Introduction to Psychology

What is Psychology?

Psychology - is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Goal of Psychology – To understand, explain, predict, and control behavior

Behavior – defined as any action or response made by an organism, which may be:

®    Overt Behavior (observable); or

®    Covert Behavior (not readily observable)

Subfields of Psychology:

Behavioral Genetics	Studies the inheritance of traits related to behavior
Behavioral Neuroscience	Examines the biological basis of behavior
Clinical Psychology	Deals with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological disorders
Clinical Neuropsychology	Unites the areas of biopsychology and clinical psychology, focusing on the relationship between biological factors and psychological disorders
Cognitive Psychology	Focuses on the study of higher mental processes
Counseling Psychology	Focuses primarily on educational, social, and career adjustment problems
Cross-cultural Psychology	Investigates the similarities and differences in psychological functioning in and across various cultures and ethnic groups
Developmental Psychology	Examines how people grow, and change from the moment of conception to  death
Educational Psychology	Concerned with teaching and learning processes, such as relationship between motivation and school performances
Environmental Psychology	Considers the relationship between people and their physical environment
Evolutionary Psychology	Considers how behavior is influenced by our genetic inheritance from our ancestors
Experimental Psychology	Studies the process of sensing, perceiving, learning and thinking about the world
Forensic Psychology	Focuses on the legal issues, such as determining the accuracy of witness' memories
Health Psychology	Explores the relationship between psychological factors and physical ailments or diseases
Industrial/ Organizational Psychology	Concerned with the psychology in the workplace
Personality Psychology	Focuses on the consistency in people's behavior overtime and the traits that differentiate one person from another
Program Evaluation	Focuses on assessing large-scale programs such as the Head-start preschool, to determine whether effective onto meeting goals
Psychology of Women	Focuses on issues such as discrimination against women and causes of violence against women
School Psychology	Studies how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others
Sports Psychology	Applies psychology to athletic activity or exercise

Major Milestones in Psychology:

5000 BCE	Trephining - a procedure conducted by ancient healers wherein a hole is chipped in a patient's skull with a crude instrument to allow evil spirits, assumed to have caused psychological disorders, escape from the body
430 BCE	Hippocrates argues for four temperaments of personality
1637	17th century philosopher Rene Descartes described nerves as hollow tubes through which 'animal spirits' conducted impulses in same way as pipelines
1807	18th century physician Franz Joseph Gall argued that intelligence, moral character and other basic personality characteristics could be discerned from the shape and number of bumps on a person's skull , and introduction to Phrenology
1690	17th century British philosopher John Locke introduced the idea of tabula rasa - Latin org. blank slate in mind of children as they start off, contrasting Plato and Descartes that argued some knowledge were in born
1879	Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental laboratory devoted to psychological phenomena, aiming to study building blocks of the mind considering psychology in the perspective came to be known as Structuralism, focused on uncovering the fundamental components of perception, consciousness, thinking, emotions, and other kinds of mental states and activities Introspection - a procedure used to study the structure of the mind in which the subject are asked to describe in detail what they are experiencing when exposed on a given stimuli
1890	William James with laboratory set up in Cambridge, Massachusetts at about same time as Wundt, published Principles of Psychology
1895	Functionalism, concentrated on what the mind does – the functions of mental activity – and the role of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environments, replaced structuralism and was formulated Led by an American psychologist William James, functionalist examines behavior unto how it allows people to satisfy their needs, and how the stream of consciousness permits adaptation American educator John Dewey drew functionalism to develop the field of School of Psychology, proposing ways to best meet students’ educational needs
1900	Sigmund Freud developed the Psychodynamic Perspective
1904	Ivan Parlov won the Nobel Prize for his work on digestion that led to fundamental principles of learning
1905	Mary Calkins studied Memory, and became the first female president of the American Psychology Association
1915	There became a strong emphasis on intelligence testing
1920	Gestalt Psychology – an approach that focuses on the organization of perception and thinking in a whole sense rather than on the individual elements of perception, becomes influential Led by German scientist Hermann Ebbinghaus and Max Werthheimer, a Gestalt psychologist proposed that perception or understanding of objects is greater and more meaningful that the individual element of making up perception
1928	Leta Stetter Hollingworth became one of the first psychologist to focus on child development, and women issues
1984	John B. Watson, an early behavioralist, published Behaviorism
1951	Carl Rogers published Client-Centered Therapy, helping establish the Humanistic Perspective
1953	B.F. Skinner published Science and Human Behavior – advocating Behavioral Perspective
1954	Abraham Maslow published Motivation and Personality developing the concept of Self-Actualization
1957	Leon Festinger published A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance producing major impact on Social Psychology
1969	Arguments regarding the genetic basis of IQ fuel lingering controversies
1980	Jean Piaget, an influential development psychologist, died
1981	David Hubel and  Torsten Wiesel won the Nobel Prize for their work on vision cell in the brain
1990	Greater emphasis on multi-culturalism and diversity streamed
1995	Emphasis on Cognitive Dissonance increased
2000	Elizabeth Luftus pioneered the work on False Memory and eyewitness testimony
2010	New subfields developed such as Clinical Neuropsychology and Evolutionary Psychology

