History and Approaches Homework – ANSWERS
Pages 1-15
45 Points
Due: _______________
1. Create a timeline that presents 9 key figures/groups in what is known as pre-scientific psychology. The contributions
of these figures laid the intellectual groundwork for what would become psychology in the late 19th century. Create the
timeline on the back of this paper. Begin with Buddha and end with John Locke. (9 points)
Include: Name, time period, contribution, terms associated with figures when available. (Exact dates are not
required if not provided, time frames will suffice.)
2. Match the people below with the quotation on the right. Although these are not actual quotes, use what is in the
text to determine which philosophy is most closely related to ideas in the various quotations. (8 points)
I ___ Buddha
ii.___ Confucious
iii.___ Hebrew Scholars
iv.___ Socrates & Plato
v.___ Aristotle
vi.___ Descartes
vii.___ Bacon
viii.___ Locke
a. “If one has a broken heart, so too will be his thinking.”
b. “She who seek knowledge need only peer into her past, as all one can know comes from the days of her own life.”
c. “Your parents give you the book upon which you will write your own life story.”
d. “When our senses couple with our perception, their offspring exists in our ideas.”
e. “The search for knowledge is futile, as one cannot find what he didn’t have at birth.”
f. “The animal within flows through our veins, in search of the experience that will open the door to the mind.”
g. “The knowledge I seek to sharpen my mind will bring ideas that will dilute your power and dull your sword.”
h. “The naive will choose to see that which supports his opinion, even when the opposite is more common.”
3. Discuss the birth of psychology, and the contributions of Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchner. Identify the primary
approach of their school of structuralism. (4 points)
4. Identify and note the specific contributions of each of the main players in the school of functionalism, and contrast
this school with the structuralists from the previous question. (4 points)
5. Trace the evolution of the definition of psychology, beginning in the early 20th century through what it is today.
Address the following question in your answer: How might the diverse backgrounds of the early thinkers in the
development of psychology explain why the focus of study in psychology has continuously evolved? (4 points)
6. Psychology is often referred to as a “soft science.” Using specific details from the text, explain why this term may be
used to describe psychology. (Why is it a science? What do you think is meant by the “soft” descriptor?) (4 points)
7. So really….if nature / nurture is the “big” debate in psychology…
a. what is nature?
b. what is nurture?
c. what is the argument about?
d. Which one do YOU think plays the larger role in development and why? (4 points)
8. Psychology has a variety of complementary yet incomplete perspectives that help us understand behavior. How
might each of the following perspectives explain aggression? (8 points)
 Biological
 Cognitive
 Evolutionary
 Social-Cultural
History and Approaches Terms
Page 16
Due: _______
Your terms for this chapter consist of all of the terms listed on page 16, plus the ones listed below:
These terms should be the first entries in your term notebook.
Wilhelm Wundt Introspection
Mary Calkins
Behaviorist
Edward Titchner William James
Sigmund Freud
You should have a total of 38 terms. Please number your entries.
Quiz on Chapter 1:
_____________________
History and Approaches ANSWERS
2.
i. _D_ Buddha
ii. _G_ Confucious
iii. _A_ Hebrew Scholars
iv. _E_ Socrates & Plato
v, _B_ Aristotle
vi. _F_ Descartes
vii. _H_ Bacon
viii. _C_ Locke
a. “If one has a broken heart, so too will be his thinking.”
b. “She who seek knowledge need only peer into her past, as all one can know comes from the days of her own life.”
c. “Your parents give you the book upon which you will write your own life story.”
d. “When our senses couple with our perception, their offspring exists in our ideas.”
e. “The search for knowledge is futile, as one cannot find what he didn’t have at birth.”
f. “The animal within flows through our veins, in search of the experience that will open the door to the mind.”
g. “The knowledge I seek to sharpen my mind will bring ideas that will dilute your power and dull your sword.”
h. “The naive will choose to see that which supports his opinion, even when the opposite is more common.”
3. Discuss the birth of psychology, and the contributions of Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchner. Identify the
primary approach of their school of structuralism. (4 points)
A: Wilhelm Wundt began modern psychology when he tried to study the simplest mind features, what
he called “atoms of the mind.” He and his assistants found that there was a difference in how much time went
by when a subject was asked to press a button when he heard a sound, and when he was conscious of the fact
that he heard a sound. This discovery that there was a difference between sensation and consciousness led to
the birth of psychology. His student, Edward Titchener, later created structuralism. Structuralism required
people to use introspection, which means that people look inward to describe their sensations and feelings.
4. Identify and note the specific contributions of each of the main players in the school of functionalism, and
contrast this school with the structuralists from the previous question. (4 points)
A: William James created functionalism, which focused on how our physical and mental processes work
together and are adaptive. He studied memory, emotion, willpower, habits and moment-to-moment
consciousness. James used the ideas that Darwin had about adaptation as the basis of functionalism.
Mary Calkins was a student of James’ at Harvard, and was denied her PhD because she was female.
While structuralism focused on identifying mind and consciousness, James’s new “functionalist”
approach was more interested in how the senses and mind worked together.
5.
6.
7.
So really….if nature / nurture is the “big” debate in psychology… (4 points)
a. what is nature? A: What we are born with
b. what is nurture? A: How our environment affects us
c. what is the argument about? A: Is nature or nurture a larger part of who we are as people?
d. Which one do YOU think plays the larger role in development and why? A: answers will vary
8. Psychology has a variety of complementary yet incomplete perspectives that help us understand behavior. How
might each of the following perspectives explain aggression? (8 points)
 Biological
A: People act aggressively because specific parts of the brain are acting in a certain way;
heredity may predispose someone to be aggressive; some have a more aggressive disposition.
 Cognitive
A: Acting aggressively affects one’s thinking; how we interpret an event could make one
aggressive.
 Evolutionary
A: Aggression may have made ancestors survive, and those genes were passed on; natural
selection selected the most valuable traits for survival, and they have been passed on.
 Social-Cultural
A: What is seen as aggression in one culture may not be seen as aggression in another; a
situation may affect aggressive thinking and behavior.
Pre-scientific Psychology Figures and contributions
BUDDHA (India) – Questioned how
sensations and perceptions combined to
form ideas.
ARISTOTLE (Student of Socrates and
Plato) (Greece) – Used observations,
said not knowledge is not pre-existing,
but grows from experience.
FRANCIS BACON (Britain) – One of the
founders of modern science. Identified
mind’s need for order. Identified
superstition phenomenon.
SOCRATES/PLATO (Greece) –
Concluded that the mind is
seperable from the body, and
continues after the body dies. Also,
knowledge is innate (you are born
with it.)
RENE DESCARTES (France) – Agreed
mind was distinct from body.
Believed fluid in brain contained
animal spirits. Memories formed as
experiences opened pores in the
brain that animal spirits flowed into.
First to focus on importance of
nerves and their relation to reflexes.
JOHN LOCKE (British) – An Essay
Concerning Human Understanding
contained “tabula rasa,” which is the
idea that the mind is a blank slate,
upon which experience writes.
Foundation of science relying on
observation and experimentation.
Pre-scientific Psychology Figures and contributions
HEBREW SCHOLARS (Israel) – Linked
mind and emotion to the body (think
with heart, feel with the bowels.)
CONFUSCIOUS (China) – Stressed the
power of ideas and an educated
mind.