Transcript Document

PSYCHOLOGY ROCKS
• Why did you take this class?
• What do you hope to get from this class?
Week One Objective
I will be able to relay the
concepts learned about
psychology’s history and
research method’s (in group
activities, individual
assignments and on tests)
Chapter 1: The Evolution of
Psychology
What is Psychology?
What is Psychology?
The science of behavior and mental processes.
What do you think that means?
What is Psychology
Behaviors
Mental Processes
• Any action we can record
and observe:
• Yelling
• Smiling
• Blinking
• Talking
• Questionnaire marking
• Sweating
• Kissing
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Sensations
Perceptions
Dreams
Thoughts
Beliefs
Feeling
Let’s Dance
Why are some people good
dancers?
Why are some people “bad’
dancers?
Psychologies Biggest Question?????
Nature
Nurture
To what
does
nature
refer?
To what
does
nurture
refer ?
From Speculation to Science:
How Psychology Developed
• Prior to 1879
– Physiology and philosophy scholars study
questions about the mind:
– Are people’s perceptions of the world an
accurate reality?
– How do the mind and body interact?
From Speculation to Science:
How Psychology Developed
• *Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) University of
Leipzig,* Germany
– Campaigned to make psychology an
independent discipline
– *Established the first laboratory for the
study of psychology in 1879
*Psychology was born-Father of Psychology
Wundt
Wilhelm Wundt’s International Influence
• Leipzig, the place to study psychology
– Graduates of Wundt’s program set up new
labs across Europe and North America
• *G. Stanley Hall (1846-1924), Johns Hopkins
University
– *Established the first psychology laboratory
in the U.S. in 1883
• Between 1883 and 1893, 24 new laboratories
in North America
For Wundt
Psychology became the scientific
study of conscious experience
(things that we were aware of)
Figure 1.1 Early Research Laboratories in North America
Psychology Enters a period
of Turmoil
The Battle of the “Schools” in the U.S.:
Structuralism vs. Functionalism
• Structuralism – Edward Titchener, an
Englishman, came to US in 1892 taught at
Cornell for decades, earned degree in
Wundt’s Germany lab but brought his own
version of Wundt’s psychology to America
– *Analyze consciousness into basic
elements: relied on introspection to do this
1. *Introspection – careful, systematic observations
of one’s own conscious experience-subjects
exposed to auditory tones, optical illusions and
stimuli that they and one needed to analyze his
experience
Edward Titchener
The Battle of the “Schools” in the U.S.:
Structuralism vs. Functionalism
• *Functionalism – William James (MD who didn’t find
medicine challenging)
– Investigate function (what does it do) of
consciousness rather than its structure
– Led to investigation of mental testing,
developmental patterns, and sex differences
– *He focused on the functions rather than the
structure of consciousness
– He wrote The Principles of Psychology (1890-
study of the mind, sensation, memory and
reason)
William James
*James argued that consciousness consisted of a
continuous flow of thoughts and not into different
elements. Structuralism went to the laboratory while
functionalists focused on how people adapt their
behavior to real world demands
After Structuralism and Functionalism,
Eight Perspectives Develop as part of
Psychology:
• 1. Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic
• 2. Behavioral
• 3. Humanism
• 4. Cognitive
• 5. Biological
• 6. Evolutionary
• 7. Sociocultural/Cultural
• 8. Biopsychosocial
All are varying ways to explain behaviors
1. Psychoanalytic Perspective: Sigmund
Freud and the Concept of the Unconscious
Mind
• *Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Austriamedical doctor who treated mental disorders
such as irrational fears, anxieties and
obsessions
• *Founded Psychoanalytic school of thought
• *Emphasis on unconscious processes
influencing behavior
– *Unconscious = outside awareness
Sigmund Freud
Unconscious Processes of Freud
Unconscious contain:
Thoughts
Memories
Desires
below the surface of conscious awareness that
had a big influence on behavior
Freud’s Ideas:
Controversy and Influence
• *Behavior is influenced by the unconscious
• *Unconscious conflict related to sexuality
plays a central role in behavior
• Controversial notions caused
debate/resistance
• Significant influence on the field of
psychology
Psychoanalytic Theory
*Attempt to explain personality,
motivation and mental disorders
by focusing on the unconscious
determining behavior, including
repressed childhood
experiences
2. Behaviorism: Redefining Psychology
• *John B. Watson (1878-1958): United States
– Founder of Behaviorism
• *Behavior = overt or observable responses
or activities
– Radical reorientation of psychology as a
science of observable behavior
– Study of consciousness abandoned
John B. Watson 1878-1958
Behaviorism- alters
psychologies course
Just what are observable behaviors?
