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1、Psychology and Life When you begin your introductory course in psychology, you may be quite pleasantly surprised by the wide-ranging terrain of contemporary psychology. Psychology and Life will reveal the intricacies of your human experience through rigorous research. Psychology and Life will lead

2、 you from the inner spaces of brain and mind to the outer dimensions of human behavior. We will investigate the processes that provide meaningful structure to your experiences, such as how you perceive the world, communicate, learn, think, and remember. We will try to understand the more dramatic ex

3、pressions of human nature, such as how and why people dream, fall in love, act aggressively, and become mentally ill. Finally, we will demonstrate how psychological knowledge can be used to understand and change cultural forces at work in our lives. As authors of Psychology and Life, we believe in

4、 the power of psychological expertise. The appeal of psychology has grown personally for us over our careers as educators and researchers. In recent years, there has been a virtual explosion of new information about the basic mechanisms that govern mental and behavioral processes. As new ideas repla

5、ce or modify old ideas, we are continually intrigued and challenged by the many fascinating pieces of the puzzle of human nature. 　Foremost in the journey will be a scientific quest or understanding. We shall inquire about the how, what, when, and why of human behavior and about the causes and con

6、sequences of behaviors you observe in yourself, in other people, and in animals. We will explain why you think, feel, and behave as you do. What makes you uniquely different from all other people? Yet why do you often behave so much like others? Are you molded by heredity, or are you shaped more by

7、personal experiences? How an aggression and altruism, love and hate, and madness and creativity exist side by side in this complex creature-the human animal? To appreciate the uniqueness and unity of psychology, you must consider the way psychologists define the field and the goals they bring t

8、o their research and applications. By the end of the book, we will encourage you to think like a psychologist. In this first section, we’ll give you a strong idea of what that might mean. Many psychologists seek answers to this fundamental question: what is human nature? Psychology answers this que

9、stion by looking at processes that occur within individuals as well as forces that arise within the physical and social environment. In this light, we formally define psychology as the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes. Let’s explore the critical parts of thi

10、s definition: scientific, behavior, individual, and mental. The scientific aspect of psychology requires that psychological conclusions be based on evidence collected according to the principles of the scientific method. The scientific method consists of a set of orderly steps used to analyze and s

11、olve problems. This method uses objectively collected information as the factual basis for drawing conclusions. We will elaborate on the features of the scientific method more fully in Chapter 2, when we consider how psychologists conduct their research. Behavior is the means by which organisms adj

12、ust to their environment. Behavior is action. The subject matter of psychology largely consists of the observable behavior of humans and other species of animals. Smiling, crying, running, hitting, talking, and touching are some obvious examples of behavior you can observe. Psychologists examine wha

13、t the individual does and how the individual goes about doing it within a given behavioral setting and in the broader social or cultural context. The subject of psychological analysis is most often an individual-a newborn infant, a teenage athlete, a college student adjusting to life in a dormitory

14、, a man facing a midlife career change, or a woman coping with the stress of her husband’s deterioration from Alzheimer’s disease. However, the subject might also be a chimpanzee learning to use symbols to communicate, a white rat navigating a maze, or a sea slug responding to a danger signal. An in

15、dividual might be studied in its natural habitat or in the controlled conditions of a research laboratory. Many researchers in psychology also recognize that they cannot understand human actions without also understanding mental processes, the workings of the human mind. Much human activity takes p

16、lace as private, internal events-thinking, planning, reasoning, creating, and dreaming. Many psychologists believe that mental processes represent the most important aspect of psychological inquiry. As you shall soon see, psychological investigators have devised ingenious techniques to study mental

17、events and processes-to make these private experiences public. The combination of these concerns defines psychology as a unique field. Within the social sciences, psychologists focus largely on behavior in individuals, whereas sociologists study the behavior of people in groups or institutions, and

18、 anthropologists focus on the broader context of behavior in different cultures: Even so, psychologists draw broadly from the insights of other scholars. Psychologists share many interests with researchers in biological sciences, especially with those who study brain processes and the biochemical ba

