Unit 1: Introduction to Psychology
What psychology actually studies, the schools of thought that fought over how to study it, and the fields that grew out of the argument.
4 topics · 17 questions
Each topic is a path, not a menu: work down it in order and every question builds on the one above. Click any of them to watch the answer draw itself.
1.1 What Psychology Is and Does
- How it worksHow do psychologists move from describing a behavior to actually predicting and controlling it?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't psychology just the same thing as reading someone's mind?
- Going furtherWhat changes about a psychological claim once it has to be testable instead of just plausible?
- How it worksWalk me through the difference between basic research and applied research using the same question about memory.
Your turn1 of 2
A talk-show guest claims to know exactly what is driving a stranger's behavior just by watching their face and posture for a few seconds. A scientifically minded psychologist objects to calling this psychological expertise. What is the objection?1.2 Structuralism, Functionalism, and Psychoanalysis
- How it worksHow did Wundt's structuralism try to break conscious experience down into its basic elements?
- How it worksHow did William James's functionalism ask a completely different question than structuralism did?
- How it worksWalk me through why Freud decided that most of the mind had to be unconscious.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't introspection the reliable window into the mind that the structuralists assumed it was?
Your turn1 of 2
An 1890s researcher asks participants to introspect on a red apple and describe the exact hue, brightness, and texture-sensation involved, breaking the experience down into its most elementary components. Which historical approach does this research reflect?1.2 Behaviorism, Humanism, and the Cognitive Turn
- How it worksHow did Skinner explain behavior using only what could be observed from the outside?
- Common mistakeWhy isn't a strict behaviorist claim that free will drives behavior?
- How it worksHow did Maslow and Rogers's humanistic psychology push back against both behaviorism and Freud?
- Going furtherWhat changed in the 1950s that let psychologists start talking about mental processes again?
- Ties togetherHow does the cognitive revolution connect the study of memory to the study of computers?
Your turn1 of 2
A strict behaviorist explains why a toddler keeps throwing tantrums entirely by pointing to what has reinforced the behavior before (extra attention, a candy to stop the crying) and the stimuli present right before it starts. A parent objects: 'You're saying my child has no free will, no choice at all in the matter.' What does the behaviorist's explanation illustrate?1.3 Contemporary Subfields of Psychology
- How it worksHow does a clinical psychologist's daily work differ from a biopsychologist's?
- How it worksWalk me through how the same question about aggression gets studied by a developmental, a social, and a biological psychologist.
- Going furtherWhat happens to a research question when it moves from the biological level of analysis to the social level?
- Ties togetherHow does a biopsychologist's finding about the brain end up informing a clinical psychologist's treatment plan?
Your turn1 of 2
A biopsychologist studies aggression by measuring testosterone levels and amygdala activity in aggressive individuals. A social psychologist studies the same behavior by looking at how crowd size and anonymity increase aggressive acts. What does this pair of studies best illustrate?