The History of Psychology
Chapter 1 Section 2
Where did the scientific method
come from?
• Wilhelm Wundt
– 1879
– Leipzig, Germany
– First psychology laboratory
– Claims: psychology has 2 elements (sensations
and feelings)
– Procedure used: “introspection”
– Acknowledged as establishing modern psychology
as a separate, formal field of study
The Greeks
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5th & 6th centuries B.C.
Started to study human behavior
gods did not control people’s lives
People’s minds controlled their lives
People were rational
Dualism
• 1600’s (17th Century)
• Mind and body are separate
Phrenology
• 1800’s (19th century)
• Studying the bumps on a person’s head to
figure out their intelligence or personality
Rene Descartes
(1596-1650)
• Mind and body are linked
• The mind controls the body’s movements,
sensations, perceptions
• Mind & body together create a person’s
experience
Approaches to the Science of Behavior
Historical Approaches
• Structuralism
• Functionalism
• Inheritable Traits
• Gestalt Psychology
Contemporary Approaches
• Psychoanalytic Psychology
• Behavioral Psychology
• Humanistic Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Biological Psychology
• Sociocultural Psychology
Historical Approaches
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Structuralism
Functionalism
Inheritable Traits
Gestalt Psychology
Structuralism
• Main person: Wilhelm
Wundt
• Study human behavior in
a systematic and scientific
way
• Interested in the basic
elements of the human
experience
• Introspection – self
observation
• Tried to map out the basic
structure of thought
processes
Functionalism
• Main person: William
James
– Taught the first
psychology class at
Harvard (1875)
– “father of psychology”
– Wrote: The Principles of
Psychology
– Thinking, feeling,
learning, remembering
all help us survive as a
species
• Focused on the
functions/purpose of
the mind & functions of
behavior
• Study how mental
processes help animals
& people adapt to their
environment
Inheritable Traits
• Main person: Sir Francis
Galton
– English
mathematician/scientist
– Studied biographies
– Encouraged “good”
marriages to fill the world
with talented people
– Came up with the
first/primitive personality
& intelligence tests
• Studies how heredity
influences a person’s
abilities, character &
behavior
• Heredity or environment?
Gestalt Psychology
• Main people: German
psychologists
– Mac Wetheimer
– Wolfgang Kohler
– Kurt Koffka
• Perception is more than
the sum of its parts
• “whole pattern” –
Gestalt
• Studies how sensations
are put together into
perceptual experiences
Contemporary Approaches
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Psychoanalytic Psychology
Behavioral Psychology
Humanistic Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Biological Psychology
Sociocultural Psychology
Psychoanalytic Psychology
• Main person: Sigmund
Freud
– Vienna doctor
• Focused on unconscious
mind
• Free association
• Dream analysis
• most of your feelings
come from a hidden place
in your mind called the
unconscious.
• We protect ourselves
from our real feeling by
using defense
mechanisms.
Behavioral Psychology
• Main people:
– Ivan Pavlov
– John B. Watson
– B.F. Skinner
• Behavior as the product
of past experiences
• Stressed investigating
only observable
behavior
• Use of reinforcement to
make behavior happen
again
Humanistic Psychology
• Main people:
– Abraham Maslow
– Carl Rogers
– Rollo May
• Human nature evolves
& is self directed
• Internal growth
• Each person is unique
• Each person has a selfconcept & potential to
develop fully
• Growth leads to a more
satisfying life
Cognitive Psychology
• Main people:
– Jean Piaget
– Noam Chomsky
– Leon Festinger
• Focus on how we process,
store & use information
• How information
influences our thinking,
language, problem
solving, & creativity
• Behavior is influenced by
a variety of mental
processes (perceptions,
memories, expectations)
Biological Psychology
• Biology impacts our behavior
• Study how the brain, nervous system,
hormones & genetics influence our behavior
Sociocultural Psychology
• Studies the influence of cultural & ethnic
similarities/differences on behavior & social
functioning
• Culture influences ways of thinking, feeling &
behaving
• Looks at gender, socioeconomic status