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What Is Psychology? One of the most common questions asked by students new to the study of psychology is "What is psychology?" Misperceptions created by popular media as well as the diverse careers paths of those holding psychology degrees have contributed this confusion. Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. Research in psychology seeks to understand and explain thought, emotion, and behavior. Applications of psychology include mental health treatment, performance enhancement, self-help, ergonomics, and many other areas affecting health and daily life. Early Psychology Psychology evolved out of both philosophy and biology. Such discussions of the two subjects date as far back as the early Greek thinkers such as Aristotle and Socrates. The word psychology is derived from the Greek word psyche, meaning ‘soul’ or ‘mind.’ The Origins of Psychology While the psychology of today reflects the discipline’s rich and varied history, the origins of psychology differ significantly from contemporary conceptions of the field. In order to gain a full understanding of psychology, you need to spend some time exploring its history and origins. How did psychology originate? When did it begin? Who were the people responsible for establishing psychology as a separate science? Why Study Psychology History? Contemporary psychology is interested in an enormous range of topics, looking a human behavior and mental process from the neural level to the cultural level. Psychologists study human issues that begin before birth and continue until death. By understanding the history of psychology, you can gain a better understanding of how these topics are studied and what we have learned thus far. Questions in Psychology From its earliest beginnings, psychology has been faced with a number of different questions. The initial question of how to define psychology helped establish it as a science separate from physiology and philosophy. Additional questions that psychologists have faced throughout history include: What topics and issues should psychology be concerned with? What research methods should be used to study psychology? Should psychologists use research to influence public policy, education, and other aspects of human behavior? Is psychology really a science? Should psychology focus on observable behaviors, or on internal mental processes? The Beginnings of Psychology: Philosophy and Physiology While psychology did not emerge as a separate discipline until the late 1800s, its earliest history can be traced back to the time of the early Greeks. During the 17th-century, the French philosopher Rene Descartes introduced the idea of dualism, which asserted that the mind and body were two separate entities that interact to form the human experience. Many other issues still debated by psychologists today, such as the relative contributions 1 of nature vs. nurture, are rooted in these early philosophical traditions. Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution is important to the beginning of psychology due to the inspiration to scientists to study animals in an attempt to better understand humans. So what makes psychology different from philosophy? While early philosophers relied on methods such as observation and logic, today’s psychologists utilize scientific methodologies to study and draw conclusions about human thought and behavior. Physiology also contributed to psychology’s eventual emergence as a scientific discipline. Early physiology research on brain and behavior had a dramatic impact on psychology, ultimately contributing to the application of scientific methodologies to the study of human thought and behavior. The History of Phrenology "Before phrenology] all we knew about the brain was, how to slice it..." -- R. Chenevix (phrenologist), 1828. Phrenology was a faculty psychology, theory of brain and science of character reading, what the 19th-century phrenologists called "the only true science of mind." Phrenology was derived from the theories of the idiosyncratic Viennese physician Franz Joseph Gall (17581828). The basic tenets of Gall's system were: 1. The brain is the organ of the mind. 2. The mind is composed of multiple distinct, innate faculties. 3. Because they are distinct, each faculty must have a separate seat or "organ" in the brain. 4. The size of an organ, other things being equal, is a measure of its power. 5. The shape of the brain is determined by the development of the various organs. 6. As the skull takes its shape from the brain, the surface of the skull can be read as an accurate index of psychological aptitudes and tendencies. So it was believed that by examining the shape and unevenness of a head or skull, one could discover the development of the particular cerebral "organs" responsible for different intellectual aptitudes and character traits. For example, a prominent protuberance in the forehead at the position attributed to the organ of Benevolence was meant to indicate that the individual had a "well developed" organ of Benevolence and would therefore be expected to exhibit benevolent behavior. However, like so many popular sciences, Gall and the phrenologists sought only confirmations for their hypotheses and did not apply the same standard to contradictory evidence. Any evidence or anecdote which seemed to confirm the science was readily and vociferously accepted as "proof" of the "truth" of phrenology. At the same time, 2 contradictory findings, such as a not very benevolent and disagreeable person having a welldeveloped organ of Benevolence were always explained away. This was often done by claiming that the activity of other organs counteracted Benevolence. What was never accepted by phrenologists, however, was that admitting that the activity of a particular faculty could be independent of the size of its organ undermined the most fundamental assumptions of the science- and thereby rendered all of its conclusions inconsistent and meaningless. Late-Victorian Occultism According to Birch, occultism characteristically insisted