Psychology, Unit
One
The Evolution of
Psychology
Objectives
• Know the founder and
founding year of
psychology
• Be able to distinguish each
of the major movements
in psychology
Growing from Greece
• Psychology has its earliest roots in
Ancient Greece with the
development of philosophy.
• Developed as a science combining
biology and philosophy.
• Focused on the idea of the
“Psyche” which is Greek for “the
mind or soul”.
• Wilhelm Wundt founded
Psychology in 1879 by opening
the first psych lab in Germany.
–So many people studied under
Wundt, that psychology was
spread worldwide within about 5
years
–The first American lab was est.
at Johns Hopkins University in
1883
Sigmund Freud: Psychodynamic Theory
• Behavior results from
repressed memories
– These repressed memories
are stored in our
subconscious and result in
primitive sexual/aggressive
drives, thereby causing our
behaviors
– Controversial! Freud’s
educated guess- NO
PROOF!!!
Freud’s Id, Ego, Superego
• Freud identifies 3 aspects of
personality
–Id: irrational and emotional,
source of libido and wants
–Ego: rational, negotiates between
the wants of the Id and the
consequences seen by the
superego
–Superego: moral center, source
of rules, values and anxiety
• Freud traces adult issues
back to conflict in the
following critical stages of
development
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
1. Oral: 0-2, issues w/ weaning from
breast feeding, seek pleasure from
the mouth (chew gum, smoke, etc)
2. Anal: 2-4, issues w/ potty training,
seek pleasure from retaining or
expelling feces
3. Phallic: 4-5, Electra or Oedipus
issues, seek pleasure from genitals
•
From here all humans go through latency and the genital
phase. The fewer conflicts in the first three stages, the
more “normal” the person’s behavior
• Freud’s daughter,
Anna, developed the
concept of defense
mechanisms which are
a way of protecting
our psychological self.
• These are to help us
cope with problems
such as mental abuse
or mental trauma.
Common Defense Mechanisms
1. Repression/Suppression: Hiding
a memory or thought away.
2. Denial: Pretending something
didn’t happen.
3. Projection: Blaming someone else
to cover up your own guilt or
memory.
4. Rationalization: Creating an
explanation, even though its wrong.
More Defense Mechanisms
5. Intellectualization: Thinking about
something logically without emotion.
6.Reaction Formation: Key word
(reverse formation)- Turning the
other cheek, doing the opposite.
7. Regression: Using a childish
response like whining to deal with a
problem.
8. Displacement: Taking out emotion
(usually aggression) on someone less
threatening
9. Sublimation: Converting
unacceptable behavior to something
that is acceptable (kickboxing)
10. Altruism: Selflessness (donations)
Others include: acting out, humor,
affiliation, aim inhibiting (settling),
avoidance, compensation, HUMOR,
passive-aggression
From Psychodynamic to Behaviorism
• Watson and Skinner threw out
Freud’s theories and said you
cannot make claims w/o
measurable/observable
data
–This means you can only
study what is seen!
Watson
Give me a dozen healthy infants, wellformed, and my own specified world to
bring them up and I'll guarantee to take
any one at random and train him to
become any type of specialist I might
select--doctor, lawyer, merchant-chief,
and yes, even beggarman and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race
of his ancestors." (1930)
Watson’s Little Albert Experiment
Watson
• Babies are a blank slate (tabula rasa)
• You can condition a child to do what
you want
• Desensitization is derived from his
studies
–Cure phobias by gradually exposing
subject to what they are afraid of
Skinner and behaviorism
• Elaborated on Watson’s theories by
introducing:
–Positive reinforcement
–Negative reinforcement
• Explains how we are conditioned to
relate certain memories to songs or
smells, why we are sleepy at
bedtime, or hungry at lunchtime,
etc…