–Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Once expanded to the dimensions of a larger idea, [the mind] never returns to its original size.”

UNIT 1 PSYCHOLOGY’S HISTORY AND APPROACHES

Module1. Psychology’s Roots and HistoryModule II. Psychology’s Historical Schools and Approaches

Module III. Subfields in Psychology

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED?• Have you ever wondered if people are born

smarter than others?

• Have you ever become depressed or anxious and wondered whether you’ll ever feel “normal”?

• Have you ever wondered how the Internet, video games, and social networks affect people?

• Have you ever awakened from a nightmare and wondered why you had such a crazy dream?

Psychology is a science that seeks to answer such questions about us all- how and why we think, feel, and act as we do.

PSYCHOLOGY: _______________________________________________________________.

- Behavior is anything an organism does- any action we can observe and record. Examples? - Mental processes are the internal, subjective experiences we infer from our behavior. Examples?

I. ROOTS AND HISTORY • Back to the beginning.

• Many of Psychology’s current questions go back to our earliest thinkers.

• Influences come from philosophy and biology:

• A. Greek Philosophers: quest for knowledge and understanding.

• 1. Socrates believed mind to be separate from body, and knowledge is innate (nature), suggested that the brain is the seat of mental processes.

• 2. Aristotle denied the existence of innate ideas (nurture), suggested that the heart is the seat of mental processes.

Module 1

• B. 16th century philosophy:

• 1.René Descartes: believed behavior was a combination of mind and body(Dualism). However, he believed the brain controlled behavior. Like Plato, knowledge is innate. (Nature)

• 2. John Locke: believed knowledge is not innate and insisted the mind at birth is a “Tabula Rasa” blank slate. Experience is everything. (Nurture)

• 3. Francis Bacon- British who became one of the founders of modern science.

• 4. Locke and Bacon’s ideas, helped form modern empiricism. (the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should rely on observation and experimentation)

I. ROOTS AND HISTORY

Module 1

• C. Charles Darwin

• 1800s

• 1. On the Origin of Species explained species variation and diversity by proposing the evolutionary process of natural selection: From among chance variations, nature selects traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.

• 2. Finches in G.I. than those in England

• 3. Theory of Evolution: animals had adapted and changed overtime

• 4. Natural Selection and the Survival of the Fittest

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/07/060714-evolution.html

I. ROOTS AND HISTORY Module 1

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

• Psychology as a science became organized into different branches or schools of thought.

• First schools: structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism. Followed by Gestalt psychology and psychoanalysis.

Module II

• A. First Schools of Psychology:

• 1. Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism (What happened?)

• He and Edward Titchener created 1st Psychology lab in 1879 in Germany.

• Referred to as the “Father of Psychology”.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

• Structuralism- early school of thought focusing on revealing the most basic structures or elements of the mind using introspection.

• Aimed to discover the structural elements of mind.

• Method: to engage people in self-reflective introspection (looking inward), training them to report elements of their experience as they performed tasks. (looking at a rose, smelled a scent, tasted a substance, heard a song, etc.)

• Structuralism attempted to break conscious experience into objective sensations such as taste, and record subjective feelings such as emotional responses.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

• 2. William James and Functionalism (Why did it happen?)

• Created Functionalism- early school of thought that believed mental processes could be best understood in terms of purpose and function.

• Explored how mental and behavioral processes function- how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

• James envisioned consciousness as a “stream of ideas” meaning that a mental process had no static structure but was continually flowing, changing, and interacting with the environment.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

Structuralism Functionalism

- Uses self reflective introspection

- Inner sensations, images, and feelings

- Examined the structure of mind and thinking

- Analyzed what the mind is

- Wundt and Titchener

- Investigates the function, or purpose of consciousness rather than structure

- Stream of consciousness and emotion

- Analyzed what the mind is for

- James

VS

• 3. Gestalt Psychology and Max Wertheimer (Perception)

• Focused on “Perceptual wholes”.

• In perception the whole is worth more than the sum of its parts. I.E. If we combine sodium (a corrosive metal) with chlorine (a poisonous gas), something very different emerges- table salt.

• Gestalt Psychology focuses on understanding how the brain works by studying perception and perceptual learning.

• Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler are also founders.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

NECKER CUBE: WHAT DO YOU SEE?

• 4. Behaviorism: (Learning)

• 1. John Watson and Rosalie Rayner:

• Developed a perspective that focuses on observable events- stimuli from the environment and the organism’s responses.

• Dismissed introspection. Redefined psychology as “the scientific study of observable behavior. “

• Science is rooted in observation. Behavior is influenced by learned associations, through a process called conditioning.