19、ses of behavior. As part of the emerging area of cognitive science, psychologists’questions about how the human mind works are related to research and theory in computer science, artificial intelligence, and applied mathematics. As a health science-with links to medicine, education, law, and environ

20、mental studies-psychology seeks to improve the quality of each individual’s and the collective’s well-being. Although the remarkable breadth and depth of modern psychology are a source of delight to those who become psychologists, these same attributes make the field a challenge to the student expl

21、oring it for the first time. There is so much more to the study of psychology than one expects initially-and, because of that, there will also be much of value that you can take away from this introduction to psychology. The best way to learn about the field is to learn to share psychologists’ goals

22、. Let’s consider those goals. To appreciate the uniqueness and unity of psychology, you must consider the way psychologists define the field and the goals they bring to their research and applications. By the end of the book, we will encourage you to think like a psychologist. In this first section

23、, we’ll give you a strong idea of what that might mean. Many psychologists seek answers to this fundamental question: what is human nature? Psychology answers this question by looking at processes that occur within individuals as well as forces that arise within the physical and social environment.

24、 In this light, we formally define psychology as the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes. Let’s explore the critical parts of this definition: scientific, behavior, individual, and mental. The scientific aspect of psychology requires that psychological conclus

25、ions be based on evidence collected according to the principles of the scientific method. The scientific method consists of a set of orderly steps used to analyze and solve problems. This method uses objectively collected information as the factual basis for drawing conclusions. We will elaborate on

26、 the features of the scientific method more fully in Chapter 2, when we consider how psychologists conduct their research. Behavior is the means by which organisms adjust to their environment. Behavior is action. The subject matter of psychology largely consists of the observable behavior of humans

27、 and other species of animals. Smiling, crying, running, hitting, talking, and touching are some obvious examples of behavior you can observe. Psychologists examine what the individual does and how the individual goes about doing it within a given behavioral setting and in the broader social or cult

28、ural context. The subject of psychological analysis is most often an individual-a newborn infant, a teenage athlete, a college student adjusting to life in a dormitory, a man facing a midlife career change, or a woman coping with the stress of her husband’s deterioration from Alzheimer’s disease. H

29、owever, the subject might also be a chimpanzee learning to use symbols to communicate, a white rat navigating a maze, or a sea slug responding to a danger signal. An individual might be studied in its natural habitat or in the controlled conditions of a research laboratory. Many researchers in psyc

30、hology also recognize that they cannot understand human actions without also understanding mental processes, the workings of the human mind. Much human activity takes place as private, internal events-thinking, planning, reasoning, creating, and dreaming. Many psychologists believe that mental proce

31、sses represent the most important aspect of psychological inquiry. As you shall soon see, psychological investigators have devised ingenious techniques to study mental events and processes-to make these private experiences public. The combination of these concerns defines psychology as a unique fie

32、ld. Within the social sciences, psychologists focus largely on behavior in individuals, whereas sociologists study the behavior of people in groups or institutions, and anthropologists focus on the broader context of behavior in different cultures: Even so, psychologists draw broadly from the insigh

33、ts of other scholars. Psychologists share many interests with researchers in biological sciences, especially with those who study brain processes and the biochemical bases of behavior. As part of the emerging area of cognitive science, psychologists’questions about how the human mind works are relat

34、ed to research and theory in computer science, artificial intelligence, and applied mathematics. As a health science-with links to medicine, education, law, and environmental studies-psychology seeks to improve the quality of each individual’s and the collective’s well-being. Although the remarkabl

35、e breadth and depth of modern psychology are a source of delight to those who become psychologists, these same attributes make the field a challenge to the student exploring it for the first time. There is so much more to the study of psychology than one expects initially-and, because of that, there

36、 will also be much of value that you can take away from this introduction to psychology. The best way to learn about the field is to learn to share psychologists’ goals. Let’s consider those goals. The goals of the psychologist conducting basic research are to describe, explain, predict, and contro

