Introduction

What is Psychology

Where it came from

What Psychologists do

What Is Psychology?The science of behaviour and mental processesPsychology is a science

Figure 1.2 What Psychologists Do

Psychologists at UNBC • Psychologists, Researchers, Instructors,

Community Members • Clinical Psychologists: Registered or

‘Licensed to practice”. Dr.’s, Cindy Hardy, Ken Prkachin and Henry Harder.

• Research Interests -Development • - Health, Social, Environment • - Cognition Neuroscience

Where Psychology came from.

Animism

The belief that all animals and all moving objects possess spirits providing motive force.

Philosophy

• Animism • Greek Philosophy• René Descartes (1596-

1650)

• Mind/Body Dualism• Empiricism• Rationalism• Materialism

The philosophical belief that reality consists of mind and matter.

Dualism

The Early TraditionsStructuralism was the study of the structure of immediate experience.The first psychological laboratory was created by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879Edward B. Titchner popularized Wundt’s work in the English-speaking world

Whilhelm Wundt

• The method of science should be used as the basis for the study of human behaviour.

• The structure of human consciousness could be studied by introspection.

• Identify the structure and elements of the mind

• Use the scientific method to systematically inspect conscious mental processes.

• A science of immediate experience.

The Early TraditionsFunctionalism studied how and why the mind functionsIt was led by William James

Origins of PsychologyFunctionalism

• A view of psychology that emphasized the study of experience as adaptive to the complex challenges of a changing world

• Functionalism is the study of mental operations (not their structure).

• All functions are a product of our evolutionary history. (Ex. Consciousness evolved because it is adaptive).

• There is no meaningful distinction between mind and body.

The Early TraditionsGestalt psychology argued a person’s total experience, not just the parts of mind or behaviour, must be studiedGestalt psychology suggested conscious experience is more than the sum of its parts

From Past to Present

Freud emphasized the idea that childhood experiences influence adult behaviourFreud felt that sexual energy fuels behaviour

From Past to PresentBehaviourism was founded by John Watson who rejected the study of contents of consciousnessBehaviourism focused on measuring only what is observable

Origins of PsychologyBehaviourism

• The view that psychology should study only observable behaviour. (Watson)

• The view that psychology should study only observable behaviour and clearly distinguish between observable and inferences. (Skinner)

From Past to Present

The humanistic perspective was developed by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow The humanistic perspective emphasized each person’s unique experiences

The Natural SciencesPhysiologists

• Johannes Müller• Doctrine of specific

nerve energies: • Müllers observation

that different nerve fibers convey specific information from one part of the body to one part of the brain.

The Somatosensory Homunculus

• The skin, muscles, bones and organs are laid out on the convoluted (bumpy) brain tissue.

• Sensations experienced as from the lips produce activity in the ‘lip area of the brain’.

Contemporary Psychology The physiology of learned behavior

• Pavlov

From Past to Present

• The cognitive perspective focused on such processes as perception, memory, and thinking

• Cognitive psychology holds that humans engage in behaviour because of ideas and thoughts

Today’s Perspectives

The evolutionary perspective is based on the work of Charles DarwinThe evolutionary perspective assumes that behaviours that help organisms adapt will be passed on to successive generations

Contemporary Psychology The science of behavior and cognitive processes

• The natural sciences changed the view of psychology to cognitive, biological, socio-cultural, psycho-dynamic and evolutionary.

Today’s Perspectives

The biopsychology perspective says behaviour and biology interact in important waysThe biopsychology perspective often focuses on the molecular/cellular level of the nervous system

Contemporary Psychology The Neurosciences

• Donald Hebb• Physiological basis of

learning.

• Brenda Milner • Neuropsychology and

neuro-assessment.