Unit One: PART TWO History and Perspectives Of Psychology.

Unit One: PART TWO

History and Perspectives Of Psychology

Goals For Today

• I can describe the process of how psychology evolved from ancient times until today

Psychology: A History

• The basic idea of psychology – attempting to explain the behavior of human beings – has

been around as far back as anyone can remember.

Ancient Greece• Introspection – looking WITHIN oneself• Aristotle• Associationism – psychological perspective based on

the belief that all mental activity is based on connections between basic mental processes such as SENSATIONS and FEELINGS• Peri Psyches – book written by Aristotle 2,000 years

ago that explored many of the same psychology concepts studied today (What a smart guy!)

Ancient Greece• Where do disorders come from?• SUPERNATURAL forces• GODS punishing people for doing something wrong• Possible biological factors, BRAIN abnormalities

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The Middle Ages

• Psychological disorders believed to be caused by POSSESSION by demons

Water-float test: ancient test to determine possession. Those suspected of being possessed were thrown in water. If you floated, it meant you were impure and had to die. If you sank, you were pure, because pure metals sank, and were allowed to live (if you didn’t drown!)

Becoming A Modern Science

• Wilhelm Wundt• Founder of experimental psychology, opened

first psychological lab in 1879

• William James• Harvard Professor, developed his new idea of

FUNCTIONALISM in response to his problems with structuralism

Structuralism

• Introspection – look within yourself for answers

• Broke up consciousness into two parts: sensations and feelings

• Structuralists ask, “What makes up mental processes?”

• Observe and report behaviors, not too concerned about how behaviors change

Functionalism (James)

• Use observations AND introspection to find answers

• Believed in “stream of consciousness”

• Functionalists ask, “What is the purpose of our mental processes?”

• Helpful, or adaptive behaviors, are kept

• Less adaptive behaviors are cut out

Evolutionary Perspective

• based on DARWIN’S theory that only the most adaptive survive• believes that current humans must exhibit

behaviors and traits that helped our ancestors survive• Example: PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF SPIDERS

BECAUSE OUR ANCESTORS HAD TO AVOID THEM TO SURVIVE.

Biological Perspective

• related to Aristotle’s associationism, this perspective looks for connections between behavior and biology, most often involving the brain• use of advanced technology has shown

connections between certain behaviors and certain regions of the brain

Brain Scans

• biological psychologists also seek to find behavioral explanations in GENES and HORMONES

• Example: YOU ARE DEPRESSED BECAUSE IT RUNS IN YOUR FAMILY. YOUR MOM HAS BEEN DEPRESSED AND SO HAS YOUR GRANDPA, THEREFORE DEPRESSION IS IN YOUR DNA

Biological Perspective

 Cognitive Perspective• emphasizes how humans RECEIVE, PROCESS, and

STORE information • closely connected to computer science – many

cognitive psychologists compare how the brain works to how a computer processes information

• Example: WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER YOU WERE TOLD NOT TO TOUCH THE STOVE WHEN YOUR MOM IS COOKING. YOU THEN STORED THIS INFORMATION AND RETRIEVE IT WHEN YOU ARE NEAR HER COOKING

Gestalt School

• psychological perspective that focuses on the belief that everything is worth MORE than the SUM of its PARTS• careful attention paid to the CONTEXT of

behavior, not just the behavior itself• Example: RUBIN VASE

Learning Perspective

• based on belief that humans act in response to past experiences; behaviors are LEARNED• not concerned with what a person thinks, but

with what a person does

• JOHN WATSON• founder of behaviorism, he defined psychology as

the study of observable behavior• psychology should be an observable, natural science

• B.F. SKINNER• introduced reinforcement to the behaviorist

perspective• believed that rewards and punishments were the

reasons that people acted the way they do• Example: Skinner Box

Social Learning Theory

• people can learn and change their behaviors based on what they see others do• allows for people to learn through MODELING,

not just personal experiences

• Example: YOU LEARNED TO WALK BECAUSE YOU OBSERVED YOUR OLDER SIBLING WALKING• BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT

Goal For Today

• I can describe the process of how psychology evolved from ancient times until today• I can give explanation to behaviors using

the different perspectives of psychology

Sociocultural Perspective• studies the influences of ethnicity, race, gender,

culture, etc. on behavior and mental processing• addition of the sociocultural perspective to

research gives much more detail and quality to psychological findings (doesn’t ignore effects of gender, race, etc.)• Example: DO STUDENTS FROM POVERTY

STRICKEN AREAS LEARN DIFFERENTLY THAN STUDENTS IN WEALTHY AREAS? DO FAMILIES THAT EAT DINNER TOGETHER EVERY NIGHT HAVE MORE SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN?

Humanistic Perspective

• focuses on the NEEDS and EXPERIENCES of human beings• fully believes in humans’ free will and that humans

in general want to be good and helpful to others• views human experiences as unsuited for scientific

observation and measurement• Example: A PERSON SAYS THAT THEIR LIFE IS

BORING. HUMANISTIC APPROACH WOULD SAY THAT PERSON SHOULD DO SOME SOUL SEARCHING. WOULD A HOBBY MAKE YOU HAPPIER? A NEW FRIENDSHIP?

Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Perspective• SIGMUND FREUD• founder of this perspective, maybe the most

famous early psychologist• formed his theory based on interviews and

consultations, not on experiments

• focuses on the importance of the UNCONSCIOUS and internal CONFLICTS• unconscious processes and urges are more

important than conscious experiences• based on the belief that most people are

unaware of their true motivations for behaving the way they do

• Example: PSYCHOANALYSTS RELATE DEPRESSION BACK TO THE LOSS EVERY CHILD EXPERIENCES WHEN REALIZING OUR SEPERATENESS FROM OUR PARENTS EARLY IN CHILDHOOD

Positive Psychology

• recent field of psychology (started in 1998) that emphasizes optimism and the power of positive thinking• studies individuals who are most highly successful

and tries to take important lessons from them• Example: I HAVE BEEN CAUGHT AT SCHOOL IN A

FIST FIGHT. INSTEAD OF ASKING WHY I DID IT, I AM GOING TO FOCUS ON FINDING THINGS TO MAKE MY LIFE BETTER. MAYBE JOIN A SPORTS TEAM? GET A NEW GROUP OF FRIENDS? FOCUSING IN CLASS MORE

RECAP!

• Evolutionary Perspective• Biological Perspective• Cognitive Perspective• Learning Perspective• Social Learning Perspective• Sociocultural Perspective• Humanistic Perspective• Psychoanalytic Perspective• Positive Perspective