UNIT I Psychology’s History and Approaches

The text on the page reads: Unit 1 � Psychology�s History and Approaches. MODULE: 1 Psychology and Its History. 2 Today�s Psychology and Its Approaches. 3 Subfields in Psychology.

MODULES

1. 1 Psychology and Its History
2. 2 Today’s Psychology and Its Approaches
3. 3 Subfields in Psychology

From news and popular media portrayals, you might think that psychologists analyze personality, offer counseling, dispense child-raising advice, examine crime scenes, and testify in court. Do they? Yes, and much more. Consider some of psychology’s questions that you may wonder about:

• Have you ever found yourself reacting to something as one of your biological parents would—perhaps in a way you vowed you never would—and then wondered how much of your personality you inherited? To what extent do genes predispose our individual differences in personality? How do home and community environments shape us?
• Have you ever worried about how to act among people of a different culture, race, gender identity, or sexual orientation? In what ways are we alike as members of the human family? How do we differ?
• Have you ever awakened from a nightmare and wondered why you had such a crazy dream? Why do we dream?
• Have you ever played peekaboo with a 6-month-old and wondered why the baby finds your disappearing/reappearing act so delightful? What do babies actually perceive and think?
• Have you ever wondered what enables school and work success? Does inborn intelligence explain why some people get richer, think more creatively, or relate more sensitively? Or does gritty effort, and a belief that we can grow smarter, matter more?
• Have you ever become depressed or anxious and wondered whether you’ll ever feel “normal”? What triggers our bad moods—and our good ones? What’s the line between a normal mood swing and a psychological disorder?

Psychology is a science that seeks to answer such questions about us all—how and why we think, feel, and act as we do.

Unit I Overview Video