Pharaoh Psamtik I of Egypt, 7c BC

• Which civilization is older, Egyptian or Phoenician?

• Experiment attempts to figure out which of the 2 languages is the innate language

1st documented psychology experiment

The Greeks

Idealism / Rationalism

Socrates: correct reasoning leads to knowledge

Plato: ideas are real, perception is not to be trusted

An Early Scientist

Aristotle: perception and experience are required to gain knowledge

Philosopher-Psychologists

David Hume (1711-1776) • empiricism• principles of learning

- association, resemblance, contiguity

John Locke (1632-1704) • tabula rasa

Rene Descartes (1596-1650) • “cogito ergo sum”• mind-body dualism

Founders of PsychologyFranz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) - phrenology

More Founders

Johannes Muller (1801-1858)“specific nerve energy” in sensory systems

Ernst Heinrich Weber (1795-1878)Psychophysics: just noticable difference

Still More Founders

Hermann von Helmholz (1821-1894) physicist, measured speed of nerve impulse, developed trichromatic theory of color vision

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)first psychology laboratory in 1879

Structuralism

• higher processes develop from simple elements

• if we can understand the building blocks of basic processes, we can put it all together and thereby understand complex processes, like consciousness

American Psychology• William James (1842-1910):

first American psychologist, Harvard Medical School• Pragmatism: enables theories to "become instruments, not answers to enigmas."

"True ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify. False ideas are those that we cannot.“• Functionalism: the mind’s complex processes evolve because of life-preserving functions

Psychoanalysis & Freud

Sigmund Freud (1865-1939)

• neurologist – discovered eel testes, but career cut short

• brings attention to mental life

• develops “talking cure” and several influential theories of development and personality

• used case study and introspection methodology

Modern Specializations

Social Psychology: How do people influence each other?  How does being a part of a group influence an individual’s behavior?

Individual Differences: How do we differ from one another, and how can we measure those differences?

Physiological Psychology: How does biology contribute to our “minds” and behavior?

Clinical Psychology: What kinds of behaviors and emotions are “abnormal”? How can we best treat “mental illness”?

Modern Specializations 2

Sensation and Perception: How do we get an impression of the external world?

Learning and Memory: How do we learn from the consequences of our behavior, and how does that shape our future behavior?  How do we store information?

Cognitive Psychology: How do we think and make decisions?

Developmental Psychology: Are there general principles that describe how children behave as they grow into adults?  What may go wrong in development, and what are the consequences?