History and Approaches UNIT 1 History and Approaches

Vocabulary Time Approaches – how to study Perspectives – what to study

Important Guys To Know Wilhelm Wundt William James Father of Psychology 1879, established first research lab Declared Psychology should be a science Used empirical methods Focused on introspection William James Wrote “Principles of Psychology” Influenced by Darwin How did consciousness help people adapt to their environment Criticized Wundt for being to narrow in his research You should be able to observe behavior

What did those important guys do Wilhelm Wundt Structuralist Approach Structure of consciousness Little pieces matter How do the basic elements relate We should use introspection to study the consciousness William James Functionalist Approach Function of consciousness How does it help us survive and adapt Observable events only Introspection not effective Phone example… Structuralist – how does the camera work how does the wifi work how does the touch screen work Functionalist – how does the phone make my life easier

Some other guy and his approach… Max Wertheimer Gestalt Approach Whole is different than sum of parts Big picture Consciousness is best understood by looking at whole experience Perception is everything

And now for something completely different….. PERSPECTIVES

Psychoanalytical Perspective Sigmund Freud Freud thought that behavior came from unconscious drives, conflicts and experience that we may not even have a memory of Mental disorders resulted from conflicts of the unconscious mind Suggests we are motivated by the energy of irrational desires generated in our unconscious minds Used introspection and dream analysis to explore the unconscious What approach would I use to study this perspective? structuralist

Behavioral Perspective John B. Watson Ivan Pavlov B.F. Skinner True and objective psychology should only deal with observable events: stimuli from the environment and the organism’s response to that stimuli These psychologists thought of the mind as a black box which could not be opened or understood. Since we could not understand it, we should not try to guess what role it has in our actions Free-Will is an illusion All behavior is fully governed by external stimuli Focus on rewards, reinforcements, and punishments What approach would I use to study this perspective? functionalist

Humanistic Perspective Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers A viewpoint which emphasizes human ability, growth, potential and free will It emphasizes our mental thoughts and process as the root of our behavior It emphasizes the positive side of human nature It has received a lot of criticism because it is not the most “scientific” You are in control of your own potential What approach would I use to study this perspective? structuralist

Cognitive Perspective Jean Piaget Herbert Simon Erik Erickson Our actions are a direct result of the way we process information from our environment The focus is on attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, thinking Our most basic language skills are prewired into our brains from birth In order to understand people, you must understand how they think, remember, process information, and reason What approach would I use to study this perspective? functionalist

Biological Perspective James Olds Roger Sperry David Hubel How our physical make up and the operation of our brains influence our personality, preferences, behavior patterns, and abilities Our behavior is a result of heredity, the nervous system, the endocrine system and environmental impacts How neurons control our 5 senses and perceptions Identifying the purpose of different parts of the brain What approach would I use to study this perspective? James Olds – pleasure center Roger Sperry – split brain functionalist

Evolutionary Perspective Charles Darwin David Buss Martin Daly Study behavior and mental processes in terms of their genetic adaptations for survival and reproduction Natural selection (survival of the fittest) Human behavior is the output of psychological adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human environments What approach would I use to study this perspective? David Buss – mate selection Functionalist or structuralist

Socio-Cultural Perspective Lev Vygotsky Understand human behavior and personality development by examining the rules of the social groups and subgroups in which the individual is a member These rules are often unwritten guidelines that direct a person’s actions Base on a complex blend of beliefs, customs, values and traditions developed by a group of people and shared with others in the same environment This is a relatively new perspective due to previous biases that existed in the field of psychology What approach would I use to study this perspective? Functionalist or structuralist

So what do I do with these perspectives Psychologists use perspectives to analyze situations They might use more than one perspective at a time (levels of analysis) Looking at an issue from one perspective is like looking at a 2D view of a 3D object. Each perspective is useful, but by itself fails to give us a complete picture.

Let’s practice Ex. School Shootings Does the shooter have a brain disorder? Does the shooter have a genetic tendencies towards violence? Have they been rewarded for violent behavior? We are a gun promoting society that supports violence? Biological Biological / evolutionary Behaviorism Socio cultural

I want to be a psychologist when I grow up All psychologists are not created equal. Each specific field covers different areas of information. There are several fields of psychology to focus on: Biological Clinical Cognitive Counseling Developmental Educational Experimental Human Factors Industrial-Organizational Personality Psychometric Social

Psychology…just kidding, not really Psuedo-psychology Astrology Tarot card reading Psychics Hand writing analysis Hey, you’re making us look bad Pseudo-psychology proves dangerous to legitimate psychology Increase in incidents of fraud Real psychologists get lumped in with these “fake psychologists” Bottom line: If it isn’t science it isn’t psychology

So, how do I know it’s real Psychology uses the scientific method Psychology uses the empirical approach Psychology uses data and research to support findings Psychology uses objective observation Psychology uses experimentation Psychology uses replication to verify results

Creating more questions than answers Nature Genetic material Inherited traits from your family Innate abilities Nurture Life experience Traits that are grown Abilities you work on Nurture works on what Nature endows

Can I be better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii6qC7PNxEw&t=94s