What is Psychology?
The term behavior refers to all of a person’s overt actions that others can directly observe.
The term mental processes refer to the private thoughts, emotions, feelings, and motives that others cannot directly observe.
Psychology is considered to be a science because psychologists attempt to understand people through careful, controlled observation (rigorous scientific method of observation).
Psyche and Science = Psychology
Aristotle used the term psyche to refer to the essence of life. This term is translated from Greek to mean “mind,” but it is closely linked in meaning to the word breath. Aristotle believed that psyche escaped in the last dying breath that was exhaled.
What are goals of the science of psychology?
They are to describe, predict, understand, and influence behavior and mental processes of people.
The first topic studied by psychologists was private conscious experience.
Everything that you are aware of right now is part of your conscious experience. The first psychologists wanted to understand the basic elements of consciousness and how they worked together to create the experience of being alive.
While most of the founders of psychology were focusing on human consciousness, some believed that we humans are completely unaware of important parts of our mental processes – the so called unconscious mind.
Sigmund Freud believed conscious mental processes were of trivial importance compared with the workings of the unconscious mind.
Basic Areas of Modern Psychology
Biological psychology
Sensation and Perception
Learning and Memory
Cognition
Developmental psychology
Motivation and emotion
Personality
Social psychology
Sociocultural psychology
Applied Areas of Modern Psychology
Clinical psychology
Counseling psychology
Industrial – organizational psychology
Educational and school psychology
Health psychology
A psychiatrist has completed medical school and has obtained the M.D. degree and has completed residency training in psychiatry.
A psychologist has been trained in psychology but did not attend medical school.
Some things we know about human behavior
Human beings are biological creatures.
Every person is different, yet much the same.
People can understood fully only in the context of their culture, ethnic identity, and gender identity.
Human lives are a continuous process of change.
Behavior is motivated.
Behavior has multiple causes.
Humans are social animals
People play an active part in creating their experiences
Perspectives in Psychology
Web References
PSYCHOLOGY: AN OVERVIEW
http://www.csun.edu/~vcpsy015/intro.htm
Books
Benjamin Lahey, Psychology: An Introduction, McGraw Hill, Present Edition: 10th, 2008
Jane S. Halonen and John W. Santrock, Psychology: Contexts & Applications, 3rd Edition, 1999.
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Psychology - Related Knols
Psychology Article Series (KVSSNRao) - Directory
Psychology: An Introduction by Benjamin Lahey - Book Information and Review
Kagan and Segal's Psychology: An Introduction (with InfoTrac®) - Book Information and Review
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