Why PSYCH 105?

Lecture Goals To explain the rationale for this course To provide an overview of misconceptions of psychology and their effects Reading Thinking About Modern Psychology Ch. 1 Student Misconceptions in the Psychology Classroom Ch. 2 The Rodney Dangerfield of the Sciences Misconceptions of Psychology Concern since 1st meeting of the APA (Janda, England, Lovejoy, & Drury, 1998) Only 50% believe scientific approach benefits understanding human behavior (Witley, 1959) Good news Increased recognition of psychology as a science (Wood, Jones, & Benjamin, 1986) but dont ride off into the sunset yet Bad news People dont know what that means Public Paradox People want Psychology to answer the Big questions What is the mind/consciousness? Am I normal? How do I make life decisions? How do I get revenge on my X? How do I find happiness? How do I find true love? but fear what psychology might reveal Uncover things we dont want to know

Promote unwanted changes (bad tasting medicine) Demystify mysteries (Love, ESP, etc.) Conflict with other beliefs Spiritual/religious, abortion, capital punishment, terrorism (mirror-images), etc but dont understand that science doesnt answer big questions. Neither do others Biologists/doctors and life? Lawyers and ethics? Artists and beauty? Serious Media Doesnt Help 4 national UK channels Showed 560 hrs programming Devoted 3 hrs to science mostly natural history The Times (UK) Average of 0.5% of text is science coverage Scientific sources Named much less frequently when source was social rather than natural scientist (Azar, 1998) When named Natural scientists more likely to be called scientists Social scientists more likely to be called authors, writers (Cialdini, 1997) Popular Media Doesnt Help How are psychologists portrayed on screen? (from http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov98/film.html) Dr. Dippy - crazier than his patients Dr. Evil - corrupt mind-controller/homicidal maniac

Dr. Wonderful - caring & competent, endless time for patients, cures by uncovering single traumatic event Dr. Rigid - strict killjoy Dr. Line-Crosser - inappropriate relationships with patients Misconceptions about Disorders Procedures Careers Suggests Psychology is is self-help recipe knowledge 1st do this 2nd do this 3rd do this Suggests Psychologists and Psychiatrists are for the weak minded Pop books/articles typically not written by scientific psychologists They publish in journals No law against publishing wrong information in a book and claiming it is true Pseudoscience & Parapsychology dont help Suggests pseudo-science and parapsychology are part of psychology! Creates confusion about Psychologys goals, methods, careers.credibility! Psychologists Dont Help!!! Dont take role as public commentator seriously (Baumeister, 1987) Only a few put legitimate psychological research in a form accessible to the common person Few rewards Are we really surprised that. People dont understand educational requirements 83% believed that daily life experiences provided adequate training in psychology (Wood et al.,1986)

Vocational descriptions of psychologists correlated with those of scientists Central characterization of psychology involved work with abnormal phenomena (Webb & Speer, 1985) Misconceptions Are Pervasive Children have similar perceptions of psychology (Dollinger & Thelen, 1978) Full-time faculty at Old Dominion Believed psychology required less expertise than the hard sciences Associated psychology with mental illness and treatment (Janda et al., 1998) Introductory psychology students Asked to evaluate information like psychologists Acted more like intuitive judges than scientists (Camac, 2003) Example comments at END of Intro Psychology Psychology experiments are not real life; what can they tell us? Psychology just cant be a real science like chemistry, can it? But I heard a therapist on TV say the opposite of what our textbook says Confusion for Graduating Psy Majors What can I do with my degree? How can I get the job I want? Do I HAVE to go to grad school? PSYCH 105 Plan PSYs identity PSY Career paths PSY as a process Research & Applications Common misunderstandings of PSY

Do You Mind?
Reading Psychology's Identity

Ch. 1 Introduction Ch. 2 The Early Greek Philosophers Ch. 3 Physiological Influences on Psychology

Lecture Goals Discuss the mind-body debate Discuss how early religion, philosophy, and biology influenced Psychologys identity Discuss how early religion, philosophy, and biology influenced misunderstandings of Psychology

Mind Body Debate Drove development of Psychology Still does

Important questions What is the mind?

How does it interact with the brain?

Implications of answers What is the mind made of? Physical matter vs. Spiritual matter

Who should give advice about the mind? Religious leaders Philosophers (early Academicians)

Early doctors (Scientists)

Mind vs. Body

Mind vs. Soul PhilosophyMind as a reflection of truth? a tool for determining truth?

The Religious Mind The mind is the soul.

