THE NATURE AND ROOTS OF PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology – the scientific study of behavior and

the mind
 Behavior – refers to action and responses that
can be directly observed
Mind – refers to internal states and processes
such as thoughts and feelings – that can
not be seen directly and must be
inferred from observable, measurable
responses
 Psychology as science can be seen as either
basic and applied science.

Basic science (research) – refers to the quest

for knowledge purely for its own sake

 Applied science (research) – which is designed

solve specific, practical problems
 The Goals of Psychology:
1. to describe how people and other species
behave
2. to understand the causes of these behaviors
3. to predict how people and animals will behave
under certain conditions
4. to influence behavior through the control of
its causes
5. to apply psychological knowledge in ways that
enhance human welfare
 The debate on how our behavior is primarily
shaped: is it by nature (biological endowment) or
by nurture ( our environment and learning
history)?

To understand more fully why people act, think,

and feel as they do , psychologists examine
behavior at the biological, the psychological
and the environmental levels of analysis.
 Perspectives on Behavior - because has roots
in such varied disciplines as philosophy,
medicine, and the biological and physical
sciences, different ways of viewing people
called perspectives became part of
psychology’s intellectual traditions.
• Roots:
mind-body dualism
monism
British empiricism
Structuralism
Functionalism
Psychodynamic perspectives
Psychoanalytic
Modern psychodynamic theories

Behavioral perspective
behaviorism
Cognitive behaviorism

Humanistic perspective
Humanism
Positive psychology
Cognitive perspective
Gestalt psychology
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive neuroscience

Socio-cultural perspective
Cultural psychology
culture
Individualism
collectivism
Behavioral perspectives
Behavioral neuroscience
Behavior genetics
Evolutionary psychology