Psychology’s History and Approaches

Unit 1

Empiricism Structuralism Functionalism Experimental

psychology Behaviorism Humanistic

psychology Cognitive

neuroscience Psychology Nature-nurture issue Natural selection Levels of analysis

Biopsychosocial approach

Biological psychology Evolutionary

psychology Psychodynamic

psychology Behavioral psychology Cognitive psychology Social-cultural

psychology Psychometrics Basic research Developmental

psychology

Educational psychology

Personality psychology

Social psychology Applied research Industrial-organization

psychology Human factors

psychology Counseling

psychology Clinical psychology Psychiatry SQ3R

Vocabulary

Psychology’s Roots• Empiricism• Sturcturalism• Functionalism

• Experimental psychologists

Ancient Greek philosophers◦ Socrates & Plato: logic basis

Mind separate from body & continues on after death. Knowledge is innate (born with us)

◦ Aristotle: data basis Observed principles from observations Claimed knowledge grows with experiences

Prescientific Psychology

1600’s philosophy and theory◦ Rene Descartes (French philosopher)

Agreed with Socrates & Plato with innate ideas and mind being separate from the body (dualism).

Animal spirits flowed through the fluid in the brain and nerves, eventually creating memories.

◦ Francis Bacon (English philosopher) Presented the idea that the human mind always tries to make

patterns of random events. (Novum Organuum) Made an observation that we remember events to confirm our

beliefs.◦ John Locke (British political philosopher)

Mind at birth is a tabula rasa (blank slate) Helped originate the idea of empiricism (science should rely on

observation and experimentation.)

Prescientific Psychology(cont)

Wilhelm Wundt ◦ Created the first experimental apparatus at the University

of Leipzig in Germany in 1879.◦ Measured awareness based on hearing and then

perceiving of a telegraph sound.◦ Wundt’s students were the first psychology graduate

students. Branches of psychology soon were born

◦ Structuralism◦ Functionalism◦ Behaviorism

Psychological Science is Born

Edward Bradford Titchener◦ Wundt’s student receiving his Ph.D. in 1892 and joined Cornell University◦ Introduced Structuralism

Attempted to engage people in self-reflective introspection (looking inward) while reporting elements of their experience.

Had the view that “there is one thing, and only one in the whole universe which we know more about than we could learn from external observation…we have, so to speak, inside information” (ourselves)

Problems: Introspection required smart, verbal people. Results varied from person to person and were unreliable. Often, we don’t understand why we feel or do the things we do.

Thinking about the Mind’s Structure

William James◦ Consider evolved functions of our thoughts and feelings.

The nose smells, the brain thinks◦ Believed thinking was adaptive/helped humans survive.◦ Consciousness is a function in which we consider our past, present and future.◦ Most known for his teaching at Harvard◦ Admitted Mary Calkins (first female) into his graduate seminar, where all the males dropped out.◦ Made the first psychology text book called Principles of Psychology, which took him 12

years (10 longer than he anticipated.) Mary Calkins

◦ Tutored her exclusively, but she was refused a degree by Harvard, but was offered a degree by Radcliffe instead; she refused it.

◦ Went on to become a memory researcher and the first APA female president in 1905. Margaret Floy Washburn

◦ Became the first female psychology student◦ Became the second female APA president in 1921.◦ Barred from joining the organization of experimental psychologist, though her adviser

Titchener founded it.

Thinking about the Mind’s Functions

Psychological Science Develops

• Behaviorists• Humanistic Psychology• Cognitive neuroscience• Psychology

Psychology developed from established fields of philosophy and biology.◦ Wundt: philosopher and physiologist◦ James: American philosopher◦ Pavlov: Russian physiologist◦ Freud: Austrian physician◦ Piaget: Swiss biologist

In the 1920’s, psychology was defined as “the science of mental life.”◦ Wundt, Titchener, James, and Freud

Between the 1920’s and 1960’s, psychology was redefined as “the scientific study of observable behavior.” ◦ Watson & Skinner (Behaviorists)

The 1960’s and beyond, many rebelled against Freudian psychology and behaviorism.◦ Rogers, Maslow (Huminists)

Also in the 1960’s, the cognitive revolution started which led to cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience.

Today, psychology is defined as the science of behavior and mental processes.◦ Behavior: meaning what an organism does or observable action◦ Mental processes: meaning the internal subjective experiences we infer from behavior

Psychological Science Develops

Contemporary Psychology

Nature-nurture issue◦ Very old concept, yet still debated today.

Natural selection: Darwin◦ Darwin’s idea of selective traits which enable an

organism to survive.◦ Believed that natural selection occurs with both

animal traits and animal behaviors.

Psychology’s Biggest Question

Psychology’s Three Main Levels of

Analysis• Levels of analysis• Biopsychosocial

approach• Biological• Evolutionary

• Psychodynamic• Behavioral• Cognitive• Social-cultural

The levels of analysis are differing complimentary views for analyzing any given phenomenon.◦ Biological influences:

Natural selection of adaptive traits Genetic predispositions responding to environment Brain mechanisms Hormonal influences

◦ Psychological Influences: Learned fears and other learned expectations Emotional responses Cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations

◦ Social-cultural influences: Presence of others Cultural, societal, and family expectations Peer and other group influences Compelling models (such as in the media)

Levels of Analysis

Biological

Evolutionary

Psychodynamic

BehavioralCognitive

Humanistic

Social-cultural

Psychological Approaches

Psychology’s Subfields

• Psychometrics• Basic research• Developmental

psychology• Educational psychology• Personality psychology• Social psychology

• Applied research• Industrial-organizational

psychology• Human factors

psychology• Counseling psychology• Clinical psychology• psychiatry

Psychometrics

Biological psychology

Developmental psychology

Cognitive psychology

Educational psychology

Personality psychology

Social psychology

Industrial-organization (I/O) psychology

Human factors psychology

Counseling psychology

Clinical psychology

Psychiatry

The main subfields of psychology

Basic research

• Builds psychology’s knowledge base.

Applied

research

• Tackles practical problems

Types of psychological research