Historical Approaches

Understanding Behaviors

in an attempt to explain behaviors.and the mind body connection.

Life Before Psychology

René Descartes(1596-1650)

Philosophy –believed in dualism a separation of the mind and body as two individual parts yet somehow linked.Mind controlled the body..but how???

Problem - No “scientific” way

of studying problemsPhysiology asks similar questions about the mind.

Scientists applied the:

SCIENTIFICMETHOD

Phrenology The 1800’sPhrenology- examine bumps to determine intellect

and character traits…

Phrenology inspired scientist to study the role of the brain

rather than the heart

to explain human behavior.

Psychology Is Born

Wilhelm Wundt(1832-1920)

First Experimental Psych Lab (1879)First Experimental Psych Lab (1879)

Focuses on the scientific (systematic) sstudy of the mind.

WW insists that Psych methods be as rigorousas the methods of chemistry & physics.

University of LeipzigHarvard UniversityYale UniversityColumbia UniversityCatholic UniversityUniv of PennsylvaniaCornell UniversityStanford University

Wundt’s students start labsacross USA (1880-1900)

Structuralism vs Functionalism

William James(1842-1910)

Analyze consciousness into basic elementsand study how they are related

Introspection - self-observationof one’s own thoughts and feelings

Investigate the function, or purposeof consciousness rather than its structure

How do people adapt to function in new environments?

Structuralism Structuralism focused on the mindfocused on the mind

FunctionalismFunctionalism

Wilhelm Wundt

Inheritable Traits

• Sir Frances Galton (1822-1911)• Wanted to understand how

heredity influences a person’s ability

• Heredity includes all the traits and properties that are passed along from parents to children

• He thought the world would be a better place if we got rid of less desirable people

• Most fit were those with high intelligence

• Galton assumed wealthiest people were the most intelligent

Gestalt Psychology

Max Wertheimer(1880-1943)

““The whole is different thanThe whole is different thanthe sum of its parts.”the sum of its parts.”

A reaction against Structuralism An attempt to focus attention back

onto conscious experience(i.e., the mind)

WHY?WHY?

Today's Approaches

• Psychoanalytical

• Behavioral

• Humanistic

• Cognitive

• Biological

• Sociocultural

Unconscious expressed indreams & “slips of the tongue”

Freud & Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud(1856-1939)

Proposes the idea of the UNCONSCIOUSProposes the idea of the UNCONSCIOUS

Thoughts, memories & desiresexist below conscious awareness

and exert an influence on ourbehavior

Psychoanalytic Theory attempts to explainpersonality, mental disorders & motivation

using the unconscious

Freud and Free Association

• Patient said anything that came to mind• Psychoanalyst is a psychologist that studies how

the unconscious motives and conflicts determine human behavior, feelings and thoughts

• Dreams are an expression of the most primitive unconscious urges – Freud used dream analysis which is free association applied to dreams

• Case study: analyze the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, experiences, behaviors and problems of individual

BehaviorismScientific Psychology should focus on

observable behavior.

John Watson(1878-1958)

Ivan Pavlov

StimulusStimulusResponseResponse

PsychologyPsychology

Mental Processes cannotbe studied directly

Watson

• John Watson (1878-1958)

• Concern with only observable behaviors

• All behavior is result of conditioning and occurs because the appropriate stimulus is present in the environment

Ivan Pavlov

• Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)• Pavlov dogs: Pavlov rang a tuning fork each time

he gave dog meat. The dog would normally drool when he got the meat. After Pavlov repeated the procedure many times, the dogs would drool when it heard the ring of the tuning fork, even if no food appeared. It had been conditioned to associate the sound with the food.

• This is known as conditioning or the conditional reflex

B.F.Skinner

• B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)

• Introduced concept of reinforcement

• Response to a behavior that increases likelihood that the behavior will be repeated (rewards)

Behavioral/Clinical Perspective

FocusHow we learn from observable responses.How to best study, assess and treat troubled people.

FocusHow we learn from observable responses.How to best study, assess and treat troubled people.

