History and Approaches to Psychology

Ms. Kassandra TsitsopoulosA.P. Psychology

↓Root Words↓Psyche: the soul

Ology: the study of

What is psychology?The scientific study of

behavior & mental processes

•Science: making verifiable, objective predictions

•Behavior: observable acts•Mental Processes: storing, recalling, using info/feelings

Frequently Asked Questions• How is it different from other social sciences?

–Focus on individual behavior

• Where did it come from?–Philosophy (study of knowledge)–Physiology (study of biological functions)

• Psychology is born (around) 1879

What psychology is NOT!

1. it’s not reading your mind (no jedi mind tricks here!)

2. You won’t learn how to control someone’s mind either!

3. Ms. Tsitsopoulos is NOT a therapist! Or a psychologist! Or a psychiatrist!

Historical Origins of Psychology

• Rene Descartes• True knowledge comes through reasoning• Heredity provides individuals with inborn

knowledge and abilities and we use this to reason (we are born knowing stuff)

–We are to doubt everything – that’s the only way we can be certain about anything

– I think, therefore I am (because we think, we exist)

Historical Origins of Psychology

• John Locke–Saw the mind as receptive and passive,

with its main goal as sensing and perceiving–Tabula rasa – we are born as a blank slate,

everything we know is learned (today many psychologists disagree!!)

–This is in direct contrast to the rationalist Descartes

The Father of Psychology• Wilhelm Wundt Opened 1st

Psychology lab (1879) at the University of Leipzig, Germany

psychology students from around the world came to study

The Father of Psychology• Wilhelm Wundt

– 1st Psychology lab (1879) –Focus on consciousness

• Find basic elements of conscious processes

• Discover sensations and feelings are connected

–Introspection• Self-observation: ‘seeing’ mental

processes in immediate experience

The First Schools of Psychology• Structuralism

– Lots of work on sensation & perception and breaking those down into minute detail

– Three basic mental elements• Images, feelings & sensations

– Edward Bradford Titchner (Wundt’s student)1.Introduced introspection (looking inward)

- what were people’s immediate sensations, images, and feelings when they did something

2.Wanted to understand the structural elements of the mind

The First Schools of Psychology• Functionalism

– How do we adapt?• Applying Darwin’s theory of natural selection to mental

processes (what was the purpose of thinking?)

– William James (Father of American Psychology)• Consciousness is personal/selective, continuous

(can’t be ‘cut up’ for analysis), and constantly changing– Structuralism was foolish to search for common

elements to all minds– The nose is structured to smell, but why do we needThe nose to smell?? What’s its function?

The Salt Metaphor

• Functionalism• William James- Uses- Preserve food- Makes food taste

better

• Structuralism• Edward Bradford

Titchener-it’s component parts- Made out of sodium and

cholorine

Other Early Schools of Psychology

• Gestalt psychology–Wholes vs. multiple individual elements

• You shouldn’t dissect an experience into separate elements to discover truths – instead, look at the ‘whole’

–Max Wertheimer• Phi phenomenon

Autumn by Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1573)How does this painting illustrate

Gestalt Psychology??

Mary Whiton Calkins• Student of William James at

Harvard• Her male classmates refused

to stay in any classes with her and walked out!

• Harvard refused to give her a degree when she was done!

• Became first female president of the A.P.A in 1905

Margaret Floy Washburn

• First woman to gain a Ph.D. in psychology

• Studied animal behavior

• President of the A.P.A in 1921

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Psychological Associations & Societies

The American Psychological Association (APA) was founded in 1892 and is the largest organization of

psychology with 160,000 members world-wide, followed by the British Psychological Society with

34,000 members.

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Psychology’s Subfields: Research

Data: APA 1997

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Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

Data: APA 1997

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Psychology’s Subfields: Applied

Psychologist What she does

ClinicalStudies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

CounselingHelps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges.

EducationalStudies and helps individuals in school and educational settings

Industrial/Organizational

Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace.

Where do Psychologists work?• 36% -Academic Institutions • 22% - Clinical Settings (Private Practice)• 17% - Hospitals and Clinics• 12% - Business and Government• 6% - Counseling and Guidance Centers• 5% - School Systems• 1% - Other

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A clinical psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with therapy. (day to day issues)

Psychiatrists on the other hand are medical professionals (M.D.) who use treatments like drugs and therapy to treat psychologically diseased patients. (severe issues)

Clinical Psychology vs. Psychiatry

Nature v. Nurture• NATURE• we are born the

way we are• Genetics and

hormones explain behavior

• Biology

• NURTURE• we are raised a

certain way• Environmental

factors explain behavior

• Experience

Am I the way I am because I was born that way or because of my surroundings?

Nature v. Nurture

Can I ever be like these people, or does nature give me limitations?

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Austrian physician, and his followers emphasized the importance of the

unconscious mind and its effects on human behavior.

‘Modern’ Schools of Psychology • Freud’s Psychodynamic (Psychoanalytic) Theory

– Conscious vs. unconscious conflicts

• Unconscious: motivations and memories of which we are not aware especially sexual drives from childhood

• Mental illness arises from being overwhelmed by which of these is ‘in control’

– Psychoanalysis as therapy: tell me about your childhood….

