Read Psychology for Dummies Online
Authors: Adam Cash
Tags: #Psychology, #General, #Body; Mind & Spirit, #Spirituality
Psychology for Dummies (3 page)
Modern
psychopathology
(the study of mental illness and abnormal behavior and mental processes) basically began in the early twentieth century with the theories of Eugene Bleuler and Sigmund Freud. Part VI covers contemporary approaches to abnormal psychology, including neuropsychological and cognitive explanations for psychological problems. I discuss some of the major and most infamous psychological disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and posttraumatic stress disorder. I also discuss forensic psychology, or criminal psychology. Topics related to this subject include the areas of criminal responsibility and criminal profiling, major theories of criminal behavior, and theories on treatment and correction.
Part VII starts out by introducing you to psychological testing and assessment. (Yes, this is where that famous instrument, the Rorschach inkblot test, is discussed.) Within this discussion, I deal with the most common areas of psychological assessment, such as intelligence and personality. Next, I introduce you to the traditional “talk” psychotherapies — psychoanalysis, behavior therapy, cognitive therapy, and other popular forms of psychological treatment. I give you the lowdown on the different approaches and goals of each of these therapies, and I provide a look at how each of these therapy encounters unfolds. Finally, I talk about stress and the relationship between psychological and physical health.
In this part, I first introduce you to a new orientation in psychology called “positive” psychology. The focus here is on psychological
health
instead of the traditional focus on
sickness.
Within this discussion, I provide some practical advice on maintaining your psychological health. After that it’s time to go to the movies!
Throughout this book, you’ll find icons in the margins. They’re there to help you easily find certain types of information. Here’s a list of the icons you’ll see:
When you see this one, I’m asking you to engage in a little psychological experimentation. In other words, you’re the guinea pig when you run across this icon. What would psychology be without its guinea pigs? Don’t worry — the experiments are harmless. No shocks, I promise.
When you see this icon, I’m trying to emphasize a bit of information that may come in handy some day.
With this creative piece of art, I’m trying to alert you to information that is a “must know” if you’re going to learn psychology.
Don’t forget it. When you see this icon I am reminding you of the highlights from that section. It flags the “If you learn just one thing from this chapter” type of stuff, so pay attention.
Psychology is a broad field. I think you’ll find that the organization of this book lets you check out what you’re interested in and leave the rest of the stuff behind, if you want. You don’t have to read it cover to cover. Kind of like a cafeteria — take what you like and leave the rest. But hey, if I can write an entire book on psychology, I think you can read an entire book on this stuff. Besides, I think you’ll like it. Psychology is a great subject. Enjoy!
In this part . . .
P
art I provides a definition of psychology and an overview of the field. I cover armchair psychologists and introduce the concept that we’re all “acting” psychologists, analyzing and assessing human behavior every day.
This part also contains a brief outline of the professional practice of psychology. I introduce the scientific nature of psychology and the different approaches psychologists use to investigate and understand people. Finally, I briefly touch on the different applicable areas of psychological knowledge from treatment to applied psychology.
In This Chapter
Figuring ourselves out
Using a little folk psychology
Clearing things up
M ost people I know have a certain idea in mind when they think about psychology. I’m a psychologist. But what’s that? Obviously, it’s someone who knows psychology. But is that all there is to it? When I get together with family and friends during the holidays, it seems like they still don’t know exactly what it is I do for a living. Some of my patients have said, “All you do is talk. Can’t you prescribe some medicine for me?” Still others grant me seemingly supernatural powers of knowledge and healing. I wrote
Psychology For Dummies
to clear things up about psychology.
So what are some of those ideas that come to mind when people think about the topic of psychology? That all depends on who you ask. Sometimes, I imagine myself as a guest on a television talk show, like
Oprah.
I’m bombarded by questions from the audience that I can’t answer. My heart starts to pound. I start to sweat. I start to stand up so that I can run off the set, but then, something comes to me that keeps me in my seat. I’ll ask the audience what it thinks psychology is and why it thinks a psychologist can answer questions about psychology.
Before I provide a definition of psychology, I want you to take a few minutes to jot down some of your ideas on what psychology is. Why did this book catch your eye? Looking for answers? Looking for advice? What’s the question that you want answered?
“Why do we do what we do?” is the question that lies beneath a lot of the other questions that people ask of psychologists. Whether you’re a professional psychologist, a researcher, or a layperson, this one simple question seems to be the root issue.
Why did that shooting happen?
Why can’t I stop feeling sad?
Why did she break up with me?
Why are people so mean?
These are examples of the motivating questions that drive the discipline of psychology. At a very basic level, psychology is a branch of knowledge. But this explanation just scratches the surface. The main topic of psychology is
people,
either as individuals or in groups. That’s why the title of this chapter isn’t “Why Do Elephant Seals Do What They Do?” However, some psychologists do actually study animal behavior and so they might actually be asking this question.
To this point in the chapter, psychology is a discipline concerned with why people do what they do. Another fundamental question of psychology is the “how” question:
How can I get a better grade on my final?
How can I get my 2-year-old to stop throwing tantrums?
How does the mind work?
Still another question is the “what” question:
What are emotions?
What is mental illness?
What is intelligence?
These why, how, and what questions comprise the intellectual and philosophical core of psychology. Therefore,
psychology
can be defined as the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. Psychology attempts to uncover what we do and why and how we do it.
