PSYCH 7A Lecture Notes - Unconscious Mind
Science of Psych Ch 1
1. Defining Psychology
What is Psychology?
● Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior
● Science is using systematic methods to draw conclusions
○ Describe, predict, and explain behavior
● Behavior is things we can observe
● Mental Processes are thoughts, feelings, emotions, motives
2. Psychology in Historical Perspective
Wundt’s Structuralism and James’s Functionalism
● Structuralism focuses on finding structures of the human mind and mental processes
○ Did this via introspection
■ Method made scientific by systematic, detailed self reporting in a lab
setting
● James didn’t care about what the mind was, but what it was for
● Functionalism emphasizes functions of the mind
● James saw mind as flexible and fluid, ‘stream of consciousness’
3. Contemporary Approaches to Psychology
Biological Approach
●Neuroscience is the scientific study of the structure, function, development, genetics,
and biochemistry of the nervous system, emphasizing that the brain and nervous system
are central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion
Behavior Approach
●Behavior Approach emphasizes the scientific study of observable behavioral
responses and their environmental determinants. It focuses on an organism’s visible
interactions with the environment
● Behaviorists say that we do what we do because of the environmental conditions we
have experienced and continue to experience
Psychodynamic Approach
● The psychodynamic approach emphasizes unconscious thought, the conflict between
biological drives (such as the drive for sex) and society’s demands, and early childhood
family experiences
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PSYCH 7A Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. Science is using systematic methods to draw conclusions. Mental processes are thoughts, feelings, emotions, motives: psychology in historical perspective. Structuralism focuses on finding structures of the human mind and mental processes. Method made scientific by systematic, detailed self reporting in a lab setting. James didn"t care about what the mind was, but what it was for. James saw mind as flexible and fluid, stream of consciousness": contemporary approaches to psychology. Neuroscience is the scientific study of the structure, function, development, genetics, and biochemistry of the nervous system, emphasizing that the brain and nervous system are central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion. Behavior approach emphasizes the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants. It focuses on an organism"s visible interactions with the environment. Behaviorists say that we do what we do because of the environmental conditions we have experienced and continue to experience.
