Where did psychology stem from? Describe the first 2 perspectives &

theorists. Key people

Women of importance? Identify 7 perspectives & theorists

AP PSYCHOLOGYChapter 1

Psychology:The study of behavior (what we do) & mental processes

(sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, & feelings….)

examine how we process information—

~how we organize, interpret, store, & use it.

Prologue: Psychology’s Roots

Empiricism Knowledge comes from experience via the senses Science flourishes through observation and experiment

Prescientific Roots• Socrates (469-399 BC)- Early Greek who believed Knowledge is born with a

person and that the Mind is separate from the Brain.• Plato (428-348 BC)- Student to Socrates ;Early Greek who believed Knowledge

is born with a person and that the Mind is separate from the Brain.• Aristotle (384-322 BC)- Student to Plato ;The Mind and the Body are together

and knowledge is learned with experience.• Rene Descartes (1595-1650)- Scientist and Philosopher ;Mind and Body are

separate but interact with one another. Believed knowledge is born with a person.

• Francis Bacon (1561-1626)- Scientist that relied on common sense and experiments; Studied the brain and its failings, how it always looks for patterns, and how its always looking for confirmation .

• John Locke (1632-1704)- British Philosopher; The mind is born as a blank slate (Tabula Rosa), science should rely on observation and experimentation(Empiricism)

History of PsychologyPhilosophers

Aristotle: Before 300 B.C.

learning, sleep, dreams, memory, motivation & emotion, sensation, perception, & personality.

Descartes: 1596-1650: Interactive dualism: viewed mind and body as

separate but interactive machines mind & brain debate

John Locke: 1632-1704:

Mind is a blank slate written on by experience. empiricism

History of Psychology

Charles Darwin: 1850’s:

Opposes religious teachings suggesting that man evolved from apes.

Early schools of thought…

E.B. Titchener Structuralism:

Analyze sensations, images & feelings into their most basic elements (what):

Introspection Based on Wundt

William James Functionalism:

Underlying causes & practical consequences of behaviors & mental strategies (how / why):

“Stream of Consciousness.”

function & purpose

Birth of Psychology Wilhelm Wundt: 1879

Father of Psychology WHY?

American Psychological Association (APA)

Founded in 1892, has grown tremendously in size and today has many different divisions.

Now has a division for high school students.

Oversees all current research not done in universities.

http://www.apa.org/about/governance/president/past-presidents.aspx

APA: G. Stanley Hall First president of the APA established the first psychological

lab in the U.S. in 1883, at Johns Hopkins University.

Started the American Psychological Journal (1887) now the American Journal of Psychology.

Female significance…

Mary Whiton Calkins 1st female President

APA 1905 (memory

researcher)

Margaret Floy Washburn PhD in psychology Animal behavior

researcher

Behavior comes from…

Psychoanalytic Behavioral Humanistic Cognitive Biological Cross Cultural Evolutionary

PSYCHOANALYSISPSYCHOANALYSIS: emphasizes unconscious motives & conflicts & early childhood experiences.

analyzes aggression as a reaction to frustrations caused by frustrations caused by barriersbarriers to pleasure, (unjust authority).

*aggression as an adult’s displacement of hostility originally felt as a child against his or her parents.

+++Advantages: impact of childhood & framework for analyzing thought processes below consciousness.

Sigmund Freud: (1856-1939) developed from his work with mentally disturbed patients; views a person as being pushed and pulled by unconscious wants & desires (sexual & aggressive in nature.)

Repression of these wants & desires leads to mental disorders later in life.

Developed stages of life to age 12, claiming that an individual would change little after that point with a majority of your personality developing by age 5.

Psychoanalytic Theory Interpretation of Dreams: 1900: Sold 600

copies in 8 years, today sells millions every year.

Aggressive energy: Basic human instinct lodged in unconscious, duty of society is to get people to channel their aggressive energy into productive activity, if not, aggression is released and violent activities occur.

“cesspools of hidden desires”

Psychoanalytic Theory Criticism:

Does not focus on observable behavior, negative viewpoint of mankind because actions

are provoked by unconscious thoughts, cannot be scientifically proven or disproven. Ignores political & social explanations Doesn’t look at changing behavior, just

underlying causes.

