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The evolution of psychologyPresented ByP. Musetha Lecture 1: An IntroductionBP (Before Psychology)Psychologys intellectual parents are Philosophy and Physiology

The Birth of PsychologyWilhelm Wundt proposed that we should study the mind independent of philosophy and physiology

Wundt also proposed that this new field of study (psychology) should be rooted in science

This new science would concern itself with the study of conscious and immediate experience

The First Psychology LaboratoryWundt established the first psychology laboratory in 1879 at the University of Leipzig, Germany

Thus, 1879 is usually considered the birth of modern psychology

Psychology = Psyche (soul) + Logos (study)

So what did this Wundt guy actually study?AttentionMemorySensory processesReaction-time experiments to see how fast these processes happenPsychology becomes popularMany of Wundts students went on to establish additional psychology laboratories in the United States

G. Stanley Hall established the first psychology laboratory in the United States in 1883 at Johns Hopkins UniversityG. Stanley Hall

G. Stanley Hall launched the first journal in America dedicated to psychology

G. Stanley Hall also helped to establish the American Psychological Association (APA) and served as its first president

The APA is the largest organization devoted to the study and advancement of psychology today

ReviewWhat does the word psychology mean?When was psychology born?Which two disciplines gave birth psychology?Who established the first psychology laboratory?Where was the first psychology laboratory established?Who establish the first psychology laboratory in America, helped establish the APA and the first psychology journal in America?What does APA stand for?What should this new field of psychology study?

People start arguingHow exactly should we go about studying conscious experience?

Two main viewpoints emerged: Structuralism and FunctionalismStructuralismPsychology should analyse consciousness by breaking it down into its component parts and investigate these parts individually, and also how these parts are relatedStructuralismEdward Titchener believed, like his teacher Wilhelm Wundt, that the best way to analyse conscious experience was to break it down into its basic elements

So how does this work?

Early Psychologists played Mental Legos?

Structuralism (cont.)The best way to break consciousness up into its basic building blocks, is via a process known as introspection

Introspection is a process of systematic and objective self-observation

These people had to be specifically trained (introspection is pretty dam hard)FunctionalismWilliam James proposed that the structure of consciousness is not as important as what it does

Functionalist were inspired by the work of Charles Darwin

Functionalism (cont.)Psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness

What does consciousness do?

Taking snapshots of consciousness misses the important bits. You need to analyse the stream of consciousness in order to obtain meaningful descriptions of the mind

Functionalism (cont.)Its not so much what something is made of, but how and why it functions the way it functions that is importantFor Example

Functionalism (cont.)According to functionalists many of our mental faculties were shaped by natural selectionFunctionalism (cont.)In order to understand why you were afraid we first need to understand that our fear response is a product of natural selection

People that were afraid of scary/dangerous things (like spiders) survived longer and thus procreated more

Functionalism (cont.)This is called natural selection. In a nutshell, people who are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and procreate

Functionalist were thus more concerned with the practical application of psychology than structuralists

Because of this practical slant, functionalism influenced the development of applied psychology and behaviourism

PsychoanalysisSigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Freud noticed that many of his patient (himself included) suffered from irrational fears and anxieties

Psychoanalytic TheoryFreud was convinced that peoples conscious experience was only the tip of the iceberg

Freud proposed that, in addition to our conscious experience, there is also an unconscious element to our minds

Psychoanalytic TheoryThis unconscious part of our mind contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but influences our behaviour nonetheless

Psychoanalytic TheoryAccording to psychoanalytic theory, who you are is largely determined by what goes on in your unconscious mind

Unfortunately, you dont have much control (or even awareness) of what goes on down there

Freuds method that sought to deal directly with this unconscious part of our mind, was called psychoanalysis

According to Freud, psychological disturbances are largely caused by unresolved personal conflicts in the unconscious

Freuds ideas werent entirely new, but they were very controversial and was the first attempt to deal with the other side of the human mind in a systematic way

Before Freud, people kind of assumed that we were not only aware of, but also in control of our own minds and behaviour

Remember introspection?Not everyone was fond of Freuds ideas, but various of his ideas can be found in popular culture references

BehaviourismDuring late 1920s a new school of thought became dominant in psychology

Founded by J.B Watson

Behaviourism is the idea that psychology should only study observable behaviour

No more studying consciousness

No privileged access to consciousness31Behaviourism (cont.)Watson declared that true science is based on verifiability

Verifiability means something can be proved (or disproved) by anyone willing to make the observations

Consciousness is essentially a private event and can thus not be verified

Behaviourism (cont.)Behaviour , on the other hand, is something everyone can observe and agree on

According to behaviourist then, psychology should be the science of behaviour

Behaviour refers to any overt (publicly observable) response or activity by an organism

Some behaviourists went as far as claiming that there is no such thing as consciousness

BehaviourismBehaviourism = Stimulus-Response Psychology

Stimulus (input) produces a Response (output)

Behaviour is caused by environmental factors (input)

Lead to an increase in animal research (more control over stimuli/input and response/output)Nature vs NurtureClassic debate in psychology

Are we a product of our genes or how we were raised?

Nature vs Nurture

Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in and Ill guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select...

(Watson, 1924)Who was the father of behaviourism?

Who was the father of psychonalysis?

True or False: Psychoanalysis is often referred to as Stimulus-Response psychology?

True or False: Behaviourists defined psychology as the scientific study of behaviour?

True or False: psychoanalysists used a lot of animals for research?

True or False: Behaviourists thought that consciousness could be studied in an objective way?

True or False: According to Freud who you are is largely determined by your personality?

Behaviourist abandoned the study of consciousness because consciousness is not _______________?

True or False: Watson argued that behaviour is caused by heredity and the environment?

True or False: Behaviourists primarily used animals for their research because they could exert greater control over their experiments with animals?

According to Freud psychological disturbances are caused by _____________________?