Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology

Chapter One: The Nature and History of Psychology Learning Objectives After completing Unit One, you should be able to: 1. Describe and explain the definition and goal of psychology 2. Discuss the history of psychology 3. Discuss the different perspectives on behavior 4. Discuss the scientific principles of psychology 5. Discuss the different methods of research 6. Discuss the different specialties in psychology

1.1 Definition and Goals of Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and the mind. The term ‘behavior’ refers to actions and responses that we can directly observe, whereas the term ‘mind’ refers to internal states and processes, such as thoughts and feelings that cannot be seen directly and that must be inferred from observable, measurable responses. Psychology began as an attempt to answer philosophical questions about human nature, using methods borrowed from physics, physiology, and other sciences. Psychology’s systematic approach yields more accurate knowledge about behavior than do every day casual observations and conventional folk wisdom, which have generated many misconceptions and myths about human nature. As a science, psychology has four central goals: description, explanation, control, and application. • Description is the most basic goal. Psychologists seek to describe how people behave, think, and feel. • Explanation typically takes the form of hypotheses and theories which specify the causes of behavior, as psychologists strive to explain and to understand why people act as they do. • Control is where psychologists design experiments or other types of research to test the accuracy of their proposed explanations. • Application is where psychologists apply psychological knowledge in ways that enhance human welfare. Science involves both basic research, which reflects the quest for knowledge for its own sake, and applied research, which focuses on solving practical problems. For psychologists, most research examines how and why people behave, think, and feel the way they do.

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