Currently focuses on perceptions, memories and thinking in our unconscious

B. F. Skinner: Operant Conditioning. Voluntary behavior

Learning due to consequences (reinforcement & punishment).

controlled by rewards = NO FREE WILL

John B. Watson (1913): Observe & measure behavior (CC human emotional responses) “Little Albert” study (Rosalie Rayner) Father of Behaviorism.

BEHAVIORISMBEHAVIORISM: emphasizes observable behavior rather than inner mental experiences……… emphasizes the role of environment as the cause of behavior.

Also called learning theory: use of reinforcement & punishment

Ivan Pavlov: classical conditioning. Involuntary behavior = Associative Learning

Studied digestion in dogs by measuring saliva creating

Behaviorist theory John Watson: 1913 Consciousness is not that easy.

“I can take a child and make him into anything, a beggar a doctor a thief.”

Behaviorist Theory Social Learning Theory: people acquire

new behaviors by observing & imitating others.

Criticisms: Excluded all behavior that cannot be seen. All behavior cannot be explained by rewards

and punishments. Treats people like robots as if we have…

no free-will.

HUMANISMHUMANISM: emphasizes personal growth, self-esteem, & the achievement of human potential more than the scientific understanding, prediction, and control of behavior.

Did not focus on personal values & social conditions that foster self-limiting, aggressive perspectives instead of growth-enhancing, shared experiences

Abraham Maslow: MOTIVATION: Hierarchy of Needs, stating that each level of needs must be satisfied before one moves onto the next.

Self Actualization: strive to be the best one can.

Carl Rogers: Focused on the feelings of the client. Unconditional positive regard Fostered a therapeutic approach to therapy:

Fully functioning: personal growth, free will, self-determination

Humanistic Theory (1950-60’s)

+ advantage : gives people power over their own lives and behavior.

control one’s own choices & destinies to achieve full human potential.

Criticisms: Believes all people are good & that people

have the ability to heal themselves. Too vague, more of a philosophy for life

than a psychology.

COGNITIVE: COGNITIVE: refers to mental activity including thinking, remembering, problem solving, decision making, learning & using language. Thoughts impact behaviorThoughts impact behavior““People act because they think.”People act because they think.”Can infer mental processes from observable behavior. Can infer mental processes from observable behavior.

Jean Piaget: identified 4 stages of cognitive development in children

Criticisms: Downplays emotion too mentalistic hard to decide between competing cognitive

explanations

BIOLOGICALBIOLOGICAL: the causes of behavior in the genes, the brain, the nervous system, and endocrine system

*Identify the role of specific brain systems in aggression by stimulating different regions & recording any destructive actions that are elicited.

James Olds, Roger Sperry, Karl Lashley, David Hubel, Torsten Wiesel

CROSS-CULTURALCROSS-CULTURAL: differences in causes & consequences of behavior. *perceptions of the world as affected by culture

How does the languages one speaks impact ones experience of the world? How does culture affect the way children develop toward adulthood?

Lev Vygotsky: social interaction leads to changes in children's thoughts and behaviors.

Criticisms: Underestimated personal or physiological influences

… Overestimated social influences on our behavior… Makes broad generalizations about ethnic groups &

cultures.

Sociocultural Psychology

Examines how cultural, political (religious) experience, gender, etc. effect our behavior and everyday life.

Explores job opportunities to influence people’s goals and ambitions.

Cultural Values/Political Systems: How norms and social influences effect behavior.

Ambition/Goals/Values: Environments influence on one’s long-term ambitions.

Researchers may compare the prevalence of eating disorders for white Americans vs. African American teenagers within the U.S.

EVOLUTIONARYEVOLUTIONARY: Seeks to connect contemporary psychology to a central idea of the life sciences

Explore environmental conditions in which the human brain evolved.

*Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.

Those organisms best suited to their environments will flourish & pass on genes more successfully than those with poorer adaptations.

Criticisms: Untestable, explanations are post hoc. Speculative accounts for obvious behavioral

phenomena

Prologue: Contemporary PsychologyPsychology’s Perspectives

A lot depends on your viewpoint

Eclectism Use of diverse theories & schools of

thought.

Mosaic, no single approach can create the whole picture.

Biopsychsocial Model

American society seems to crave psychiatric diagnosis

The positive side of this is that psychiatric illness is being destigmatized;

The bad news is that the normal heartburn of living is being medicalized.

How Prozac slew Freud… But American society will be

disappointed if it calls upon psychiatry to deal with children who are out of control, adults who cannot keep relationships together, and drivers who experience “road rage” when somebody tailgates them.