Introduction to Psychology

An illustration shows the outlines of two human heads facing toward one another, with several photographs of people spread across the background.

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. (credit “background”: modification of work by Nattachai Noogure; credit “top left”: modification of work by U.S. Navy; credit “top middle-left”: modification of work by Peter Shanks; credit “top middle-right”: modification of work by “devinf”/Flickr; credit “top right”: modification of work by Alejandra Quintero Sinisterra; credit “bottom left”: modification of work by Gabriel Rocha; credit “bottom middle-left”: modification of work by Caleb Roenigk; credit “bottom middle-right”: modification of work by Staffan Scherz; credit “bottom right”: modification of work by Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team).

Clive Wearing is an accomplished musician who lost his ability to form new memories when he became sick at the age of 46. While he can remember how to play the piano perfectly, he cannot remember what he ate for breakfast just an hour ago (Sacks, 2007). James Wannerton experiences a taste sensation that is associated with the sound of words. His former girlfriend’s name tastes like rhubarb (Mundasad, 2013). John Nash is a brilliant mathematician and Nobel Prize winner. However, while he was a professor at MIT, he would tell people that the New York Times contained coded messages from extraterrestrial beings that were intended for him. He also began to hear voices and became suspicious of the people around him. Soon thereafter, Nash was diagnosed with schizophrenia and admitted to a state-run mental institution (O’Connor & Robertson, 2002). Nash was the subject of the 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind. Why did these people have these experiences? How does the human brain work? And what is the connection between the brain’s internal processes and people’s external behaviors? This textbook will introduce you to various ways that the field of psychology has explored these questions.

This chapter will introduce you to what psychology is and what psychologists do. A brief history of the discipline will be followed by a consideration of major subdivisions that exist within modern psychology. The chapter will close by exploring many of the career options available for students of psychology.

References

American Board of Forensic Psychology. (2014). Brochure. Retrieved from http://www.abfp.com/brochure.asp

American Psychological Association. (2014). Retrieved from www.apa.org

American Psychological Association. (2014). Graduate training and career possibilities in exercise and sport psychology. Retrieved from http://www.apadivisions.org/division-47/about/resources/training.aspx?item=1

American Psychological Association. (2011). Psychology as a career. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/education/undergrad/psych-career.aspx

Ashliman, D. L. (2001). Cupid and Psyche. In Folktexts: A library of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology. Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/cupid.html

Betancourt, H., & López, S. R. (1993). The study of culture, ethnicity, and race in American psychology. American Psychologist, 48, 629–637.

Black, S. R., Spence, S. A., & Omari, S. R. (2004). Contributions of African Americans to the field of psychology. Journal of Black Studies, 35, 40–64.

Bulfinch, T. (1855). The age of fable: Or, stories of gods and heroes. Boston, MA: Chase, Nichols and Hill.

Buss, D. M. (1989). Sex differences in human mate preferences: Evolutionary hypotheses tested in 37 cultures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 12, 1–49.

Carlson, N. R. (2013). Physiology of Behavior (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Confer, J. C., Easton, J. A., Fleischman, D. S., Goetz, C. D., Lewis, D. M. G., Perilloux, C., & Buss, D. M. (2010). Evolutionary psychology. Controversies, questions, prospects, and limitations. American Psychologist, 65, 100–126.

Crawford, M., & Marecek, J. (1989). Psychology reconstructs the female 1968–1988. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 13, 147–165.

Danziger, K. (1980). The history of introspection reconsidered. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 16, 241–262.

Darwin, C. (1871). The descent of man and selection in relation to sex. London: John Murray.

Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of the emotions in man and animals. London: John Murray.

DeAngelis, T. (2010). Fear not. gradPSYCH Magazine, 8, 38.

Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). Projected future growth of the older population. Retrieved from http://www.aoa.gov/Aging_Statistics/future_growth/future_growth.aspx#age

Endler, J. A. (1986). Natural Selection in the Wild. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Fogg, N. P., Harrington, P. E., Harrington, T. F., & Shatkin, L. (2012). College majors handbook with real career paths and payoffs (3rd ed.). St. Paul, MN: JIST Publishing.

Franko, D. L., et al. (2012). Racial/ethnic differences in adults in randomized clinical trials of binge eating disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80, 186–195.

Friedman, H. (2008), Humanistic and positive psychology: The methodological and epistemological divide. The Humanistic Psychologist, 36, 113–126.

Gordon, O. E. (1995). A brief history of psychology. Retrieved from http://www.psych.utah.edu/gordon/Classes/Psy4905Docs/PsychHistory/index.html#maptop

Greek Myths & Greek Mythology. (2014). The myth of Psyche and Eros. Retrieved from http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/psyche-and-eros-myth/

Green, C. D. (2001). Classics in the history of psychology. Retrieved from http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Krstic/marulic.htm

Greengrass, M. (2004). 100 years of B.F. Skinner. Monitor on Psychology, 35, 80.

