The Story of Psychology “I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.” Beneict Spizoza, A Political Treastise, 1677

What is Psychology? Definition: psychology is the systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes –Behaviors: anything that an organism does— any action we can observe & record Examples? –Mental processes: internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior Examples?

Prescientific Psychology Early thinkers pondered about the mind & derived principles by logic Buddha, Confucius, Hebrew scholars Socrates & Plato (400s B.C.E.) –Concluded that the mind is separable from body & continues after the body dies –Knowledge is innate—born within us The exception: Aristotle (300s B.C.E.) –Derived principles from logic –Knowledge is not preexisting – it grows from the experiences stored in our memories

The Enlightenment New theories of human behavior & new versions of ancient debates –Rene Descartes (1595 – 1650) Mind’s being entirely distinct from the body Dissected animals & concluded that brain fluid was filled with animal spirits –Francis Bacon (1561 – 1626) One of the founders of modern science – focuses on experiment, experience & common sense judgment –John Locke (1632 – 1704) An Essay Concerning Human Understanding – The mind is a blank slate Empiricism: knowledge originates in experience and science; therefore, should rely on observation & experimentation

Psychological Science is Born Four paradigms (explanations) for psychology –Structuralism –Functionalism –Gestalt –Behavioralism

Structuralism Structuralism: thinking about the mind’s structure –An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind What is introspection? Act or process of self-examination; inspection of one’s own thoughts and feelings; the cognition which the mind has of its own acts & states; reflection

Structuralism Wilhelm Wundt –The father of modern psychology –Psychology’s first experiment Can you describe the experiment?

Structuralism Edward Bradford Titchener –Used introspection to search for the mind’s structural elements Structuralism waned as introspection waned –Unreliable, subjective, error

Functionalism Functionalism: thinking about the mind’s functions –A school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function – how they enable the organism to adapt, survive & flourish

Functionalism

Functionalism ``stream of consciousness'' James, William Harvard Functionalists believe consciousness (or "experience" in Dewey's case) to be the primary object of psychology. John Dewey Pragmatism Educational Psychology “Experience and Nature” VERB

Gestalt The German word "Gestalt" roughly translates to "whole" or "form," and the Gestalt psychologist's sincerely believed that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The Gestalt principles of grouping include four types: similarity, proximity, continuity, and closure.Gestalt Max Wertheimer Kurt Koffka Wolfgang Kohler Sultan Insight NOUN Phi Phenomenon

GestaltGestalt - The whole is more important than the sum of the parts

Searching for Gold

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Behavioralism John B. Watson Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select -- doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. (In Behaviorism, 1930) Edward Lee Thorndike The law of effect E. C. Tolman Ivan Pavlov BF Skinner Adaptation and Reinforcement LEARNING Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Cognitive Learning

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