Unit 1:Psychology’s History and

Approaches

Psychology’s Roots

Prescientific Psychology

• Ancient Greeks: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

• Rene Descartes

• Francis Bacon

• John Locke–Tabula Rasa (blank slate)

• Empiricism

Psychology’s Roots

Psychological Science is Born

• Wilhelm Wundt (1879)–University of Leipzig

–Reaction time experiment

• G. Stanley Hall

Psychology’s Roots

Thinking About the Mind’s Structure

• Edward Titchener–Structuralism

• introspection

Psychology’s Roots

Thinking About the Mind’s Function

• William James–Functionalism

Psychology’s Roots

Thinking About the Mind’s Function

• Mary Calkins

• Margaret Floy Washburn

• Experimental psychology

Psychological Science Develops

• Sigmund Freud

Psychological Science Develops

• Behaviorism–John B. Watson

• Rosalie Raynor

Psychological Science Develops

• Behaviorism–B.F. Skinner

–“study of observable behavior”

–conditioning

Psychological Science Develops

• Humanistic psychology–Carl Rogers

–Abraham Maslow

• Cognitive Neuroscience

Psychological Science Develops

• Psychology–Science

–Behavior

–Mental processes

Psychology’s Biggest Question

• Nature – Nurture Issue–Biology versus experience

–History• Greeks

• Rene Descartes

• Charles Darwin–Natural selection

Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis

• Levels of Analysis–Biological

–Psychological

–Social-cultural

• Biopsychosocial Approach

Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis

Psychological Approaches/Perspectives

• Behavioral perspective• Biological perspective• Cognitive perspective• Evolutionary perspective• Humanistic perspective• Psychodynamic perspective• Social-cultural perspective

Psychology’s Subfields• Psychometrics

• Basic Research–Biological psychologists–Developmental psychologists–Cognitive psychologists–Educational psychologists–Personality psychologists–Social psychologists

Psychology’s Subfields

• Applied Research–Industrial/organizational psychologists–Human factors psychologists–Counseling psychologists–Clinical psychologists–Psychiatrists–Positive psychology–Community psychologists

Basic Research Subfields

• Cognitive psychologists

• Developmental psychologists

• Educational psychologists

• Experimental psychologists

• Psychometric and Quantitative Psychologists

• Social psychologists

Applied Research Subfields

• Forensic psychologists• Health psychologists• Industrial/organizational (I/O)

psychologists• Neuropsychologists• Rehabilitation psychologists• School psychologists• Sport psychologists

The Helping Professions

• Clinical psychologists• Community psychologists• Counseling psychologists