Learning Objectives
In this module, you learned to
- describe the evolution of psychology and the major pioneers in the field
- identify the various approaches, fields, and subfields of psychology along with their major concepts and important figures
- describe the value of psychology and possible careers paths for those who study psychology
Psychology is a rapidly growing and ever-evolving field of study. In this module, you learned about its roots in early philosophy and the development of psychology as a distinct field of study in the late 1800s. Since that time, various schools of psychology have dominated the scene at different points in time, from structuralism and functionalism, to Freud’s psychodynamic theory, behaviorism, humanism, and the cognitive revolution. In modern psychology, researchers and practitioners consider some of these historical approaches but also approach the study of mind and behavior through a variety of lenses, including biological, cognitive, developmental, social, and health perspectives. Watch the following Crash Course Psychology video for a good recap of the topics covered in this module:
Consider a fascinating example of psychological research conducted by is an Assistant Professor of Cognitive Psychology at Oberlin College, Paul Thibodeau. His focus is on language, specifically how people utilize metaphors and analogies, but he did one study on word aversion that he explains in his own words in the following example. As you read it, consider the breadth of coverage that psychologists cover as well as the importance of the scientific method and research to the investigative process. We’ll learn more about experiments and psychological research in the next module, but if you could design a psychological study based on the topics that piqued your interested in this text so far, what would it be? Where do your interests lie? Remember, there are nearly endless possibilities for research within the vast field of psychology, and studying the subject will serve to your advantage, no matter your chosen field or career path.
Word Aversion
People Magazine—psycholinguistics’ most trusted lexicon—defines “moist” as “the most cringeworthy word” in American English. When they asked some of the sexiest men alive to try and make the word sound sexy, it was pretty clear they could not. One viewer responded that the video was “pure sadism” and that the only way to recover would be to “go Oedipal and gouge your eyes out.”
There is something interesting going on with this word. Several people have documented the weirdness of “moist”, speculated on why it is aversive, or used the phenomenon for comedic effect.
In a recent series of studies published in PLOS ONE, several members of my lab and I sought to answer some initial questions about word aversion. Specifically:
1. How prevalent is an aversion to “moist” and who’s averse?
2. What does it mean to be averse to a word?
3. And, what makes a word aversive?
Five experiments, conducted over about four years, with almost 2,500 participants from the general population of American English speakers provide some answers.
How prevalent is an aversion to “moist” and who’s averse?
On average, about 18 percent of our participants identified as categorically averse to the word. Women, younger people, and those with more education, who tended to score higher on measures of disgust toward bodily function and neuroticism (a personality trait characterized by increased feelings of anxiety, worry, anger and guilt), were particularly likely to find the word unpleasant.
Controlling for these factors, we found no differences in a person’s likelihood of finding “moist” aversive based on their political ideology, religiosity, disgust toward sex, or any other personality variables.