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Module 2
As Science Evolves: The Past, the Present, and the Future
Chapter 14 - Pages 15-26
Essentials of Understanding Psychology- Sixth Edition
PSY110 Psychology
© Richard Goldman
September 18, 2006
Psychological Perspectives
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Early
Structuralism
 Introspection
 Functionalism
 Gestalt Psychology
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Contemporary
Neuroscience
 Psychodynamic
 Behavioral
 Cognitive
 Humanistic
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Structuralism
an Early Perspective
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Developed by Wilhelm Wundt
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Studied with a procedure called Introspection
Patients were asked about stimuli
Focused on the fundamental mental states of:
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Set up first psychology laboratory 1879
Perception
Consciousness
Thinking
Emotions
(and other mental states and activities)
Discredited because results were not reproducible
Introspection
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Subject is presented with stimulus the
psychologist then use the subject’s response to
describe the mind
Discredited because it was not reproducible - not
scientific
Replaced by Functionalism and Gestalt
Psychology
Functionalism
an Early Perspective
Lead by William James in the early 1900’s
 Focused on the purpose of consciousness
and behavior

(how it allowed people to adapt to their environment)
Gestalt Psychology
an Early Perspective
Improved understanding of
perception by viewing a variety of
individual elements as a “whole”
 “The whole is different from the
some of its parts”.

Neuroscience
A Contemporary Perspective

Biologically based – emphasizing
the study of:
Brain, Never cell, & nervous system
 Biochemistry & Hormones
 Medication
 Inheritance
 Instinct

Psychodynamic
A Contemporary Perspective
Sigmund Freud – 1900
 Behavior is motivated by inner
unconscious forces
 Psychoanalysis
 Free Association

Behavioral

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Behaviorism originated
with the work of John B.
Watson, an American
psychologist -1920.
Watson believed that
psychological data
which did not result
from direct observation
was useless.

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Championed by BF
Skinner
operant conditioning
“Skinner Box”
Cognitive
 How
think
people understand and
Humanistic
People control their own behavior
 Free will
 Carl Rogers
 Abraham Maslow
 Hierarchy of Needs

Issues & Controversies
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Nature verses Nurture
Conscious verses Unconscious motivations
Free Will verses Determinism
Observable Behavior vs. Mental Processes
Universal Principals vs. Individual Differences
Nature vs. Nurture
 Nature:
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Behavior is determined by
inheritance
 Nurture

Behavior is determined by
environment
Free Will vs. Determinism
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Free Will:
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Behavior is controlled by freely made
choices
Determinism:
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Inheritance
Instinct
Environment
Training
Behavior is not controlled by free will
Observable Behavior vs.
Internal Mental Processes

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Observable Behavior:
 Can be seen by an outside observer
Allows easy application of scientific
process
Internal Mental Processes
 Critical to understanding mental
processes
Universal Principals vs.
Individual Differences

Universal Principals:
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Behavior and responses that are
similar to all humans in all cultures
Individual Differences:

Individual differences in humans
within a culture
End