Psychology’s History and Approaches Unit 1
Dec 23, 2015
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