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Chapter 1: What is Psychology and Why Should I Care About it?
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Chapter 1: What is Psychology and WhyShould I Care About it?
Figure 1.1: A picture may be worth a thousand words, but it can also show the many ways psychology manifests.
In the image above, many behaviors related to psychology are seen – we could ask questions about the
relationships between people in the photo, about the child’s development, about how and why the emotions
being shown are occurring, or even about the cultural issues and dynamics of an interracial relationship. We
might also ask about the usefulness of the photograph for cueing memories about the event depicted. [1]
1.1 What is Psychology?
Have you ever taken a personality test online or checked out your horoscope to determine who
would be the best romantic partner for you? Have you ever wondered why you felt a certain way or
why a relationship partner reacted they way that they did to what you thought was a harmless
comment? If you answered yes to any of these questions, and many people will answer yes to all of
them, then you already care about psychology. You already place importance on knowing about your
own and other peoples thoughts, emotions, and behavior. This is precisely what psychologists are
interested in studying. When you think of the word “psychology,” you likely imagine one or more
things. Many people imagine a therapy session: a person sitting back with a notepad, listening while a
client talks. Others might imagine an inspirational speaker, telling the world how they can become
their best selves. Those with a little background knowledge might imagine lab rats in mazes, brain
scans, or even advertising executives concocting ways to get you to buy the latest piece of technology.
In truth, psychology can be all of these things and more. You might not have any plans to major in
,psychology and thus may feel that the field of psychology isn't important to you. However, there are
many ways in which knowledge about psychology can help you in your everyday life and in your
future career, no matter what career you choose. As you read this book, you’ll begin to realize how
broad of a field psychology really is and some of the ways that research in psychology can apply to
you.
What is Psychology? Opinion
Homework Answered
What do you think of when you hear the word “psychology?” Order the choices below to show which ones
you think best represent the discipline, from most representative to least. There are no right or wrong
answers.
Drag and drop options into correct order and submit. For keyboard navigation... SHOW MORE
The study of emotions and attitudes through surveys
A therapy session for a person with depression
Inspirational speakers attempting to persuade an audience
Neuroscientists scanning the brains of their patients
Advertising executives doing consumer research
Research on psychoactive medicines
Studies on how texting affects driving ability
Attempting to measure racial or gender bias in hiring practices
Lab rats running through mazes
Investigating the best ways to improve student learning
Answered Resubmit
Understanding the thoughts and actions of oneself and others has intrigued philosophers for
thousands of years. However, psychology as we know it today is a relatively recent field that spans
less than 150 years. Prior to the mid-19th century, much of what we would now understand as
,psychology was relegated to the realms of philosophy, theology, and anatomy. The word
psychology comes from these early traditions and has its roots in Greek, literally meaning “the study
of the psyche, or soul” (psyche – “breath, spirit, soul” + logia – “study of”). Today, however, we can
better define it as the scientific study of both behavior and mind. In this chapter, we will take a tour of
early thought in psychology, learn about who psychologists are and what they do, review the
occasionally tumultuous history of psychology, and consider how many psychologists today
approach issues in the field. By the end of the chapter, you should have a broad understanding of the
types of topics that psychologists are interested in, why they're interested in them, and how they
study them. This understanding will better equip you to critically evaluate psychological research
that is presented in the media.
Figure 1.2: The “psyche” root of “psychology” (which
means “breath, spirit, or soul”) comes from Greek and the
Greek goddess whose name is Psyche (pictured above in
an 18th-century painting by Jacques-Louis David). [2]
1.1.1 Mind, Body, and Behavior
Before we continue, let’s circle back and reconsider our definition of psychology as a whole: the
scientific study of both behavior and mind. There are three important terms in this definition:
scientific, behavior, and mind. First, it is important that we note that psychology is a science and uses
the scientific method to reach its conclusions. The scientific method will be discussed in detail in the
next chapter, but for now it is enough to know that the scientific method is rooted in a philosophical
tradition known as empiricism. Empiricism is the view that knowledge arises directly from what we
observe and experience. As such, psychology (as with all scientific disciplines) is inherently
observational in nature.
, This fact is important because much of what psychology is interested in is inherently unobservable. It
is impossible to know, for example, exactly what someone else is thinking at any given moment.
Further, the concept of mind is entirely unobservable for all intents and purposes. Yet psychology
persists as a discipline. How can this be? Here is where behavior comes into play. Psychologists use
behavior – actions, words, response times, or even brain activity – to make inferences about what is
happening in the mind. Early psychologists used findings from physiology to make inferences about
the mind, for example. How reliable these inferences are of course is up for some debate (see Barrett,
2009; Poldrack, 2011). As we’ll discuss throughout this chapter and the rest of this book, observable
behaviors of all sorts are the primary form of evidence in psychology.
What exactly is the "mind"? Most psychologists assume that the mind and the brain are in fact the
same. As famously put by psychologist Steven Pinker, most modern psychologists would agree that
“the mind is what the brain does” (Pinker, 1997, p. 21), or that “the mind is the activity of the brain” (p.
64). In other words, a modern conception of the mind is that it is the sum of all brain activity, from
every firing neuron to every chemical message. As discussed, today’s psychologists use behavior to
make inferences about the mind, an endeavor that has been quite successful thus far. For example, it
is commonly believed that many mental illnesses are a direct result of problems with brain function
or chemical imbalance. Similarly, psychologists have been able to map specific kinds of mental
processing (e.g., visual perception) to specific areas of the brain.
Empirical
Homework Answered
Because the study of psychology is empirical, the field does which of the following?
Select an answer and submit. For keyboard navigation, use the up/down arrow keys to select an answer.
a Arrives at conclusions through observation and analysis
b Arrives at conclusions through intuitive understanding
c Arrives at conclusions through logic and reason alone
d Cannot arrive at conclusions, as the mind is unknowable
Answered Resubmit
1.2 What do Psychologists Do?
Defining psychology as the scientific study of behavior and mind is a necessarily broad definition
because psychologists are involved in many different specific areas of study and practice. The work
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