AP PSYCHOLOGY: HISTORY &

APPROACHES

Where do you stand? How much is Psychology a real science

like Physics, Chemistry or Biology? How much of Psychology’s facts (like

the bystander effect) can be trusted if every human is different?

What is psychology? Definition

From the Greek terms psyche meaning mind or soul

and logos meaning study of

Thus, the study of the mind

History and Approaches Roots can be traced back 2000 years Hippocrates – Mind body dualism

two spheres: mind (non-physical entity) and matter (body)

Descarte defines mind body dualism “I think, therefore, I am.”

Locke – Tabula rasa “blank slate”nature vs nurture debate

Origin of Psychology Late 1800s, psychology emerged as

its own discipline Biologists like Charles Darwin and

physiologists like Weber and Fechner show how physical events are related to sensation and perception

Birth date = 1879 Wundt established 1st research lab in

Germany

Wundt Studied consciousness

Wanted to describe basic elements ○ how they are organized and

how they relate Used introspection Began psychology’s

transformation from philosophy of mental processes to science of mental processes

I “Wundt”er Vat is going on

in his head?

Titchener & Structuralism English Student of Wundt Studied consciousness as well as

images and other aspects that are harder to quantify Added “clearness” as element of sensation

Called approach “structuralism” = trying to define the structure of consciousness

Functionalism William James – American

psychologist at Harvard (late 1870s) first lab to show demos to

studentsrejected Wundt & Titchener’s

work G. Stanley Hall – first research

lab at Johns Hopkins Focus on understanding how

mental processes function to allow humans to live and adapt

Behaviorism John B. Watson – observable

behavior of animals and humans = only appropriate subject matter for psych (early 1900s)Should base psychology only on what

can be seen in behavior (he had disdain for introspection!)

Thought all human behavior was learned

B.F. Skinner = rewards & punishments shape, maintain & change B

Gestalt Wertheimer, Koffka & Kohler Gestalt = whole “The whole is greater than the

sum of it’s parts”. Emphasis = breaking

consciousness into small elements you destroy the whole

Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud – (late 1800s early

1900s)All behavior= based in conflicts at an

unconscious level Developed psychotherapy (dream analysis)Emphasized importance of childhoodBased on medical cases not on lab

experiments

The often forgotten Eclectic approach

Means exactly that – taking techniques and ideas from a variety of approaches.

Approaches (see handout) Evolutionary Behavioral Biological Cognitive Humanistic Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic SocioculturalEven Big Bird Can Hurt People Sometimes

FOLDABLES STUDY TOOL:On the outside cover, label YOUR NAME and

“Perspectives in Psychology”The goal is to make a study aid to include the name of

perspectives, name(s) associated with it and what (how) the perspective studied psychology.

Open your foldable like a book. Using the middle pages, record these five historical perspectivesStructuralism, Functionalism, Psychoanalytical, Gestalt,

Behaviorism Pull the edges to reveal a place to record to 5

contemporary perspectivesCognitive, Humanist, Biological, Evolutionary, Socil-

Cultural