AP PSYCHOLOGY
THE BASICS
TO KNOW AND REMEMBER
Prescientific History
• Rene Descartes :1596-1605
– 1. Dualism – mind & body viewed as interactive
machines
– 2. Two kinds of ideas of the human mind-innate
( inborn) and derived – acquired through experience.
*John Locke-1632 – 1704
1. Tabula Rasa
2. Empiricist approach – knowledge should be
acquired by careful observation
Historical Approaches
• A. Structuralism:
• 1. study of the most basic elements, primarily sensations
and perceptions that make up our conscious mental
experiences.
• 2. Wilhelm Wundt: Father of Psychology
• 3. Introspection – method of exploring conscious mental
processes.
• 4. Criticism – too narrow and subjective – unscientific,
solely dependent on self-reports.
•
B. Functionalism
– 1. Study of the function rather that the structure of
consciousness were interested in how our minds
adapt to our changing environment.
– 2. William James: first textbook – Principle of
Psychology.
– Why did mental activities develop?
C. Gestalt Approach:
1. Emphasizes that perception is more that the sum of
its parts
2. Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, Kurt Koffka
3. Phi phenomenon – when a fixed light appears to
move, because of how they flash.
D. Behaviorism: Emphasizes the objective, scientific
analysis of observable behavior.
Early Milestones in Scientific
Psychology
•
A. G. Stanley Hall
–
–
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
1. Founded the first psych. Lab in the US. Started first
American psych. Journal.
2. Founded APA – 1892
Herman Ebbinghaus – 1st experiments on memory
Edward Titchener- Wundt student- became one of the first
psychologists in the US
Sigmund Freud- Interpretation of Dreams – psychoanalytic
theory
E. Margaret Floy Washburn: First woman to receive Ph.D.
May Whiton Calkins: First woman elected president of APA
Ivan Pavlov: Study of reflexes – influence on learning
John D. Watson – Leader of behaviorism – psychology should
study observable behavior not consciousness
Francis Cecil Sumner: First African-American PH.D. in psych
CONTEMPORARY THEORETICAL
ORIENTATIONS
• 1. Psychoanalytical approach: Based on the belief that
childhood experiences greatly influence the development
of later personality traits and psychological problems
• Sigmund Freud: developed this approach – a physician
• Why do we have anxiety or psychological problems?
• Criticism: not based on experimental evidence –
untestable
– Influence- extremely influential on American Psychology
– Neo- Freudians – accepted the broad features of Freud, but
revised some of it – Carl Jung, Karen Horney, Anna Freud
Behaviorist Perspective
• Analyzes how organisms learn new behaviors or modify
existing ones, depending on whether events in their
environment reward or punish these behaviors.
• John Watson – psycho. should be considered an
objective, experimental science, whose goal should be
the analysis of observable behaviors and the prediction
and control of those behaviors.
• Albert Bandura: social learning approach – our
behaviors are influenced not only by environmental
events and reinforcers but also by observation, imitation
and thought processes.
HAUMANISTIC APPROACH
• Emphasizes that each individual has great freedom in
driving his or her future, a large capacity for achieving
personal growth, a considerable amount of intrinsic
worth and enormous potential for self-improvement.
• Humanism emphasizes – positive side of human nature,
creative tendencies, and its inclination to build caring
relationships.
• Self-determination – behavior is the product of free-will,
opposed determinism of behaviorism and
psychoanalysis.
• Abraham Maslow – (hierarchy of needs) Carl Rogers –
a minister turned psychologist, Gordon Allport
BIOLOGICAL APPROACH – AKA
NEUROBIOLOGICAL
• Examines how our genes, hormones, and
nervous system interact with our
environments to influence.
• Roger Sperry – won Nobel Prize
• Technology – advancements have helped
in growth
• Led to medicine to treat disorders
COGNITIVE APPROACH
• Aims to investigate the mind and how one
acquires, stores, and processes
information
• Jean Piaget – Noam Chomsky –Herbert
Simon
• Advocates of cognitive psychology point
out that people’s manipulations of mental
images surely influence how they behave.
CROSS-CULTURAL OR SOCIOCULTURAL APPROACH
• Studies the influence of cultural and ethnic
similarities and differences
• Behavior is heavily influenced by culture,
by social norms and expectations, and by
social learning.
• The conditions in which the social and
cultural situation predict behavior.
EVOLUTIONARY/
SOCIOBIOLOGICAL
• Behavior has developed and adapted over
time.
• Connects contemporary psychology with
central ideas of live sciences, Darwin’s
theory of natural selection – mental
abilities evolved just as physical abilities.
• Behavior is determined by natural
selection
• How do behaviors change over time?
TRAIT APPROACH
• Individual differences result from
differences in our underlying patterns of
stable characteristics (traits)
• Behavior results from each person’s
unique combination of traits.
• Can we predict behavior?
TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGISTS
• Practitioners: therapy, counseling, consulting,
may conduct research.
• Academic: Colleges, teaching, research, writing,
may consult, practice.
• Researchers: employed by industry, business,
and the government
• Examine diverse phenomena:
– The effects of coffee breaks on work productivity
– Optimal training procedures for a specific job.
– Ways to change behaviors that would prevent the
spread of HIV
SUBFIELDS OF
PSYCHOLOGISTS
• Clinical: largest group of practitioners
– Diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders.
– Psychological testing, interviewing, therapy
Counseling Psychologists:
Moderate problems
marital or family counseling
School Psychologist: Concerned with social,
intellectual, emotional development of students.
Work with children, parents, teachers
Test students for special programs
MORE SUBFIELDS OF
PSYCHOLOGISTS
• Educational psychologists: teacher training,
curriculum design, other
• Industrial/Organizational Psychologist
– Work in business and industry
– Attempt to improve productivity
– Works with advertisers, study consumer behavior,
design equipment
Experimental Psychologist: Broad classification
for lab researchers
Work in specific areas of research – like memory
MORE SUBFIELDS OF
PSYCHOLOGISTS
• Social psychologist:
– Experimental who study social situations
– Conformity, obedience, leadership
Psychometric psychologist:
Measures behavior
Skilled at using statistical procedures to develop
reliable and valid test
PSYCHIATRIST : MD’s