Sample Issues• How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations?• What is the most effective way to alter certain behaviors?• What are the underlying causes of:

Anxiety Disorders Phobic Disorders Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

Sample Issues• How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations?• What is the most effective way to alter certain behaviors?• What are the underlying causes of:

Anxiety Disorders Phobic Disorders Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

Humanistic

• Developed as a reaction to behavioral psychology• 1960’s Maslow, Rogers• Humans not controlled by environment or

unconscious forces• Environment and the outside forces serve as a

background to our own internal growth• Each person is unique and has a self concept and

potential to develop fully

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychologists returnto the study of learning,

memory, perception, language,development & problem solving

Cognition the mental processesinvolved in acquiring, processing,storing & retrieving information

Cognitive Perspective

FocusHow we process, store and retrieve information.

FocusHow we process, store and retrieve information.

Sample Issues• How do we use info in remembering and reasoning?• How do our senses govern the nature of perception?

(Is what you see really what you get?)• How much do infants “know” when they are born?

Sample Issues• How do we use info in remembering and reasoning?• How do our senses govern the nature of perception?

(Is what you see really what you get?)• How much do infants “know” when they are born?

NEW Perspectives in Psychology

PsychobiologicalPsychobiological

Social-Cultural PsychologySocial-Cultural Psychology

Biological PerspectiveFocusHow the body and brain create emotions, memories,and sensory experiences.How physical and chemical changes in our bodies influence our behavior

FocusHow the body and brain create emotions, memories,and sensory experiences.How physical and chemical changes in our bodies influence our behavior

Sample Issues• How do evolution and heredity influence behavior?• How are messages transmitted within the body?• How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?• Use tools like MRI CT• Recent discoveries between chemicals in brain (neurotransmitters) and human behavior EX – autisitic children share a genetic defect in regulation neurotransmitter Serontin – serontin plays a role in brain function

Sample Issues• How do evolution and heredity influence behavior?• How are messages transmitted within the body?• How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?• Use tools like MRI CT• Recent discoveries between chemicals in brain (neurotransmitters) and human behavior EX – autisitic children share a genetic defect in regulation neurotransmitter Serontin – serontin plays a role in brain function

Social-Cultural Perspective

FocusHow behavior and thinking vary across situationsand cultures.

FocusHow behavior and thinking vary across situationsand cultures.

Sample Issues• How are we, as members of different races and nationalities, alike as members of one human family?• How do we differ, as products of different social contexts?• Why do people sometimes act differently in groups than when alone?

Sample Issues• How are we, as members of different races and nationalities, alike as members of one human family?• How do we differ, as products of different social contexts?• Why do people sometimes act differently in groups than when alone?

• Is our ways of thinking, feeling and behaving dependent on the culture in which we belong?

• What is the impact of millions of immigrants who come to U.S. each year?

• How do genders and socioeconomics influence our behaviors, male-female, rich-poor?

Psychologists must be skepticaland think critically

What is the evidence?How was it collected?

Psychology is Empirical

Psych conclusions based on researchPsych conclusions based on researchNOT tradition or common senseNOT tradition or common sense

Knowledge acquired through observation

Psych Is Theoretically Psych Is Theoretically DiverseDiverse

TheoryTheory

DreamsDreams

BiologicalBiologicalPsychologyPsychologyPerspectivePerspective

ClinicalClinicalPsychoanalyticPsychoanalytic

PerspectivePerspective

A system of interrelated ideas usedto explain a set of observations

Psych & Sociohistorical Context

Trends & Issues In Society

Advances InPsychology

Psychology develops in both aPsychology develops in both asocial & historical contextsocial & historical context

Early PsychologyAffected by

physics & physiology

Society TodayAffected by

psychological testing(IQ, SAT, GRE)

What Causes Behavior?

Behavior

Behavior

Behavior is Shaped by Culture

Personal SpacePersonal Space

Value ofValue ofEducationEducation

PunctualityPunctuality

Social NormsSocial Norms

Influence of Heredity & Environment

Nature versus NurtureNature versus Nurture

Perception Is SubjectiveInternal Information

Prior ExpectationsCurrent Mental State

Experience

External InformationActual Words/Actions

Image Reflected from Objects“Sound” Waves

Both DetermineBoth DetermineOur ExperienceOur Experience

of the Worldof the World