Unit 1:
Psychology’s History and Approaches
Psychology’s Roots
Prescientific Psychology
●
Ancient Greeks
Socrates and Plato
Mind is separable from the body and continues after the body dies
Knowledge is innate (born within us)
Aristotle
Loved data
Careful observation
Knowledge is not pre-existing/It grows from experiences stored in our memories
Psychology’s Roots
Prescientific Psychology
● Rene Descartes
Enlightment
Empiricism –senses
Psychology’s Roots
Psychological Science is Born
● Wilhelm Wundt (1879)
University of Leipzig (first lab)
Reaction time experiment
Seeking to measure what?
Introspection
Psychology’s Roots
Thinking About the Mind’s Function
● William James
Functionalism (darwin)
● Mary Calkins-first women
● Margaret Floy Washburn
st
●
1 phd women
Experimental psychology
Psychological Science Develops
Behaviorism
● John B. Watson
● B.F. Skinner
“study of observable
behavior”
Psychoanalysis
Freud
Study of the Unconscious
Psychoanalysis to treat mental disorders
Psychological Science Develops
(1960’s)
● Humanistic psychology
● Carl Rogers
Abraham Maslow-http://study.com/academy/lesson/abraham-maslows-contribution-to-thehumanistic-movement-in-psychology.html
● Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychological Science Develops
●
●
Psychology
● Science
Behavior
Mental processes
Contemporary Psychology
Psychology’s Biggest Question
●
Nature – Nurture Issue
● Biology versus experience
● Charles Darwin
● Natural selection
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
What is an approach or perspective?
Different views for explaining or analyzing any given phenomenon.
Usually used to explain behavior or mental processing.
Psychological perspectives – ways which psychologists classify collections of ideas.
Kind of like political parties and each perspective has its own viewpoint and sometimes they
agree and sometimes they don't.
Grizzly Bears!
Why do Grizzly Bears hibernate?
Is it based on evolution? Did hibernation help their ancestors to survive?
Is it biological? Do their inner physiology drive them to hibernate?
Is it environmental? Is it because cold environments hinder food gathering during winter?
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives (The Umbrella)
● Biological psychology NC
● Evolutionary psychology NC
● Psychodynamic psychology NC
● Behavioral psychology NC
● Cognitive psychology NC
● Humanistic psychology NC
● Social-cultural psychology NC
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Evolutionary Psychology
The study of the roots of behavior and mental processes using the principals of natural selection.
Perspective: How the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes.
All behavior is a result instincts that helped our species survive.
How does evolution influence behavior tendencies?
Key Words: Ancestors, Heritability, Natural Selection, Maturation, Survival
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Perspective:
Psychoanalytic
● How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts
● Analysis of personality traits and disorders in terms of sexual and aggressive drives as the
disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas
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●
●
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Unresolved complexes hidden within ones unconscious (Oedipus and Electra, Potty training)
ID, EGO, SUPEREGO
Unconscious of why we do what we do
Treatment?????
Id, Ego, Superego
● Id=Pleasure principle
● Ego=Reality principle
● Superego=Conscience (inhibitions and moral values)
● Battleground
Id, Ego, Superego
Behavioral Psychology
The scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning.
Perspective: How we learn observable responses.
How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations?
Key Words: Learning, Observable actions (Behavior), Reinforcement, Rewards, Punishment
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Cognitive Psychology
The scientific study of all the mental activities associated with THINKING, knowing, remembering, and
communicating.
Perspective: How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information.
How do we use information in remembering or problem solving?
Key Words: Thinking, Memory
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
Social-cultural Psychology
The study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking.
Perspectives: How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures.
How are we all alike as humans? How do we differ based on culture or society?
Key Words: Others influence, culture, environment, conformity, society
Application of Theories
● John is 40 years old. He lives alone with his mother. He has never been married but has a good
job as an engineer. His life seemed to be going well until one day a month ago. John’s boss
chewed him out for not doing something right at work. During the last month, John has been
worried and depressed because he has started to forget things. He told his mother, who told
Ethel who lives next door, and now everybody knows. Here are some examples of what has
been happening to him: he was supposed to turn in plans for a new project but forgot they were
due. He had always remembered his mother’s birthday, but it was a week ago and he
completely forgot about it, hurting her, even though she pretended not to be upset. A month
ago, a few days after the incident on the job, he met a woman he really liked and set up a date
with her for later in the week. But he had forgotten that he was going to be out of town then,
so he had to cancel the date./ Explain John’s behavior and treatment you would recommend
based on the theory given to your group.
JOHN