HISTORY & APPROACHES
Trace the historical and philosophical
development of psychology as a science
 Psychology has its roots in philosophy and biology.
 Early “practitioners” were physicians or had
background in medicine/biology, particularly
neurology. Examples: Freud, Pavlov, Wundt
Historic figures
 Wilhelm Wundt: 1st psychology lab, Germany
 G. Stanley Hall: 1st psych lab in U.S. @ Johns
Hopkins
 Structuralism: desire to understand the structures
of the mind
 William James: 1st psychology textbook, psychology
teacher, U.S., supporter of the “functionalism”
concept that the mind adapts and evolves to
function in ways that are best for the survival of the being.
BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
Describe how the different perspectives explore
and explain human behavior.
 Biological (neuroscience): focus is the role of the
brain, neurons, and electrical impulses that result in
the creation of memories, process of learning,
emotional expression, psychological disorders…
 The experience of “love” is due to surges in hormones
and nervous impulses.
EVOLUTIONARY
Describe how the different perspectives explore
and explain human behavior.
 Evolutionary: though closely linked to the biological
perspective, the focus is on how people have evolved
over time in terms of physiology and result psychology.
 People experience “love” because it is necessary for
man and woman to mate in order to propagate the
species. This joining has been labeled “love.”
PSYCHOANALYTICAL
(PSYCHODYNAMIC)
Describe how the different perspectives explore
and explain human behavior.
 Psychodynamic perspective: early theories of
psychology pioneered by Sigmund Freud explained
behaviors stemming form the unconscious
(thoughts/experience in which we are not aware).
Within the unconscious we are driven to meet very
basic animalistic needs of sex and aggression that are
suppressed by our conscious thoughts.
 Freud would have explained “love” as a label for our
unconscious drive for sex.
BEHAVIORISM
Describe how the different perspectives explore
and explain human behavior.
 Behavioral perspective: those who approach
psychology from this perspective are concerned with
visible behaviors, actions, responses. Pioneer
behaviorist is Pavlov and his drooling dogs.
 A behaviorist may explain “love” as a action response
to someone’s attention (gift giving, attention
showering, etc.)
COGNITIVE
Describe how the different perspectives explore
and explain human behavior.
 Cognitive perspective: the focus is on cognitive process
such as problem solving, encoding memories,
processing information, storage and retrieval, etc.
 A cognitive psychologist would be most concerned
with the information that was processed and how this
lead to feelings of “love.”
HUMANISM
Describe how the different perspectives explore
and explain human behavior.
 Humanistic: the focus is the internal drive and
motivations of the individual in terms of their self
perception, self concept, and self esteem.
 A humanist would be interested in a person’s own self
love and their development of loving relationships
stemming from that.
SOCIO-CULTURAL
Describe how the different perspectives explore
and explain human behavior.
 Socio-cultural perspective is more of a sociological
perspective in that the focus is on the impact the
culture and the society has on an individual.
 They would be most interested in explaining “love” in
terms of how it is expressed and learned in a particular
culture, family, society…