Learning Objectives

Topic 1

Identify several fields in which psychologists work

What questions do they ask?
Describe roles of psych research as well as different types of psychologists
and the problems that they study
Topic 2

Outline philosophical roots of psychology

Define empiricism and rationalism
How do structuralism and functionalism relate to empiricism?

Describe how psychology fits with other sciences

How does it connect to other disciplines?

Not all psychologists work clinically

Research and teaching positions
More business-oriented positions such as advertising,
communications
Governmental and community service organizations
These are called applied psychologists

There are many fields that fall under the study of psychology
Cognition, sensation and perception - how our senses process
information
Learning and motivation - adapting and interacting with the
environment to meet our needs
Biological bases of behaviour - the nervous system and how it
causes us to do what we do
Child development - the stages through which humans
progress as they go from infancy to adolescence to adulthood
Individual differences or social psychology - attributes making
one individual different from everyone else
Abnormal (clinical) psychology - study of dysfunctional
behaviours and mental health; focuses on therapies to remediate this

Roots in Western philosophy

Originated with Greeks
Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

Rationalism = pursuit of truth through reason and logic

Trying to find a logical explanation for everything
Ex. Do perceptions equal reality? - Socrates

Topic 3

Notes
Topic 1

Topic 2

 Evidence: Parallel lines moving away from you

dont meet in distance
Psychologists go beyond rationalism and collect data - this is
called empiricism

Empiricism = observing and measuring

More scientific (rather than philosophical) approach
Arose from influence of scientists studying functions of living
systems
Principle of parsimony: accepting simplest
testable solution that accounts for all available evidence
The scientific method
Overlap of philosophy and physiology = psychophysics
Helmholtz, Weber and Fechner
Relationship between changes in physical
energy of stimulus and our sensation of change
Ex. grocery bags getting heavier
- measuring perception

The founding of psychology

Wundt and James
Wundt = smaller elements of human experience
STRUCTURALISM
James = advantages of different attributes
FUNCTIONALISM
Both groups used scientific research and thought

Structuralism
Elemental constituents of experience
Ex. bricks in a wall - made up of many
components
Dissected perception into component sensations
Introspection was important
Hallmark = analysis - breaking down into
smaller parts lets you understand the whole
Ex. apple - structuralist would say that you do
not perceive the APPLE itself, but instead the redness, roundness,
crunchiness, etc.

Functionalism
Emphasizes purpose - what is it for?
Ex. apple - Functionalist would ask, why do we
perceive apples?

Science attempts to find/explain the cause of things

Identifies causes through observation and experiment - is
empirical
Use logic and reason to create theories - rationalism
Rationalism is how we generate hypotheses that we can empirically test
2 questions

Topic 3

How does it happen?

Mechanism
Why does it work?
Function from evolutionary POV
Natural selection
Favourable characteristics passed down to help survival
Characteristics vary and are passed down; the ones that are
favourable become more common; hindering ones become less common
Behaviour = any action that can be observed, recorded or measured
Psychology = science of behaviour
Mental processes are inferred from behaviour
New stimuli = more attention and interest