What Psychology really is

Objectives

This section will enable you to define psychology as a science

Reading

Throughout this course we will be referring you to readings from the e-textbook "Introduction to Psychology, First Edition" by Charles Stangor, published in 2006 by Flat World Knowledge. You can purchase this book in print on online format from Flat World Publishers. Read the introduction and section 1.1 of the Stangor e-textbook. Complete the following in your journal: Make notes about how Stangor defines psychology and compare it to your own definition from earlier. How are they alike? How are they different?

Media

Watch the MIT Introduction lecture with illusions. The students you see are also studying psychology but in a classroom, and the professor entertains them in his first lecture with some catchy illusions. Scientific study of visual illusions helped psychologists understand how vision works.

Activity

Find a family member or friend and show them some of these illusions. Did vision fool them into seeing things that were not true? Post a brief description online of which illusion created the best effect for your family/friend. What did they see and what was actually there? Were they easy to convince about what was actually there?