Thinking About Psychology:
The Science of Mind and
Behavior 2e
Charles T. Blair-Broeker
Randal M. Ernst
Methods Domain
Introductory Chapter
Module 02
History and
Perspectives
Module 2: History and Perspectives
Part One:
Modern Psychology’s
Nineteenth-Century
Roots
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•
•
•
Wilhelm Wundt (Voont)
(1832-1920)
The “father of psychology”
Founder of modern psychology
Opened the first psychology lab in 1879
Focused on introspection – describe your conscious
experience in a systematic way
E.B. Titchener (1867-1927)
• Analyzed the intensity, clarity and quality of the parts of consciousness
• Founder of Structuralism; steered psychology toward a descriptive science.
• Successful descriptions of such basic elements were the bldg blocks
of consciousness
Had been Wundt’s student
Moved away from self-reporting and describing
and towards a descriptive science
Structuralism
• Theory that the structure of conscious
experience could be understood by
analyzing the basic elements of
thoughts and sensations.
Gestalt (gih-SHTALT) Psychology
• Psychological perspective that emphasized our
tendency to integrate pieces of information
into meaningful wholes.
• The whole is different from the sum of its parts
(the individual notes in your favorite song)
– How much money would it take to convince you to
sell your kidney?
– How much money would it take for your liver?
– Your eyes? Your heart? Your brain?
William James (1842-1910)
• First American
psychologist
• Author of the first
psychology textbook
• Founder of
Functionalism
• Helps us adapt to our
environment
(influenced by
Darwin)
Functionalism
• Theory that emphasized the functions of
consciousness or the ways consciousness
helps people adapt to their environment
• Ex: we develop useful habits – like
washing our hands before eating – because
they help us function more effectively in
our daily lives. Consciousness helped us
adapt to and function in our surroundings.
Module 2: History and Perspectives
Part Two:
Psychology in the
Twentieth Century
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
• Founder of the
psychoanalytic
perspective
• Believed that abnormal
behavior originated
from unconscious
drives and conflicts
Psychoanalysis
• Theory of personality and therapeutic
technique that attributes our thoughts
and actions to unconscious motives
and conflicts
Freud’s Influence
• Influence on “pop culture”
– Freudian slips
– Anal-retentive
• Influence on psychology
– Psychodynamic theory
– Unconscious thoughts
– Significance of childhood experiences
Freudian Slips
• “Slip of the tongue”
• What you say reveals
something about your
unconscious or semiconscious desires / ideas
• Sometimes sexual, but
not always
• Could be a
misinterpretation, such as
reading a word incorrectly
• Sitcoms use them often
• A man calls his
wife by his
mistress’s name
• Austin Powers
(and the mole)
• http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=6ox
2wz6BvjQ&NR=1
• http://www.youtube
.com/watch?v=3fk
BZ_BqXi0
Freudian Personality Dynamics
• Our instinctual urges can
be temporarily
suppressed, but the
energy must find an
outlet
• Outlets are disguised
and indirect, to provide
release for energy that
will be safe and appear
normal
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
• Russian Physiologist
• Studied learning in animals
• Emphasized the study of observable
behaviors
Pavlov’s Dog
Classic Experiment
• http://vodpod.com/watch/4432179pavlovs-dog
Examples of Classical
Conditioning
• Your romantic partner always uses the same shampoo.
Soon, the smell of that shampoo makes you feel happy.
• The door to your house squeaks loudly when you open
it. Soon, your dog begins wagging its tail when the door
squeaks.
• The nurse says “Now this won’t hurt a bit” just before
stabbing you with a needle. The next time you hear “This
won’t hurt” you cringe in fear.
• You have a meal at a fast food restaurant that causes
food poisoning. The next time you see a sign for that
restaurant, you feel nauseous.
Examples
• Pairing a popular music together with the products in advertisements
to generate positive feelings and liking towards the products
• Christmas music played in store may trigger the sweet memories
and the habits of giving and sharing in a consumer's mind and thus
will persuade he or she to enter the store
• Political candidates try to appear in TV with patriotic background
music to elicit the patriotic feelings of the voters
• Consistently advertising a product on exciting game shows may
result in the product itself generating an excitement response.
• Guys tend to associate themselves with anything that the girls like in
order to create a good impression in their mind and eventually win
their hearts.
• Girls may tend to symbolize themselves as a "sex symbol" to
instantly attract the guys to approach them to start a relationship.
• People who receives chemotherapy often vomit during or
shortly after the procedure. After several chemotherapy
sessions, people begin feeling sick at the sight of
the treatment room.
• Whenever you see a scary movie, you will always eat a
box of thin mints. Now you will find that just seeing thin
mints makes you feel scared.
• Many beer ads prominently feature attractive young
women wearing bikinis. The young women
(Unconditioned Stimulus) naturally elicit a favorable,
mildly aroused feeling (Unconditioned Response) in
most men. The beer is simply associated with this effect.
The same thing applies with the jingles and music that
accompany many advertisements.
John B. Watson (1878-1958)
• Founder of behaviorism
• Studied only observable and objectively
described acts
• Emphasized objective and scientific
methodology
Watson’s Extreme Environmentalism
• “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my
own special world to bring them up in, and I’ll
guarantee to take any one at random and train him to
be any type of specialist I might select - doctor, lawyer,
artist, merchant-chief, and yes, beggar-man and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies,
abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”
– John Broadus Watson, 1928
Behaviorism
• The theory that psychology should only
study observable behaviors, not mental
processes.