on "the substantial actuality of mental process" and "on symbols as a key to insight." Although to some extent, lateVictorian loss of faith in traditional forms of Christianity stimulated the rise of occultism, its practitioners often believed they had not exchanged one form of supernaturalism for another. "Devotees of the occult," in fact, maintained that they were not immersed in alternative versions of the supernatural. Like scientists -- indeed, some were scientists -they were enlarging the boundaries of the natural, so that spiritual experience could be assimilated into the newly secularized mind. The Theosophical Society, headed by the charismatic Madame Blavatsky, had no truck with the ritual magic of the Order of the Golden Dawn, but it too denied any entanglement with the marvelous. . . . Occult practice was founded on the discipline and examined consciousness, and in that respect it was related to the psychological and psychoanalytical sciences of the time. With their careful scrutiny of dreams and symbols, and their recognition that mental energies could be other than rational, occult explorations had much in common with innovations in psychology. Questions 1. What is a definition of psychology? 2. Studying the history of psychology allows for a better understanding of what? 3. Why was Darwin’s theory important to psychology? 4. Today’s psychologist utilize what to draw conclusions about human thought & behavior? 5. What was the true science of the mind and what was missing from this theory? A Separate Science The field and study of psychology was truly born when Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany. Wundt's research utilized a school of thought known as structuralism, which involved describing the structures that compose the mind. This perspective relies heavily on the analysis of sensations and feelings through the use of introspection, a highly subjective process. Wundt believed that properly trained individuals would be able to accurately identify the mental processes that accompanied feelings, sensations, and thoughts. Various Psychologist and Their Theories Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Wundt was using scientific research methods to investigate reaction times. His book published in 1874, Principles of Physiological Psychology, outlined many of the major connections between the science of physiology and the study of human thought and behavior. He later opened the first world’s first psychology lab in 1879 at the University of Leipzig. This event is generally considered the official start of psychology as a separate and distinct scientific 3 discipline. How did Wundt view psychology? He perceived the subject as the study of human consciousness and sought to apply experimental methods to studying internal mental processes. While his use of a process known as introspection is seen as unreliable and unscientific today, his early work in psychology helped set the stage for future experimental methods. An estimated 17,000 students attended Wundt’s psychology lectures, and hundreds more pursued degrees in psychology and studied in his psychology lab. While his influence dwindled in the years to come, his impact on psychology is unquestionable. William James William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and the philosophy of pragmatism. James spent his entire academic career at Harvard. James studied medicine, physiology, and biology, and began to teach in those subjects, but was drawn to the scientific study of the human mind at a time when psychology just starting to be considered as a science. He taught his first experimental psychology course at Harvard in the 1875-1876 academic year. James was one of the strongest proponents of the school of Functionalism in psychology and of Pragmatism in philosophy. James’ pragmatism included the view that the world is a mosaic of diverse experiences that only be properly understood through an application of “radical empiricism.” Radical empiricism, distinct from everyday scientific empiricism presumes that nature and experience can never be frozen for absolutely objective analysis, that at the very least, the mind of the observer will affect the outcome of any empirical approach to truth since, empirically, the mind and nature are inseparable. James’ emphasis on diversity as the default human has maintained a strong influence in American culture, especially among liberals. James’ description of the mind-world connection, which described in terms of a “stream of consciousness,” had direct and significant impact on avant-garde and modernist literature and art. The Psychology of Sigmund Freud Up to this point, early psychology stressed conscious human experience. An Austrian physician named Sigmund Freud changed the face of psychology in a dramatic way, proposing a theory of personality that emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind. Freud’s clinical work with patients suffering from hysteria and other ailments led him to believe that early childhood experiences and unconscious impulses contributed to the development of adult personality and behavior. In his book The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, Freud detailed how these unconscious thoughts and impulses are expressed, often through slips of the tongue and dreams. According to Freud, psychological disorders are the result of these unconscious conflicts becoming extreme or unbalanced. The psychoanalytic theory proposed by Sigmund Freud had a tremendous impact on 20thcentury thought, influencing the mental health field as well as other areas including art, literature, and popular culture. While many of his ideas are viewed with skepticism today, his influence on psychology is undeniable. 