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Psychological principles permeate advertising, marketing, television, movies, sales,
self-help books, fashion, politics, and folk wisdom, to name a few, but students are often unaware of
this influence. Pointing out this influence is a good way to keep your students’ interest. For
example, the concept of “psychological stress,” so prevalent in our cultural landscape, was rarely
mentioned 50 years ago.
5. Ask your students how many of them believe in determinism. Then ask them how many of them
believe in free will. Insist that they cannot have it both ways. You will be surprised to find that
8
CHAPTER 1: THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY IN YOUR LIFE
many, if not most, students believe in free will. This is a terrific discussion starter, because it
conflicts with one of the fundamental assumptions of science and psychology, determinism. You
might ask your students what science can hope to reveal if the world is not determined. You might
also suggest that what feels like free will to us may be thinly disguised determinism. This simple
discussion is often enough to change the manner in which students view themselves and the
manner in which they view those around them.
SUPPLEMENTAL LECTURE MATERIAL
Clinical Psychology versus Psychiatry
Because clinical psychology, a subfield of psychology, and psychiatry are both professions that deal with
matters of mind and behavior, the public often confuses them. The major distinction is in the type of
advanced training received in each profession. Psychiatry is a medical specialty requiring an M.D. and
additional study, while clinical psychology is considered part of an academic discipline that requires a
Ph.D. from an accredited graduate program. Although medical training is not required, clinical psychology
graduate programs are one of the, if not the, most difficult graduate programs to be accepted into, including
law, business, and medical school. Psychiatrists’ medical training allows them to prescribe drugs and tends
to lead them to more biologically based explanations for abnormal behavior than those to which
psychologists often adhere. Most states do not allow psychologists to prescribe medication, although some
are pushing for a change. In general, psychiatrists are professional therapists who treat patients with
mental and emotional problems in either a hospital or private practice setting. With few exceptions,
psychiatrists are more likely to be practitioners than researchers.
The basic model of training for psychiatrists is the medical model, which focuses on underlying
physiological problems, such as imbalances in neurotransmitters, brain lesions that can be treated
medically, or “mental disease” that can be cured in much the same way that an infection can be cured.
Clinical psychologists receive training in human behavior; they are taught to look at the chain of events
leading to specific behaviors and the resultant behaviors and outcomes, relative to the impact of those
behaviors on the individual client and on the client’s social environment.
Training in clinical psychology can prepare the student for a career as a researcher and scholar (often
combined with teaching at a university), or in any number of areas of applied psychology. Clinical
psychologists, like psychiatrists, are usually therapists, treating clients in either hospitals or private
practice. Assessment of psychological disturbance by means of various standardized tests is one task of the
clinical psychologist. A psychoanalyst may be a psychiatrist, a psychologist, or other college graduate that
has received specialized training at a psychoanalytic institute where the ideas and therapeutic methods of
Freud and his followers are taught. It requires that the prospective therapist undergo personal
psychoanalysis as well.
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PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE
Class Exercise: Psychology’s Goals Applied to Matchmaking
(This class exercise was adapted from an Experience Break originally included in Psychology and Life, 15th
Edition, by Philip Zimbardo and Richard Gerrig.)
Based only on the descriptions provided below, ask your class to guess which pairs of the people listed
below belong together. There are no right or wrong answers—tell them to go with their instincts.
David
Age: 21
Job: Car mechanic
Enjoys: Gourmet food
Dana
Age: 23
Job: Advertising executive
Enjoys: Movies
Chris
Age: 29
Job: Dog groomer
Enjoys: Gardening
Anita
Age: 35
Job: Lawyer
Enjoys: Roller coasters
Sandy
Age: 54
Job: Flight attendant
Enjoys: Hang gliding
Karen
Age: 18
Job: Sales clerk
Enjoys: Art museums
Jamie
Age: 20
Job: Secretary
Enjoys: Football
Pat
Age: 56
Job: Pediatrician
Enjoys: Opera
Tony
Age: 37
Job: College professor
Enjoys: Comic books
Rahul
Age: 22
Job: Store manager
Enjoys: Scuba diving
Now lead your class in a discussion of their matchmaking decisions with respect to the goals of
psychology:
. How would they describe the behaviors they engaged in while trying to settle on appropriate
matches?