PSYCHOLOGY AND SCIENTIFIC THINKING (Lecture 1)

1. History of Psychology

1.1. Wilhelm Wundt founds first experimental psychology lab in Germany

1.2. William James writes first ever psychology textbook "The Principles of Psychology"

2. Structuralism

2.1. Wilhelm Wundt

2.2. Breaking down individual parts of mental processes for analysis

3. Functionalism

3.1. William James

3.2. Ask why we do what we do, instead of how

4. Psychoanalysis

4.1. Sigmund Freud

4.2. Based around theories rather than experimentation

5. Humanistic Approach

5.1. Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow

5.2. Focus on goodness of people and client-centered therapy

6. Nature vs. Nurture

6.1. Nativism

6.2. Empiricism

7. Science vs. Intuition

7.1. Pseudoscience

7.2. Common sense

8. Scientific Method

8.1. 1. Observation 2. Problem 3. Research 4. Hypothesis 5. Experiment 6. Collect & Analyze 7. Conclusion

9. Scientific thinking is required throughout every step of the scientific method in order to get strong results

10. Wundt and James, as well as their respective studies of structuralism and functionalism, were both milestones in the history of psychological research

11. The humanistic approach tries to find the goodness in both our nature, and our nurturing

12. While many elements of psychoanalysis have stood the test of time, many of its findings are now considered to be pseudoscience

13. Gestalt and Structuralism are two extremely opposing psychological schools of thought

14. Behaviourism had a major focus on experimentation, unlike Psychoanalysis

15. All three levels of analysis have been utilized to try to find an answer to the topic of Nature vs. Nurture

16. Epistemology of Psychology

16.1. Psyche = Soul

16.2. Logia = Study

17. Definition of Psychology

17.1. "The scientific study of mental processes and behaviour"

18. Gestalt

18.1. Max Wertheimer

18.2. Looking at the whole picture instead of individual parts

19. Behaviourism

19.1. John Watson

19.2. Focusing on observable behaviour rather than mental activity

20. Levels of Analysis

20.1. Social Culture Influences

20.2. Psychological

20.3. Biological

21. Free Will vs. Determinism

21.1. Hard Determinism

21.2. Compatibilism

21.3. Hard Indeterminism

21.4. Liberatarianism

22. Scientific Thinking

22.1. Confirmation Bias

22.2. Trying to disprove your argument

22.3. Ironman vs. Straw man

23. Learning about the epistemology and definition of psychology helps garner a basic understanding of the topic

24. Regardless of which side of the Free Will vs. Determinism debate you are on, it is important that you use scientific thinking and look at the different sides of the issue