Introduction
Psychology
What is Psychology?
 Psychology is the scientific
study of behavior and mental
processes.
 “Psychology” has its roots in
the Greek words of “psyche,”
or mind, and “-ology,” or a
field of study.”
“Psychology
has a
long past but only
a short history.”
◦Hermann Ebbinghaus
History of Psychology
Psychology vs. Psychiatry
 Psychiatry is a specialty in the medical field, not a part
of psychology.
 Psychiatrists hold MDs and have specialized training
in the treatment of mental and behavioral problems.
 Psychology is a much broader field which has many
different specialties.
Origins of Psychology
• Greeks- 5th & 6th centuries
B.C.
– People’s lives were
dominated not so much by
gods but their own minds
• People are rational
• Aristotle = Asked Why?
– Began to compare the
sensations, wonder how the
thought process worked, and
even why we slept
Socrates ->
Plato
->
Aristotle
Mind & Body Separate -> Yeah, not so much
Let’s look at the data
Origins Continued…
• During Renaissance people began to
experiment and observe results
• Rene Descartes first to pose dualismidea that a link existed between the
mind and body
– Nativism- is the view that certain
skills or abilities are 'native' or hard
wired into the brain at birth.
(1596-1650)
A Change in Perspective
 For hundreds of years
medieval Christian churches
felt the human mind, like
that of God, was an
unsolvable mystery.
 In the 17th C. the French
philosopher Rene Descartes
argued that human
sensations and behaviors
were based on activity in the
nervous system.
Rene Descartes 1596-1650
John Locke (1632-1704)
– “An Essay
Concerning Human
Understanding”
–Tabula rasa
– Empiricism
• Knowledge
originates in
experience and
that science
should rely on
observation and
experimentation
Psychology Becomes a Science
 Despite Descartes arguments and scientific
breakthroughs at the time, psychology didn’t become a
recognized science until the mid 1800s.
Modern Psychology Rooted in History
 Modern psychology developed from several conflicting
ideas including structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt
psychology, behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
Psychological Science Is Born
–Wilhelm Wundt
• (1832-1920)
• Established modern
psychology as a formal
field of study
–1st “Psychologist”
–Developed the first psychology
lab/experiment
• Measuring reaction time
Structuralism
 Wilhelm Wundt (Voont) was the first to declare
himself a psychologist.
 He believed in structuralism.
Wilhelm Wundt 1832-1929
 Structuralism: devoted to uncovering the basic
structures that make up mind and thought-looking
for the elements of conscious experience.
 Structuralism relies on introspection, or the
process of reporting one’s own conscious mental
experiences.
 What would be the strengths/weaknesses of introspection?
Gestalt Psychology
 Gestalt psychology was the opposite of
structuralism. Instead of looking at the individual
parts, it wanted to examine the whole.
 Gestalt psychology looked at how the brain works
by studying perception and perceptual thinking.

Ex. Recognizing a person’s face.
• E.B. Titchner- brought Wundt’s
psychology to U.S.
– Structuralism-study the basic elements
that make up human mental experiences
– Introspection
• Looking inward- analyzing immediate
sensations and how they related to one
another.
• Results varied and were unreliable
• For example…
• Using structuralism and the idea of
introspection I would need to analyze
everyone’s immediate sensations.
• Did this picture make you smile?
• Did this picture make you want to cry?
• Once again with structuralism, results
varied and were unreliable
Critics of Wundt and Structuralism
 Like most new theories, people
began to dispute and refute
structuralism.
 William James (the first U.S.
psychologist) believed that
psychology should look at function
and not just structure.
William James 1842-1910
Functionalism
• Functionalism- study how animals
and people adapt to their environments..
– Influenced by Charles Darwin
• William James- father of psychology in U.S.
– Taught first psychology class at Harvard
University in 1875.
• Why does the brain think? Why does the nose
smell?
• Wrote “The Principles of Psychology”
– Took 12 years!
1842-1910
 Functionalism- A theory that emphasized the
functions of consciousness and the ways consciousness
helps people adapt to their environment.
 James thought that psychology should explain how
people adapted-or failed to adapt-to everyday life
outside the laboratory.
The parts of the
functionalist view of
psychology
James’ Functionalism
 James’ criticism of Wundt’s
structuralism was that it was boring and
inaccurate because it was only done in
the laboratory.
 James wanted to see how people
functioned in everyday life, not just in
contrived situations.
 Also he believed that mental process
were not static. He described them as a
“stream of consciousness.”
Ladies
• Margaret Washburn
• Mary Calkins
– Denied degree by
Harvard in 1895
– First PhD 1894,
Cornell
– First woman president
of the APA
– The Animal Mindanimal behavior
Between – Renowned memory
research
researcher
1996-2009
Females
claimed twothirds of U.S.
Psychology
Ph.D.s
Psychology Defined 2012
• The definition has evolved over time.
*The science of behavior and mental
*processes.
• Behavior = any action we can observe and
record.
– Examples: Yelling, smiling, sweating…
• Mental Processes = internal, subjective
experiences we infer from behavior.
– Examples: Sensations, perceptions,
feelings…
Nature versus Nurture
• The longstanding controversy over the
relative contributions that genes and
experience make to the development of
psychological traits and behaviors.
Plato
Descartes
Darwin
Aristotle
Locke
Nature versus Nurture
• How are humans alike but diverse?
• Are gender differences biologically predisposed
or socially constructed?
• Is children’s grammar mostly innate or formed by
experience?
• How are differences in intelligence and
personality influenced by heredity and by
environment?
• Are sexual behaviors more pushed by inner
biology or pulled by external incentives?
4.2%
Elementary and
Secondary Schools
6.3%
Business and Government
8.5%
Other
19.4%
Hospitals and Clinics
28.0%
Colleges and Universities
33.6%
Private Practice
Psychology’s
Early History
Psychology’s
Modern History
Psychology
Today:
Vigorous and
Diversified
Seven Unifying
Themes
Personal
Application
0.5%
Forensic
0.6%
Other
0.9%
Clinical Neuropsychology
5.2%
School
6.1%
Industrial/Organizational
14.7%
Counseling
72.1%
Clinical
Psychology’s
Early History
Psychology’s
Modern History
Psychology
Today:
Vigorous and
Diversified
Seven Unifying
Themes
Personal
Application