Module #1: History & Approaches

Module #1: History & Approaches AP Psychology Mr. Ng

Psychology’s Roots • Psychology look to answer questions about how we think, feel, and act. • Definition: the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. • Behavior = actions VS. Mental = internal • Roots of Psychology: philosophy and biology (physiology)

Prescientific Psychology • Dualism: the philosophy that the mind and the body are two different things that interact. • Socrates felt that the mind is separate from the body and lives on after death. Knowledge is innate.

Prescientific Psychology • Philosopher Plato (~ 350 BC) also believed in dualism, and used self-examination of inner ideas and experiences to conclude that who we are and what we know are innate (inborn).

Prescientific Psychology • Monism: the mind and body are different aspects of the same thing. • The philosopher Aristotle believed that the mind/soul results from our anatomy and physiological processes, that reality is best studied by observation, and that who we are and what we know are acquired from experience.

Prescientific Psychology • In ~ 1650, René Descartes studied monism and came up with the saying “I think, therefore I am.” • Empirical philosopher John Locke believed that mind and body interact symmetrically, knowledge comes from observation, and what we know comes from experience since we are born without knowledge (tabula rasa “a blank slate”).

Schools Of Psychology • By the 1800s, psychology was beginning to emerge as a separate scientific discipline. • Wilhelm Wundt set up the first psychological laboratory in Germany in 1879. • He was measuring the difference between when people heard a sound occur versus when they consciously aware they had perceived the sound (one-tenth of a second difference).

Schools Of Psychology • Two schools of thought emerged, structuralism and functionalism. • Structuralism – Look inside ourselves to explore the human mind. (Introspection) • Functionalism – Looks at the role, or function, of our thoughts and feelings that allows up to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Schools Of Psychology • Physiologists Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner showed how physical events are related to sensation and perception. • Hermann von Helmholtz measured the speed at which nerve impulses travel.

Objective & Bell Ringer Objective: SWBAT explain the nature vs. nurture debate and give an example of natural selection. Bell Ringer: What are the two historical roots of psychology?

Structuralism • G. Stanley Hall set up a psychology lab at Johns Hopkins University employing introspection, helped found the American Psychological Association, and became its first president.

Structuralism • Edward Titchener brought introspection into his lab at Cornell University, analyzed consciousness into its basic elements, and investigated how these elements are related.

Structuralism • Margaret Floy Washburn was Titchener’s first graduate student and the first woman to complete her Ph. D. in psychology.

Functionalism • William James, the “father” of functionalism, was interested in the function or purpose of behavioral acts. • Other big names: James Cattell and John Dewey.

Functionalism • Mary Whiton Calkins, who studied psychology under James at Harvard, was denied her Ph. D. • Became the first woman president of the American Psychological Association.

Functionalism • The so-called School of Functionalism studied mental testing, child development, and educational practices. • They wanted to apply psychological findings to practical situations and the function of mental operations in adapting to the environment.

Pioneers • Ivan Pavlov – Classical Conditioning • Sigmund Freud – Psychoanalysis (Dreams) • Jean Piaget – Cognitive Development (How our minds develop) • B.F. Skinner – Operant Conditioning (Positive-Negative Reinforcement) • We will learn more about them in later.

Other Famous Firsts • In 1920, Francis C. Sumner became the first African-American to receive a Ph. D. in Psychology.

Other Famous Firsts • In 1933, Inez Beverly Prosser became the first African-American woman to receive a Ph. D. in Psychology. • Prosser argued in her dissertation that "racial injustices and feelings of isolation have damaging effects on the psyche of Black children."

Other Famous Firsts • 1953 – Carlos Albizu Miranda became one of the first Latinos to earn a Ph. D. in Psychology in the United States.

Other Famous Firsts • 1962 - Martha Bernal: First Latina to earn a PhD in psychology, in clinical psychology from Indiana University Bloomington.

Nature vs. Nurture • The debate about whether our behavior is inborn or learned through experience is called the nature-nurture controversy.

Nature vs. Nurture • Nature = inborn = genetic • Nurture =experience = environmental • Charles Darwin applied the law of natural selection to human beings, forwarding the idea that human behavior and thinking are subject to scientific inquiry.

Nature vs. Nurture • Natural Selection – Evolution, “The survival of the fittest”, “Only the strong survive”. • Evolution vs. Religion

Principal Perspectives To Psychology • The principal approaches to psychology are: • 1. Neuroscience • 2. Evolutionary • 3. Behavior Genetics • 4. Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytical • 5. Behavioral • 6. Cognitive • 7. Social-Cultural

Neuroscience Approach • Also known as Biological, Behavioral Neuroscience, and Biopsychology. • Around the same time as Humanism began taking off, research on the physiological bases of behavior grew.

