Psychology 1106 Dr David Brodbeck What is Psychology
Psychology 1106 Dr. David Brodbeck
What is Psychology? n Hello, My name is Dave and I am a psychologist • Are you analyzing me? • I was, it didn’t take long, you are a very simple person…. n But really now, what is psychology? • Clinical • Counseling • Social psychology
What it is n n Personality Testing • IQ • SAT etc n n n Learning Cognition Development Animal behviour neuroscience
Will you ever tell us what psychology is? n Well, what is the common element? • Behaviour • Thinking or cognition n n So, Psychology is the SCIENTIFIC study of behaviour and cognition There is also the profession of psychology, but to be effective it still must use a scientific approach
What psychology is NOT n n n Psychics ESP Sitting in a leather chair and thinking Alien abduction Those people that you see on ‘Oprah’ Shocking animals for fun and profit
Why? n n n Why study behaviour and cognition that is 1) It is a pretty pervasive part of being human 2) Gives us answers to big questions about our origins • Animal behaviour can help out here n 3) Help people • There are LOTS of people with problems
There is one more reason… n n n 4) Because it is there! I do my research to find out how the universe (an itty bitty part) works I could care less if it is applied to helping people Pure science vs. application or technology This does not mean I think applications are unimportant
Psychology is cool n n n n The study of behaviour and cognition is important to other fields too Neuroscience Medicine Education Biology Uncovering false claims Marketing, business
What is a psychologist, what is a psychiatrist? n Psychiatrist • MD • Specialization • Little or no research training n Practical stuff
Well, they both start with ‘psy’ n Psychologist • Better looking… • BA or BSc plus a Ph. D or a Psy. D n Psy. D is mostly an American thing • Ph. D is a research based degree n n You write a thesis Experimental or applied
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