Contents

1. Unit I. The Common Link among Psychologists: The Study of Behavior and Mental Processes ........................………………………………………………5

2. Unit II. The Major Branches of Psychology …………. …………………....10

3. Unit III. Psychology: Basic and Applied Science .………………………… 17

4. Review ……………………………………………………………………22

5. References ….………………………………………………………………..24

Unit I The Common Link among Psychologists: The Study of Behavior and Mental Processes

Lead – in

1. Try it!

HOW MUCH PSYCHOLOGY DO YOU ALREADY KNOW?

To test your knowledge of psychol­ogy, try answering the following questions:

1. Babies love their moth­ers primarily because their mothers fulfill their basic bio­logical needs, such as pro­viding food. True or false? ____

2. People who are ge­niuses generally have poor social adjustment. True or false? ____

3. The best way to make sure that a desired behavior will continue after training is completed is to reward that behavior every single time it occurs during training, rather than rewarding it only pe­riodically. True or false? ____

4. A schizophrenic is someone with at least two distinct personalities. True or false? ____

5. If you are having trouble sleeping, the best way to get to sleep is to take a sleeping pill. True or false? ____

6. Children's IQ scores have very little to do with how well they do in school. True or false? ____

7. Once people reach old age, their leisure activities change radically. True or false? ____

8. Most people would re­fuse to give painful electric shocks to other people. True or false? ____

9. One of the least impor­tant factors affecting how much we like another person is that person's physical attractiveness. True or false? ____

Scoring This Try It! is easy to score: As you will learn, psychologists have proved each of the items false. If you have a low score, though, don't despair; these items were chosen because they represent some of the most common myths among students who enter introductory psychol­ogy classes (based on Lamal, 1979). In other words, they were designed to fool you. After you have read this text, you will un­derstand why these statements are myths and how psycholo­gists systematically and scientifi­cally find answers to questions such as these.

2. Complete the sentences using your own ideas. Start with:

I suppose …..

No doubt …..

I believe …..

In my opinion / in my point of view …..

As I personally think …..

1. ….. psychology is a science which studies …..

2. ….. psychologists are supposed to be …..

3. The major specialties within the field of psychology are …..

4. Some people mistakenly believe that all psychologists analyze and treat only (e.g. abnormal behavior) .....

3. Read and analyze the following situation.

It began with a loud bang in the middle of the night.

To the residents of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the sudden noise was nothing new, since the Three Mile Island nuclear plant that was situated at their doorsteps regularly made all sorts of sounds.

But this time things were different. Inside, warning lights were flashing and an electronic alarm was ringing. As the small night-shift crew desperately tried to figure out what was happening, there was a serious leak of radioactive steam. More leaks occurred several times over the next few days as the plant hovered near the brink of an even greater disaster: a nuclear "meltdown" of the sort that occurred at Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Soviet Union, in which radio­active material was released in such great quantities that the damage was cata­strophic.

I

As it turned out, however, no one was hurt by the accident at the Three Mile Island plant - at least in terms of the immediate toll. But some experts warned of the possibility of eventual cancer, genetic deformities, and other long-term outcomes from the radiation that did escape. For those consequences, though, the residents of Harrisburg would have to wait.

In an age when disaster occurs with alarming regularity, the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island is not unique. Yet what does this accident of a purely tech­nological nature have to do with psychology? Quite a bit, it turns out:

• To psychologists who specialize in studying the biology underlying human behavior, it provided an opportunity to examine changes in the responsiveness of the nervous system following exposure to low-level doses of radioactivity.

• To psychologists specializing in the study of learning and memory, it offered a chance to investigate the kinds of details concerning accidents that people are most apt to learn about and later recall.

• To health psychologists, the accident provided an opportunity to examine how a person's health is affected by stress.

• To psychologists who are interested in social interaction, the rumors that followed in the wake of the accident provided a good basis for studying human behavior under conditions of severe threat.

• To psychologists who engage in psychological counseling, the disaster brought about a sharp increase in the number of clients who complained of feelings of anxiety.

Pre –reading

Nouns	Adjectives	Verbs
study	Accurate	to improve
behaviour	Inevitable	to determine
processes	Human	to study
definition	Scientific	to describe
field	Mental	to achieve
term	well-controlled	to employ
discipline		to mean
approaches		to solve
techniques		to rely on
subjects
goals

1. Read the words and give their Russian equivalents.

2. Try to make as many sentences as possible using nouns, verbs and adjectives.

3. Fill in the gaps with the words given above.

Text

The common link among these people is that all are specialists in the general area of study called psychology. Psychology is the scientific ....... of behavior processes and mental processes.

This ……. , while clear-cut and ……. , is also deceptively simple. For in order to encompass the breadth of the field, "behavior and mental processes" must be understood to ……. many things: The ……. includes not just what people do, but also their thoughts, their feelings, their perceptions, their reasoning processes, their memories, and even, in one sense, the biological activities that keep their bodies functioning.

When psychologists speak of "studying" behavior and mental ……. , their interests are equally broad. To psychologists, it is not enough to simply describe behavior. As with any science - and psychologists clearly consider their ……. a science - its ……. are to explain, predict, modify, and ultimately ……. the lives of people and the world in which they live.

