The Evolution of Psychology

Chapter 1

Psychology

• The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

4 Goals of Psychology1. Description: What is happening2. Explanation: Why is it happening?3. Prediction: When will it happen again?4. Control: How can it be changed?

Speculation to Science

• Prior to 1879• Physiology and philosophy scholars studying

questions about the mind• Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) University of

Leipzig, Germany• Campaigned to make psychology an

independent discipline• Established the first laboratory for the study of

psychology in 1879• Interested in introspection

• Psychology was born

Wundt’s Influence

• Leipzig, the place to study psychology• Graduates of Wundt’s program set up new labs

across Europe and North America• Between 1883 and 1893, 24 new laboratories in

North America

Titchner and Structuralism in America

• Structrualism was one of the early competing schools of thought in psychology – led by Edward Titchner• Took Wundt’s ideas to Cornell University• Every experience could be broken down• Expanded on Wundt’s ideas that introspection

could be used on thoughts as well as physical sensations

Titchner and Structuralism in America

• In 1894 one of Titchner’s students became the first female Ph.D. in psychology, Margaret F. Washburn• Published an important book on animal

behavior – The Animal Mind

William James and Functionalism

• Competing view that arose at Harvard soon after Wundt • Wanted to study the importance of

consciousness in everyday life• Focused on how the mind allowed people to

function in the world• Influenced by Darwin

• If physical traits could help survival and be passed on, why couldn’t behavioral traits?

• Led to investigation of mental testing, developmental patterns, and sex differences

Structuralism vs. Functionalism

• Most historians give the edge to James and the functionalists• Today, psychologists are not really categorized

as structuralists or functionalists

William James and his Students

• G. Stanley Hall• 1st Ph.D. in psychology in the U.S. (1878)• Founded 1st psychology research lab in the U.S.

at Johns Hopkins University in 1883• Founded APA in 1892

• Mary Whiton Calkins • completed the coursework for a Ph.D. at

Harvard but was denied the degree because she was a woman

• 1st female president of the APA

William James and his Students

• Francis C. Sumner• 1st African American Ph.D. at Clark University

in 1920• Chaired psychology department at Howard

University that produced more African American Ph.D.s than all other American Universities combined

• Famous student was Kenneth Bancrof Clark whose research on negative effects of discrimination was instrumental in the desegregation of schools

Sigmund Freud

• Sigmund Freud (Austria)• Founded Psychoanalytic school of thought• Emphasis on unconscious processes influencing

behavior• Unconscious = outside your awareness

Freud’s Ideas

• Behavior is influenced by the unconscious• Unconscious conflict related to sexuality plays a

central role in behavior• Controversial notions caused debate/resistance• Significant influence on the field of psychology

Behaviorism

• John B. Watson (United States)• Founder of Behaviorism • Behaviorist manifesto published in 1913

• Psychology = scientific study of behavior• Behavior = overt or observable responses or

activities• Radical reorientation of psychology as a

science of observable behavior• Study of consciousness abandoned

The Nature-Nurture Debate

• Nurture, not nature• “give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed,

and my own special 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 beggar-man and thief…”

• Behaviorist school of thought emphasized the environment (nurture)

• Focus on stimulus-response relationships• S-R psychology

B.F. Skinner

• B.F. Skinner (1904-1990): United States • Environmental factors determine behavior• Responses that lead to positive outcomes are

repeated• Responses that lead to negative outcomes are

not repeated• Beyond Freedom and Dignity• More controversy regarding free will

Opposition in The 1950’s

• Critics thought that Psychoanalytic Theory and Behaviorism were de-humanizing

• Diverse opposition groups got together to form a loose alliance

• A new school of thought emerged - Humanism• Led by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers • Emphasis on the unique qualities of humans:

freedom and personal growth

The Return of Cognition

• Cognition = mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge

• 1950’s and 60’s – Piaget, Chomsky, and Simon• Application of scientific methods to studying

internal mental events• Cognitive psychology: the new dominant

perspective?

Biological Psychology

• Biological perspective - behavior explained in terms of physiological processes

• James Olds (1956)• Electrical stimulation of the brain evokes

emotional responses in animals• Roger Sperry (1981)

• Left and right brain specialization

Evolutionary Psychology

• Central premise: natural selection occurs for behavioral, as well as physical, characteristics

• Buss, Daly & Wilson, Cosmides & Tooby – 80’s and 90’s

• Studied natural selection of mating preferences, jealousy, aggression, sexual behavior, language, decision making, personality, and development

• Thought provoking perspective gaining in influence, but not without criticism

Positive Psychology

• Martin Seligman - founder• Psychology had focused too much on the

negative• Shares traits with humanism• Focus is to better understand positive aspects of

the human experience• Positive Emotions• Many individual positive traits – strengths and

virtues• Positive institutions

Contemporary Psychology

• Ethnocentrism – viewing one’s own group as superior and as the standard for judging

• Historically: middle and upper class white males studying middle and upper class white males

• 1980’s – increased interest in how cultural factors influence behavior. Why?

Population Projections

Psychology as a Profession

• Applied Psychology - Concerned with everyday problems

• Clinical Psychology – deals with diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders

Top 10 Bachelor’s Degrees 2011-12

Career Options (not everything)

• School Psychologist• Genetics Counselor• Animal-Assisted Therapist• Engineering psychologists • Evolutionary psychologists • Forensic psychologists • Sports psychologists • Research/Experimental Psychologists

Membership in American Psychological Association

Seven Organizing Themes

Themes related to psychology as a field of study:

1) Psychology is empirical

2) theoretically diverse - theory v. data

3) it evolves in a sociohistorical context

4) Behavior is determined by multiple causes

5) shaped by cultural heritage

6) influenced jointly by heredity and environment

7) Finally, people’s experience of the world is highly subjective