37、l behavior. These goals form the basis of the psychological enterprise. What is involved in trying to achieve each of them? The first task in psychology is to make accurate observations about behavior. Psychologists typically refer to such observations as their data (data is the plural, datum the s

38、ingular).Behavioral data are reports of observations about the behavior of organisms and the conditions under which the behavior occurs. When researchers undertake data collection, they must choose an appropriate level of analysis and devise measures of behavior that ensue objectivity. In order to

39、investigate an individual’s behavior, researchers may use different levels of analysis-from the broadest, most global level down to the most minute, specific level. Suppose, for example, you were trying to describe a painting you saw at a museum . At a global level, you might describe it by title, B

40、athers, and by artist, Georges Seurat. At a more specific level, you might recount features of the painting: some people are sunning themselves on a riverbank, while others are enjoying in water, and so on. At a very specific level, you might describe the technique Seurat used-tiny points of paint-t

41、o create the scene. The description at each level would answer different questions about the painting. Different levels of psychological description also address different questions. At the broadest level of psychological analysis, researchers investigate the behavior of the whole person within com

42、plex social and cultural contexts. At this level, researches might study cross-cultural differences in violence, the origins of prejudice, and the consequences of mental illness. At the next level, psychologists focus on narrower, finer units of behavior, such as speed of reaction to a stop light, e

43、ye movements during reading, and grammatical errors made by children acquiring language. Researchers can study even smaller units of behavior. They might work to discover the biological bases of behavior by identifying the places in the brain where different types of memories are stored, the biochem

44、ical changes that occur during learning, and the sensory paths responsible for vision or hearing. Each level of analysis yields information essential to the final composite portrait of human nature that psychologists hope ultimately to develop. However tight or broad the focus of the observation, p

45、sychologists strive to describe behavior objectively. Collecting the facts as they exist, and not as the researcher expects or hopes them to be, is of utmost importance. Because every observer brings to each observation his or her subjective point of view- biases, prejudices, and expectations—it is

46、essential to prevent these personal factors from creeping in and distorting the data. As you will see in the next chapter, psychological researchers have developed a variety of techniques to maintain objectivity. While descriptions must stick to perceivable information, explanations deliberately go

47、 beyond what can be observed. In many areas of psychology, the central goal is to find regular patterns in behavioral and mental processes. Psychologists want to discover how behavior works. Why do you laugh at situations that differ from your expectations of what is coming next? What conditions cou

48、ld lead someone to attempt suicide or commit rape? Explanations in psychology usually recognize that most behavior is influenced by a combination of factors. Some factors operate within the individual, such as genetic makeup, motivation, intelligence level, or self-esteem. These inner determinants

49、tell something special about the organism. Other factors, however, operate externally. Suppose, for example, that a child tries to please a teacher in order to win a prize or that a motorist trapped in a traffic jam becomes frustrated and hostile. These behaviors are largely influenced by events out

50、side the person. When psychologists seek to explain behavior, they almost always consider both types of explanations. Suppose, for example, psychologists want to explain why some people start smoking. Researchers might examine the possibility that some individuals are particularly prone to risk taki

51、ng (an internal explanation) or that some individuals experience a lot of peer pressure (an external explanation)—or that both a disposition toward risk taking and situational peer pressure are necessary (a combined explanation). Often a psychologist’s goal is to explain a wide variety of behavior

52、in terms of one underlying cause. Consider a situation in which your teacher says that to earn a good grade; each student must participate regularly in class discussions. Your roommate, who is always well prepared for class, never raises his hand to answer questions or volunteer information. The tea

53、cher chides him for being unmotivated and assumes he is not bright. That same roommate also goes to parties but never asks anyone to dance, doesn’t openly defend his point of view when it is challenged by someone less informed, and rarely engages in small talk at the dinner table. What is your diagn

54、osis? What underlying cause might account for this range of behavior? How about shyness? Like many other people who suffer from intense feelings of shyness, your roommate is unable to behave in desired ways . We can use the concept of shyness to explain the full pattern of your roommate’s behavior.

