Agenda1. Bellringer: One thing you’d like to see this year. (5)2. Class Expectations and Syllabus (15)3. Lecture: Origins of Psychology, Major Thinkers (20)4. Who am I? Activity (10)5. Reaction Time Activity (15)

6. HW: Creating a Psychology Meme (5)

Psychology is…

The study of behavior and mental processesBehavior = what you doMental processes=experiences,

thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions

“Psych” = mind; “ology” = study (Aristotle)

History of PsychologyPsychology has its roots in philosophy focusing

on two major questions:Is there a connection between mind & body?Are Ideas innate or experiential?

Socrates – 469-399 B.C.“know thyself” emphasized the importance of self-

examination and personal reflection. Believed the mind was separate from the body, the

mind continued to exist after death, and ideas are innate

Plato – 428-348 B.C.Supports the ideas of his teacher SocratesBelieved in innate ideas; suggested that the brain is

the seat of mental processes – supports dualism meaning the mind and body interact .

Aristotle 384-322 B.C.Suggested that the soul is not separable from the

body and that knowledge (ideas) grow from experienceDenied existence of innate ideas; suggested that the

heart is the seat of mental processes; supports monism the idea that mind and body are one thing

Rene Descartes 1596-1650Disagreed with Socrates and Plato Wondered how the mind and body communicatedDissected animals and found the fluid in the brain

contained animal spirits.

Francis Bacon – 1561-1626One of the founders of modern science,

particularly the experimental method

John Locke – 1632-1704 Mind at birth is a blank slate or “tabula rasa”

upon which experience writes. This helped to form idea of empiricism.

Empiricism – view that knowledge comes from experience via the senses and science flourishes through observation and experiment.

By late 1800s Psychology emerges as a science

Major Themes in Psychology:Nature vs. Nurture (ideas of natural

selection)Stability vs. ChangeRationality vs. Irrationality

William Wundt – 1832-19201. founder of psychology – campaigned to

make psychology an independent discipline

from philosophy and physiology

2. 1879 (birth date of psych) – established the first formal laboratory for psychological research at University of Leipzig, Germany – first experiment was Wundt’s attempt to measure “atoms of the mind”

3. used technique called introspection – means to look within/self-reflective/self-examination and reporting what thinking, feeling, sensing at a particular moment

Edward Titchener – 1867-1927 - student of Wundt’s who joined Cornell University

1. brought psychology to the U.S.2. introduced structuralism – a school of thought that

focused on the inner workings of the consciousness or the mind’s structural elements. Used introspection.

William James – 1842-1910 - Harvard teacher and writer

1. introduced functionalism – a school of thought that focused on how and why the mind works – considered the functions of our thoughts and feelings – how things work

2. wrote Principles of Psychology in 1890

Mary Calkins – student of

William James and first female

president of the American

Psychological Association (1905)

Margaret Washburn – first female to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (1931)

John Watson – 1878-19581. Founder of behaviorism – a science rooted in overt

behavior that observers could record and measure - OBSERVATION

2. minimized the importance of heredity – believed that the environment molds the behavior of organisms

B.F. Skinner – 1904-1990 - modern behaviorist1.supported behaviorism2. studied how behavior is shaped by rewards and

punishments or positive and negative outcomes**Watson and Skinner hit of one of basic questions –

nature (genetic) vs. nurture (environment and/or experience)

Who am I? Started the first psychology experiments, utilized introspection.Believed in a “Blank Slate”In my research, animal spirits inhabit the brain.Introduced the idea of structuralism.Changed the focus of psychology from introspection to

observation. First woman to receive a Ph.D in PsychologyLooked at punishment vs reward, still utilized in education

today.

Creating a Psychology Meme