• http://vodpod.com/watch/4432164little-albert
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
• American psychologist whose brand of
behaviorism focused on the role of
responses in learning.
• Focused on learning through rewards
and observation
• Behaviorist
Activity
• Calling all Chimps or Social Network
Activity – one class
• Watch, Fishing for Ketchup
Skinner’s Pigeons
• http://vodpod.com/watch/2893067-bfskinner-foundation-pigeon-ping-pong-clip
http://vodpod.com/watch/2893068-bfskinner-foundation-pigeon-red-block
SKINNER’S VIEW OF BEHAVIOUR
ANTECEDENT
BEHAVIOUR CONSEQUENCE
EFFECT
AT HOME
TANTRUM
TIME-OUT
TANTRUMS
DECREASE
IN
FREQUENCY
AT
RESTAURANT
TANTRUM
PARENTS’
ATTENTION
TANTRUMS
INCREASE
IN
FREQUENCY
Humanistic Psychology
• School of thought that focuses on the
study of conscious experience, the
individual’s freedom to choose, and the
capacity for personal growth
• Stressed the study of conscious
experience and an individual’s free will
• Healthy individuals strive to reach their
potential.
Carl Rogers/Abraham Maslow
• Prominent Humanists
• Rejected idea that
behavior is controlled
by rewards and
punishments
• Stressed free will in
decision making
Carl Rogers
Jean Piaget
• Developmental and cognitive
psychologist known for his studies of
children’s thought processes
• Interested in how thinking develops
Piaget’s Stages
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue8yJVhjS0
• Lots of Piaget on Youtube
Module 2: History and Perspective
Psychology’s
American
Groundbreakers
Videos
• http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html
– Learning
– http://learning.aliant.net/Player/Search/SubjectTitles.a
sp?txtGeneral=psychology&offset=10
– The Magic of the Mind, The Story of Psychology
– http://vodpod.com/watch/187703-b-f-skinner-a-freshappraisal
• BF Skinner (4 minutes)
• http://vodpod.com/watch/2948698-freud-analysis-of-a-mindveoh-video-network
• Freud (5 minutes)
• Carla’s videos - learning
Graphic Organizer
• Use one of the templates provided and
create a graphic organizer of parts one
and two.
• One class, due the next day
Module 2: History and Perspectives
Part Three:
Six Contemporary
Psychological
Perspectives
Psychological Perspectives
• Method of classifying a collection of
ideas
• Also called “schools of thought”
• Also called “psychological approaches”
• To view behavior from a particular
perspective
Cognitive Perspective
• School of thought that focuses on how
people think – how we take in, process,
store, and retrieve information
• Focus: On how people think and process
information
• Behavior is explained by how a person
interprets the situation
Biological Perspective
• School of thought that focuses on the
physical structures and substances
underlying a particular behavior,
thought, or emotion
• Focus: How our biological structures
and substances underlie a given
behavior, thought, or emotion
• Behavior is explained by brain
chemistry, genetics, glands, etc.
Social-Cultural Perspective
• School of thought that focuses on how
thinking or behavior changes in
different contexts or situations
• Focus: How thinking and behavior
change depending on the setting or
situation
• Behavior is explained by the influence
of other people present
• F. The Sociocultural Approach
– Emphasizes the influences of culture,
ethnicity, and gender among other
sociocultural factors, on behavior, thought,
and emotion
Human Diversity and
Psychology
• Are all people essentially the same?
• Impact of sociocultural factors
• Culture as an organizing and stabilizing
influence on people
Behavioral Perspective
• Focus: How we learn through rewards,
punishments, and observation
• Behavior is explained by previous
learning.
Humanistic Perspective
• Focus: How healthy people strive to
reach their full potential
• Behavior is explained as being
motivated by satisfying needs (safety,
hunger, thirst, etc.), with the goal of
reaching one’s full potential once basic
needs are met.
Psychodynamic Perspective
• Focus: How behavior is affected by
unconscious drives and conflicts
• Behavior is explained through
unconscious motivation and unresolved
inner conflicts from one’s childhood.
• Modern version of psychoanalytic
perspective.
Module 2: History and Perspectives
Part Four:
Psychology in the
Twenty-First Century
Behavior Genetics
• School of thought that focuses on how
much our genes and our environment
influence our individual differences
• Focus: How behavior is affected by
genes and the environment
• Combines biology and behaviorism
• Emphasis on the importance of both
genetic and environmental factors on
behavior
Evolutionary Psychology
• Combines aspects of biological,
psychological, and social perspectives
• Behavior is explained by how the
behavior may have helped our ancestors
survive long enough to reproduce
successfully.
Positive Psychology
• Movement that focuses on the study
of optimal human functioning and the
factors that allow individuals and
communities to thrive
• Focus: To study and promote optimal
human functioning
• Martin E.P. Seligman is a major
advocate
• Should promote building positive
qualities of people; focus shifts from
repairing to building
History of Psychology
History of Psychology
History of Psychology
Graphic Organizer 2
• Create another graphic organizer for parts
3 and 4
– One class
• Create a matching question, in a group of
three, for the entire chapter (with key)
– One class
Activities
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•
•
•
Fact or Falsehood
Handout 2-2 Crossword
Handout 2-5 Graphic Organizer
Computer Lab to design powerpoint
review