● Wanted to understand how
heredity influences a person’s
abilities, character, and behavior.
● His study focused on genius
being a hereditary trait
● Did not consider that
distinguished families may also
have exceptional environments
and socioeconomic advantages

31. Inheritable Traits
• Scientists recognized flaws in Galton’s
research
• They came up with the theory that “a
person’s heredity and environment interact
to influence intelligence”

32. Gestalt Psychology
• German Psychologists
– Max Wertheimer
– Wolfgang Kohler
– Kurt Koffka
• Disagreed with the principles of
structuralism and behaviorism
• Believed perception was more than
a sum of its parts
• Studied how sensations are
assembled into perceptual
experiences

33. Contemporary Approaches
• Psychoanalytic
• Behavioral
• Humanistic
• Cognitive
• Biological
• Sociocultural

34. Psychoanalytic Psychology
Sigmund Freud
– Interested in the unconscious mind
– Used the technique of free
association, which is still used
today
– Believed that dreams are
expressions of the most primitive
unconscious urges
– His view on the unconscious is a
powerful influence and controversy

35. Psychoanalytic Psychology
• Psychoanalyst- a psychologist who studies
how unconscious motives and conflicts
determine human behavior, feelings, and
thoughts.

36. Behavioral Psychology
Behaviorist- a psychologist who analyzes how
organisms learn or modify their behavior based
on their response to events in the environment
• John Watson
– Believed psychology should only concern
itself with the observable facts of behavior
• B.F. Skinner
– Introduced the concept of reinforcement
– Is a response to a behavior that increases
the likelihood for the behavior to be
repeated

37. Humanistic Psychology
Humanist- a psychologist who believes that
each person has freedom in directing his or
her future and achieving personal growth
• Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Rollo
May are humanistic psychologists
– Believed human nature as evolving and self-
directed

38. Cognitive Psychology
• Jean Piaget
• Noam Chomsky
• Leon Festinger
• Cognitivist- a psychologist who studies
how we process, store, retrieve, and
use information and how thought
processes influence our behavior
• Believe that behavior is more than a
simple response to a stimulus

39. Biological Psychology
• Known today as behavioral neuroscience
• Psychobiologist- a psychologist who studies how
physical and chemical changes in our bodies influence
our behavior
– Have found that genetic factors influence our
behaviors
– Discovered a link between chemicals in the brain and
human behavior

40. Sociocultural Psychology
• Sociocultural psychologists study:
– the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and
differences on behavior and social functioning
– The impact and integration of millions of
immigrants entering the U.S. every year
– Attitudes, values, beliefts, and social norms and
roles of the various racial and ethnic groups