Your identity Eternal

The body Vessel for the soul/ spirits

Ghost in the Machine

Behavior Good behavior = follows religious codes of conduct

Bad behavior = demonic possession

Stone Age Evil spirits can reside in the head

Early exorcism Drill holes in head to release spirits

1400 BC Vedic priests purge "angry demons" to cure patients

1000 BC The Etruscans, Greeks, Egyptians believe deities responsible for health and illness

Saint Augustine (354-430) God endows free will For humans to be good, they must be able to choose to do good

Makes connection between human thinking (Choice) and human nature (Behavior)

Identifies different kinds of thought in the mind

Devine (Faith)

Derived (Reason)

Tension between (soul) faith and (body) appetites (lust, greed)

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Interested in reconciliation between faith and reason

Doctrine of double truths Faith and reason are separate ways of knowing

Something can be true in rational philosophy but false in religious belief

CAN argue and debate about natural phenom ena and religion without losing faith.

Body and soul are united.

Emotion must be understood holistically - in terms of its physiological and psychological qualities

But, believed in a separable immortal soul with cognitive abilities!?!?!

Middle Ages Clergy treat the abnormal

Mental illness might not be caused by demonic possession Early milieu therapy Calm places -- monasteries and abbeys Yes it is!! Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches)

Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches) published by Dominican Monks

Fuels witch hunt craze Pope, King of Rome, University of Cologne approve the book

Thousands of mentally ill burned and executed throughout Europe

Accused of being under the influence of devil

Joan or Arc

Renaissance Changes in attitudes about religion

Rise in value of logic and science Galileo Newton Views about mental illness begin to shift to physical causes.

Contributions to modern Psychology

Mind = identity/personality

Mind is distinctly different from the body (biology)

Mentally ill need help/care (Milieu therapy)

Thought can come from the body and affect behavior

There are different kinds of thought.

Contributions to misunderstandings

Psychology = paranormal

Ghosts & out of body experience

Identity = free floating eternal spirit

Therapist = spiritual leader? Seek spiritual counselors True helpers Psychic healers Faith healers

Mentally ill Evil, dangerous

Should be feared and tortured

Brutal therapies Holes in head

Exorcism

The Philosophical Mind

The body Filters input into mind (sensation & perception)

Sometimes does not provide accurate information

Contents of the mind Where does knowledge come from? Origin of thought & Psamtik I, King of Egypt Natural language = Phrygian, not Egyptian Functions of the mind Logical, critical thinking = truest knowledge

Plato Brain is seat of soul

Transmigration of souls Some knowledge is innate (Nativist)

3 part dualistic soul Immortal/rational part Mind

Courageous (emotional) part -- Body

Appetitive part (body desires/drives) -- Body

Conflict and Personality If rational part dominates, suppress other 2 => true knowledge, best personality

If appetitive part dominates => least desirable personality

Madness = conflict between body drives and soul

Aristotle Brain mainly for cooling blood, heart most important

Soul and body not independent

Empiricist - We need to see world for ourselves. Senses can be trusted Rational thought important, but so is observation of the world

Madness = conflict between drives and moral codes

Father of Modern Science!!! (Aristotle)

Organized nature in reasoned ways. Step 1: Ask what is the question? Step2: Define terms Step3: Review what other (experts) think Step 4: Explain what you think

Set stage for first steps of scientific method

Descartes What is real? What is imagined? Am I imagined? Is my body? Is my reality constructed?

Consciousness = function of the mind

Cogito ergo sum

Animals have no soul

Much behavior does not require soul

Unconscious processes

The body must control unconscious behavior (reflexes)

Placed mind in the brain (pineal gland)

Interactive Dualism/Cartesian Dualism Mind and brain are separate, but influence each other

Allowed science and church to coexist Scientists study the body (brain, reflexes)

Church works on influencing the mind

Are we natural dualist? Bering and Bjorklund (2004) Younger children and the Mr. Alligator and brown mouse story

Mouses biological processes ceased

Mouses psychological processes continue Thinking, wanting, knowing

Cultural Beliefs (from Bloom, 2004) Double funerals Exorcism Reincarnation

90% Americans believe in heaven

72% Americans believe in angels

Uploading yourself into a computer

Contributions to modern Psychology Began to ask questions about the contents of the mind Conscious vs. unconscious processes

Began to ask questions about the functions of the mind

Mind is product of the brain How well do mental representations correspond to reality?

