WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S
HISTORICAL ROOTS?
Modern Psychology developed from several
conflicting traditions, including
structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt
Psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis
Psychology has a long past, but only a
short history.
• Root of psychology can be traced back to ancient
Greek philosophers.
• Socrates, Plato, Aristotle—all debated and
thought about the causes of behavior. (what is
free will?)
• Aristotle had theories on sensation, perception,
cognition, memory, problem-solving, and ethics.
• (-Asia—Yoga and Buddhism—exploring
consciousness through meditation)
ODDLY…
• It never occurred to any of the ancient
thinkers to put their speculations to the test.
STRUCTURALISM
FOCUS ON STRUCTURE AND THE
FOUNDING OF SCIENTIFIC
PSYCHOLOGY
CHARLES DARWIN
• Mid 1800’s—Origin of Species
• Suggested a biological kinship between
humans and animals
• For psychologists, this means discoveries
about animal biology and behavior could be
applied to people.
• Ex. Research on nerve impulses in frogs—
reflexes in people. Pavlov-dogs—human
learning
Wilhelm Wundt
• Chemistry’s periodic table intrigued him—he was
a German scientist.
• Wondered if you could do the same thing with
the mind as the table did with explaining
chemical reactions.
• Could he discover the elements of the conscious
experience?
• **This quest became known as structuralism
because it focused on the most basic “structures”
or components of the mind.
Wundt Con’t
• Created a lab in 1879—1st psychology lab!
• Conducted studies on what they supposed to
be the “elements” of consciousness:
• Sensation and Perception
• Memory and Attention
• Emotion
• Cognition
• Learning and Language
STRUCTURALISM
• They asserted that all mental activities consisted
of a combination of such basic processes.
• Experiment: variety of stimuli given to
volunteer—they had to respond with a press of
the lever or a description of their sensations
(introspection).
• Critics—said introspection was too subjective and
that it focused too much on internal behavior
which is not directly observable and can’t be
measured accurately.
Lasting effects of Structuralism
• Psychologists still rely on introspective
method for dream reports and evidence of
perceptual changes.
• The topics that he first identified and explored
are the chapter headings today in AP Books!
FUNCTIONALISM: FOCUS ON
FUNCTION
• William James (American) said structuralism was
too narrow.
• And too boring!
• James argued that psychology should include the
function of consciousness—not just its structure.
• Stream of consciousness—mental process that
had no static structure but was continuously
flowing, changing, and interacting with the
environment.
James Con’t
• James liked how Darwin focused on organisms
adapting to their environments.
• James proposed that psychology should
explain how people adapt—or fail to adapt—
to the everyday world.
• Difference: Where structuralists want to say
“what is consciousness?” –functionalists want
to determine “what is consciousness used
for?”—or what is the purpose or function?
Gestalt Psychology: Focus on the
Whole instead of the Parts
• Another challenge to Wundt and
structuralism, from his native Germany—
• Exact opposite of the structuralists.
• Interested in how we construct “perceptual
wholes”
• Such as our perception of face rather than just
a conglomeration of lines, colors, and
textures.
• (Wertheimer, Kohler)
BEHAVIORISM: Eliminate the Mind
and Focus on Behavior
**A particularly feisty group-the behaviorists—
disagreed with everyone!
They did not even think that consciousness should
be studied at all!
John Watson—leader (1913)
• Should only deal with observable events: stimuli
from the environment and an organisms
responses.
• Don’t care what people are thinking—instead
how do the act.
PSYCHOANALYSIS: Focus of the
Unconscious Mind
• Sigmund Freud—Viennese physician
• Mental disorders arise from conflicts in the
unconscious mind.
• Was extremely controversial
• Main principle: that a great deal of activity
within human psyche resides completely
outside of consciousness.