Download Unit 1 History and Approaches - Teacher Version

An Introduction to the stuff you will
be learning this year.
What is it?
Psychology
The science of behavior and
mental processes.
Do our feelings always match our behaviors?
If you call me stupid,
I may feel sad or
insecure
But I will
still act
tough.
(even though
I will be
crying on the
inside, so be
gentle).
Psychology’s History
Prescientific Psychology
– Socrates
– Plato
These two guys thought alike
dualism - the mind is separate from the
body and continues after the body dies
-
–
Aristotle
some ideas innate
monism – mind and body are connected
- knowledge results from memories of
past experiences (mind is a blank slate)
Psychology’s Roots
Prescientific Psychology
• Rene Descartes –
–
mind and body separate; innate ideas
• Francis Bacon –
– founder of modern science and the scientific method
• John Locke –
– tabula rasa - mind is a blank slate
–Empiricism –
– knowledge comes from experience & science should
therefore use observation and experimentation
– Locke’s and Bacon’s ideas
Psychology’s Early Debates
1. Mind and Body Connect v. Separate
2. Nature v. Nurture
•Innate v. Learned
Think Pair Share
• Which of the early thinkers of psychology do
you think had the greatest effect on today’s
psychology? Why?
History of Psychology
• Psychology has gone through 5 different
historical eras or changes in how scientists
view the mind and behavior…aka…
• Psychological Perspectives – a mental view
of how scientists explain the mind and
behavior
5 Historical Periods of
Psychology
1. Introspection
– Structuralism
– Functionalism
2.
3.
4.
5.
Gestault
Psychoanalytic
Behaviorist
Biopsychosocial -
One: Introspection
• 2 schools - Structuralism and
Functionalism
• Structuralism
–
– Explored structural elements
(smallest mental processes) of the
human mind.
» Introspection - self reflective
observation of one’s own
sensations and feelings to
study inner sensations and
mental images
– Example: Report immediate reactions and
feelings to different musical sounds
IA: Structuralism
– Wilhelm Wundt
• 1st Psych Lab - Reaction time experiment1st
Psych Lab (Leipzig)
• Reaction Time Experiments
– Experiment: Hearing a ball hit the
platform measured reaction time
– G. Stanley Hall (Baltimore)
• 1st Lab USA -Johns Hopkins University
• 1st Pres. APA
– Edward Titchner (Cornell)
• Student of Wundt
• Used introspection to identify elements of
sensory experience
– Example: Report immediate reactions and
feelings to hearing musical sounds, looking
at a rose
IB: Functionalism
• Functionalism –
– Emphasized the purpose or function of mental
processes
– Focused on the adaptive value of conscious thoughts
and emotions - how a characteristic of an organism
enables it to survive and reproduce
•
added the importance of the environment
• Wm. James
– First Functionalist – based ideas on Charles
Darwin’s
– 1st Psych prof at Harvard
– Authored 1st Psych textbook
• Mary Calkins
– 1st woman student of Psychology (Harvard)
– 1st woman APA Pres.
• Margaret Floy Washburn
– 1st woman to receive Ph.D. in Psych
Think Pair Share
1. With your table, discuss the limitations of
“introspection” and explain why current
psychological researchers would be unlikely
to use introspection to gather data.
2. William James developed his theory of
functionalism around the same time Charles
Darwin was developing the theory of
evolution. How do you think Darwin's theory
influenced James' theory of functionalism?
Two: Gestalt Psychology
• Focused on human perceptions of the world
• The whole of an experience can be more than the sum
of its parts.
– Led by Max Wertheimer
=
This may seem like
one picture, but it can
be perceived as 2
different faces. Can
you find them?
Rules
for how
we
organize
what we
see
Three: Psychoanalysis
• Psychoanalysis - Freud’s theory of
personality development and also his
treatment of disorders
– Behavior is driven by unconscious drives and
conflicts from childhood experiences
• Unconscious – a place in the mind where
unacceptable thoughts, wishes and memories are
hidden and that we are unaware of
• defense mechanisms – tactics that reduce
anxiety by distorting reality
– Regression
– Repression
– Rationalization
Four: Behaviorism
• Behaviorism – studied only observable behavior
• Ignored Introspection and psychoanalysis and all mental
process
– Believe behavior is learned through conditioning or
through observing others
– Classical Conditioning – involuntary learning
– Pavlov – experiments on dogs learning to salivate at sound of
a bell
– John B. Watson – experimented on “Little Albert learned
that emotions (fear) can be learned
– Operant Conditioning – voluntary learning
• B.F. Skinner – experimented on pigeons and rats, learned that
animals learn from reinforcements and punishments
– Observational Learning
• Bandura – animals learn by watching others
Five: Eclectic
Biopsychosocial Approach
• Psychologists pick and choose what theories to
use depending on the situation and the client.