Emphasized the need for critical thinking and empiricism to determine truth

Noted role of body (biology) in madness

Planted seeds of scientific method (Aristotle)

Cartesian Dulaism allowed scientists and the church to coexist

Raises questions about the non-human mind/body

Contributions to modern misunderstandings Mind = eternal soul Psychology = paranormal

Platos madness = body (desires) vs. soul Mentally ill Give into drives, spiritually weak, not strong critical thinkers

Weak minded

The Biological Mind The brain Origin of thought, emotion, perception, behavior

The mind Biological causes of

Identity (personality) Mental illness

1400 BC Hindu physicians treating certain forms of _ with kindness and consideration

500 BC Alcmaeon of Croton Promoted naturalistic medicine

Helped rid medicine of superstition and magical thinking Dissected humans

Sensations, perception, memory, thinking happens in our brain

Health = balance of warm/cold, moist/dry, bitter/sweet

Hippocrates (460-377 BC)

Father of Medicine

Hippocratic Oath

Physical causes (not spiritual)

Inherited susceptibilities Organic injuries Imbalance of humors

Physical remedies (not magical cures) Rest Diet Exercise Bathes Massage

Theory of Humors

If any humor was out of balance = Mental illness

Elements, Personality, and Theory of Humors

Fire => Blood Confident, witty, courageous, optimistic, extraverted

Air =>Yellow Bile Rash, violent, discontented, envious, extraverted

Water =>Phlegm

Dumb, nice, lazy, easy going, introverted

Earth => Black Bile Depressed, frustrated, emotional, introverted

1700 and 1800s Treatments based on physiology Ice water Purgatives

Bloodletting and leeches

Tumbling

Starvation

Erasmus Darwin believes that all disease was as a result of "disordered motion Hydrotherapy Restraints Tumbling

Joseph Gall (1758-1828) Bumps on head specific for character and personality Localization of function When the person with the stealing bump did not steal, other bumps for positive characteristics were over-riding

Used in the U.S. By parents raising children

For hiring decisions

To choose partners

1800s Investigations into sensory and motor systems and mental states Brain damage cases Surgery cases

Holistic brain with functional regions

Neuron theory

1793-1822 Dr. Phillippe Pinel runs hospitals for the insane

Clean, more and better food, cuts arbitrary doses of drugs

Provides work therapy and reading

Death rate drops dramatically

Uses autopsies to refute opinions that brain lesions are cause of insanity

Develops early system of classifying and diagnosing mental illness according to physical symptoms

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) Theory of natural selection (1859)

1940s Hydrotherapy still in use Canvas covered bathtub for 1 to 12 hours with continuously flowing water

Submerging the chair-bound person under water repeatedly

Alternating jets of hot and cold water

Enemas

Refrigeration therapy (U.S.)

WWII Nazi experiments

NEED FOR ETHICS IN TREATMENT

Contributions to modern psychology Connected mental health to early scientists and their methods

Studied brain-thought-behavior connections

Divorced mental illness and identity from religion and superstition Away with exorcism Shifted focus to more humane treatments

Connected mental illness and identity to more observable biological factors

Rise of bilogical causes & treatments

Early classification of mental disorders based on observable symptoms

Focus on studying personality of normal people

Trait-Based theories of personality Hippocrates Gall Theory of natural selection

Contributions to modern misunderstandings

Un-validated treatments for mental illness Scary and unpleasant View: mentally ill beyond help

Creates confusion between science and pseudoscience remedies

Reduced credibility of experts and scientists to Understand brain-mind connections (Gall) Offer helpful therapy Equated early psychological research with Nazis and brain dissection

Unethical mad scientist stereotype Studying Human Nature Lecture Goals Briefly describe different approaches to Psychology Briefly discuss how these contributed to development of modern Psychology Reading Thinking About Modern Psychology Ch. 3 Brief History of Psychology Ch. 4 How Did Psychology Begin? Early Models of Human Nature Hobbes (1600s) Biological Instinct Biological machinery drives lead to selfishness, violence Must yield to authority and society Lockes Blank Slate (1600s) Response to Hobbes Identity is learned Environment is critical Rousseaus Noble Savage (1700s) Savages natural state Selfless Peaceful Untroubled Civilization brings greed, anxiety, violence Descartes' Ghost in the Machine Soul (mind) vs. body (brain)

Whos the Father?