4 Pavlov Psychology changed dramatically during the early 20th-century as another school of thought known as behaviorism rose to dominance. Behaviorism was a major change from previous theoretical perspectives, rejecting the emphasis on both the conscious and unconscious mind. Instead, behaviorism strove to make psychology a more scientific discipline by focusing purely on observable behavior. Behaviorism had it’s earliest start with the work of a Russian physiologist named Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov’s research on the digestive systems of dogs led to his discovery of the classical conditioning process, which demonstrated that behaviors could be learned via conditioned associations. Pavlov demonstrated that this learning process could be used to make and association between and environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus. Watson An American psychologist named John B. Watson soon became one of the strongest advocates of behaviorism. Initially outlining the basics principles of this new school of thought in his 1913 paper Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It, Watson later went on to offer a definition in his classic book Behaviorism (1924), writing: “Behaviorism…holds that the subject matter of human psychology is the behavior of the human being. Behaviorism claims that consciousness is neither a definite nor a usable concept. The behaviorist, who has been trained always as an experimentalist, holds, further, that belief in the existence of consciousness goes back to the ancient days of superstition and magic.” Skinner The impact of behaviorism was enormous, and this school of thought continued to dominate for the next 50 years. Psychologist B.F. Skinner furthered the behaviorist perspective with his concept of operant conditioning, which demonstrated the effect of punishment and reinforcement on behavior. While behaviorism eventually lost its hold on psychology, the basic principles of behavioral psychology are still widely in use today. Therapeutic techniques such as behavioral modification and token economies are often utilized to help children learn new skills and overcome maladaptive behaviors, while conditioning is used in many situations ranging from parenting to education. Rogers and Maslow While the first half of the twentieth-century was dominated by psychoanalysis and behaviorism, a new school of thought known as humanistic psychology emerged during the second half of the century. Often referred to as the “third force” in psychology, this theoretical perspective emphasized conscious experiences. American psychologist Carl Rogers is often considered the founding father humanism psychology. While psychoanalysts looked at unconscious impulses and behaviorists focused purely on environmental causes, Rogers believed strongly in the power of free will and self-determination. Psychologist Abraham Maslow also contributed to humanistic psychology with his famous hierarchy of needs theory of human motivation. Schools of Thought 5 Thoughout psychology’s history, a number of different school of thought have thought have formed to explain human thought and behavior. These schools of thought often rise to dominance for a period of time. While these schools of thought are sometimes perceived as competing forces, each perspective has contributed to our understanding of psychology. The following are some of the major schools of thought in psychology. Structuralism Structuralism Becomes Psychology’s First School of Thought Edward B. Titchener, one of Wundt’s most famous students, would go on to found psychology’s first major school of thought. According to the structuralists, human consciousness could be broken down into much smaller parts. Using a process known as introspection, trained subjects would attempt to break down their responses and reactions to the most basic sensation and perceptions. While structuralism is notable for its emphasis on scientific research, its methods were unreliable, limiting, and subjective. When Titchener died in 1927, structuralism essentially died with him. Functionalism Psychology flourished in American during the mid- to late1800s. William James emerged as one of the major American psychologists during this period and the publication of his classic textbook, The Principles of Psychology, established him as the father of American psychology. His book soon became the standard text in psychology and his ideas eventually served as the basis for a new school of thought known as functionalism. The focus of functionalism was on how behavior actually works to help people live in their environment. Functionalists utilized methods such as direct observation. While both of these early schools of thought emphasized human consciousness, their conceptions of it were significantly different. While the structuralists sought to break down mental processes into their smallest parts, the functionalists believed that consciousness existed as a more continuous and changing process. While functionalism is no longer a separate school of thought, it would go on to influence later psychologists and theories of human thought and behavior. Psychoanalysis The psychoanalytic approach understands us from the point of view of our unconscious and early childhood experiences. The contents of our unconscious can give us a neurosis, which is an anxiety state that affects the quality of your life. Freud's psychodynamic structure of personality suggests that our behavior is influenced by id, ego and superego. We are born id, and acquire ego and superego by puberty. Freud also has a theory of adult personality development, where he says our personality develops in stages during childhood. 