Neuroscience Approach • Technological advances allowed biologists to examine how complex chemical and biological processes within the nervous and endocrine systems are related to behavior. • Many biological psychologists think that the mind is what the brain does.

Evolutionary Approach • An offshoot of the biological approach. • Based on Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection. • Behavior patterns as adaptations naturally selected because they increase reproductive stress.

Behavior Genetics Approach • How genetics and environment determine who we are. • Nature vs. Nurture debate • What parts of our personalities are determined by genes and what parts are determined by our experiences.

Psychodynamic/ Psychoanalytic Approach • Sigmund Freud: “father” of the psychoanalytic theory. • He focused on unconscious internal conflicts to explain mental disorders, personality, and motivation. • He thought the unconscious is the source of desires, thoughts, and memories below the surface of conscious awareness, and that early life experiences are important to personality development.

Psychodynamic/ Psychoanalytic Approach • Followers of Freud broke off and formed a new branch of psychology, called the psychodynamic approach. • Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and Karen Horney • They each took psychoanalysis and then changed a part.

Behavioral Approach • Behavioral approach: focuses on measuring and recording observable behavior in relation to the environment. • Behaviorists think behavior results from learning. • Dominated psychology from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Behavioral Approach • They analyze the ABCs of behavior: • A: Antecedent environmental conditions that precede a behavior • B: Behavior (the action to understand, predict, and/or control) • C: Consequences that follow the behavior (its effects on the environment)

Behavioral Approach • Ivan Pavlov: Russian physiologist who trained dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a tone, demonstrating stimulus-response learning. • John B. Watson: worked with classical conditioning, and is famous for the “Little Albert” experiment.

Behavioral Approach • B. F. Skinner: worked mainly with laboratory rats and pigeons, demonstrating that organisms tend to repeat responses that lead to positive consequences and not to repeat responses that lead to neutral or negative consequences. • E. L. Thorndike: a behaviorist that took the position that behavior is determined mainly by environment and experience rather than by genetic inheritance.

Cognitive Approach • The study of consciousness, or thinking and memory. • Cognition emphasizes the importance of the following to understand human behavior: • receiving, storing, and processing information (memory). • thinking and reasoning • language

Cognitive Approach • Jean Piaget studied cognitive development in children, laying part of the foundation for preschool and primary educational approaches.

Sociocultural Approach • Started in the second half of the 20th century. • Studies social and environmental factors that influence cultural differences in behavior • It studies cultural differences in an attempt to understand, predict, and control behavior.

Humanistic Approach • Started in the middle of the 20th century by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. • They thought that the unique qualities of free will and potential for personal growth guide behavior and mental processes.

Humanistic Approach • Humanists emphasize the importance of people’s feelings and view human nature as naturally positive and growth seeking. • They use interview techniques and believe that people have the ability to solve their own problems.

Eclectic Approach • No single theoretical approach explains all aspects of behavior, although all provide a framework for studying and understanding behavior. • Most modern psychologists adopt ideas from multiple perspectives. • eclectic: psychologists who use techniques and adopt ideas from a variety of approaches.

Professions & Careers • Scientific psychology developed in universities with research laboratories where basic research was conducted, and where experimental psychologists continue to add knowledge to the field. • After WWII, many opportunities for applied psychologists developed outside of these institutions. • Job opportunities grew, and the field became more fragmented and specialized.

Professions & Careers • Counseling psychologists: help people adapt to change and to make changes in their lifestyle. • Clinical psychologists: evaluate and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

Professions & Careers • Psychiatrist: a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. • Has earned a medical degree. • Can prescribe drugs, psychologists CANNOT.

Professions & Careers • Forensic psychologists: apply psychological principles to legal issues. • Health psychologists: concentrate on biological, psychological, and social factors involved in health and illness.

Professions & Careers • Rehabilitation psychologists: help clients with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, and disabilities resulting from stroke or accidents adapt to their situations. • School psychologists: assess and counsel students, consult with educators and parents, and perform behavioral intervention when necessary.

Professions & Careers • Social psychologists: focus on how a person’s mental life and behavior are shaped by interactions with other people. • Sports psychologists: help athletes refine their focus on competition goals, increase motivation, and deal with anxiety and fear of failure.

Module #1: History & Approaches