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A 3-hour Tour Ok, so not quite 3 hours – just a (VERY BRIEF) – History of Psychology

Psychology - brief history of psychology

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Page 1: Psychology - brief history of psychology

A 3-hour Tour

Ok, so not quite 3 hours – just a (VERY BRIEF) – History of Psychology

Page 2: Psychology - brief history of psychology

First things first . . .

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

How is it different from other social sciences? Focus on individual behavior

Where did it come from? Philosophy Physiology

Psychology is born (roughly) in 1879

Page 3: Psychology - brief history of psychology

Historical Origins of ψ from Philosophy Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650)

Page 4: Psychology - brief history of psychology

Historical Origins of ψ from Philosophy Rene Descartes

Beliefs Rationalist: True knowledge comes through

reasoning Nativist: Heredity provides individuals with inborn

knowledge and abilities and we use this to reason We are to doubt everything – that’s the only

way we can be certain about anything I think, therefore I am.

Page 5: Psychology - brief history of psychology

Historical Origins of ψ from Philosophy John Locke (1632 – 1704)

Page 6: Psychology - brief history of psychology

Historical Origins of ψ from Philosophy 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

This is in direct contrast to the rationalist Descartes

Page 7: Psychology - brief history of psychology

Psychology Becomes More Scientific Hermann Helmholtz (1821 – 1894)

Page 8: Psychology - brief history of psychology

Psychology Becomes More Scientific Hermann Helmholtz

He was a mechanist – he believed that everything can be understood with basic physical and chemical principles

He pushed for the need to test and demonstrate things.

Page 9: Psychology - brief history of psychology

Psychology Becomes More Scientific Gustav Fechner (1801 – 1887)

Page 10: Psychology - brief history of psychology

Psychology Becomes More Scientific Gustav Fechner

Psychophysics – he pushed to investigate the relationship between the physical world and our conscious psychological world

He thought it possible to measure the perceived as well as the physical intensities of sensory stimuli and to determine a mathematical relationship

Just noticeable difference (JND) approach

Page 11: Psychology - brief history of psychology

The Father of Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt

Page 12: Psychology - brief history of psychology

The Father of Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt 1st ψ lab (1879)

University of Leipzig, Germany Focus on consciousness

Find basic elements of conscious processes Discover how elements (sensations and feelings) are

connected Specify laws of connection

Introspection Self-observation: ‘seeing’ mental processes in immediate

experience

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The First Schools of ψ

Structuralism Lots of work on sensation & perception and breaking

those down into minute detail Three basic mental elements

Images, feelings & sensations Titchner

Found 43,000 elements associated with sensory experiences 30,000 associated with visual 11,000 associated with auditory 4 associated with taste (was correct with this one)

Page 14: Psychology - brief history of psychology

The First Schools of ψ

Functionalism Focus on adaptation

Applying Darwin’s theory of natural selection to mental processes

William James Stream of consciousness 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

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The First Schools of ψ

Behaviorism Focus on observable behavior J. B. Watson

Felt that the main goal of psychology should be the prediction and control of behavior

Stimulus-response theory We respond to stimuli with our behavior, not thoughts Pavlov’s dog studies

Reinforcement for behavior If our behavior produces rewarding consequences, then we

will do it again

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Subsequent Schools of ψ

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

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Subsequent Schools of ψ

Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory Conscious vs. unconscious conflicts

Unconscious: motivations and memories of which we are not aware

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

Psychoanalysis as therapy: tell me about your childhood….

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Today’s Theoretical Perspectives

Behavioral Observable S-R relationship

Psychodynamic Unconscious forces motivating behavior

Humanistic Self-actualization, free will

Cognitive Thought processes

Psychobiological Genes, brain function

Evolutionary

Page 19: Psychology - brief history of psychology

So what is it you do?

Basic vs. applied Areas of psychology:

Developmental Personality Clinical Cognitive Social Experimental/biological Quantitative