Halonen, J. S. (2011). White paper: Are there too many psychology majors? Prepared for the Staff of the State University System of Florida Board of Governors. Retrieved from http://www.cogdop.org/page_attachments/0000/0200/FLA_White_Paper_for_cogop_posting.pdf

Hock, R. R. (2009). Social psychology. Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of psychological research (pp. 308–317). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Hoffman, C. (2012). Careers in clinical, counseling, or school psychology; mental health counseling; clinical social work; marriage & family therapy and related professions. Retrieved from http://www.indiana.edu/~psyugrad/advising/docs/Careers%20in%20Mental%20Health%20Counseling.pdf

Jang, K. L., Livesly, W. J., & Vernon, P. A. (1996). Heritability of the Big Five personality dimensions and their facets: A twin study. Journal of Personality, 64, 577–591.

Johnson, R., & Lubin, G. (2011). College exposed: What majors are most popular, highest paying and most likely to get you a job. Business Insider.com. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/best-college-majors-highest-income-most-employed-georgetwon-study-2011-6?op=1

Knekt, P. P., et al. (2008). Randomized trial on the effectiveness of long- and short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy and solution-focused therapy on psychiatric symptoms during a 3-year follow-up. Psychological Medicine: A Journal of Research In Psychiatry And The Allied Sciences, 38, 689–703.

Landers, R. N. (2011, June 14). Grad school: Should I get a PhD or Master’s in I/O psychology? [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://neoacademic.com/2011/06/14/grad-school-should-i-get-a-ph-d-or-masters-in-io-psychology/#.UuKKLftOnGg

Macdonald, C. (2013). Health psychology center presents: What is health psychology? Retrieved from http://healthpsychology.org/what-is-health-psychology/

McCrae, R. R. & Costa, P. T. (2008). Empirical and theoretical status of the five-factor model of personality traits. In G. J. Boyle, G. Matthews, & D. H. Saklofske (Eds.), The Sage handbook of personality theory and assessment. Vol. 1 Personality theories and models. London: Sage.

Michalski, D., Kohout, J., Wicherski, M., & Hart, B. (2011). 2009 Doctorate Employment Survey. APA Center for Workforce Studies. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/workforce/publications/09-doc-empl/index.aspx

Miller, G. A. (2003). The cognitive revolution: A historical perspective. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 7, 141–144.

Munakata, Y., McClelland, J. L., Johnson, M. H., & Siegler, R. S. (1997). Rethinking infant knowledge: Toward an adaptive process account of successes and failures in object permanence tasks. Psychological Review, 104, 689–713.

Mundasad, S. (2013). Word-taste synaesthesia: Tasting names, places, and Anne Boleyn. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21060207

Munsey, C. (2009). More states forgo a postdoc requirement. Monitor on Psychology, 40, 10.

National Association of School Psychologists. (n.d.). Becoming a nationally certified school psychologist (NCSP). Retrieved from http://www.nasponline.org/CERTIFICATION/becomeNCSP.aspx

Nicolas, S., & Ferrand, L. (1999). Wundt’s laboratory at Leipzig in 1891. History of Psychology, 2, 194–203.

Norcross, J. C. (n.d.) Clinical versus counseling psychology: What’s the diff? Available at http://www.csun.edu/~hcpsy002/Clinical%20Versus%20Counseling%20Psychology.pdf

Norcross, J. C., & Castle, P. H. (2002). Appreciating the PsyD: The facts. Eye on Psi Chi, 7, 22–26.

O’Connor, J. J., & Robertson, E. F. (2002). John Forbes Nash. Retrieved from http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Nash.html

O’Hara, M. (n.d.). Historic review of humanistic psychology. Retrieved from http://www.ahpweb.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=14&Itemid=24

Person, E. S. (1980). Sexuality as the mainstay of identity: Psychoanalytic perspectives. Signs, 5, 605–630.

Rantanen, J., Metsäpelto, R. L., Feldt, T., Pulkkinen, L., & Kokko, K. (2007). Long-term stability in the Big Five personality traits in adulthood. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 48, 511–518.

Riggio, R. E. (2013). What is industrial/organizational psychology? Psychology Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201303/what-is-industrialorganizational-psychology

Sacks, O. (2007). A neurologists notebook: The abyss, music and amnesia. The New Yorker. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/09/24/070924fa_fact_sacks?currentPage=all

Shedler, J. (2010). The efficacy of psychodynamic psychotherapy. American Psychologist, 65(2), 98–109.

Soldz, S., & Vaillant, G. E. (1999). The Big Five personality traits and the life course: A 45-year longitudinal study. Journal of Research in Personality, 33, 208–232.

Thorne, B. M., & Henley, T. B. (2005). Connections in the history and systems of psychology (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Tolman, E. C. (1938). The determiners of behavior at a choice point. Psychological Review, 45, 1–41.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). Digest of Education Statistics, 2012 (NCES 2014-015).

Weisstein, N. (1993). Psychology constructs the female: Or, the fantasy life of the male psychologist (with some attention to the fantasies of his friends, the male biologist and the male anthropologist). Feminism and Psychology, 3, 195–210.

Westen, D. (1998). The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud, toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 333–371.