Women in Psychology:

Margaret Floy Washburn	The first woman to receive a doctorate in Psychology, and did significant work on animal behavior
Karen Horney	Focused on social and cultural factors behind personality
June Etta Downey	Spearheaded the study of personality traits and became the first woman to head Psychology Department of a State University
Anna Freud	Daughter of Sigmund Freud, made continuous contributions to the treatment of Abnormal Psychology
Mamie Phipps Clark	Carried out the pioneering work on how children of color grew to recognize racial differences

Major Perspective of Psychology:

Neuroscience	Views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning
Psychodynamic	Believes behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious forces over which a person has little control
Behavioral	Focuses on observable behavior
Cognitive	Examines how people understand and think about the world
Humanistic	Contends that people can control their behavior and that they naturally try to reach their full potential

Source: (2010). In R. S. Feldman, Understanding Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Kahulugan at Katangian ng Wikang Filipino

Ang wika ay sistemang ginagamit sa komunikasyon na maaring pabigkas o pasulat, at binubuo ng mga simbolo o letra, at panuntunan.

- tumatalakay sa pagbuo ng mga salita at tamang paggamit nito (balarila)
- behikulo (intrumento) ng komunikasyon at ekspresyon
- kalipunan ng mga tunog na  may Sistema

Mga Katangian ng Wika

1.      Ang Wika ay Binubuo ng mga Tunog

Ang tunog pangwika ay nagagawa gamit ang mga sangkap sa pagsasalita.

Hal. labi, dila, ngalangala, babatingang tinig, atbp.

2.      Ang Wika ay Isang Sistema

Ang wika ay pag-uugnay-ugnay ng mga tunog para sa pagbuo ng mga salita, at pagsasaayos ng mga salita para sa pagbuo ng makabuluhang pangungusap na may isang diwa – pinagsasama-sama upang bumuo ng diskurso.

3.      Ang Wika ay Arbitraryo

Ang wika ay may set ng palatunugan; may leksikal at gramatikal na istrakturana ikinaiba niya sa ibang wika, ang mga ito ay ipinagkakasunduan lamang ng mga minorya ng tao. Maaring ang isang salita ay may ibang pakahulugan sa ibang minoryang may ibang kinagisnan.

4.      Ang Wika ay Pantao

Ang wika ay nalilipat, nasasalin, natututuhan at napag-aaralan.

5.      Ang Wika ay Buhay at Dinamiko

Ang wika ay buhay at dumaraan sa ebolusyon, at naglalahad ng saloobin ng tao. Sa pag-unlad ng panahon, nagkakaroon mga bagong mga salitang ginagamit at itinatala.

6.      Ang Wika ay Pili at Isinasaayos

Hindi lamang lingguwistiks ang kailangang ikunsidera sa pagbigkas o pagsulat ng wika, it ay wastong pinipili at isinasaayos ayon sa gramatikal na istraktura at kaisipan upang maging angkop at kalugod-lugod.

7.      Ang Wika ay Kaakibat ng Kultura

Ang kultura ng bawat minorya ay mayroong kabuhol na wika na nagbibigay daan upang ito ay masalin, maikuwento, at maipagtuloy sa pagdaan ng maraming taon.