Psychology

Objectives Describe how psychology developed from its prescientific roots in early understandings of mind and body to the beginnings of modern science. Describe some important milestones in psychologies early development. Describe how psychology continued to develop from the 1920’s through today.

What is it? The science of behavior and mental processes The scientific method is used to answer questions about peoples behavior Psychologists look at both observable and unobservable behavior

Prescientific Psychology Why people act and think the way they do has been thought about for forever. Socrates & Plato: The mind is separate from the body and knowledge is born within us. Knowledge is innate Aristotle: Collected data through careful observations. Stated that knowledge is not preexisting, it grows from experiences and memories. Socrates student

Prescientific Psychology Rene Descartes ( ) did dissections of animals, leading him to believe that spirit (cranial fluid) flowed through the body (by nerves) and commanded it. Agrees with Socrates & Plato John Locke ( ) – Famously argued the mind is a blank slate written on by our experiences. He called it a tabula rasa. Agrees with Aristotle This view leads to empiricism Empiricism – the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should rely on observation and experimentation A.D A.D.

What do you think? What produces our thoughts, feelings, and actions?

Modern Psychology Wilhelm Wundt became known as “the father of modern psychology” when he performed the first psych experiment in his lab in December Testing metacognition – he realized it takes time to think about thinking. He made psychology a subject! Psychology would be divided into 3 areas, structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism

Structuralism Structuralism goal was to find the basic structural elements of the mind. –This was begun by E.B. Titchner, Wundt’s student. –Comparable to the elements of the periodic table Lets say there is a body laying in the hallway… –Can you identify the elbow? –Can you identify the heart? –Can you identify the eye? –How about the mind? What is the mind made up of? –How does that affect our thinking?

Introspection Introspection (self- reflection) was a necessary piece of studying structuralism. What were peoples immediate sensations and perceptions as a reaction to a stimulus. Would ask people to look at a rose or smell a sent and report what they were experiencing. Introspection was unreliable as it varied from person to person, which caused a lack of trust in structuralism

Functionalism Functionalism looked at psychology as being adaptive – what functions people need to survive. Derived ideas from Charles Darwin Why do we think? Why do we have emotions, memories, willpower, and habits…what is their function? Developed by William James who also wrote the first Psychology textbook in

Check for understanding: What were some important milestones in psychologies early history?

Charles Darwin Nature v. Nurture Biology v. Environment Studied evolution and believed that a species strongest members survived Survival of the fittest Felt as though weak traits of a species would weed itself out over time His writings led William James to adopt functionalist principles about why people have the abilities that they do

Mary Whiton Calkins Student under William James Earned her Ph.D. from Harvard in 1890 (should have) Harvard would only recognize her degree being from Radcliffe college since she was a woman. She refused to accept it In 1905, became the first female president of the American Psychological Association (APA)

Margaret Floy Washburn A functionalist psychologist The first woman to earn a Ph. D. (officially) On account of being a woman, she was barred from the Organization of Experimental Psychologists. Different world today: , women earned 2/3 of all new Ph.D. in psychology

Sigmund Freud Austrian psychologist who developed psychoanalysis Believed strongly that unconscious drives and desires guided people’s actions His research had no scientific proof and was based on his personal analysis Cocaine, Nazi escape, death

Behaviorists John Watson and B.F. Skinner were the first behaviorists Believe science should be objective and rooted in observation You can’t observe thoughts or senses, but you can observe people’s reactions to them and record their behavior

Humanistic Psychology Founded by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow Post 1920 idea emphasizes the importance of current environmental influences on the growth potential of healthy people and the individual’s potential for growth

Experimental Psychology Experimental Psychology – the study of behavior and thinking using the scientific method. Solomon Asch Line conformity experiments.

Change in the 1900’s From , American psychologists redefined psychology (previously it was the science of mental life) Pre-1920: Ideas of introspection Post-1920: the scientific study of observable behavior

Cognitive Revolution People are again placing importance on how our mind processes and retains information. Cognitive neuroscience has begun looking at how brain activity is linked with cognition +