The document provides an overview of the history and scope of psychology. It discusses: 1) Psychology's roots in philosophy and biology and Wilhelm Wundt creating the first psychology lab in 1879. 2) Key figures like Pavlov who discovered classical conditioning, Freud and his theories of personality, and Piaget's stages of cognitive development. 3) The four primary perspectives in psychology - behavioral, cognitive, neuroscience, and psychodynamic. 4) The big issue of nature vs nurture and major subfields like developmental, clinical, and industrial/organizational psychology.

1. The Basics of Psychology
Samantha Roy
EDU 290
Dr. William Merrill

2. The History and Scope of Psychology
 Psychology’s Roots-
 Philosophy
 Biology
 Philosophy’s questions and biology’s methods
= psychology
Image from:
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers
http://www.nctc.edu/Libraries/Home_Page/Psych_head.sflb.ashx

3. Psychology’s Birth – 1879
 Wilhelm Wundt- created the first psychology lab
 University of Leipzig (Germany)
 Father of Experimental Psychology
 Founder of Modern Psychology
 Psychology-
 the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
 Behavior-
 anything an organism does that is an observable or recordable action
 Mental Processes-
 internal subjective (debatable) experiences inferred from behavior
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers

4. Philosophers
 John Locke (1632-1704)
 at birth the mind is a blank slate
 empiricism- rely on observation and
experimentation
 William James
 1st psychology textbook
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers Image from: http://assetebooks.com/resources/The%20Principles%20of
%20Psychology.JPG

5. Biology - Pavlov (Russian Physiologist)
 discovered the learning principles
 classical conditioning
unconditioned stimulus (US)

conditioned stimulus (CS)

unconditioned reflex (UR)

conditioned reflex (CR)

 came up with the dog experiment
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers Image from:
http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/pavlov/images/serie2.

6. Biology- Freud (Austrian Physician)
 Personality Theorist
 three different components
 Id
 all
of the biological components of personality
 immediate satisfaction
 Ego
 the mediator between the id and the superego
 Superego
 uses morals to do what is right
Image and information:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html

7. Biology - Piaget (Swiss Biologist)
 Developmental Psychology
 Cognitive Theory
 Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years)
Key component – Object

permanence
 Pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years)
Key component – egocentrism

 Operation stage (7 to 11 years)
Key component - conservation

 Formal operational stage (11 years
and on)
Key component – abstract

reasoning
http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html Image from: http://www.stelizabeth.com/Resources/

8. Biology – Erik Erikson
8 stages of Psychosocial development
 1. Trust vs. Mistrust (birth to 1 year)
 2. Autonomy vs. Shame & doubt (2-3 years)
 3. Initiative vs. Guilt (3-5 years)
 4. Industry vs. Inferiority (6-12 years)
 5. Identity vs. Role Confusion (13-18 years)
 6. Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood)
 7. Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood)
 8. Ego Integrity vs. Despair (old age)
www.simplypsychology.com.org/erik-erikson.html

9. Four Primary Perspectives
 1) Behavioral
i) only relies on observable behaviors
to determine influences of the
environment on behavior
 2) Cognitive
i) thought is what influences behavior
Images from: http://helpingpsychology.com and Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers
http://fhuhs.org/departments/socialstudies/

10. Four Primary Perspectives
 3) Neuroscience
i) how biology
and neurochemistry
affect behavior
 4) Psychodynamic
i) how
unconscious
thoughts and
conflicts influence
behavior
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers Image from: http://www.personal.psu.edu/

11. Big Issue in Psychology
 a) Nature vs. Nurture
 Nature –
 inherited and genetic
 Nurture –
 all of the environmental issues after birth
 example – all of your experiences
 What concept do you believe has
the largest impact on a child?
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers

12. Nature vs. Nurture
http://www.simplypsychology.org/naturevsnurture.html

13. Subfields of Psychology
a) Developmental
i) mental and physical changes throughout
a persons life with a particular emphasis on
the earlier stages in life
b) Clinical
i) Studies, assesses, treats people with
psychological disorders
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers

14. Subfields of Psychology cont.
c) Industrial/Organizational
i) applied to work, selection, leadership,
management, work and family conflicts, organizational
culture, and performance
d) Sports
i) mental aspects of sports and competition to
maximize performance
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers

15. Fun Facts about psychology!
 Placebo pills can have just as much effect on a
human as the actual treatment
 Freud is taught at a number of universities, expect
for in their psychology department
 Almost all identical twins are not considered
“identical”
 A lot of people déjà vu about a conversation or a
dream
 You can only remember 3 to 4 things at a time
 You are hard wired for imitation and empathy
www.psychologytoday.com
Exploring Psychology in Modules by David. G Myers