6 An application of the approach is found in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Features of psychoanalytic psychotherapy include free association, dream analysis, analysis of paraphrases, resistance, regression using hypnosis and transference. The main limitation of the psychoanalytic approach is evidence generated in its support. The case study is non-scientific. Further, it is hugely difficult to scientifically or otherwise, find support for its hypothetical constructs like id, ego superego etc. The psychoanalyytic approach believes it is the social, rather than the sexual world, that has a greater influence on our personality development. Behaviorism Behaviorism originated with the work of John B. Watson, an American psychologist. Watson claimed that psychology was not concerned with the mind or with human consciousness. Instead, psychology would be concerned only with behavior. Today it is associated with the name of B.F. Skinner, who made his reputation by testing Watson's theories in the laboratory. Skinner developed the theory of "operant conditioning," the idea that we behave the way we do because this kind of behavior has had certain consequences in the past. For example, if your girlfriend gives you a kiss when you give her flowers, you will be likely to give her flowers when you want a kiss. You will be acting in expectation of a certain reward. Like Watson, however, Skinner denied that the mind or feelings play any part in determining behavior. Instead, our experience of reinforcements determines our behavior. Behaviorism is a theory of animal and human learning that only focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts mental activities. Behavior theorists define learning as nothing more than the acquisition of new behavior. Experiments by behaviorists identify conditioning as a universal learning process. There have been many criticisms of behaviorism, including the following: 1. Behaviorism does not account for all kinds of learning, since it disregards the activities of the mind. 2. Behaviorism does not explain some learning--such as the recognition of new language patterns by young children--for which there is no reinforcement mechanism. 3. Research has shown that animals adapt their reinforced patterns to new information. For instance, a rat can shift its behavior to respond to changes in the layout of a maze it had previously mastered through reinforcements. This theory is relatively simple to understand because it relies only on observable behavior and describes several universal laws of 7 behavior. Its positive and negative reinforcement techniques can be very effective--both in animals, and in treatments for human disorders such as autism and antisocial behavior. Behaviorism often is used by teachers, who reward or punish student behaviors. Humanism The humanistic approach, aka Third Force psychology, explains us as individuals in terms of our subjective interpretation of past experience. Or life as it has affected our personality. It is an approach in psychology that is interested in what it means to be human. It came about as a reaction to the behaviorist approach, and the psychoanalytic approach. It believes we have an inbuilt biological drive that motivates us towards personal growth, and the healthy psychological state of self-actualization. The humanistic approach emphasizes the importance of ‘self’, which is who we think we are as a person. The self is your personality. Influential figures in the development of the approach include Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Maslow gave the humanistic approach his theory of self-actualization as illustrated by his hierarchy of needs. Rogers extended Maslow’s work into the field of humanistic person-centered psychotherapy with his emphasis on empathy; unconditional positive regard and genuineness. Creating these conditions for growth in therapy facilitate an environment that helps the client become a more fully functioning person. This application of theory in clinical practice moves the person from incongruence to congruence or from a poor perceived self to a more psychologically healthy ideal self. The ultimate in personal growth is the fully functioning person who has achieved selfactualization. The notion of self-actualization lacks empirical support, but correlations have been generated to help validate the effectiveness of the approach in practice. The humanistic approach has had a global impact within and out of psychology, especially in the areas of humanistic psychotherapy and person centered counseling. Its immense popularity with clients would appear to suggest that they do not view the approaches lack of scientific support as problematic! Cognitivism The cognitive approach studies our information processes of perception, attention, language, memory, and thinking, and how they influence our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. It considers each, and their contribution to our ability to operate successfully in our world. The cognitive approach rightfully views us as active processors of information from our outside world. We are not passive learners, as behaviorism would have us believe. This is emphasized in the mediation nature of our information processes as illustrated by the computer analogy. Individual cognitions further explore this fact. Perception for example is understood from the point of view of our senses working in tandem with an innate ability called gestalten, and our previous past experience of stimuli in our world. It is previous past experience that makes the difference between one person's perception and another's. What is meaningful to you also influences another crucial information process, memory, and as a result your ability, or otherwise, to think and problem solve. 8 All our information processes, while studied individually, work collectively as we operate in and through our environment. The cognitive approach has had a huge influence over the last 30 years, and continues to do so. It has been applied to the world of advertising, marketing, public relations, work, society, politics etc. However, anything the cognitive approach discovers about our cognitions, and their influence on our behaviors has to be inferred. This is because cognitions are hypothetical constructs. This has led to criticisms, such as a lack of ecological validity, being levied at the approach. It also ignores biological and social factors, and their interaction of both, as further reasons behind why we think, feel, and behave as we do. Biopsychology Psychology has been known as the science of brain and behavior and we know that our nervous system has a great influence on our behavior. This biological approach is based on our understanding of our evolutionary past and the theories of Darwin. This is evolutionary