• Little Albert Experiment:

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

–John B. Watson (Famous Behaviorist Quote)

"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take

any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select--doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief,

and, yes, even the beggar-man and thief…”

• 4. Behaviorism: (Learning)

• 2. B.F. Skinner:

• Everything stemmed from rewards and punishment.

• E.G. Skinner Box

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

• 5. Psychoanalysis and Sigmund Freud

• Emphasized unconscious processes, repressed memories, sex, and early childhood experiences. Causes unconscious guilt.

• Our unconscious thought processes and our emotional responses to childhood experiences affect our behavior.

• “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.” - Sigmund Freud

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

• 6. Carl Rogers and Humanistic Psychologists

• Rejected the definition of psychology that was current in the 1960s.

• Rogers and Abraham Maslow found Freudian psychology and behaviorism too limiting.

• The humanistic psychologists drew attention to ways that our environments could nurture or limit our growth potential and to the importance of having our needs for love and acceptance satisfied.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

• 7. Cognitive Psychology

• Second grp to rebel against Behaviorism and Freudian psychology.

• Scientifically explores ways we perceive, process, and remember info.

• Cognitive neuroscience: study of the brain activity linked with cognition.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

• B. Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis

• Levels of Analysis: differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.

• Biopsychosocial approach: integrated approach that incorporates levels of analysis.

How did psychology continue to develop from the 1920s through today?

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

PSYCHOLOGY’S THREE MAIN LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

PSYCHOLOGY’S THREE MAIN LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

PSYCHOLOGY’S THREE MAIN LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

PSYCHOLOGY’S THREE MAIN LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

• C. Psychological Approaches/Perspectives

• Biological psychology

• Evolutionary psychology

• Psychodynamic psychology

• Behavioral psychology

• Cognitive psychology

• Humanistic psychology

• Social-cultural psychology

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

Approach FocusBiological How the body and brain enable emotions,

memories, and sensory experiences; searches for the causes of behavior in the functioning of genes, the brain, and nervous system.

Evolutionary How the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

Approach FocusPsychodynamic How behavior springs from unconscious drives

and conflicts. How these conflicts influence behavior.

Behavioral How we learn observable responses. Looks to the behavior to explain the mind.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

Approach Focus

Cognitive How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information. Emphasizes mental processes such as learning, memory, perception, and thinking.Sees the brain like a computer- designed as a processor of information.

Humanistic A clinical viewpoint emphasizing the positive side of human ability, growth, potential, and free will. Main goal is to reach self-actualization. Sees everyone as the perfect seed capable of achieving success.

http://www.mindovermood.com

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

Approach FocusSocial-cultural How behavior and thinking vary across

situations and cultures. How situations and cultural experiences affect our behavior and thinking. EX: eating disorders

*Remember: Each of psychology’s perspectives is helpful. But sometimes each by itself fails to reveal the whole picture.

II. HISTORICAL SCHOOLS AND APPROACHES

Module II

• A. Psychology’s Subfields (Many wide ranging interests to be studied):

• Common quest: describing and explaining behavior and the mind underlying it.

• *Psychometrics: the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

III. SUBFIELDS IN PSYCHOLOGYModule III

• 1. Basic Research (These psychologists build the knowledge base)

• Developmental psychologists: studying our changing abilities from womb to tomb.

• Educational psychologists: studying influences on teaching and learning.

• Personality psychologists: investigating our persistent traits.

• Social psychologists: exploring how we view and affect one another.

III. SUBFIELDS IN PSYCHOLOGYModule III

• 2. Applied Research (These psychologists apply the research gained and tackle practical problems)

• Industrial/Organizational psychologists: apply psychological concepts and methods to optimize human behavior in workplaces.

• Human Factors psychologists: explores interaction between humans, machines, and physical environments.

• Counseling psychologists: assists people with problems in living and achieving well being.

III. SUBFIELDS IN PSYCHOLOGYModule III

• Clinical psychologists: studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.

• Biological/Neuropsychologists: examines relationships between the brain and a person’s behavior.

• Cognitive psychologists: examines thought processes such as memories.

• Forensic psychologists: apply psychological principles to legal issues.

III. SUBFIELDS IN PSYCHOLOGYModule III

• Health psychologists: concerned with psychology’s contribution to promoting health and preventing disease. (Factors involved in health and illness)

• Rehabilitation psychologists: work in a rehabilitation institution or hospital serving people with physical disabilities.

• Sports psychologists: help athletes refine their focus on competition, goals, increase motivation, and deal with anxiety and the fear of failure.

III. SUBFIELDS IN PSYCHOLOGYModule III