prologue: psychology’s roots definition of psychology the science of behavior (what we do) and...

Prologue: Psychology’s Roots

Definition of PsychologyThe science of behavior (what we do) and mental processes (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings)

Psychology’s Roots

Prescientific Psychology

In India, Buddha wondered how sensations and perceptions combined to form ideas.


Confucius (551-479 B.C.)

In China, Confucius stressed the power of ideas and the importance of an educated

mind.


Hebrew Scriptures

Hebrew scriptures linked mind and emotion to the body.


Socrates (469-399 B.C.) and Plato (428-348 B.C.)

Socrates and his student Plato believed the mind was separate from the body, the mind

continued to exist after death, and ideas were innate.

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Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Aristotle suggested that the soul is not separable from the body and that knowledge

(ideas) grow from experience.


Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Descartes, like Plato, believed in soul (mind)-body separation, but wondered how the

immaterial mind and physical body communicated.


Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

Bacon is one of the founders of modern science, particularly the experimental

method.


John Locke (1632-1704)

Locke held that the mind was a tabula rasa, or blank sheet, at birth, and experiences

wrote on it.


Mind and body are connected

Mind and body are distinct

The Hebrews Socrates

Aristotle Plato

Augustine Descartes

What is the relation of mind to the body?


Some ideas are inborn

The mind is a blank slate

Socrates Aristotle

Plato Locke

How are ideas formed?

Prologue: Psychology’s Roots

Psychological Science Is BornEmpiricism

Knowledge comes from experience via the senses

Science flourishes through observation and experiment

Wilhelm Wundt

Wundt is referred to as the “father of psychology” because in 1879 he started the first laboratory in psychology for studying humans.

He broke into parts the elements of feelings and thought.

Using a procedure called “introspection” he introduced scientific procedure to study feelings.

Psychological Science is Born

Structuralism

Wundt and Titchener studied the elements (atoms) of the mind by conducting

experiments at Leipzig, Germany, in 1879.

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Functionalism

Influenced by Darwin, William James established the school of functionalism,

which opposed structuralism.

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Prologue: Psychology’s Roots Functionalism

focused on how behavioral processes function- how they enable organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

William James

In 1890, he published Principles of Psychology. The book was 1400 pages long, two volumes in length and it took him 12 years to write.

Unlike Wundt, he did not want to break behavior into parts; instead, he never wanted to lose sight of the individual as a whole.

James is considered to be one of the founders of American psychology.


The Unconscious Mind

Sigmund Freud and his followers emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind and

its effects on human behavior.

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Psychological Science DevelopsBehaviorism

Watson (1913) and later Skinner emphasized the study of overt behavior as the subject

matter of scientific psychology.

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Other Pioneers

John B. Watson (1878–1958) psychologists should study overt

behavior “Father of Behaviorism”

B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) American psychologist at Harvard studied learning and effect of

reinforcement “Father of Operant Conditioning”

John B. Watson (1878–1958)

B. F. Skinner (1904–1990)

Psychological Science Develops

Humanistic Psychology

Maslow and Rogers emphasized current environmental influences on our growth

potential and our need for love and acceptance.

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Psychological Associations & Societies

The American Psychological Association is the largest organization of psychology with 160,000 members world-wide, followed by

the British Psychological Society with 34,000 members.

http://www.bps.org.uk/

Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis

Prologue: Contemporary Psychology

Psychology’s Big IssuesStability vs. Change

Do our individual traits persist as we age?

Do we become older versions of ourselves?


Rationality vs. Irrationality Rationality– reasonableness, good

sense of equity and proportion Irrationality– not reasonable in thinking

or behaving, distorted perception of reality

Philosophical Developments

Another Question: Nature vs. Nurture

the relative contribution that genes and experience make to development of psychological traits and behaviors

Are abilities determined by our genes or our experiences?

What are the interactions between genetics and environment?

What effect does it have on behavior?

BIGBIG


John Lockeempiricist; believed that knowledge is acquired solely through life experiences. Tabula Rasa: blank tabletClaimed each of us is born a blank slate on which are written the life experiences we acquire through our senses.(Plato believed just the opposite)


Rene Descartesrationalist; insisted we should doubt everything that is not proved by our own reasoning. True knowledge comes through correct reasoning and it is inborn.

On the Origin of Species was published in 1859. His theory was that humans and animals had evolved and changed. His theory inspired scientists to study animals in order to understand human behavior.

Charles Darwin


Natural selection principle that

those inherited trait variations contributing to survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

Charles Darwin

Psychology’s Current Perspectives

Perspective Focus Sample QuestionsNeuroscience How the body and brain

enables emotions?How are messages transmitted in the body? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?