Who is in control of
how you behave?
John Watson and the Nature-Nurture Debate
• Nurture, not nature
– “give me a dozen healthy infants, wellformed, and my own special world to bring
them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any
one at random and train him to become
any type of specialist I might select –
doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and
yes, even beggar-man and thief…”
• *Behaviorist school of thought emphasized the
environment (nurture), how environment (my family,
friends, coworkers, etc…influences behavior
• Focus on stimulus-response relationships: you act jealous, I
coddle you to assure you, that rewards your jealousy and
causes it to reoccur
*BF Skinner
1904-1990
•Environmental
factors
determine
behavior
•Responses that
lead to positive
outcomes are
repeated
•Responses that
lead to negative
outcomes are
not repeated
BF Skinner
1904-1990
Beyond Freedom
and Dignity
He felt free will was an
illusion. He worked
with rats and pigeons
and showed he could
have control over their
behavior by
manipulating the
outcome of their
responses. *People
are controlled by their
environment, not by
themselves.
3. The 1950’s: Opposition to Psychoanalytic
Theory and Behaviorism
• Charges that both were de-humanizing
• Diverse opposition groups got together to
form a loose alliance
• A new school of thought emerged Humanism
– Led by Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) and
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
– Emphasis on the unique qualities of
humans: freedom and personal growth
3. Humanism/Humanistic-stressed the unique qualities of humans,
especially their freedom and potential for personal growth, and asserts
that once I realize my self-worth I am able to change behaviors
Abraham Maslow
Carl Rogers
4. Putting the Psyche Back in Psychology:
The Return of Cognition
• *Cognition/Cognitive Perspective =
refers to mental processes such as
problem solving or thought processes.
Negative behaviors are result of how I
interpret events in my life
• 1950’s and 60’s – Piaget (children’s
development), Chomsky (language
acquisition), and Simon (problem
solving)
Cognitive Perspective
*Internal mental events effect behavior
Peoples mental images effect how they
behave. How one interprets a situation
effects how one reacts.
5. Biological Psychology:
The Biological Basis of Behavior
– Biological perspective - behavior
explained in terms of
physiological/biochemical processes-I flee
a situation because certain chemicals are
released that make me feel fear
• James Olds (1956)
– Electrical stimulation of the brain evokes
emotional responses in animals
• Roger Sperry (1981)
– Left and right brain specialization
Roger Perry-Split Brain Studies
• To his surprise he found that monkeys and
cats with split brains act much the same as
normal animals.
• where learning was involved they behaved as
if they had two independent brains. If a
monkey was trained to discriminate between
a square and a circle with one eye, the other
being covered with a patch, then, if the
situation was reversed the animal would have
to relearn how to make the discrimination.
Cultural Psychology:
Recognizing Human Variation
• Ethnocentrism – viewing one’s own group
as superior and as the standard for judging
the worth of foreign ways-may have resulted
in:
• Historically: middle and upper class white
males studying middle and upper class white
males
• 1980’s – increased interest in how cultural
factors influence behavior-WHY do you think
this occurred?
WHY
Possibly:
• Growing global interdependence
• Civil rights movement
• women’s rights movement
• Gays rights movement
• Increased cultural diversity in the US
6. Evolutionary Psychology:
Human Adaptations
• Central premise: natural selection occurs for
behavioral, as well as physical,
characteristics-We act the way we do to
ensure reproductive success and future
generations. I have good spatial skills
because I am a women who gathers food-this
skill was passed to me.
• Buss, Daly & Wilson, Cosmides & Tooby – 80’s and 90’s
• Studied natural selection of mating preferences,
jealousy, aggression, sexual behavior, language,
decision making, personality, and development are all to
ensure survival and are passed on
7. Sociocultural/Cultural Perspective:
• One’s cultural expectations, rules and
customs determines one’s behavior
8. Biopsychosocial Approach:
Three things interact to determine one’s
behavior, say depression: 1. body’s
functioning such as brain, chemical, or
hormones 2. psychological functioning such
as how I cope with and interpret life events
3.environmental events (divorce , job loss,
family death, being abused, for instances )
Table 1.1 Overview of Six Contemporary Theoretical Perspectives in Psychology
Psychology Today:
A Thriving Science and Profession
• Research: Seven major areas
• Applied Psychology: Four major areas
Figure 1.6 Membership in the American Psychological Association, 1900–2004
Figure 1.7 Employment of psychologists by setting
Figure 1.8 Major research areas in contemporary psychology
Figure 1.9 Principal professional specialties in contemporary psychology