Are you the fi rst member of your family to attend college? If so, this is an exciting time. You deserve to be proud of yourself. Still, being a fi rst-generation college stu- dent can have its challenges. Let’s look at the college experiences of a man named John who now works as a psychologist. He is from a poor family and was the fi rst of 4 siblings and 16 cousins to fi nish college. He knew that his family was proud of him, but he sometimes felt that he had left his family and old friends behind in his quest for higher education. Sometimes these feelings interfered with his motivation to complete school.
Many fi rst-generation college students struggle with similar feelings (Barry &
others, 2009; Piorkowski, 1983; Whitten, 1992). They often perceive themselves, and are perceived by their families, as moving into a new social class. In some cases, this can be anxiety provoking for both the student and the family. Issues related to group loyalty arise as the student’s interests, vocabulary, and worldview become differ- ent from those of his family and neighborhood friends. Family members sometimes accuse fi rst-generation college students of “changing” or “thinking they are better”
than the family. These issues are particularly challenging for members of ethnic groups that traditionally attended college infrequently. Not only do they face strained relationships with their families and friends, but they may not fi t into the college com- munity if they attend a majority-culture institution.
Many fi rst-generation college students handle these confl icts very successfully.
They recognize that they are part of both their college and home communities and develop strategies for moving comfortably from one to the other. They speak standard English on the college campus and speak the language of their home community, which might be Spanish, Creole, or Black English, when they are among friends.
They reassure their family members by word and deed that they still feel a part of their home, even though they are changing in some ways. This is important because students who are able to integrate their old and new lifestyles more successfully make higher grades than do students who experience a high degree of confl ict (Whitten, 1993b).
What is the climate like at your institution for fi rst-generation college students and students who do not fi t the mold in other ways? How effective is your college when it comes to addressing diversity issues? How do your family and friends feel about your decision to enter college? Thinking about these questions may help you identify sources of potential confl ict in yourself or understand the experience of other students better.
two books that deal with the topic in more depth:
Ellis, D. B. (2006). Becoming a master student (11th ed.). Boston: Houghton-Miffl in.
Parrott, L. (1999). How to write psychology papers (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.
Barry, L. M., Hudley, M. et al. (2010). Differences in Self-Reported Disclosure of College Experiences by First-Generation College Student Status. Adolescence, 43, 55–68.
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chapter one
Introduction to psychology
Chapter Outline
PSYCHE 1 SCIENCE 5 PSYCHOLOGY 1 Defi nition of Psychology 2
Goals of Psychology 3
Founding the Science of Psychology 4 Contemporary Perspectives and Specialty Areas in Psychology 13
What We Know about Human Behavior:
Some Starting Places 19 SUMMARY 21
VISUAL REVIEW OF HISTORICAL TIME LINE 23
Psyche 1 Science 5 Psychology
Welcome to psychology! You are invited to learn about one of life’s most interesting subjects—you. You enrolled in this course know- ing that it had something to do with people. But what exactly is psychology?
The earliest origins of psychology are found in the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers about the nature of life, particularly in the work of Aristotle. Aristotle, who was born in 384 B.C.E., was broadly interested in the nature of living things. He collected and dissected plants and animals to see how their organs sustained life. He stud- ied reproduction to see how life was recreated in each generation, and he studied the everyday actions of living people as they reasoned, spoke, remembered, and learned. In his later years, Aristotle discussed
philosophy with his students as they strolled the covered walks of his school, the Lyceum. Imagine what he said to them about the nature of life:
You’ll understand what life is if you think about the act of dying. When I die, how will I be different from the way I am right now? In the fi rst moments after death, my body will be scarcely different in physical terms than it was in the last seconds of life, but I will no longer move, no longer sense, nor speak, nor feel, nor care. It’s these things that are life. At that moment, the psyche takes fl ight in the last breath.
Aristotle used the term psyche to refer to the essence of life. This term is translated from ancient Greek to mean “mind,” but it is closely linked in mean- ing to the word “breath.” Aristotle believed that psyche escaped in the last dying breath. Modern psychologists study the same actions, thoughts, and feel- ings that fascinated Aristotle. Indeed, the term psychology comes from Aristo- tle’s word psyche plus the Greek word logos, which means “the study of.”
Aristotle was trained in philosophical methods by Plato, but he disagreed with Plato’s belief that one could achieve a full understanding of anything simply by thinking about it. Aristotle believed that one must also observe the thing being studied—look at it, listen to it, touch it. Although Aristotle was not a scientist in the modern sense of the word, his emphasis on observation is the basis for the methods of contemporary science. Since Aristotle’s time, modern scientists have developed only more precise and effi cient ways of observing. Thus, Aristotle launched the study of life that eventually evolved into the modern science of psychology.
Key Terms
applied psychologists 17 behavior 2
behaviorism 8 cognition 8
cognitive psychology 8 functionalism 6 Gestalt psychologists 6 humanistic psychology 10 introspection 5
mental processes 2
neuroscience perspective 10 psychoanalysis 9
psychology 2 psychometrics 10 social learning theory 9 structuralism 5
Philosopher and early scientist Aristotle (right) with Plato.
psychology Science of behavior and mental processes.
science Approach to knowledge based on systematic observation.
behavior Directly observable and measurable actions.
mental processes Private psychological activities that include thinking, perceiving, and feeling.