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PSYCHOLOGYHistorical Perspective
Psychology: Defined
The scientific study of behavior and
mental processes
• Key components of this definition:– Science– Behavior– Mental Processes
Predict what will happenSystematically observe eventsDo events support predictions
Life Before Psychology
René Descartes(1596-1650)
Philosophy asks questions about the mind: Does perception accurately reflect reality? How is sensation turned into perception?
Problem - No “scientific” wayof studying problems
Physiology asks similar questions about the mind
SCIENTIFICMETHOD
Psychology Is Born
Wilhelm Wundt(1832-1920)
First Experimental Psych Lab (1879)First Experimental Psych Lab (1879)
Focuses on the scientific study of the mind.WW insists that Psych methods be as rigorous
as the methods of chemistry & physics.
University of LeipzigHarvard UniversityYale UniversityColumbia UniversityCatholic UniversityUniv of PennsylvaniaCornell UniversityStanford University
Wundt’s students start labsacross USA (1880-1900)
Women of PsychologyMary CalkinsMary Calkins - student of William James at
Harvard but was not awarded a Ph.D.Founded psych lab at Wellesley College (1891)
Maragaret WashburnMaragaret Washburn - first woman to receivePh.D. in Psychology. Wrote The Animal Mind,
which helped begin the Behaviorist movement.
Leta HollingworthLeta Hollingworth - Debunked popular theoriesthat suggested women were inferior to men.
Did pioneering work on adolescent development,mental retardation & “gifted” children.
Psychology (pre-1920)Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
Physiologist & Perceptual PsychologistFounder of Psychology as a Science
Experiments
Edward Titchner (1867-1927)Student of Wundt
Formed at CornellIntrospection
William James (1842-1910)Philosopher & Psychologist
Formed at Harvard
PsychologyUnderstanding
Mental Processes
Structuralism vs Functionalism
William James(1842-1910)
Analyze consciousness into basic elementsand study how they are related
Introspection - self-observationof one’s own conscious experiences
Investigate the function, or purposeof consciousness rather than its structure
Leaned toward applied work(natural surroundings)
StructuralismStructuralism
FunctionalismFunctionalism
Wilhelm Wundt
Thoughts, memories & desiresexist below conscious awareness
and exert an influence on ourbehavior
Unconscious expressed indreams & “slips of the tongue”
Freud & Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud(1856-1939)
Proposes the idea of the Proposes the idea of the UNCONSCIOUSUNCONSCIOUS
Psychoanalytic Theory attempts to explainpersonality, mental disorders & motivation in
terms of unconscious determinants of behavior
BehaviorismScientific Psychology should focus on
observable behavior.
John Watson(1878-1958)
Ivan Pavlov
Psych the Science of Behavior
StimulusStimulusResponseResponse
PsychologyPsychology
Mental Processes cannotbe studied directly
Skinner Box
Psychology (1920s-1960s)
John B. Watson (1878-1958)Behavior without Reference to Thought
The RAT & S-R Psychology
B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)Behaviorism with a Twist
The PIDGEON & The Skinner Box
PsychologyScience of Observable
BehaviorBehaviorism
Gestalt Psychology
Max Wertheimer(1880-1943)
““The whole is different thanThe whole is different thanthe sum of its parts.”the sum of its parts.”
Phi PhenomenonIllusion of movement created bypresenting visual stimuli in rapid
succession.
A reaction against Structuralism An attempt to focus attention back
onto conscious experience(i.e., the mind)
WHY?WHY?
Cognitive Psychology
Noam Chomsky“Language”
Cognitive PsychologyThe study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think.Examples
How people perceive various shapesWhy they remember some facts and forget othersHow they learn language
Cognition (Ashcraft, 2002)The collection of mental processes and activities used in perceiving, learning, remembering, thinking, and understanding, and the act of using those processes
Different Perspectives in Psychology
Biological Psychology
Behavioral/Clinical Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Social-Cultural Psychology
Biological Perspective
FocusHow the body and brain create emotions, memories,and sensory experiences.
FocusHow the body and brain create emotions, memories,and sensory experiences.
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?
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
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?
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 andnationalities, 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 thanwhen alone?
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
• Lots of different areas and fields• When Psychology uses scientific principles, it has no problems.• When Psychology does not use scientific models, gets many problems.• In some areas has a good reputation• In other areas has a very poor reputation• Inserts a lot of psychobabble with no positive result.• We will concentrate on the scientific aspects.
Where Are We Now?
Work in the history of psychology have an important place in our educations: By looking at things from the big, historical perspective, and from the “aspect of eternity” one get by studying psychology, perhaps we will have progress in psychology sooner rather than later.
THANK YOU