Psychology

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Psychology

A Self-Teaching Guide

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Psychology

A Self-Teaching Guide

Frank J. Bruno, Ph.D.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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This book is printed on acid-free paper. ●

Copyright © 2002 by Frank J. Bruno. All rights reserved

Illustrations copyright © 2002 North Market Street Graphics

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system

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Printed in the United States of America

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To those who seek a greater

understanding of human behavior

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Contents

vii

Preface ix

1 Introduction: The Foundations of Psychology 1

2 Research Methods in Psychology: Gathering Data 17

3 The Biology of Behavior: Is the Brain the Organ

of Mental Life? 30

4 Sensation: Studying the Gateways of Experience 45

5 Perception: Why Do Things Look the Way

They Do? 57

6 Learning: Understanding Acquired Behavior 72

7 Motivation: Why Do We Do What We Do? 90

8 Emotions: Riding Life’s Roller Coaster 107

9 Thinking: Exploring Mental Life 120

10 Intelligence: In Pursuit of Rational Thought and

Effective Action 136

11 Developmental Psychology: How Children

Become Adults 153

12 Sex and Love: Are You in the Mood? 174

13 Personality: Psychological Factors That Make

You an Individual 191

14 Abnormal Psychology: Exploring Mental Disorders 212

15 Therapy: Helping Troubled People 231

16 Social Psychology: Interacting with Other People 247

Index 263

Preface

ix

To help you learn psychology on your own, Psychology: A Self-Teaching Guide

employs the following distinctive features:

• Each chapter begins with a five-question true-or-false preview quiz;answers can

be found near the end of a given chapter.

• Immediately following the quiz there is a short list of chapter objectives.

• Following each section there are one or several questions pertaining to the

material in the section. The questions are of the fill-in-the-blank variety.

Answers are provided immediately following the questions.

• A ten-question multiple-choice self-test appears toward the end of each chap￾ter. Answers to the self-test immediately follow.

• A list of key terms appears at the end of each chapter.

How Do You Use the Book?

I hope that you will use the book by being an active, not a passive, learner. You

can accomplish this by following a step-by-step process for each chapter:

1. Take the five-question true-or-false quiz. Even if you don’t know an answer,

make a guess. This will get you involved in the material. Turn to the answer

key at the end of the chapter. Score the test. You should, of course, be pleased

if you get four or five questions correct. On the other hand, don’t be con￾cerned if you only get two or three correct. Obviously, you haven’t studied

the material yet. The purpose of the quiz is to break the ice, verify what you

already know, and give you a preview of what is to come in the chapter.

2. Review the chapter objectives. Their aim is to give you some idea of what

you need to pay attention to in the chapter. The objectives help to give your

study focus and direct you to what is of particular importance in the chapter.

3. Read each section and pay particular attention to the emphasized terms and

their meanings.

4. Respond to the fill-in-the-blank sentences at the end of each section before

moving on to the next one. Attempt the answers through the use of mental

recall. It is a good idea to actually write down, not just think about, your

answers. If necessary, cover the answers at the bottom of the questions. Then

check your responses against the answers provided. Look back at the relevant

section if there is anything you don’t understand.

5. Take the ten-question multiple-choice test at the end of the chapter. If you’re

not sure of an answer, take a guess. Your guess is likely to be an educated, not

a random, guess. After all, you have been studying the material. On most col￾lege multiple-choice tests there is no penalty for guessing. Only correct

answers are scored, and nothing is taken away for missing a question.

6. Score the test using the answers that immediately follow it. On an absolute

scale, a score of 10 or 9 correct equals an A. A score of 8 correct equals a B.

A score of 7 correct equals a C. A score of 6 correct equals a D. A score of 5

correct equals an F. Refer back to the material associated with questions you

missed, and evaluate why you made an error.

7. Review the key terms at the end of the chapter. The terms are listed in alpha￾betical order. Look up any terms you don’t recognize or that have little mean￾ing for you.

I believe that you will find psychology to be an interesting subject. Also, you

will discover that it has relevance in terms of everyday life. I have made every

effort to write a book that will make it possible for you to readily grasp psychol￾ogy’s key concepts. I hope you find the process of learning more about behavior

a meaningful and valuable experience.

A number of people have helped me make Psychology: A Self-Teaching Guide a

reality. My thanks are expressed to:

Jeff Golick, editor at John Wiley & Sons, for recognizing the merits of the

book.

Mark Steven Long for carefully supervising production.

Karen Fraley for excellent copy editing.

Bert Holtje, agent with James Peter Associates, for his confidence in my abil￾ity.

Gene Brissie, agent with James Peter Associates, for his support and assistance.

Jeanne, my wife, for our many meaningful discussions about human behavior.

Franklin, my son, for our frequent conversations about words, language, and

meaning.

Josephine Bruno, my mother, for listening to my ideas.

George K. Zaharopoulos, a true teaching colleague, for his steadfast encour￾agement of my writing projects.