Maybe Gustav Fechner (1801-1887) Founder of psychophysics Documented relationship between brain stimulation and subjective experience of the mind Legitimized objective measurement of mind/body relationship 1860 publishes Elements of Psychophysics Birth date of Psychology?? 1860 Maybe Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) Considered first psychologist First Psychology lab-- 1879 Measured reaction times of sensory/perceptual processes First Psychology textbook & journal in Psychology Named journal Philosophical Studies If so, Psychology born on 1879 Credited as Father of Psychology The irony of a dysfunctional father Humorless workaholic MD, but didnt like interacting with people Wife and family get 1 paragraph in autobiography Father Knows Best?? Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) Should study consciousness by dissecting into components Mental chronometry Measure speed of thought Measure time it takes people to react Introspection Ask people what they are thinking/feeling Fights with Hugo Munsterburg

Munsterburg leaves without Wundt, becomes Father of I/O psychology The Favored Son Edward Titchener (1867-1927) Student of Wundt Founded Structuralism Goal = identify structures of mind/consciousness Arm muscles, tendons, bones Mind - ??? Used introspection ONLY Ignores applied problems, children, animals, individual differences, higher mental processes. The American Approach William James (1842-1910) American Father of Psychology/Functionalism Opposed introspection and Structuralism Why we have a mind more important than dissecting it Stream of Consciousness (mind cant be frozen in time) Focused adaptive functions of behaviors Darwin Early foundation of cognitive psychology Return of the Biological Instinct Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Altered understanding of Psychology Drives vs. Social expectations Importance of child development Changed client/patient interaction The Freud Problem Freuds unconscious mind

Freuds unconscious mind Desires & repressed memories Dreams & Freudian slips Behaviorism: Return of the Blank Slate Reaction to Freud Future not predetermined by past (childhood) Behavior product of immediate environment Need an obejctive approach to science and therapy Cant observe mind, focus on observable behaviors Concerns with Behaviorism Total focus on environmental influence Saw no value in genetics or brain!! Humanism: Return of the Noble Savage Innate drive to find meaning of own existence Mental health depends on environmental support of quest for self-improvement Match between real & ideal selves = more + self-concept Indivisible self Center of personality Answer to question "Who am I Sense of identity & personal worth Organizer of thoughts, feelings, memories Not about how you behave or therapists views of you How you view yourself matters Focus on conscious mind Personal subjectivity should not be ignored Person-centered therapy therapist = sounding board

client = analyzer, solver Gestaltists: The Active Ghost Environmental influences are not just passive (Behaviorism) The mind constructs reality Focus on perception Early cognitive psychology Therapy should focus on How person is constructing reality Immediate experience Inaccurate perceptions Mind-Body connection Mind is what the brain does (Ghost is the machine) Objectivity and empiricism critical Cognitive science Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Relationships between brain biology and Thinking, motivation, emotion Brain scans Brain damage The World of Modern Psychology Lecture Goals To explain how Psychology bridges the Humanities, Social sciences, and Natural sciences To explain what makes Psychology unique Reading Thinking About Modern Psychology Ch. 15 Contemporary Developments in Psychology

Psychology & Humanities Humanities Focus on human thought and culture (from dictionary.com) Philosophy Languages Arts (including Music) Sometimes Religious Studies Humanities and Psychology share themes of human experience Examples Free will and determinism Mind and matter Nature and nurture Love and loss Relationships and emotion Personality (growth and disorder) How do Humanities and Psychology differ? Different goals and methods Remember systems of truth? Religion Philosophy Arts Science Psychology uses scientific methods Psychology also interested in Brain processes Non-humans Psychology & Social Science

Social Science Focus on societies and groups Anthropology Economics Sociology Political Science Social Science and Psychology share an interest in group processes Leadership - the role of the individual on group processes Conformity - the effects of groups on individuals Politics - the effects of groups on other groups How are Social Science and Psychology different? Psychology Is also interested in brain processes and non-humans Is interested in the individual too Often uses controlled techniques to address causes Psychology & Natural Science Natural Sciences Focus on natural world Biology Chemistry Physics Natural Science and Psychology share Experimental methods Interest in biological and biochemical foundations of behavior and thought Sensation and Perception, Biopsychology, Clinical psychology Interested in humans and non-humans

How do Natural Science and Psychology differ? Natural Science input physical environment result Need to know input and physical environment to predict result Psychology input physical env. mental environment result (behavior) offensive joke classroom ?? ?? Mental Environment (mind) knowledge attitudes beliefs personality perception motivation skills abilities goals

Psychology must find a way to measure abstract concepts So, what makes Psychology unique? Is it that Psychology = The scientific study of both behavior and mental processes? Not by itself Other disciplines also interested in behavior and mental processes Religion, Philosophy, Education, HR, Criminology Is it that Psychologists study the mindto help people No- many other professions do this too Physical therapy Police science Speech therapy Pastoral work Education Combination of 5 things Psychology is the only discipline that Occupational therapy Human resources Philosophy Social work Nu rsing

1. Uses scientific techniques 2. Studies a full range of human and non-human behavior 3. Has research applications that are scientifically derived 4. Has research applications that are scientifically tested 5. Is interested in scientific analysis of thought and behavior at three levels The brain The whole person The group/group processes