外文资料翻译-- 生活中的心理学

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 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

expressions

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

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

replace

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

consequences

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 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

to

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 question 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

this

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 solve 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 adjust 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 what 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,

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

individual

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

place

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 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 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

bases

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

environmental

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 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 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.

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,

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. 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

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 solve 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 adjust 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 what 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,

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

individual

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

place

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 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 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

bases

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

environmental

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 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 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

control

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 singular).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

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, Bathers, and by artist,