Essentials of

Understanding Psychology
9th Edition
By Robert Feldman
PowerPoints by Kimberly Foreman
Revised for 9th Ed by Cathleen Hunt 1

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 Chapter 1:
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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 Psychology

• Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

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 Subfields of Psychology

• Subfields are Psychology’s “Family Tree”

• How to identify a subfield?
– Look at the basic questions about behavior that they address.

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Major Subfields of Psychology

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 The Subfields of Psychology

• What are the biological foundations of behavior?

– Behavioral Neuroscience
– Examines how the brain and the nervous system determine
behavior.

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 The Subfields of Psychology

• How Do People
– Sense
– Perceive
– Learn About
– Think About
– …the World?
– Experimental Psychology
• Includes the subspecialty Cognitive Psychology

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 The Subfields of Psychology

• What Are the Sources of Change and Stability in

Behavior Across the Life Span?

• Developmental Psychology
– Studies how people grow and change from conception through
death.

• Personality Psychology
– Focuses on the consistency in people’s behavior over time and
the traits that differ from person to person. 9

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 The Subfields of Psychology

• 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.
• Counseling Psychology
– Focuses primarily on educational, social, and career-adjustment10
problems.
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 The Subfields of Psychology

• 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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 Newer Subfields of Psychology

• 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 inherit certain behavioral traits and
how the environment influences the display of those traits.
• Clinical Neuropsychology
– Unites neuroscience and clinical psychology.
– Focuses on origin of psychological disorders in biofactors. 12

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Where do Psychologists work?

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 Psychologists: A Portrait

• ~300,000 psychologists work in the United States.

• In the United States women outnumber men in the field.
– Today ~¾ of doctorates are given to women.
• Vast majority of psychologists in the United States are
white.
– 6% are members of racial minority groups.

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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

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 Careers for Psychology Majors

• Most psychology majors take a job in this field after

graduation.
• Most common areas of employment:
– Social Services
– Education
– Federal, state, and local government

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Careers for Psychology Majors

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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?
– What are psychology’s key issues and controversies?
– What is the future of psychology likely to hold?

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Major Milestones in Psychology

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 The Roots of Psychology

• Functionalism
– William James
– Concentrated on what the mind does and how behavior
functions
• Stream of consciousness

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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 (1871–1939)

– First woman to receive a doctorate in psychology
– Animal Behavior

• Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886–1939)

– One of first to focus on child development and women’s issues

• Mary Calkins (1863–1930)

– First female president of APA
– Studied memory 22

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 Women in Psychology: Founding Mothers

• Karen Horney (1885–1952)

– Focused on the social and cultural factors behind personality

• June Etta Downey (1875–1932)

– First woman to head a psychology department at a state
university

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 Women in Psychology: Founding Mothers

• Anna Freud (1895–1982)

– Notable contributions to the treatment of abnormal behavior

• Mamie Phipps Clark (1917–1983)

– Pioneered work on how children of color grew to recognize
racial differences

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 Today’s Perspectives

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 The Neuroscience Perspective

• “Blood, Sweat, and Fears”

• Neuroscience Perspective
– Considers how people and nonhumans function biologically.
– Includes study of heredity, evolution, and behavioral
neuroscience.

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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” not “determinism”
– Individuals naturally strive to grow, develop, and be in control
of their lives and behavior.

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Key Issues and 5 Major Perspectives

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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.

• Influence on issues of public interest will grow.

• Issues of diversity will become more important to

psychologists providing services and doing research. 31

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 MODULE 3: Research in Psychology

• What is the scientific method?

• What role do theories and hypotheses play in

psychological research?

• What research methods do psychologists use?

• How do psychologists establish cause-and-effect

relationships using experiments? 32

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 The Scientific Method

• Approach used by psychologists to systematically acquire

knowledge and understanding about behavior and other
phenomena of interest.

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 Scientific Method

• Four main steps

– 1. Identifying questions of interest
– 2. Formulating an explanation
– 3. Carrying out research designed to support or refute the
explanation
– 4. Communicating the findings

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The Scientific Method

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 Hypotheses: Crafting Testable Predictions

• Hypothesis
– Prediction stated in a way that allows it to be tested.
– Stems from theories.

• Operational Definition
– Translation of a hypothesis into specific, testable procedures
that can be measured and observed.

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 Psychological Research

• Research
– Systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery of new knowledge.

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 Descriptive Research

• Archival Research
– Existing data, such as:
• census documents
• college records
• newspaper clippings
– … are examined to test a hypothesis.

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 Descriptive Research

• Survey Research
– A sample of people chosen to represent a larger group of
interest —population —is asked a series of questions about
their behavior, thoughts, or attitudes.
– Survey researchers strive for random sampling.

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 Descriptive Research

• The Case Study

– An in-depth, intensive investigation of a single individual or a small
group.
• Often includes psychological testing

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 Descriptive Research

• Correlational Studies
• Two sets of variables are examined to determine whether
they are associated, or “correlated.”
– Variables
• Behaviors, events, or other characteristics that can change, or vary, in
some way
– Correlation coefficient
• Positive
• Negative

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 TV Viewing and Aggression

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 Experimental Research

• Experiment
• Investigating relationship between two or more variables
by:
– 1. changing one variable in a controlled situation
– 2. observing the effects of that change on other aspects of the
situation
• Experimental manipulation

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 Experimental Research

• Experimental Groups and Control Groups

– Treatment
• Manipulation implemented by the experimenter
– Experimental group
• Receives a treatment
– Control group
• Receives no treatment
• Rules out other reasons for change

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 Experimental Research

• Independent and Dependent Variables

– Independent (IV)
• The condition that is manipulated by an experimenter
– Dependent (DV)
• The variable that is measured and is expected to change as a result of
experimenter’s manipulation of the independent variable

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 Experimental Research

• Random Assignment of Participants

– To make the experiment a valid test of the hypothesis

• Random Assignment to Condition

– Participants are assigned to different experimental groups or
“conditions” on the basis of chance

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Experiment Example

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 Experimental Research

• Significant Outcome
– Using statistical analysis, researchers can determine whether a
numeric difference is a real difference or is due merely to
chance

• Replication
– Repeating experiment
• Meta-analysis

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Research Method: Advantages & Shortcomings

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 MODULE 4: Research Challenges

• Exploring the Process

– What major issues confront psychologists conducting research?

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 Ethics of Research

• Protecting Participants
• APA Ethical Guidelines:
– Protect from physical and mental harm
– Participants’ right to privacy regarding behavior
– Assurance that participation is voluntary
– Informing participants about procedures

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 The Ethics of Research

• Informed Consent
– Participants sign a document affirming that they know:
• the basic outlines of the study
• what their participation will involve
• the risks the experiment may hold
• that their participation is purely voluntary
• they may terminate the study at any time

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 Should Animals Be Used in Research?

• Procedures that subject animals to distress are permitted

only when an alternative procedure is unavailable and
when the research is justified by its prospective value

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 Threats to Experimental Validity

• Attempt to Avoid Experimental Bias

• Experimental Bias
– Factors that distort the way the independent variable affects the
dependent variable in an experiment
• Experimenter expectations
• Participant expectations
– Placebo

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 Thinking Critically about Research

• What is valid research?

– What was the purpose of the research?
– How well was the study conducted?
– Are the results presented fairly?

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