Psychology Ms.

Shirley
UNIT 1: Evolution of Psychology History, Approaches,
Subfields
Psychology hopes to predict & control human
behavior.
But, it does so within different approaches.
There is not a single agreed upon method.

I. History & Approaches (24%)

Psychology has evolved markedly since its inception
as a discipline in 1879. There have been significant
changes in the theories that psychologists use to
explain behavior & mental processes.
In addition, the methodology of psychological
research has expanded to include a diversity of
approaches to data gathering.

Students in psychology should be able to do the

following:
Recognize how philosophical & physiological
perspectives shaped the development of
psychological thought.
Describe & compare different theoretical
approaches in explaining behavior:

structuralism, functionalism, & behaviorism in the early years;

Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, & humanism emerging later;
evolutionary, biological, cognitive, & biopsychosocial as more
contemporary approaches.

Recognize strengths & limitations of applying

theories to explain behavior.
Distinguish the different domains of psychology

(e.g., biological, clinical, cognitive, counseling, developmental,

educational, experimental, human factors, industrialorganizational,
personality, psychometric, social).

Identify major historical figures in psychology

(e.g., Mary Whiton Calkins, Charles Darwin, Dorothea Dix, Sigmund

Freud, G. Stanley Hall, William James, Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, Carl

What is Psychology?
Psychology in the Past.
Approaches to Psych today.
"Psychology has a short
history
& a long past."

Pre-Scientific Psychology
How are ideas formed?
Some Ideas are Inborn:
Socrates & Plato

The Mind is a Blank Slate:

Aristotle & Locke

Philosophy: Foundation for Psychology

Descartes: natural instincts in physical

world. However, believed humans were
different & they have a mind to guide
body.
Hobbes: no mind/soul & that only
energy & matter exists & that
everything is shaped by brain
machinery.

YouTube: Psych 101 -- Modern Roots of Psych

ology

First Wave: Introspection - Kickin it old school

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

The Father of Psychology & Birth of
Psychology

German professor, mounted campaign to

make psychology an independent
discipline
(rather than a portion of philosophy + physiology)

1879: Wundt established 1st formal

laboratory for research in
psychology at U. of Leipzig
William Wundts concept:
introspection became...
Structuralism: Identify the parts that
make up consciousness & the mind
Declared psychology should be a
science
Used empirical methods

Wave Two: Functionalism - Kickin it old

school
William James (1842-1910)
1st American Psychologist
Wrote: The Principles of Psychology
&

Focused on Functionalism

Criticized Wundts ideas for being too

narrow.

Influenced by Darwin,
interested in understanding how
consciousness (like thoughts &
feelings) functioned to help
people adapt to their
environments.

Structuralism vs. Functionalism

Structuralism task of psychology is
to analyze consciousness into its
basic elements & how they relate.
(Titchener continued Wundt's Work)
Dependent on introspection careful,
systematic self-observation of ones own
conscious experience.
Favored lab experiments

Functionalism Psychology should

investigate the function or purpose of
consciousness, rather than its
structure. (James)

Edward Titchener

Influenced by Charles Darwins natural

selection heritable characteristics that provide
a survival or reproductive advantage are more
likely than alternative characteristics to be passed
on to subsequent generations and thus come to
be selected over time.
Favored how people adapt to real world
situations
Generally thought that functionalism won out and
then spawned the more modern:
Applied Psychology & Behaviorism
William James

YouTube: Psych 101 - Wundt & James - Structuralism & Function

alism

Psych as a Science: Gestalt

Psychology

The whole is greater/different

than the sum of its parts.
Max Wertheimer revolted against
Wundt.
(1923) Believed consciousness was
best understood by observing the
whole experience, rather than
breaking it down into a cluster of
component elements.
We will see much more of this in the next unit
when we study Sensation & Perception.

Psych as a Science:
Modern Era - Psychoanalysis
1st to focus on abnormal
behaviors
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Psychoanalysis

Believed all behavior & mental

processes are directed by
unconscious forces: which we are not
fully aware.
Problems arise from unresolved
conflict in the unconscious mind.

Used Free Association & Dream

Analysis to explore the
unconscious.
Freuds ideas were (and still are)
controversial, yet have had a
great influence on the field of
psychology & popular interest.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian physician Psychoanalysis

& one of the most controversial intellectual
figures of modern times.
Developed psychoanalysis as an approach to delve
into the mind of those with irrational fears, obsessions,
and anxieties.
Freud: The unconscious contains thoughts,
memories, & desires that are well below the surface of
conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert
great influence on behavior.
Freud noted that seemingly meaningless slips of the tongue would
provide insight into someones true feelings.

Psychoanalytic theory attempts to explain

personality, motivation, and mental disorders by
focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior.
Very controversial for his observations on the importance of
sexuality towards human behavior
Freud focused on personality, motivation, and abnormal behavior
and those concepts were later incorporated into mainstream
psychology.