Psychologists seek to ……. these goals by taking a ……. approach. They do not consider it sufficient to ……. intuition, insight, and logic to ……. behavior; too often, people are simply wrong in their guesses about ……. behavior. (To prove this for yourself, answer some of the questions in the accompanying Try It! box.) Instead, psychologists have developed ……. , methodical ……. , employing both humans and animals as ……. , to find answers to their questions.

And what a variety of questions about human behavior there are. Consider these examples: How do we see colors? What is intelligence? Can abnormal behavior be cured? Is a hypnotic trance the same as sleep? Is aging ……. ? How does stress affect us? What is the best way to lose weight? What is normal sexual behavior.

These questions provide just a hint of the range of topics in the ……. of psychology. Our discussions will take us across the spectrum of what is known about behavior and ……. processes. At times, we will leave the realm of humans and explore animal behavior, since many psychologists study nonhumans in order to ……. general laws of ……. that pertain to all organisms, and since animal behavior can provide important clues to answering questions about human behavior. But we will always return to the usefulness of psychology in helping to ……. the everyday problems that confront all human beings.

Here we cover a number of topics that are central to an understanding of psychology. We begin by introducing the different types of psychologists and the roles they play. Next, we discuss the major ……. and models that are used to guide the work psychologists do. Finally, we ……. the research methods psychologists ……. in their search for the answers to questions that will help them to better understand behavior.

Follow-up

1. Analyze the following items according to the text.

• Define the science of psychology and outline the reasons for studying it

• Identify the different kinds of psychologists and understand the roles they play

• Describe each of the major models that psychologists employ to guide their work

• Explain how theory and research are used by psychologists to answer ques­tions of interest

• Discuss the different forms of research and the ways in which they are carried out

2. a) Read the following job ads and choose the most suitable for you. Justify your choice.

Psychologists at Work

Wanted: Industrial/Organizational Psychologist. Ph.D. required. Psychologist will work with other psychologists who are responsible for generating accurate job descriptions, developing and administering training programs, designing performance evaluation systems, and developing and implementing a program for the early identification of managerial talent within the company.

* * *

Wanted: Counseling Psychologist. Ph.D. required, including internship and experience relevant to understanding both college student development and higher education environments. Responsibilities include counseling/therapy with individuals and groups, and consultation with campus units. Innovation in devising new counseling methods and developing new programs is en­couraged.

* * *

Wanted: Psychology Instructor, Community College. Master's degree re­quired. Instructor will teach one to three sections of introductory psychology and two to four classes from interest areas including family relations, child and adult development, educational psychology, personality, social psychol­ogy, and experimental psychology. Additional duties will include advising entering and first-year students.

b) Writing. Write an argumentative essay about the job you have chosen.

• In the first paragraph state the topic.

• In the second paragraph present the advantages of working as a ……

• In the third paragraph present the disadvantages of working as a ……

• The second and the third paragraphs or the paragraphs of the main body should begin with the topic sentence.

• The last paragraph summarizes the topic and presents the writer’s opinion.

• To list and add points use such linking words as: firstly, secondly, in addition, furthermore, etc.

• To show contrast: however, on the other hand, but, etc.

• To introduce the conclusion: all things considered, all in all, to sum up, in conclusion.

3. Writing. Write an e-mail to a friend of yours describing your experience as a psychology student (your expectations, real situation). Use the information about email writing below.

E-mail Structure

One of the advantages of emails over normal `snail-mail` letters is that they are quick and direct. We send an email for a particular purpose and we expect a fast response of immediate action. For emails – whether formal or informal – to be most effective, it is a good idea to give them a clear, logical structure. Subject line: This should be short and give some specific information about the contents of your message.

Salutation: As in letter-writing, the salutation can be formal or informal, depending on how well you know the person you are writing to.

Dear Mr., Mrs., Ms…	A formal form of address, also used when first contacting a person.
Dear John	Less formal. Either you have had contact with this person before, or they have already addressed you by your first name.
Hi/Hello Mary (or just the name) (no salutation)	Informal, usually used with colleagues you often work with. In the U.S.A. and the U.K also sometimes used the first contact. Very informal, usually used in messages which a part of a longer email exchange.

Opening sentence: This is using to explain why you are writing (Remember: the opening sentence should always start with a capital letter.)

I’m writing to…	More formal introduction to say why you are writing.
Just a quick note to…	Friendly, informal way to say why you are writing.

Conclusion: This is where you tell the reader what kind of response, if any, you

expect.

Looking forward to your reply.	Friendly ending can be used in both formal and informal correspondence
Hope to hear from your soon.	Informal ending to indicate a reply is necessary

Close: Like the salutation, this can vary from formal to vary informal.

Yours sincerely	Very formal, rarely used in email correspondence.
Regards/ Best wishes	Most commonly used close, can be used in formal and informal emails.
Bye/ All the Best/ Best	Friendly, informal close.
James/ Mary	Name only (or initials) is also common when writing to close colleagues.

4. Project work. Use different media sources to find out what qualities should a good psychologist have. Make up a presentation using the references and the examples of famous psychologists.