Lecture Notes to be used with Introduction to psychology. These notes provide an introduction to the various subjects within the field of psychology, such as the science and history of Psychology, Consciousness, Perception, Learning, Attention and memory and Thinking and Intelligence.
This lecture can be reviewed additionally to chapter 1
This lecture describes what it means to be a psychological scientist, a brief history of psychology, as well as current issues in psychology.
What is Psychology?
Psychology branches out far beyond the clinical realm. In fact, what people often forget is that psychologists are scientists. Psychology, therefore, is the study of behaviour, the mechanisms behind it, and, if necessary, how to change it. This includes long-term and short-term behaviours, as well as the physiology behind them, particularly the physiology of the brain.
What is Science?
Science is the process of discovering new things in or about the world around us. Psychologists use the scientific method to form theories about behaviour:
By observing and researching about the world, psychologists are able to come up questions about behaviour.
Using these questions, hypotheses are formed.
These hypotheses are tested through experimentation or field observation
Conclusions about the hypotheses are drawn
Psychology as a Science
It is important to note that this lecture talks about Western philosophy and science (based on dualism), rather than Eastern (monistic) philosophy and science. Psychology, as a science, is empirical, which means that it is about things that you observe, either directly or indirectly. While many things can be observed directly, a large part of psychology is about things that are only indirectly observed.
Psychology bridges the gap between the natural sciences and the humanities. While it can include many other disciplines, such as law, medicine, theology, mathematics, and physics, psychology is ultimately a subdiscipline of philosophy.
The two major themes studied in psychology today are the mind-body problem, ie. how the mind and the body are related, and the nature vs. nurture debate, ie. whether we are free to control our own fate and change who we are.
Some Important People in Psychology
1875: The first psychology labs were established in 1875 under Wilhelm Wundt (Leipzig) and William James (Harvard), both professors of physiology. James was later appointed chair of psychology in 1880, while Wundt believed that psychology should stay as a subdiscipline of philosophy.
1892: Gerard Heymans established the first experimental psychology lab in Groningen
1894: Carl Stumpf was appointed chair of.....read more
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