55、 To forge such causal explanations, researchers must often engage in a creative process of examining a diverse collection of data. Master detective Sherlock Holmes drew shrewd conclusions from scraps of evidence. In a similar fashion, every researcher must use an informed imagination, which creative

56、ly synthesizes what is known and what is not yet known. A well-trained psychologist can explain observations by using her or his insight into the human experience along with the facts previous researchers have uncovered about the phenomenon in question. Much psychological research attempts to determ

57、ine which of several explanations most accurately accounts for a given behavioral pattern。 生活中的心理學(xué) 在你開始心理學(xué)入門的時候，可能會非常驚喜于當(dāng)代心理學(xué)廣袤的領(lǐng)地。生活中的心理學(xué)通過嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)难芯肯蚰阏宫F(xiàn)你的人類經(jīng)驗(yàn)的紛繁復(fù)雜。生活中的心理學(xué)將引領(lǐng)你從大腦與心理之內(nèi)部世界，到人類行為之外部維度。我們會對為你的經(jīng)驗(yàn)提供了深遠(yuǎn)意義之框架的一些過程進(jìn)行研究，比如你是如何感知這個世界的、如何溝通、學(xué)習(xí)、思考與記憶的。我們將努力理解關(guān)于人類本能的更生動表達(dá)，如人們?yōu)槭裁磿鰤?，?/p>

58、何做夢，為何會墜入情網(wǎng)，為何會產(chǎn)生攻擊性行為，為何會得精神上的疾病。 最后，我們將證明心理學(xué)知識如何能夠被用來理解并改變我們生活中現(xiàn)行的文化力量。作為《心理學(xué)與生活》的作者，我們相信心理技巧的力量。就我們個人而言，在我們作為教育工作者和研究者的職業(yè)生涯的過程中，我們對心理學(xué)的興趣也在不斷增強(qiáng)。近些年來，支配心理與行為過程的基礎(chǔ)結(jié)構(gòu)方面的新信息一直呈現(xiàn)實(shí)際上的爆炸式增長。盡管新思念不斷替代或修改了舊的思想，我們卻一直被人性之謎的許多令人著迷的部分所激勵和挑戰(zhàn)。 我們會探索人的一些行為如何、什么、何時、為什么等方面的問題，以及你所觀察到的你自己、他人及動物等行為的原因和結(jié)果。我們還會解釋為什么

59、你會這樣想，這樣感受、為何會有這樣的行為。是什么使你成為區(qū)別于他人的、獨(dú)一無二的你？而為什么你又經(jīng)常做出一些與他人非常相似的行為？你是由遺傳因素，還是更多地由個人經(jīng)驗(yàn)所塑造而成的？攻擊行為與利他主義、愛與恨、瘋狂與創(chuàng)造性是如何共存于人這種復(fù)雜的生物中的？ 許多心理學(xué)家試圖找到這樣一個基本問題的答案—什么是人性？心理學(xué)既著眼于個體內(nèi)部發(fā)生的過程，又從物理和社會環(huán)境產(chǎn)生的力量來回答這個問題。從這個角度出發(fā)，我們將心理學(xué)定義為是對個體行為及其心理過程的科學(xué)研究。讓我們來探索一下這個定義的主要部分：科學(xué)、行為、個體及心理。心理學(xué)的科學(xué)方面要求心理學(xué)的結(jié)論，必須是在依據(jù)科學(xué)方法原則下所搜集到的證據(jù)之基

60、礎(chǔ)上得出的?？茖W(xué)方法是由用以分析與解決問題的一套有序的步驟構(gòu)成的。該方法將客觀搜集到的信息作為得出結(jié)論的事實(shí)基礎(chǔ)。我們會在第2章中，在考慮心理學(xué)家如何進(jìn)行研究時，詳細(xì)說明科學(xué)方法的特性。 行為是生物機(jī)體適應(yīng)環(huán)境的方式方法。行為即行動。心理學(xué)的主題很大程度上是由人類及其它動物種類中可觀察到的行為構(gòu)成的，笑、哭、奔跑、打、談話及觸摸都是一些你可以明顯觀察到的行為方面的例子。心理學(xué)家會在給定的行為設(shè)置及更廣闊的社會與文化情境中，檢查個體會做什么，以及與此相伴隨的種種經(jīng)歷。 心理分析的主題最常見的是個體——新生嬰兒、少年運(yùn)動員、大學(xué)生如何適應(yīng)校園生活、一個面臨中年職業(yè)生涯變更的男人，或一個應(yīng)