psychology, and its assumptions and ideas stimulate discussion, as does another related debate, nature vs. nurture. These ideas are illustrated and discussed in this chapter. The central theme is, of course, the understanding of the nervous system; the central nervous system (CNS) consisting of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) made up of the nerves that go into and out of the CNS. This approach is concerned with how does our brain and nerve cells work and how they communicate. The biopyschological approach works to understand the effect of drugs on our moods and behavior. It also helps drug companies to develop increasingly effective products to affect behavior. Socioculturalism Sociocultural approach to psychology is a variety of cognitive constructivism that emphasizes the collaborative nature of much learning. Socioculturalism was developed by post-revolutionary Soviet psychologist, Lev Vygotsky. This theory suggests that social interaction leads to continuous step-by-step changes in children's thought and behavior that can vary greatly from culture to culture. Basically Vygotsky's theory suggests that development depends on interaction with people and the tools that the culture provides to help form their own view of the world. His theory combines the social environment and cognition. Children will acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that make up a culture by interacting with a more knowledgeable person. Vygotsky believed that social interaction will lead to ongoing changes in a child's thought and behavior. Theses thoughts and behaviors would vary between cultures. When the Cold War ended, Vygotsky's works were revealed. 9 Psychology Today Today, psychologists prefer to use more objective scientific methods to understand, explain, and predict human behavior. Psychological studies are highly structured, beginning with a hypothesis that is then empirically tested. Psychology has two major areas of focus: academic psychology and applied psychology. Academic psychology focuses on the study of different sub-topics within psychology including personality psychology, social psychology, and developmental psychology. These psychologists conduct basic research that seeks to expand our theoretical knowledge, while other researchers conduct applied research that seeks to solve everyday problems. Applied psychology focuses on the use of different psychological principles to solve real world problems. Examples of applied areas of psychology include forensic psychology, ergonomics, and industrial-organizational psychology. Many other psychologists work as therapists, helping people overcome mental, behavioral, and emotional disorders. Psychology Research Methods As psychology moved away from its philosophical roots, psychologists began to employ more and more scientific methods to study human behavior. Today, researchers employ a variety of scientific methods, including experiments, correlational studies, longitudinal studies, and others to test, explain, and predict behavior. Areas of Psychology Psychology is a broad and diverse field. A number of different subfields and specialty areas have emerged. The following are some of the major areas of research and application within psychology: Abnormal Psychology is the study of abnormal behavior and psychopathology. This specialty area is focused on research and treatment of a variety of and is linked to psychotherapy and clinical psychology. Mental health professional typically utilize these to diagnose mental disorders. Biological Psychology, also known as biopsychology, studies how biological processes influence the mind and behavior. This area is closely linked to neuroscience and utilizes tools such as MRI and PET scans to look at brain injury or brain abnormalities. Clinical Psychology is focused on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental disorders. Cognitive Psychology is the study of human thought processes and cognitions. Cognitive psychologists study topics such as attention, memory, perception, decision-making, problem solving, and language acquisition. Comparative Psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the study of animal behavior. The study of animal behavior can lead to a deeper and broader understanding of human psychology. Developmental Psychology is the branch of psychology that looks at human growth and development over the lifespan. Theories often focus on the development of cognitive abilities, morality, social functioning, identity, and other life areas. 10 Forensic Psychology is an applied field focused on using psychological research and principles in the legal and criminal justice system. Industrial-Organizational Psychology is the area of psychology that uses psychological research to enhance work performance, select employee, improve product design, and enhance usability. Personality Psychology looks at the various elements that make up individual personalities. Well-known personality theories include Freud’s structural model of personality and the “Big Five” theory of personality. School Psychology is the branch of psychology that works within the educational system to help children with emotional, social, and academic issues. Social Psychology is a discipline that uses scientific methods to study social influence, social perception, and social interaction. Social psychology studies diverse subjects including group behavior, social perception, leadership, nonverbal behavior, conformity, aggression, and prejudice. Questions 1. What important theory did Sigmund Freud propose? 2. Which psychological approach states that we are the product of learning and associations? 3. What are the basic beliefs of the humanistic approach of psychology? 4. Which psychological approach is the newest? 5. Create a chart using each of the different schools of thought (pgs. 6-9) listing the psychologist and areas of psychology (listed on pages. 10-11) that should be associated with each school of thought. 6. Which psychological approach (school of thought) do you think is the most scientific and why? 11