Introduction to Psychology Worksheet

University of Phoenix Material

Introduction to Psychology Worksheet

Complete each part with 100- to 200-word responses. The word count for individual questions may vary but your responses should total 500- to 800-words for the entire worksheet.

Part I: Origins of Psychology

Within the discipline of psychology, there are several perspectives used to describe, predict, and explain human behavior. Describe three major psychological perspectives and name at least one leading theorist for each.

In chapter one of discovering psychology, I learned a lot about major psychological perspectives and the leading theorist who help discover them. After reading about the different perspectives, I have found that the three major psychological perspective that interest me are the biological, the psychodynamic and the evolutionary perspective. The three leading theorist that help discover these perspectives were Rene Descartes, Sigmund Freud and Charles Darwin. Rene Descartes was one of the first psychologist to propose the brain and body was to separate entities. Therefore leading us to the biological perspective that the brain is a spate from the body. In the biological perspective psychologist study the immune system, genetics, behavior, the nerves system, and the brain. Sigmund Freud was the first psychologist to come up with the theory of psychoanalysis. Sigmund Freud believed that human behavior was based on unconscious impulse, which is where the theory of the psychodynamic perspective came from. The Psychodynamic perspective is the study of unconscious influences, early life experiences and interpersonal relationships. Through these studies, they are able to explain underline causes of behaviors and treat those causes. The evolutionary perspective is the study of evolution and how species evolve in their environments.  Charles Darwin was one the leading psychologist that gathered evidence from all different scientific fields to support the theory of evolution. Then he wrote a book about his finding in 1859 that had a lasting effect on scientific thoughts of the evolutionary perspectives. (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, Chapter 1,  2014)

Part II: Research Methods

Provide a brief overview of some of the research methods used by psychologists. Include strengths and weaknesses of each method discussed.

Some of the research methods we went over in chapter one of discovering psychology was surveys, naturalistic observation and case studies. Surveys are a great way to find out about people, their beliefs, and their interests. One problem that you can have with surveys is people’s honesty. Case studies are a good way to get information about families, individuals, communities, or people with a certain disorder. The down side to case studies is the time and research it takes. Naturalistic observation is a good way to study people or animals in their natural settings. The weakness to this method in that you cannot be detected if you are then you cannot complete your research.  (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, Chapter 1,  2014)