61、對因丈夫的阿滋海默（Alzheimer）病惡化所帶來的壓力的女人。然而，其主題也可以是學(xué)習(xí)使用符號進(jìn)行交流的黑腥腥、在迷宮中航行的白鼠或是一只對危險(xiǎn)信號做出反應(yīng)的海參。對個體的研究可以是在自然生活環(huán)境中，也可以是在研究實(shí)驗(yàn)室的控制條件下進(jìn)行。許多心理學(xué)研究人員也承認(rèn)，如果不對心理過程、人類大腦的運(yùn)作進(jìn)行理解，他們也難以理解人類的行為。許多人類活動是隱蔽的、內(nèi)部的活動，如思考、計(jì)劃、推理、創(chuàng)造及做夢。很多心理學(xué)家相信，心理過程代表了心理學(xué)研究最重要的一個方面。正如你很快就要看到的那樣，心理學(xué)調(diào)查人員設(shè)計(jì)出了獨(dú)特的技術(shù)以研究心理活動與心理過程，以使那些隱蔽的經(jīng)驗(yàn)公開化。 這些主題結(jié)合起來使心理學(xué)

62、成為一個獨(dú)特的領(lǐng)域。在社會科學(xué)范疇中，心理學(xué)家主要聚集于個體的行為，社會學(xué)家則研究群體或制度中人的行為，而人類學(xué)家則聚集于不同文化中的行為這一更廣泛的情景中：即便如此，心理學(xué)家依然從其他學(xué)科學(xué)者的領(lǐng)悟中汲取精華。心理學(xué)家與生物科學(xué)，特別是那些研究行為的大腦過程和生物化學(xué)基礎(chǔ)的研究者們享有共同的興趣點(diǎn)。作為認(rèn)知科學(xué)新興領(lǐng)域的一部分，心理學(xué)家關(guān)于人類大腦如何運(yùn)作方面的心理學(xué)研究，涉及到計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)、人工智能及應(yīng)用數(shù)學(xué)。作為一門與醫(yī)學(xué)、教育、法律及環(huán)境研究有著千絲萬縷聯(lián)系的保健科學(xué)，心理學(xué)努力改善每個個體及集體主觀幸福感的質(zhì)量。 盡管現(xiàn)代心理學(xué)顯著的寬度與深度是一個令那些成為心理學(xué)家的人感到欣喜的一

63、個來源，但是，這些同樣的歸因?qū)τ诔醪教剿鬟@一領(lǐng)域的學(xué)生來說也構(gòu)成了一個挑戰(zhàn)。心理學(xué)有如此多的方面需要研究，遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超過了人們最初的期待，也正因?yàn)榇?，你可以從該書對心理學(xué)的介紹中學(xué)到很多東西。了解該領(lǐng)域的一個最好的路徑就是學(xué)會分享心理學(xué)家們的目標(biāo)，現(xiàn)在就讓我們考慮這些目標(biāo)吧。 心理學(xué)家進(jìn)行基本研究的目標(biāo)，是對行為進(jìn)行描述、解釋、預(yù)測及控制。這些目標(biāo)構(gòu)成了心理學(xué)事業(yè)的基礎(chǔ)。努力達(dá)到每個目標(biāo)都涉及到哪些內(nèi)容呢？ 心理學(xué)的第一個任務(wù)就是對行為進(jìn)行準(zhǔn)確觀察。典型地，心理學(xué)家將諸如此類的觀察作為他們的資料。行為上的資料是指關(guān)于生物機(jī)體的行為及行為發(fā)生的條件的觀察報(bào)告。當(dāng)研究者們采用資料收集的時候，他們得選

