Unit 1: Psychology’s History and Approaches
Prescientific Theory
 Socrates and Plato
o Mind is separable from body, continues after body dies
o Knowledge is innate (born with people)
 Aristotle
o Knowledge is not preexisting; grows from experiences stored in memories
 Rene Descartes
o Agreed with Socrates and Plato
o Fluid in brain cavities is human’s spirit; memories opened pores in brain where spirit flowed
o Flows to rest of body through nerves to produce movement
 Francis Bacon
o Mind finds patterns in random events
o People notice and remember events that confirm their beliefs
 John Locke
o Mind is “tabula rasa” (blank slate) on which experience writes
 Empiricism: science should rely on observation and experimentation
Psychological Science
 Wilhelm Wundt
o First psychological experiment at University of Leipzig (first psychological laboratory)
o Tested people by having them press a key when they heard a ball hit the floor and when they were
consciously aware of it hitting the floor
Mind’s Structure
 Structuralism developed by Edward Titchener
o Used introspection to explore the mind’s structural elements
o Introspection: reporting what someone feels as they experience something
o Tried to assemble structure of mind from simple elements
 Titchener father of experimental psychology
o Study of behavior and thinking using experimental methods
Mind’s Functions
 William James
o Wrote first psychological textbook
o Believed thinking developed because it was adaptive
o Functionalism: how mental and behavioral processes enable people to adapt and survive
o Admitted Mary Calkins; huge controversy; all other male students dropped out
 Harvard refused to offer her degree; said she could instead receive it from Radcliffe
 First female president of American Psychological Association (APA)
 Margaret Washburn: first female psychology PhD; second APA president
Definition of Psychology
 First definition: “science of mental life”
 Second definition: “scientific study of observable behavior”
o Developed by behaviorists:
 Psychology should be objective science
 Study behavior without references to mental processes
o Argued by humanistic psychologists
 Emphasized individual’s potential for personal growth
 Third definition appeased both sides: “science of behavior and mental processes”
o Influenced by cognitive neuroscience: study of brain activity linked with perception, thinking, memory
and language
o Behavior: anything an organism does
o Mental processes: internal, subjective experiences inferred from behavior
Psychology’s Biggest Question
 Nature vs nurture: controversy over relative contributions of biology and experience
 Natural selection:
o Nature selects traits which best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment
o Explains animal structures and behaviors
Three Main Levels of Analysis
 Biopsychosocial approach: incorporates biological, psychological and social-cultural influences
Biological influences




Natural selection of adaptive traits
Genetic predispositions responding
to environment
Brain mechanisms
Hormonal influences
Psychological influences




Learned fears and other learned

expectations
Emotional responses

Cognitive processing and perceptual

interpretations
Social-cultural influences
Presence of others
Cultural, societal and family
expectations
Peer and other group influences
Compelling models (such as in
the media)
Psychological approaches
Approach
Biological
Evolutionary
Psychodynamic
Behavioral
Cognitive
Humanistic
Social-cultural
Focus
How the mind and brain enable emotions,
memories and sensory experiences
How genes combine with environment to
influence individual differences
How the natural selection of traits
promoted the survival of genes
How behavior springs from unconscious
drives and conflicts
How we learn observable responses
How we encode, process, store and
retrieve information
How we meet our needs for love and
acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment
How behavior and thinking vary across
situations and cultures
Sample Question
How are messages transmitted within the body? How is
blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?
How does evolution influence behavior tendencies?
How can someone’s personality traits be explained in
terms of sexual and aggressive drives?
How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations?
How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning?
How can we work towards fulfilling our potential?
How are we humans alike as members of one human
family? How do we differ due to environmental contexts?
Psychology’s Subfields
 United by one goal: “describing and explaining behavior and the mind underlying it”
 Psychometrics: studying the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, traits
 Basic research: science that aims to increase scientific knowledge base
o Biological psychologists: explore links between biological processes and behaviors
o Developmental: study physical, cognitive and social changes throughout human’s lifespan
o Cognitive: how humans perceive, think and solve problems
o Educational: study influences on teaching and learning
o Personality: investigate people’s traits
o Social: how humans think about, influence and relate to one another
 Applied research: scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
o Industrial-organizational: application of psychology to optimizing human behavior in workplaces
o Human factors: how humans and machines interact; how machines and physical environments can be
made safe and easy to use
 Psychology as “helping profession”
o Counseling: assists people with problems in living and in achieving well-being (divorce, marriage, etc.)
o Clinical: studies, assesses and treats people with psychological disorders; administers/interprets tests, can
provide counseling and therapy
o Psychiatry: medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and treat causes of psychological disorders