AP PSYCH

PROLOGUE: THE STORY OF PSYCHOLOGY

Lecture Notes
http://www.quia.com/pages/mkrogerdiamond/prologue

PROLOGUE: THE STORY OF PSYCHOLOGY Prologue Preview As the science of behavior an !enta" #rocesses, psychology traces its roots back to early recorded history when scholars ref"ecte on the re"ationshi# bet$een !in an bo %. o psychology has its origins in many disciplines and countries. o most enduring issue = nature&nurture' o psychologists recognize nurture works on what nature endows. o bio-psychosocial approach incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis. Although different perspectives on human nature have their own purposes and questions, they are complementary and together provide a fuller understanding of mind and behavior. o ome psychologists conduct basic !or empirical" or a##"ie research# others provide professional services, including assessing and treating troubled people.

o $ith its perspectives ranging from the biological to the social, and settings from the clinical to the laboratory, psychology has become a meeting place for many disciplines. o %astering psychology requires active stu %. A survey-question-read-recite-review study method boosts students& learning and performance. Cha#ter Gui e (' Psychology = scientific study of behavior (anything an organism does) and mental processes (the internal, sub'ective e(periences we infer from behavior, for e(ample, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings." o As a science, psychology evaluates competing claims with systematic observation and rigorous analysis. Ps%cho"o)%*s Roots +' ,n their atte!#t to un erstan hu!an nature- ear"% scho"ars e.a!ine ho$ our !in s $or/ an ho$ our bo ies re"ate to our !in s' o 0u ha an Confucius focused on the power and origin of ideas. o Socrates an P"ato viewed mind as separable from body and argued that some ideas are innate. o Aristot"e maintained that knowledge grows from our e(perience and believed that the mind and body are connected. )e derived principles from careful observations. o *n the +,--s, the .renchman Ren1 2escartes agreed with ocrates and /lato regarding the e(istence of inborn knowledge and the mind&s 0being entirely distinct from the body1 and thus able to survive its death. o *n 2ritain, Francis 0acon, one of the founders of modern science, anticipated later discoveries regarding the human mind. o 2ritish philosopher 3ohn Loc/e argued that at birth the mind is a blank slate on which e(perience writes.
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3his idea helped form modern empiricism, the view that knowledge originates in e(perience only and thus that science should rely on observation and e(perimentation. 4. 4i"he"! 4un t established the first psychological laboratory in +567 in 8eipzig, 9ermany. )e sought to measure the fastest and simplest mental processes. o )is student, E $ar Titchener introduced structuralism, which used introspection to search for the basic elements of the mind. )owever, selfreports proved somewhat unreliable, varying from person to person and from situation to situation. o 4i""ia! 3a!es thought it better to study how consciousness serves a purpose. 3hus, functionalism focused on how mental and behavioral processes enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish. :ames also wrote a te(tbook for the new discipline of psychology. )e mentored 5ar% 4hiton Ca"/ins- the first fe!a"e #resi ent of APA. o 5ar)aret F"o% 4ashburn was the second female president of A/A. 6' Evolution of psychology from the 1920s through today. /sychology developed from the established fields of #hi"oso#h% 7 bio"o)%' o *ts pioneers included; <ussian physiologist van Pavlov !"earning #heory$ Austrian personality theorist %igmund &reud !Psychoanalysis$ wiss biologist 'ean Piaget. !(hild )evelopment$

o Unti" the (8+9s, psychology was defined as the science of mental life. o Fro! the (8+9s throu)h the :9s, American psychologists, led by :ohn $atson and later by 2. .. kinner, redefined psychology as the science of observable behavior. o ,n the (8:9s, psychology began to recapture its interest in mental processes, and today is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Conte!#orar% Ps%cho"o)% *. %ummari+e the nature-nurture debate in psychology, and describe the principle of natural selection. o /sychology&s biggest and most enduring debate concerns the nature; nurture issue; the controversy over the relative contributions of )enes an e.#erience to the development of psychological traits and behavior.
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o *ncluded in the history of this debate is Char"es 2ar$in*s conce#t of natura" se"ection, which states that among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations. o =volution has become an important principle for >+st century psychology. 3oday, contemporary science recognizes that nurture $or/s on $hat nature en o$s' ?ur species is biologically endowed with an enormous capacity to learn and to adapt. %oreover, every psychological event is simultaneously a biological event. :' , entif% the three !ain "eve"s of ana"%sis in the bio;#s%chosocia" a##roach- an e.#"ain $h% #s%cho"o)%*s varie #ers#ectives are co!#"e!entar%' o 3he different systems that make up the comple( human system suggest different levels of analysis; bio"o)ica"- psycho"o)ica"- an social;cu"tura". 3ogether, these levels form an integrated bio-psychosocial approach. o Psychology,s varied perspectives therefore complement each other. omeone working from the evolutionary perspective considers how evolution influences behavior tendencies. behavior genetics perspective considers how evolution influences behavior tendencies. neuroscience perspective studies how the body and brain work to create emotions, memories, and sensory e(periences. #s%cho %na!ic #ers#ective views behavior as springing from unconscious drives and conflicts. behavioral perspective e(amines how observable responses are acquired and changed. cognitive perspective studies how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information. social-cultural perspective e(amines how behavior and thinking vary with the situation and culture. <' , entif% so!e of #s%cho"o)%*s subfie" s- an e.#"ain the ifference bet$een c"inica" #s%cho"o)% an #s%chiatr%' o ome psychologists conduct basic research. For example, biological psychologists explore the link between brain and behavior developmental psychologists study our changing abilities from womb to tomb personality psychologists investigate our inner traits.
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o ?ther psychologists conduct a##"ie research. For example, industrial/organi ational psychologists study behavior in the workplace and suggest ways of improving conditions and performance. o /sychology is also a he"#in) #rofession. (ounseling psychology assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being. (linical psychology involves mental health professionals who study, assess, and treat people with psychological disorders. Psychiatry sometimes involves medical treatments as well as psychological therapy. /sychology relates to many disciplines, by connecting with fields ranging from mathematics to philosophy and by aiding those disciplines. =' State five effective stu % techni>ues'

3o master information, one must actively process it. /eople learn and remember material best when they put it in their own words rehearse it, and then review and rehearse it again. An acronym for Surve%- ?uestion- Rea - Recite, and Revie$, @4< is a study method that encourages active processing of new information. Aistributing study time, listening actively in class, over-learning, focusing on big ideas, and being a smart test-taker will also boost learning and performance.