Kind of like a smorgasbord..lots of variety,
you pick what you want to eat
Modern Psychology’s Three Main
Levels of Analysis
• Levels of Analysis
– Biological
– Psychological
– Social-cultural
• Biopsychosocial Approach - integrated
approach that incorporates biological,
psychological, and social-cultural levels of
analysis.
• Evaluates both nature and nurture
• Evaluates both mind and behavior
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of
Analysis
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of
Analysis
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of
Analysis
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of
Analysis
Wave 5 -Biopsychosocial
Approach is made up of 7
different perspectives.
Psychologists today, pick and choose from
about 7 schools or perspectives of
thought to help you with your problems.
Thus we have:
THE SEVEN MODERN SCHOOLS OF
PSYCHOLOGY
Biopsychosocial Approach
7 MODERN SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Biological/Neuroscience
Psychodynamic
Behaviorist
Cognitive
Evolutionary
Humanist
Social-Culture
1. Biopsychology (Neuroscience)
Perspective
– Biological approach – perspective
concerned with physiological and
biochemical factors that determine
behavior and mental process
– View of Mind and/or Behavior
• Biological basis - Come from your brain,
body, neurotransmitters, hormones, genes,
blood chemistry etc…
– To change behavior:
• Address biological problem – through
drugs or surgery
Biological Perspective
Let’s say you are 100lbs over weight. What
would a psychologist from this perspective
say was the cause of your obesity?
Metabolic rate, thyroid,
Chemical imbalance
What kind of treatment would they
recommend?
Diet, Medication
2. Evolutionary Perspective
• Evolutionary - Concerned
with how natural selection
favored behaviors that
contributed survival and
spread our ancestors geans.
• View of Mind and/or
Behavior:
– Driven by inherited traits from
our ancestors that help us
survive and reproduce
– Over time, we adapt to our
How could this behavior ensured
environment, we change
Homer’s ancestors survival?
– Based on the ideas of…
Charles Darwin
Food was often scarce, so our
ancestors would over eat when
– Natural
food was plentiful
3. Psychodynamic Perspective
• Psychodynamic Perspective –
concerned with the
unconscious mind and how it
affects behavior
• View of Mind and/or
Behavior:
• hidden/unconscious instincts,
drives and conflicts,
unfulfilled wishes and desires
influence behavior.
• To change behavior:
• we must uncover repressed
feelings
Same scenario…you are
100lbs
overweight…what
would Freud say was
the cause of your
problem?
How would he treat
you?
Cause: Unconscious
feelings about our
childhood (hatred
toward mother/father)
Treatment – uncover
Unconscious thoughts
And resolve your feelings
4. Behavioral Perspective
Pretend that you
fail psychology
class. You become
depressed. In turn,
you begin to binge
and gain weight.
What do you think a
behaviorist may do?
They would probably ignore
the fact that you are
depressed and just focus on
your overeating.
Maybe make you run a mile
every time you eat over 2000
calories.
• Behavioral – concerned with
behavioral reactions to
stimuli, learning as a result of
experience.
• View of Mind and/or
Behavior:
– Learned
• we have been conditioned
– Classically (responding to
something in our environment)
– or Operantly (rewarded or
punished)
– Or through observing others
– No focus on mind. Why?
• To change behaviors:
– recondition the client
5. Humanist Perspective
What would a
• Humanist - Concerned with how individuals
are motivated to grow and achieve their
potential
• View of Mind and/or Behavior:
humanist say
was the cause
of your
obesity?
– Driven by objective to get to the next level on
Lack of self
Maslow’s Hierarchy …ultimately self actualization
– Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
• emphasizes the growth potential of healthy
people and the individual’s potential for
personal growth.
