Where does Psychology Come From? A Brief History.
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Transcript of Where does Psychology Come From? A Brief History.
Where does Psychology Come From?
A Brief History
Psychology is as old as history and as modern as
todayAristotle: Greek philosopher
Peri Psyches (About the Psyche)-nature of mind behavior
People are basically motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain (modern view)
Psychology is as old as Psychology is as old as history and as modern as history and as modern as
todaytoday
Democritus: behavior as body and a mindBehavior influenced by external stimulation
First to raise issue of free will or choice
Psychology is as old as history and as modern as
todayIf we are influenced by external forces, can we be said to control our own behavior?
Question: where do the influences of others end and our “real selves” begin?
StructuralismWillhelm Wundt: debut of modern psych
1897: established first psychological laboratory in Leipzig,GermanyClaimed that the mind was a natural event and could be studied scientifically (light, heat, flow of blood)
Structuralism Define makeup of conscious experience, breaking it down into objective sensations (light and taste) and subjective feelings (emotional responses, will, mental images)Believe that mind functions by creatively combining the elements of experience
FunctionalismEmphasizes the uses or functions of the MIND rather than the elements of experience
Deals with overt behavior as well as consciousness
Functionalism William James (1842-1910): Wrote first modern psychology textbook, The Principles of Psychology
Functionalism Influenced by Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory
The “fittest” behavior patterns survive
Adaptive actions tend to be repeated and become habits
Behaviorism John Watson (1878-1958): Founder of behaviorism
Psychology must limit itself to observable, measurable events-to behavior
BehaviorismExamples:
Pressing a lever, turning left or right, eating and mating, heart rate, dilation of the pupils
Behaviorism Psychology address the learning of measurable responses to environmental stimuli
Pavlov’s salivating dogs (conditioning not mental processes)
Behaviorism B.F Skinner (1904-1990):
Reinforcement: organisms learn to behave in certain ways because they have been reinforced for doing so
GestaltFocused on
perception and on how perception
influences thinking and
problem solving
Gestalt
Perceptions more than the sum of its parts
Wholes that give meaning to parts
Gestalt Learning to solve problems, is accomplished by insight, not by mechanical repetition
“Aha moment” flash of insight
Psychoanalysis
Emphasizes the importance of
unconscious motives and conflicts as
determinants of human behavior
Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Believed that unconscious thought , especially sexual and aggressive impulses, were more influential than conscious thought in determining human behavior.
Psychoanalysis
Thought mind was unconscious, consisting of conflicting impulses, urges, and wishes.
People motivated to gratify these impulses and urges
Psychoanalysis Freud: gained his understanding of people through clinical interviews with patients
Gain insight into deep-seated conflicts and find socially acceptable ways of expressing wishes and gratifying needs
How Today’s Psychologists View Behavior
Perspectives Biological Cognitive
Humanistic-Existential Psychodynamic
Learning Socialcultural