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WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S HISTORICAL ROOTS?

WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S HISTORICAL ROOTS?. Modern Psychology developed from several conflicting traditions, including structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt Psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis. Psychology has a long past, but only a short history.

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WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S HISTORICAL ROOTS?

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  1. WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S HISTORICAL ROOTS? Modern Psychology developed from several conflicting traditions, including structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt Psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis

  2. Psychology has a long past, but only a short history. • Root of psychology can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophers. • Socrates, Plato, Aristotle—all debated and thought about the causes of behavior. (what is free will?) • Aristotle had theories on sensation, perception, cognition, memory, problem-solving, and ethics. • (-Asia—Yoga and Buddhism—exploring consciousness through meditation)

  3. ODDLY… • It never occurred to any of the ancient thinkers to put their speculations to the test.

  4. STRUCTURALISM FOCUS ON STRUCTURE AND THE FOUNDING OF SCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY

  5. CHARLES DARWIN • Mid 1800’s—Origin of Species • Suggested a biological kinship between humans and animals • For psychologists, this means discoveries about animal biology and behavior could be applied to people. • Ex. Research on nerve impulses in frogs—reflexes in people. Pavlov-dogs—human learning

  6. Wilhelm Wundt • Chemistry’s periodic table intrigued him—he was a German scientist. • Wondered if you could do the same thing with the mind as the table did with explaining chemical reactions. • Could he discover the elements of the conscious experience? • **This quest became known as structuralism because it focused on the most basic “structures” or components of the mind.

  7. Wundt Con’t • Created a lab in 1879—1st psychology lab! • Conducted studies on what they supposed to be the “elements” of consciousness: • Sensation and Perception • Memory and Attention • Emotion • Cognition • Learning and Language

  8. STRUCTURALISM • They asserted that all mental activities consisted of a combination of such basic processes. • Experiment: variety of stimuli given to volunteer—they had to respond with a press of the lever or a description of their sensations (introspection). • Critics—said introspection was too subjective and that it focused too much on internal behavior which is not directly observable and can’t be measured accurately.

  9. Lasting effects of Structuralism • Psychologists still rely on introspective method for dream reports and evidence of perceptual changes. • The topics that he first identified and explored are the chapter headings today in AP Books!

  10. FUNCTIONALISM: FOCUS ON FUNCTION • William James (American) said structuralism was too narrow. • And too boring! • James argued that psychology should include the function of consciousness—not just its structure. • Stream of consciousness—mental process that had no static structure but was continuously flowing, changing, and interacting with the environment.

  11. James Con’t • James liked how Darwin focused on organisms adapting to their environments. • James proposed that psychology should explain how people adapt—or fail to adapt—to the everyday world. • Difference: Where structuralists want to say “what is consciousness?” –functionalists want to determine “what is consciousness used for?”—or what is the purpose or function?

  12. Gestalt Psychology: Focus on the Whole instead of the Parts • Another challenge to Wundt and structuralism, from his native Germany— • Exact opposite of the structuralists. • Interested in how we construct “perceptual wholes” • Such as our perception of face rather than just a conglomeration of lines, colors, and textures. • (Wertheimer, Kohler)

  13. BEHAVIORISM: Eliminate the Mind and Focus on Behavior **A particularly feisty group-the behaviorists—disagreed with everyone! They did not even think that consciousness should be studied at all! John Watson—leader (1913) • Should only deal with observable events: stimuli from the environment and an organisms responses. • Don’t care what people are thinking—instead how do the act.

  14. PSYCHOANALYSIS: Focus of the Unconscious Mind • Sigmund Freud—Viennese physician • Mental disorders arise from conflicts in the unconscious mind. • Was extremely controversial • Main principle: that a great deal of activity within human psyche resides completely outside of consciousness.

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