UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGY

10TH EDITION
By Robert Feldman
Powerpoint slides by Kimberly Foreman
Revised for 10th Ed by Cathleen Hunt

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 ONE:  CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

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MODULE 1:
Psychologists at Work
 What is the science of psychology?

 What are the major specialties in the field of

psychology?

 Where do psychologists work?

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MODULE 1:
Psychologists at Work
 Definition of Psychology
› Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

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MODULE 1:
Psychologists at Work
 Subfields of Psychology:
› Psychology’s Family Tree
 Separated by the basic questions about behavior
that they address

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What Are the Biological
Foundations of Behavior?
 Behavioral Neuroscience
› Examines how the brain and the nervous system
– as well as other biological processes –
determine behavior

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How Do People Sense, Perceive,
Learn, and Think About the World?
 Experimental Psychology
› Studies the processes of sensing, perceiving,
learning, and thinking about the world
› Subspecialty
 Cognitive psychology

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What Are the Sources of Change and
Stability in Behavior Across the Life
Span?

 Developmental Psychology
› Studies how people grow and change from the
moment of conception through death

 Personality Psychology
› Focuses on the consistency in people’s behavior
over time and the traits that differentiate one
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person from another
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How Do Psychological Factors Affect
Physical and Mental Health?

 Health Psychology
› Explores the relationship between psychological
factors and physical ailments or disease

 Clinical Psychology
› Deals with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of
psychological disorders
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How Do Psychological Factors Affect
Physical and Mental Health?

 Counseling Psychology
› Focuses primarily on educational, social, and
career-adjustment problems

11

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How Do Our Social Networks
Affect Behavior?
 Social Psychology
› Study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and
actions are affected by others

 Cross-Cultural Psychology
› Investigates the similarities and differences in
psychological functioning in and across various
cultures and ethnic groups
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Expanding Psychology’s Frontiers

 Evolutionary Psychology
› Considers how behavior is influenced by our
genetic inheritance from our ancestors

 Behavioral Genetics
› Seeks to understand how we might inherit certain
behavioral traits and how the environment
influences whether we actually display such traits
13

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Expanding Psychology’s Frontiers

 Clinical Neuropsychology
› Unites the areas of neuroscience and clinical
psychology
› Focuses on the origin of psychological disorders
in biological factors

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Psychologists: A Portrait

 Today, ~75% of new psychology doctorates

are earned by women.
 Vast majority of psychologists in the United
States are white
› 6 percent are members of racial minority groups
› Limiting diversity of the field

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The Education of a Psychologist

 Ph.D.
› Doctor of philosophy
 Psy.D.
› Doctor of psychology
 M.A. or M.S.
› Master’s degree
 B.A. or B.S.
› Bachelor’s degree 17

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Careers for Psychology Majors

 Most common areas of employment are in

social services:
› Administrator
› Counseling
› Provision of direct care

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MODULE 2:
A Science Evolves: The Past, the
Present, and the Future

 What are the origins of psychology?

 What are the major approaches in

contemporary psychology?

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The Roots of Psychology

 Structuralism
› Wilhelm Wundt
› Focused on uncovering the fundamental mental
components of perception, consciousness,
thinking, emotions, and other kinds of mental
states and activities
 Introspection

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The Roots of Psychology

 Functionalism
› William James
› Concentrated on what the mind does and how
behavior functions
 Stream of consciousness

21

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The Roots of Psychology

 Gestalt Psychology
› Hermann Ebbinghaus
› Max Wertheimer
› Emphasized how perception is organized
› “The whole is different from the sum of its parts”

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Women in Psychology: Founding
Mothers
 Margaret Floy Washburn
› First woman to receive a doctorate in psychology

 Leta Stetter Hollingworth

› One of the first psychologists to focus on child
development and on women’s issues

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Women in Psychology: Founding
Mothers
 Mary Calkins
› Studied memory
› First female president of the American
Psychological Association

 Karen Horney
› Focused on the social and cultural factors behind
personality
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Women in Psychology: Founding
Mothers
 June Etta Downey
› First woman to head a psychology department at
a state university

 Anna Freud
› Notable contributions to the treatment of
abnormal behavior

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Women in Psychology: Founding
Mothers
 Mamie Phipps Clark
› Pioneered work on how children of color grew to
recognize racial differences

26

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 Today’s Perspectives

27

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The Neuroscience Perspective:
Blood, Sweat, and Fears
 Neuroscience Perspective
› Considers how people and nonhumans function
biologically

28

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The Psychodynamic Perspective:
Understanding the Inner Person
 Psychodynamic Perspective
› Sigmund Freud
› Behavior is motivated by inner forces and
conflicts about which we have little awareness or
control

29

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The Behavioral Perspective:
Observing the Outer Person
 Behavioral Perspective
› John B. Watson
› B. F. Skinner
› Focuses on observable behavior that can be
measured objectively

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The Cognitive Perspective: Identifying the
Roots of Understanding

 Cognitive Perspective
› Focuses on how people think, understand, and
know about the world
 Information processing

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The Humanistic Perspective: The Unique
Qualities of the Human Species

 Humanistic Perspective
› Carl Rogers
› Abraham Maslow
› Emphasis is on free will
› Achieving self-fulfillment

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MODULE 3:
Psychology’s Key Issues and
Controversies

 What are psychology’s key issues and

controversies?

 What is the future of psychology likely to

hold?

33

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Key Issues

 Nature versus Nurture

 Conscious versus Unconscious Causes of

Behavior

 Observable Behavior versus Internal Mental

Processes
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Key Issues

 Free Will versus Determinism

 Individual Differences versus Universal

Principles

35

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Psychology’s Future

 Psychology will become increasingly

specialized and new perspectives will evolve

 Neuroscientific approaches will likely

influence other branches of psychology

36

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Psychology’s Future

 Influence on issues of public interest will grow

 Issues of diversity will become more

important to psychologists providing services
and doing research

37

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