2.  Yesterday you learned:  A history of psychology  Schools of Psychology ▪ Structuralism- Wilhelm Wundt ▪ Functionalism- William James ▪ Behaviorism- John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner ▪ Gestalt- Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler ▪ Psychoanalysis- Sigmund Freud

3.  Today you will learn:  Contemporary Perspectives ▪ Biological ▪ Cognitive ▪ Humanistic ▪ Psychoanalytic ▪ Learning ▪ Sociocultural

4.  Today we no longer find psychologists identifying themselves in a certain school  Historical traditions find expression in contemporary perspectives of psychology  Each perspective emphasizes different topics of investigation and has different approaches

5.  Emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior  Assume mental processes and behaviors are made possible by the nervous system  Certain chemicals in the brain help storage of information  Study the influence of genes on personality traits like artistic talent, psychological health and behavior patterns

6.  Emphasizes the role played by thoughts in determining behavior  Investigates ways in which people perceive information and make mental images of the world, solve problems, dream, and daydream  Says working memories are like a computer  People need certain cues to retrieve information from their long-term memories  Believes behavior is influenced by values, interpretations, and choices

7.  Stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment and the importance of consciousness, self- awareness and ability to make choices as the force that shapes personality  Considers people’s personal experiences as most important aspect of psychology  We are free to choose our own behavior  View people as good and helpful to others  Critics say inner experiences unsuitable for measurement

8.  Stresses the influence of unconscious forces on human behavior  This was based on Freud’s school of thought  Freud believed aggressive impulses are reactions to daily frustrations  We fear retaliation so we put them out of our minds. However this sets us up for a big explosion  Today, focuses less on unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses and more on conscious choice and self-direction

9.  Emphasizes the effects of experience and observation on behavior on individual development  Behaviorists and Social Learning Theorists are within this perspective  Behaviorists believe that learning comes from reinforcement  Social Learning believes that learning comes from observation and changing your environment

10.  Ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status have a significant impact on human behavior and mental processes  These factors create individual differences

11.  Today you learned:  Contemporary Perspectives ▪ Biological ▪ Cognitive ▪ Humanistic ▪ Psychoanalytic ▪ Learning ▪ Sociocultural

12.  Chapter Test  Psychological Methods: Research