Download Unit 1 Psychology*s History and Approaches

Unit 1
Psychology’s History and
Approaches
What is psychology?

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Behavior – outward actions

Mental processes – internal activity of our mind

PSYCHOLOGY IS A SCIENCE!
Prescientific



Socrates – mind is separate from
body; knowledge is innate-born
within us
Plato – student of Socrates; similar
thoughts


Dualism – ideas/mind is completely
separate from the body

John Locke – English Philosopher;
Tabula rasa – blank slate

Empiricism – what we know comes
from experience, therefore science
should rely on observation and
experimentation (Francis Bacon &
John Locke)
Aristotle – student of Plato;
knowledge is not preexisting
>>>>>Fast forward to 1600s
Rene Descartes – concluded that
spirits from the brain’s cavities flowed
through nerves (hollow nerves)
Birth of Psychological science

Wilhelm Wundt

First psychology lab in 1879

Tested reaction time to a ball hitting a
platform

Structuralism – used introspection to
reveal the structure of the human
mind

Introduced by Edward Bradford
Titchener

First school of psychology

Introspection – looking inward

Proved to be unreliable b/c results vary
from person to person
Functionalism

Formed as reaction to structuralism

Sought to explain mental processes in
a more accurate manner

Focuses on the purpose of
consciousness and how it leads to
adaptive behavior

Why we behave the way we do

William James

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American Psychologist
Charles Darwin
Influential Women
Mary Whiton Calkins

Tutored by James

Denied Ph.D. from Harvard

First female president of the American
Psychological Association (APA) - 1905
Margaret Floy Washburn

First female to receive Ph.D. in
psychology
Behaviorism

Studies behavior without reference to
mental processes

Cannot observe sensation or feeling,
but can observe people’s behavior

John Watson

B.F. Skinner
Humanism

Drew attention to ways that current
environmental influences can nurture
or limit our growth potential

Free will

Need for love and acceptance

Self actualization – achieving one’s full
potential

Carl Rogers

Abraham Maslow
Psychologies Big Issues and
Approaches
Psychology’s Biggest Question

Nature vs. Nurture
 Are
human traits present at birth or
do they develop through
experience?
 “Nurture
endows”
works on what nature
 Genetics
set the limits of capability
 Environment
determines where within
those limits you will fall
Seven Approaches/Perspectives

Behavioral

Biological

Cognitive

Evolutionary

Humanistic

Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic

Social-Cultural
Psychology’s Subfields
Basic Research

Aims to increase
knowledge base
 Developmental
 Educational
 Social
Applied Research

Aims to solve practical problem

Industrial-Organizational

Counseling psychologist

Clinical psychologist

psychiatrist
Know the
difference
Careers in Psychology

Forensic psychologist

Clinical psychologist

Health psychologist

Community psychologist

I/O psychologist

Counseling psychologist

Neuropsychologist

Rehabilitation psychologist

School psychologist

Sport psychologist