Personality Theory

• Id: (devil) I want it now! Impulses desires

• Superego: (angel) represented your morals and how society expected you to behave

• Ego: (you!) caught in the middle, tries to balance the needs of both the Id and the Superego

Freud’s Methods• FREE ASSOCIATION: a patient said everything

that came to mind without attempting to produce logical or meaningful statements

• DREAM ANALYSIS: a patient would share the content of their dreams, with the understanding that dreams are messages from the unconscious

• CASE STUDY: intense observations of one or two patients at a time

Other Beliefs of Freud• Oedipus Complex: Son resents father, loves mother

• Electra Complex: Daughter resents mother, loves father

• Freudian Slip: a mistake in speech that occurs due to the interference of some unconscious wish, conflict, or train of thought.

• Penis Envy: women secretly want to be men

• Sex and Mothers: everything is sexual, all problems can be traced to childhood and is the fault of the mother

Reactions to Freud• Many supporters followed him! Later they revised

his theory and are called “Neo-Freudians”• Many hated him!! Spent their whole lives

discrediting him!• Very controversial in the early 1900s especially his

views about sex• Not very scientific, couldn’t prove that the

unconscious existed, wasn’t observable!

Free Association Activity1. Time2. Death3. Red4. Mother5. Fear6. Home7. School8. Friend9. Love10. Hate

Behaviorism• ALL behavior is LEARNED

behavior!• Focuses on our OBSERVABLE

behaviors.• Psychology should be scientific!

Behavioral Perspective

• Focuses on our OBSERVABLE behaviors.

• Only cares about the behaviors that get in the way of our living, and attempts to change them.

If you bit your fingernails when you were nervous, a behaviorist would not focus on calming you down, but rather focus on how to stop you from biting your nails.

Behaviorism• Pioneered by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)• famous experiment where he rang a bell every time

he fed some dogs, the dogs would salivate with the food. Eventually the dogs began salivating when Pavlov rang the bell

• the dogs had been conditioned (trained/taught) to associate the sound with the food

• CLASSICAL CONDITIONING = behavior as the product of prior experience

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

Stimulus: something that causes you to react

Unconditioned = unlearned, naturalConditioned = learned, trained, taughtPavlov’s Experiment:

• Unconditioned Stimulus Food• Unconditioned Response Salivation due

to food• Conditioned Stimulus Bell• Conditioned Response Salivation due to

the bell

John B. Watson (1878-1958)• First to use the term

‘behaviorism’• Famous experiment

with Little Albert• Emotions like fear

could be conditioned

Little Albert Experiment – 1920John Watson and Rosalie Rayner

• A loud sound was paired with fluffy objects/animals

• The loud noise would startle Albert and make him cry

• Soon, just the fluffy objects/animals caused crying

• Proving FEAR could be LEARNED!

• Raised ethical issues!

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)• Huge influence on

behaviorism

• Introduced the idea of REINFORCEMENT, and Operant Conditioning

• Famous experimentswith rats and pigeons

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Skinner’s LegacySkinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences instead of inner thoughts and feelings. Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by neglecting their free will.

Cognitive Perspective• Cognitive = Thinking• Focus on how we process, store, and use

information and how this information influences our thinking, language, problem solving, and creativity

• Behavior is influenced by a variety of mental processes including perceptions, memories, and expectations

• Jean Piaget (child psychologist)

Cognitive Perspective

• How do we see the world?

• How did we learn to act to sad or happy events?

• Cognitive Therapist attempt to change the way you think.

Meet girl Get Rejected by girl

Did you learn to be depressed

Or get back on the horse

Humanistic Psychology• Human nature is always evolving and self-directed• The environment and other outside forces simply

serve as a background to our own internal growth• Individual or self-directed choices influence our

behavior• Reaching our full potential SELF ACTUALIZATION• Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow “Hierarchy of

Needs”

Humanistic Perspective• Focuses on positive growth• Attempt to seek self-actualization• Therapists use active listening and

unconditional positive regard.

Mr. Rogers would have made a great Humanistic Therapist!!!

Biological Perspective• Focuses on the impact of biology on

our behavior• Study how the brain, the nervous

system, hormones, and genetics influence our behavior

• Usually referred to as psychobiologists

Neuroscience/Biological Perspective

• Focus on how the physical body and brain creates our emotions, memories and sensory experiences.

If you could not remember the names of your parents and went to a psychologist

who adheres to the neuroscience perspective,

what might they say?

Socio-cultural Perspective

• Studying the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on behavior and social functioning

Social-Cultural Perspective

Even in the same high school, behaviors can change in accordance to the various subcultures.

Evolutionary Psychology• Charles Darwin• All behavior stems from survival of

the fittest• Instinctual behavior

Evolutionary Perspective

• We behave the way we do because we inherited those behaviors.

• Thus, those behaviors must have helped ensure our ancestors survival.

• Mother nature practicing selective breeding

How could this behavior ensured Homer’s ancestors survival?

Existential Psychology• Why are we here? Why do we exist?• All humans are essentially alone• We have to come to grips with death

because that’s what makes life worth living!