David W. Yang for his help in preparing the manuscript.

x PSYCHOLOGY

1Introduction:

The Foundations

of Psychology

1

PREVIEW QUIZ

True or False

1. T F Modern psychology is defined as the science of the mind.

2. T F The goals of scientific psychology are to (1) describe, (2) explain, (3) pre￾dict, and (4) control behavior.

3. T F Sigmund Freud was the principal founding personality of psychoanalysis.

4. T F The biological viewpoint assumes that most behavior is learned.

5. T F Clinical psychology, a field that stresses psychotherapy and psycholog￾ical testing, is the single largest field of psychology.

(Answers can be found on page 15.)

Objectives

After completing this chapter, you will be able to

• define psychology;

• state the goals of scientific psychology;

• identify the five classical schools of psychology and their founding personalities;

• name and describe the six principal viewpoints used to explain behavior;

• name and describe seven important fields of psychology.

Looking at the Word Psychology: From Ancient

to Modern Meanings

The word psychology has had several different meanings from ancient to mod￾ern times. Here is its present definition:Psychology is the science that studies the behav￾ior of organisms. This definition should guide you throughout your study of this

book.

Three words in the definition merit special attention:(1) science, (2) behavior,

and (3) organisms. Modern psychology is considered a science because it bases its

conclusions on data, information obtained by systematic observations. The

research methods used by psychology are covered in chapter 2.

Behavior has three aspects: (1) cognitive processes, (2) emotional states, and

(3) actions. Cognitive processes refer to what an individual thinks. Emotional

states refer to what an individual feels. Actions refer to what an individual

does.

An organism is any living creature. Consequently, the behavior of dogs, rats,

pigeons, and monkeys can be legitimately included in the study of psychology.

Such organisms have indeed been subjects in psychology experiments. However,

traditionally the principal focus of psychology has been humans. When animals

are used in experiments, the implicit goal is often to explore how such basic

processes as learning and motivation, as studied in animals, can cast a light on our

understanding of human behavior.

(a) What does psychology study?

(b) What are the three aspects of behavior?

Answers: (a) The behavior of organisms; (b) Cognitive processes, emotional states, and

actions.

Although you now know the modern definition of psychology, it is important

to realize that the word psychology has its roots in ancient meanings associated with

philosophy. The Greek word psyche means soul. Consequently, to philosophers

living 400 to 300 B.C., psychology was the “study of the soul.” This was the

meaning given by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In view of the fact that these

thinkers, particularly Socrates and Plato, did not believe that animals have souls, it

becomes evident why for many centuries psychology’s main attention has been

2 PSYCHOLOGY

given to human beings. The ancient philosophers asserted that the soul is the seat

of consciousness. It is consciousness that makes mental life possible. This is why

psychology is often thought of as the science of the mind.

Indeed, this meaning is the one given to it by William James, the dean of

American psychologists. Working at Harvard a little more than one hundred years

ago, James defined psychology as “the science of mental life.” He believed that the

purpose of psychology should be to investigate such mental processes as thinking,

memory, and perception. (There is more about James later in this chapter.)

This is where we stand now. Although psychology no longer is thought of as

the study of the soul, this original meaning colors our present-day approach, with

its emphasis on human behavior and the importance of cognition.

(a) The Greek word psyche means .

(b) William James defined psychology as .

Answers: (a) soul; (b) the science of mental life.

Contemporary, scientific psychology has four explicit goals: (1) describe,

(2) explain, (3) predict, and (4) control behavior. These goals are the same common￾sense goals that we all use in everyday life. Let’s say that Jane tells her husband,

Harry, that their son, seven-year-old Billy, was a brat today. Is this a good descrip￾tion of Billy’s behavior? No, it’s not. It’s too general, too abstract. On the other

hand, let’s assume that Jane says that Billy refused to do his homework and told her,

“Homework is stupid. I’m not going to do it anymore.” This constitutes a much

better description of behavior because is it is specific and concrete.

Similar specific descriptions may suggest to both parents that Billy misbehaves

more than most children. Jane and Harry now wonder why Billy is beginning to

misbehave more and more. Is he frustrated? Does he have an inferiority complex?

Does he have low self-esteem? Does he have Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)?

Does he have an imbalance of certain key neurotransmitters in his brain? Does he

have a childhood neurosis? As you can see, potential explanations are plentiful.

They have to be evaluated.

This is where prediction and control come in. Let’s say that Dr. Helen G., the

family pediatrician, suggests that Billy is indeed suffering from Attention Deficit

Disorder. Let’s also assume that Dr. G. is convinced that Billy eats too many foods

with refined sugar and that this causes, through a complex biochemical reaction,

a depletion of certain neurotransmitters. She recommends a diet of natural foods

with little refined sugar. The physician is predicting that the change in diet will take

away the undesirable symptoms.

Let’s say that the diet is tried. Billy sticks to it. If there is no change in Billy’s

misbehavior after several weeks, both Dr. G. and the parents will conclude that the

explanation was incorrect. On the other hand, if the diet is therapeutic, and Billy’s

Introduction: The Foundations of Psychology 3