• Believed all people were good
• To change behavior:
– Negative behaviors will improve with proper
environmental conditions and support of people
around them
– learn to have self acceptance – “love
thyself”
acceptance –
Don’t like
yourself…you feel
dissatisfied with your
life
Stuck in lower level
of Maslow’s
Hierarchy
How would they
Treat your obesity?
Learn to love
Yourself despite
Your faults
Set new goals
6. Cognitive Perspective
• Cognitive Perspective –concerned
with how we think/reason, receive,
store process and retrieve info
(memory)
• View of Mind and/or Behavior
– Influenced by the way we
interpret or perceive an
experience or receive, store
and process info
• Cause of behavior – irrational
or negative thoughts
• To Change Behavior:
– change the way you think.
What would a
cognitive
psychologist say
was the cause of
your obesity?
Thinking – “I’ll never be thin, I’ll
always be fat, I can’t loose
weight
How would they treat
Your obesity?
Change your
Thoughts…”I can
loose weight
7. Social-Cultural Perspective
What would
someone
from this
perspective
say was the
cause of the
behavior?
Friends – group parties
Family – eats unhealthy
Culture – Super sized
How would they treat
this disorder?
• Sociocultural – concerned
with how cultural differences
affect behavior
• View of the Mind and/or
Behavior:
• culture and society influence
behavior
• dictated by friends, family, peers
society and the culture you live in
• To change behavior:
• change your social context
New friends, avoid parties and fast food
Think Pair Share
• Discuss the causes of alcoholism using each of the
following perspectives
–
–
–
–
–
–
Biological
Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic
Behavior
Cognitive
Humanistic
Socio-cultural
Mr. Lopez believes that severe depression results
primarily from an imbalanced diet and abnormal brain
chemistry. Mr. Lopez favors a ________ perspective on
depression.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Cognitive
Behavioral
Psychodynamic
Socio-cultural
Biological
Table
Natassia believes that boys learn to be more aggressive than girls
primarily because boys are more frequently exposed to external
pressures to fight. Natassia's belief most directly exemplifies the
________ perspective.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Cognitive
Behavioral
Psychodynamic
Socio-Cultural
Biological
Table
A concern with the reasoning processes that contribute
to effective problem solving is most characteristic of
the ________ perspective.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Cognitive
Behavioral
Psychodynamic
Evolutionary
Biological
Table
Psychology’s Big Debate
• Nature Versus Nurture
– Are our behaviors/traits influenced
more by our genes (nature) or by our
experiences (nurture)
• Examples
– Intelligence- genes or home environment?
– Language development – innate or learned
– Personality – born with it or shaped over our
life
– Disorders – biological or triggered by
experience
Fields of Psychology
Applied V. Basic Research
• Applied Research –
goal is to solve
practical problems
– Example: using a
theory to solve a
practical problem
Research on
drug therapies
to treat
depression
• Basic Research –
goal is to increase
knowledge of field.
– Example: developing
a new theory
Theory that
depression is
caused by, among
other things,
chemical
imbalances in the
brain
Psychology’s Subfields
• Psychometrics –
–
measurement of human abilities.
Ex. Creates aptitude tests like SAT, personality questionnaires
• Basic Research –
knowledge of the field.
research in psychology to increase our
– Examples:
• Developmental psychology- change throughout
the human life span (develop, grow, age)
• Educational psychology – how psych processes
affect teaching and learning
• Personality psychology – individual traits
• Social psychology - how humans relate to one
another
Psychology’s Subfields
• Applied Research – using what you’ve learned to help others
– Examples
• Industrial/organizational psychology – help improve
performance and well-being in the workplace
• Human factors psychology – designing machines and work
environments that are best for people
• Counseling psychology – assists people in problems with
work, family school (Masters Degree)
• Clinical psychology - – diagnose and treats people with psych
disorders, can’t prescribe medication(PhD)
• Psychiatry - diagnoses and treats psych disorders, but can
prescribe medication (Medical Doctor – M.D.)
Psychology’s Subfields
• Applied Research –
– Examples
• Community Psychology - aims to prevent disorders from
developing by evaluating issues that potentially could affect the
health and wellness of individuals in a community
• Forensic Psychology – apply psychological principles to legal
issues by helping law-enforcement in criminal investigations
• School Psychology – diagnose, treat cognitive, social, and
emotional problems that may negatively influence children’s
learning or overall functioning at school
• Sports Psychology – work with coaches and athletes to help
them improve their performance