Unit 1 History and Approaches

FOLDER PASS Rules: - You may not open the folder until I say

go- You will have 30 seconds with the

folder - Once you open the folder you must

write down everything you know about that topic, question, etc.

- You may not repeat what others have already said

- Once time is up you pass the folder to the next student in your row.

Is psychology common sense?

Defining Psychology

• Psychology has had several definitions over the course of its history • 1879-1920 – “science of

mental life” • 1920 -1960 – “science of

observable behavior” • 1960 – present – “science

of behavior and mental processes

Psychology• The science of behavior and mental processes

• Science - knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation

• Behavior – directly observable or measurable – Ex: reading, talking, listening

• Mental processes – not directly observable or measurable– Ex: thoughts and emotions

Behavior or Mental Process?1. dreaming

2. getting excited about going out

3. having a toothache

4. singing a song 'in your head'

5. worrying about your performance on a test

6. planning an excuse to get out of a date

7. singing a song aloud

8. writing a letter

9. doing arithmetic 'in your head'

10. experiencing 'butterflies in the stomach‘

11. Scratching you leg

12. Reading the time on your watch

Of Psychology

1. Describe –tell what behaviors or mental processes are happening

2. Explain – tell why these behaviors or mental processes are happening

3. Predict – tell what behavioral or mental processes will likely happen in the future

4. Control – influence individuals behavior or mental processes

Goals of Psychology Practice _____________Nearly 9 out of 10 cigarette smokers first tried smoking by age 18. _____________ If smoking continues at the current rate among youth in this country, 5.6 million of today’s Americans younger than 18 will die early from smoking-related illnesses. _____________ Current use of electronic cigarettes increased among middle and high school students from 2011 to 2014._____________ The way mass media show tobacco use as a normal activity can promote smoking among young people._____________ Higher cost for tobacco products are implemented to reduce and prevent youth tobacco use . _____________ Each day in the united states, more than 3,800 youth aged 18 year or older smoke their first cigarette. _____________ Parental smoking may promote smoking among young people. _____________ Workplaces and public places prohibit smoking in indoor areas to prevent smoking.

I used to think…but, now I know….

Can you think of any famous psychologists from psychology’s history?

Psychology’s Roots

o Psychology, the scientific study of behavior and mental processes, is a young science

o Relatively only a little over 100 years old (1870s)

o But, from the beginning of recorded history people have been interested in certain questions about human behavior. Ex: Psamtik I, King of Egypt, 7th century

B.C.

4th century

• Plato (380 B.C.)– nativist (inherited)

• Aristotle (350 B.C.)– empiricist (experience)

The Renaissance (14th-17th centuries)

Philosophers began to reexamine Aristotle’s ideas Rene Descartes (1600) – mathematician,

philosopher, nativistoProponent of dualism – the view that the

mind and body are separate entities oProposed the existence of “threads” in the

body that control behavior (nerves)oArgued that some movements are made

“without thought” (reflexes/conditioned responses)

John Locke (1700)– British, empiricist, philosopher oTabula rasa - Blank slate

19th Century Advanced in physiology and medicine laid the foundation for the

scientific study of human behavior Researched in England, Russia, and France demonstrated:

nerves carry information from the senses to the brain and movement commands from the brain to the muscles

different parts of the brain are responsible for the control of specific behaviors (Phineas Gage -1848)

cases of bizarre, disturbed behavior can be associated with damage and disease in the brain

movement and impulses are not instantaneous, but instead take a small but finite amount of time (Helmholtz-1830)

• Charles Darwin (1860)• Natural selection • Evolution

The Birth of Modern Psychology (1879) o From philosophy and physiology comes

psychology oWilhelm Wundt

“Father of Psychology” First psychology laboratory (1879,

Germany) Research assistant to Helmholtz Wrote the first psychology text Structuralism - breaking down mental

processes into the most basic components

o G. Stanley Hall Wundt’s student First laboratory in U.S. (Johns Hopkins

University, 1883) American Psychological Association (APA) in

1892 o Edward Titchener (1885)

Wundt’s student Structuralist Introspection

450 B.C. 350 B.C.400 B.C. 300 B.C.

384 B.C. Aristotle Born

380 B.C. Meno by Plato

347 B.C. Plato Died

322 B.C. Aristotle Died

350 B.C. On the Soul by Aristotle

427 B.C. Plato was born

o William James First comprehensive textbook

(1890) Functionalism - Concerned with

how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment

o Hermann Ebbinghaus (1888) Research on memory

o Mary Calkins (1895) Pioneered the study of memory, dreams,

and personality Elected president of APA

o Sigmund Freud (1900) Physician Theory on personality First systematic method of therapy

(Psychoanalysis)

20th Century

o Turned away from introspection and began using a more objective approach

o Edwin Thorndike (1910) Learning in cats and rats

o Margaret Floy Washburn (1915) 1st women to receive a psychology degree Wrote a book on animal behavior

o Ivan Pavlov (1905) Classical conditioning

o John Watson (1920) Redefined psychology – “science of observable behavior” Behaviorism

Dominated from 1920s to 1960s

o B. F. Skinner (1940) Behaviorist Operant conditioning

Cognitive revolution –“science of behavior and mental process” o Jean Piaget (1950)

Intelligence in children o Noam Chomsky (1960)

Language

Humanistic Psychology o Maslow (1955)o Rogers (1970)

Social Psychology

Crash Course Video Intro to Psychology

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=history+of+psych+crash+course&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

Minute Essay

How did psychology

develop as a science?

Contemporary Approaches to Psychology

Approach/Perspective

What is the main cause of behavior

Application Example: Alcoholism Major Psychologist

Psychoanalytic Unconscious motivations influence our behavior.

Does excessive drinking indicate an unconscious problem or conflict? Does drinking reduce inhibitions allowing the unconscious to surface?

Sigmund Freud

Behavioral Events in the environment (rewards and punishments) influence our behavior

Is alcoholism learned? Can it be unlearned? Can new habits replace the alcoholic habits?

Ivan Pavlov John B. WatsonB.F. Skinner

Humanistic Individual or self-directed choices influence our behavior.

For what inadequacy do people try to compensate by drinking? Does alcohol give people a false sense of relief from inadequacy or lack of self-worth?

Abraham Maslow Carl Rogers

Cognitive How we process, store, and retrieve information influences our behavior.

What thought pattern precedes heavy drinking? Can the thoughts be analyzed and changed to curtail the drinking behavior?

Jean Piaget Noam Chomsky

Biological

Biological factors (genes, hormones, nervous system, and brain) influence our behavior.

Is alcoholism a disease? What role does genetics play in the development of alcoholism? How does alcohol affect the brain?

Sociocultural Ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status influence our behavior.

How does alcoholism differ between cultures? What unique pressures of a particular culture contribute to alcohol abuse?

Careers in Psychology

• U.S. Department of Labor predicts employment opportunities to increase

Quick Facts: Psychologists

2010 Median Pay $68,640 per year $33.00 per hour

Number of Jobs, 2010 174,000

Job Outlook, 2010-20 22% (Faster than average)

Employment Change, 2010-20 37,700

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Psychologists, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/psychologists.htm (visited January 10, 2013).

Psychologist Vs. Psychiatrist

Fields of Psychology

• Clinical • Counseling • Developmental • Educational • Community • Industrial/Organizational

• Environmental • Neuropsychologist /

Psychobiologist • Forensic • Health • Experimental