Evolutionary How the natural selection of traits the promotes the perpetuation of one’s genes?

How does evolution influence behavior tendencies?

Behavior genetics

How much our genes and our environments influence our individual differences?

To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment?


Perspective Focus Sample Questions

Psychodynamic

How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts?

How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas?

Behavioral How we learn observable responses?

How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking?


Perspective Focus Sample QuestionsCognitive How we encode,

process, store and retrieve information?

How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Problem solving?

Social-cultural How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures?

How are we — as Africans, Asians, Australians or North Americans – alike as members of human family? As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ?

Psychology’s Subfields: Research

Psychologist What she does

BiologicalExplore the links between brain and mind.

DevelopmentalStudy changing abilities from womb to tomb.

CognitiveStudy how we perceive, think, and solve problems.

Personality Investigate our persistent traits.

SocialExplore how we view and affect one another.

Approaches to Psychology

Biological

Behavioral

Psychoanalytic

Humanistic

Cognitive

Sociocultural

Biological Perspective

Study the physiological mechanisms in the brain and nervous system that organize and control behavior

Focus may be at various levels individual neurons areas of the brain specific functions like eating, emotion, or learning

Interest in behavior distinguishes biological psychology from many other biological sciences

Evolutionary Perspective

Influenced by Darwin and the emphasis on innate, adaptive behavior patterns

Application of principles of evolution to explain behavior and psychological processes

John B. Watson

Watson studied the impact of learning on people. This led to the school of behaviorism.

He believed that careful and structured parenting could eliminate psychological problems.

Watson later wrote a book applying scientific methods to raising children.

The Behavioral Approach

This approach emphasizes that behavior is primarily the result of learning and not due to a person’s thoughts and unconscious processes.

People such as B. F. Skinner (pictured to the left) and John B. Watson are called behaviorists.

Behavioral Perspective

View of behavior based on experience or learning

Classical conditioning-- Pavlov Operant conditioning-- Skinner

Sigmund Freud

Freud developed the first comprehensive theory of human development and behavior, especially how the personality develops.

He believed that childhood memories and thoughts influenced the behavior of people when they became adults.

Psychodynamic Perspective

View of behavior based on experience treating patients

Psychoanalytic approach (Sigmund Freud) both a method of treatment and a theory of the

mind behavior reflects combinations of conscious and

unconscious influences drives and urges within the unconscious

component of mind influence thought and behavior

early childhood experiences shape unconscious motivations

Cognitive Perspective

How is knowledge acquired, organized, remembered, and used to guide behavior?

Influences include Piaget – studied intellectual

development Chomsky – studied language Cybernetics – science of information

processing

Humanistic Perspective

Developed by Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers

behavior reflects innate ‘actualization’ focus on conscious forces and self

perception more positive view of basic forces

than Freud’s

The Humanistic Approach

Carl Rogers is the best known of the humanists.

This approach emphasizes that people have free will, self-concepts and are basically good. Humanists believe that every person can fulfill his or her potential.

Carl Rogers (1902–1987) Abraham Maslow (1908–1970)

The Sociocultural Approach

This approach looks at the impact that society, culture, ethnicity, race, and religion have on personality.

Psychoanalytic Cognitive

Cross-Cultural Perspective

The study of psychological differences among people living in different cultural groups

How are people’s thoughts, feelings and behavior influenced by their culture?

What are the common elements across culture? Are these innate?

Psychology’s Subfields: Research

Data: APA 1997

Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

Psychologist What she does

ClinicalStudies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

CounselingHelps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges.

EducationalStudies and helps individuals in school and educational settings

Industrial/Organizational

Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace.

Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

Data: APA 1997

A clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with

psychotherapy.

Psychiatrists on the other hand are medical professionals (M.D.) who use treatments like

drugs and psychotherapy to treat psychologically diseased patients.

Clinical Psychology vs. Psychiatry


Psychology’s SubfieldsBasic Research-- laboratory

Biological psychologists explore the links between brain and mind

Developmental psychologists study changing abilities from womb to tomb

Cognitive psychologists study how we perceive, think, and solve problems


Psychology’s SubfieldsBasic Research

Personality psychologists investigate our persistent traits

Social psychologists explore how we view and affect one another


Psychology’s SubfieldsApplied Research—face to face

Industrial/organizational psychologists study and advise on behavior in the workplace

Clinical psychologists study, assess, and treat people with psychological disorders


Psychiatry A branch of medicine dealing with

psychological disorders Practiced by physicians who

sometimes use medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychotherapy

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Close-upYour Study of Psychology

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Additional Study Hints

prologue: psychology’s roots definition of psychology the science of behavior (what we do) and...

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