YouTube: Schallhorn Perspectives Review

Psych as a Science: Modern

Era - Behaviorism

John B. Watson (1878-1958) takes the

focus on behaviors to another level.
Scientific psychology should study only
observable behavior.
Proposed abandoning the study of
consciousness altogether
Focus on Observed behaviors: any
overt/observable response or activity by
an organism
Watson also shined a light on nature versus
nurture

Behaviorists look for stimulus any

detectable input from the environment.
Behavior approach is often referred to
as (S-R) Stimulus-Response

Psych as a Science: Modern Era Behaviorism

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) - Championed

a return to the Watson strict focus on
observable behaviors
Organisms tend to repeat responses that lead to
positive outcomes & they tend not to repeat
responses that lead to neutral or negative
outcomes.

Working with lab rats & pigeons, he conducted

experiments to show how he could control behaviors of the
animals.
**Trained pigeons to play Ping-Pong!**
Wrote Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971) asserted
that all behavior is fully governed by external
stimuli.
People are controlled by their environment, not by
themselves.

Free Will is an Illusion?

Skinner is often thought to be the

most or one of the most influential
contributors to psychology. **much more on
behaviorism in the chapter on Learning.

The Skinner Box

Give me a dozen healthy young infants I

will take any one
and create a doctor, a lawyer, and yes,
According toeven
Watson,
set up man thief.
a beggar
environmental conditions
& Watson
give 1913
- John B.
rise to the desired behavior.
Rewards =>
Reinforcements
Skinner took Watsons ideas to
new heights.

YouTube: Psych 101 - Skinner Box

Psych as a Science:

Modern Era -

Biological Approach
To understand human behavior, the
physiological underpinnings must be
understood.
Neuroscientific Perspective: Cellular,
Neuron, Brain & Central Nervous
System
Role of drugs, Use animal models as
means to understand human behavior. How
are messages relayed throughout the
body?

What role do our senses

play?
Endocrine system glands, hormones
The Fight or Flight Response is an example.

Psych as a Science: Modern Era Cognitive Approach

The Cognitive Approach believes
memory, language, thought and attention
cognitive measures are worth
examination.
Semantic relatedness connectedness of ideas in
memory.
When given two words to say out loud, a person will
say 2 words that are related much faster than 2 that
are unrelated
Very popular today social, developmental,
personality, & clinical psychology.
In order to understand the individual, one must
understand the way people think, remember, process
information, & reason about the world.

Psych as a Science: Modern Era Evolutionary Psychology

Examines psychological traits such as memory,

perception, and language from a modern
evolutionary perspective.
Seeks to identify which human psychological
traits are evolved adaptations that is, the
functional products of natural selection or sexual
selection.

Argue that much of human

behavior is the output of
psychological adaptations that
evolved to solve recurrent problems
in human ancestral environments.
The adaptationist approach is steadily
increasing as an influence in the general
field of psychology.

Psych as a Science: Modern

Erato- behaviorism
Humanism
1950s opposition
and psychoanalytic
theory
Humanism theoretical orientation that
emphasizes the unique qualities of humans,
especially their freedom and their potential for
personal growth.

More optimistic view of human nature.

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) & Abraham Maslow
(1908-1970)
prominent humanists in psychology

Psych as a Science: Modern

Era - Humanism

People are goal related & driven

Self-actualization: someone who has reached his or

her own unique potential. (Maslow)
Free will & motivation We are in complete
control
In therapy, attempt to help individuals see the
misconceptions they hold in their subjective view
of reality.
If those views are corrected, the individual will feel
better about themselves.

Psych as a Science: Modern Era - SocioCultural

Focuses on the diversity of the human experience

Context (developmental)
Influence of groups (social)
Applied aspect (forensic psychology)
Human behavior does not occur in a vacuum & groups,
cultures, and situations all have impact on human
behavior.

Behavior can be predicted by the

presence or absence of another person.

YouTube: Schallhorn on Psychology Approaches

YouTube: Paul Bloom - The Psychology of Everything (48 min)

Growth of Psychology
Wars of 20th Century: (WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, etc.) created
huge demand for mental testing of military recruits.
50s & 60s: Advances in study of cognition led to renewed
interest in mental processes.
80s: saw a growth in cultural factors influencing behavior.
Trend sparked by growing global interdependence & cultural
diversity.
90s: Emergence of new theoretical perspective:
evolutionary psychology. Patterns of behavior are the
product of evolutionary forces & natural selection favors
behaviors that enhance reproductive success.
2000s: Emergence of Positive Psychology: study of
strengths & virtues that enable individuals & communities
to thrive. The psychology of positive human functioning,
which achieves scientific understanding to find a fulfilling
life.

Psychology Today: Vigorous & Diversified

Psychology: Science that studies

behavior & physiological &
cognitive processes that underlie
it.
Psych. is a profession that applies the
accumulated knowledge of this science to
practical problems.

Contemporary psychology is
multifaceted & spread
throughout mainstream society
that has seen rapid growth.