Introduction to Approaches in
Psychology
Kevin Silber
University of Derby
Before Psychology
Philosophers asked questions about the mind:
 Plato (427-347 BC): Does perception accurately reflect reality?
 Aristotle (384-322 BC): Logic forms the laws of thought
Descartes (1596-1650): “I think therefore I am”
Problematic - No “scientific” way
of studying problems
Scientific Method:
•Predict what will happen
•Systematically observe events
•Do events support predictions
The beginnings of Psychology.
This is Marko Marulic (1450-1524)
Croatian humanist and poet, born in
Split
He probably studied in Padua
First use thought to be around 1506
Title of work was “Psichiologia de
ratione animae humanae”
No actual manuscript exists but the
work is listed in a list of his works
(Life of Marko Marulic from Split)
by his contemporary and friend,
Franjo Bozicevic
The beginnings of Psychology.
First Experimental Psych Lab (1879)
Focuses on the scientific study of the mind.
•Wundt insists that Psychological methods be
Wilhelm Wundt as rigorous as the methods of chemistry &
(1832-1920)
physics.
Wundt’s students start labs
across USA (1880-1900)
Founding Fathers of Psychology
Focus of Experiments:
•Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
•Physiologist & Perceptual Psychologist
•Founder of Psychology as a Science
Focus on Introspection:
•Edward Titchener (1867-1927)
•Student of Wundt
•Developed Y at Cornell
Focus on understanding Mental Processes
•William James (1842-1910)
•Philosopher & Psychologist
•Formed Y at Harvard
Structuralism vs Functionalism
Structuralism (Wundt)
•Analyze consciousness into basic elements and study
how they are related using Introspection (selfobservation of one’s own conscious experiences)
Functionalism (James)
•Investigate the function, or purpose of consciousness
rather than its structure.
•Leaned toward applied work (natural surroundings)
Behaviorism
Scientific Psychology should focus on
observable behaviour.
Y = the study of observable behaviour
John Watson
(1878-1958)
Mental Processes cannot
be studied directly
Stimulus
Response
Psychology
OR
Black box
theory
Ivan Pavlov
Psychology (1920s-1960s)
•Behaviourism:
Science of Observable Behaviour
•John B. Watson (1878-1958)
•Behaviour without Reference to Thought
•S-R Psychology
•“Little Albert”
•B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)
•Behaviour modification
•The Pigeon
•The Skinner Box
Psychology (1960s onwards)
Gestalt Psychology
“The whole is greater than
the sum of its parts.”
•Phi Phenomenon (Max Wertheimer (1880-1943))
•Illusion of movement created by presenting visual
stimuli in rapid succession.
WHY?
•A reaction against Structuralism.
• An attempt to focus attention back onto
conscious experience (the mind)
Phi Phenomenon
Do you see a ball moving back and forth at the
top?
Would it surprise you if I said that the moving ball
is really one ball presented first on the left and
then one on the right? This is true even though it
appears like a ball moving across the screen.
Kaniza Triangles
The images physically consist of 3 circles with pie shaped wedges
removed and 3 angles formed from straight lines. When you look at
the images, you will probably see one triangle on top of another. The
top triangle typically appears lighter, although the background is
physically uniform. The triangular forms and the apparent lightness of
the top triangle in comparison with the bottom one are subjective.
Freud & Psychoanalysis
The idea of the UNCONSCIOUS
Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)
•Thoughts, memories & desires
exist below conscious awareness
and exert an influence on our
behaviour
•Unconscious expressed in
dreams & “slips of the tongue”
•Psychoanalytic Theory attempts
to explain personality, mental
disorders & motivation in terms of
unconscious determinants of
behaviour
(Some) CURRENT Approaches
to Psychology
Psychobiology and Neuroscience
Social Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Health Psychology
Learning and Conditioning
Psychobiology and Neuroscience
“the study of the brain and how it causes
or relates to behaviour” (Wickens, 2000:3)
• Brain and behaviour are linked
– behaviour may shape brain activity
– brain activity may shape behaviour
•Biological psychologists use a number of
techniques to study this relationship:
•healthy human participants
•brain damaged patients
Social Psychology
“ The scientific study of the effects of
social and cognitive processes on the
way individuals perceive, influence and
relate to others” (Smith & Mackie, 2000)
Social Psychologists seek to develop theories to explain social
behaviour using the same principles, laws and conventions that
bind other scientific disciplines.
Emphasis on scientific theories to explain social behaviour
Theories provide general explanations for social behaviour
Cognitive Psychology
“How people perceive, learn, remember and
think about information” (Sternberg, 1996)
Cognitive psychologists are interested in structures and functions of
mind
•Assumption - mind is a set of processes that rely on the brain
•Assumption - mental processes are linked with observable
behaviour
•Takes a scientific perspective
•Perform controlled experiments testing theories about inner mental
processes. Observe the effects of these processes on outward
measurable behaviour
•Mind cannot be directly studied - but observable effects can be
Cognitive Psychology = the study of mental processes via measurable
behaviour
Developmental Psychology
“Developmental psychologists study both the similarities and
the differences among people as they develop and change over
the course of their life” (Carlson et al., 2004)
Many developmental theories involve characterisations of the
stages of development that children and adults go through (e.g.
Piaget, Erikson).
Some theories concentrate on certain aspects of development (e.g.
Kohlberg’s theory of moral development)
Many theories have been influential in shaping the way learning
is organised in schools (e.g. Piaget, Vygotsky)
Developmental psychology also takes account of adulthood, old
age and even death (e.g. McCrae, Salthouse, Kübler-Ross)
Health Psychology
•“The aggregate of the specific educational, scientific
and professional contributions of the discipline of
psychology to the promotion and maintenance of
health, the prevention of illness, and the identification
of etiological and diagnostic correlates of health,
illness and related dysfunction” (Matarazzo, 1980).
Biopsychosocial (mind–body) perspective
–The view that health is determined by the
interaction of biological mechanisms, psychological
processes, and social influences
Learning and Conditioning
•“Learning is an adaptive process in which the
tendency to perform a particular behaviour is
changed by experience. As conditions change, we
learn new behaviours and eliminate old ones (
Carlson et al, 1997).
Habituation: Simplest form of Learning
•Learning not to respond to unimportant events that occur
repeatedly
Classical Conditioning: learning about the
conditions that predict a significant event
•Pavlov’s Dogs
In Summary….
• Psychology is Empirical
• Knowledge acquired through observation
• Psychological conclusions based on research NOT
tradition or common sense
• Psychology develops in both a social & historical
context
• Behaviour is shaped by genes and environment
(nature & nurture)
• Psychology is theoretically diverse (different
approaches)