64、擇一種恰如其分的分析水平，并且要設(shè)置一些確保其客觀性的行為測量方法。 為了調(diào)查個體的行為，研究者們可以使用不同的分析水平——從最廣泛的、最全面的水平，降到最細(xì)微的、最特定的水平。例如，假定你試圖要描述在博物館里看到的一幅油畫。在一個整體的水平上，你可能會用標(biāo)題（《在阿尼埃爾上的沐浴者》，）及作者（喬治修拉）來描述。在一個較特定的水平上，你也許會描述這幅油畫的特征：一些人在河堤上曬太陽；而另一些在水里嬉戲，等等。在一個極為精細(xì)的水平上，你也許會描述修拉用來構(gòu)建整個場景的技巧。在各個水平上的描述都會對這幅油畫不同方面的問題提供答案。 心理學(xué)上的描述，不同水平也會提出不同的問題。在最廣泛的心理分

65、析水平上，研究者們在復(fù)雜的社會及文化情景中對整個人的行為進(jìn)行研究。在這個水平上，研究者們也許會研究在暴力、偏見的起源及精神疾病的因果關(guān)系方面的跨文化差異。在下一個水平上，心理學(xué)家則強(qiáng)調(diào)更狹窄的、細(xì)微的行為單元，如對紅燈的反應(yīng)速度、閱讀過程中的眼動及兒童在習(xí)得語言過程中所犯的語法錯誤。研究者們甚至能夠研究更細(xì)小的行為單元，他們也許會致力于通過確定大腦中不同類型的記憶所儲存的位置來發(fā)現(xiàn)行為的生物學(xué)基礎(chǔ)，發(fā)現(xiàn)學(xué)習(xí)過程中發(fā)生的生物化學(xué)變化，以及發(fā)現(xiàn)負(fù)責(zé)視覺和聽覺的感覺通道。每個水平的分析都將產(chǎn)生一些基本信息，心理學(xué)家希望利用這些信息，最終能夠開發(fā)出關(guān)于人性的決定性的組合畫像。 然而，無論觀察的焦點(diǎn)

66、是寬還是窄，心理學(xué)家都將盡量客觀地描述行為。按事實(shí)本身的樣子，而不是按照研究者所期待或希冀的那樣收集資料，是最重要的。由于每一個觀察者都會把他的主觀觀點(diǎn)——偏差、偏見及期待——帶入每一個觀察中，所以避免將這些個人因素混進(jìn)并扭曲資料是最基本的。正如在下一章你將會看到的那樣，心理學(xué)研究者已經(jīng)發(fā)展出大量的技術(shù)以保持客觀性 描述必須依托于可觀察到的信息，而解釋則有意超越所能觀察到的信息。在心理學(xué)的許多領(lǐng)域，主要的目標(biāo)就是找到行為與心理過程中的規(guī)律模式。心理學(xué)家想要發(fā)現(xiàn)行為是如何運(yùn)作的。為何你會對與你期待接下來要發(fā)生的事情不符的情景不屑一顧？是什么樣的情形導(dǎo)致一個人自殺或?qū)嵤?qiáng)奸？ 心理學(xué)中的解釋通常認(rèn)為，大多數(shù)行為是受多種因素綜合影響的。有些因素是內(nèi)在的，如遺傳氣質(zhì)、動機(jī)、智力水平或自尊。這些內(nèi)在決定因素表明關(guān)于生物機(jī)體的一些特殊方面。而其它一些因素則是外界的。例如，假設(shè)一個兒童努力去取悅老師以贏得獎賞，或一個陷入交通堵塞中的汽車駕駛員變得沮喪而充滿敵意。這些行為很大程度上是受到外部事件的影響。當(dāng)心理學(xué)家試圖對行為進(jìn)行解釋時，他們幾乎總是從這兩方面的解釋來考慮。例如，假設(shè)心理學(xué)家想要解