A History of Psychology

1. A History of Psychology

2. Roots from Ancient Greece • More than 2000 years ago, Plato, a student of Socrates in Ancient Greece, recorded his teacher’s philosophy: “Know thyself.” • This is now a motto of psychology • Socrates suggested that we can learn much about ourselves by carefully examining our thoughts and feelings • Psychologists call this method of learning introspection, or “looking within.” • Aristotle also raised questions about human behavior that are still discussed today • Associationism – a learned connection between two ideas or events • Aristotle believed that events often remind us of similar experiences in the past

3. Roots from Ancient Greece • Peri Psyches (About the Mind) – work by Aristotle that explores topics such as sensation and perception, thought, intelligence, needs and motives, feelings and emotions, and memory • Ancient Greeks also theorized about various psychological problems, such as confusion and bizarre behavior • Throughout human history, many people have attributed such disorders to supernatural forces • Ancient Greeks believed that the Gods punished people for wrongdoing by causing them confusion and madness • Hippocrates – Greek physician who suggested that such problems are caused by abnormalities in the brain

4. The Middle Ages • During the Middle Ages, Europeans believed that problems like agitation and confusion were caused by demon possession • Possession as a punishment for sins was a popular theory during this time • Certain “tests” were used to determine whether a person was possessed • Water-float test – based on the principle that pure metals sink to the bottom during the smelting process whereas impure metals float to the surface. Suspects were thrown into deep water. If the person was able to keep their heads above water were assumed to be impure and in league with the devil.

5. The Birth of Modern Science • People of the 1500s, 1600s, and 1700s witnessed great scientific and intellectual advances • English philosopher John Locke built upon the principle of associationism and theorized that knowledge is not inborn but is learned from experience • The development of the scientific approach lead to the birth of modern psychology • Psychologists argued that ideas about human behavior and mental processes should be supported by evidence • In the late 1800s, psychological laboratories were established in Europe and the United States • In this laboratories, psychologists studied behavior and mental processes using methods similar to those used in physical science

6. Wilhelm Wundt • Wundt established a modern laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879 • Wundt founded the field of psychology known as structuralism • Structuralists were concerned with discovering the basic elements of consciousness • Consciousness was broken down into two categories • Objective sensations: Sight, taste, etc… Assumed to reflect an accurate view of the outside world • Subjective sensations: feelings, etc… Thought to include emotional responses and mental images

7. Structuralism • Structuralists believe that the human mind functions by combining these basic elements of experience • For example, a person can experience an apple objectively by observing its shape, color, texture, and taste and subjectively by remembering how good it feels to bite into one

8. William James • Harvard professor William James believed that conscious experience could not be broken down as structuralists believed • James maintained that experience is a continuous “stream of consciousness” • He focused on the relationship between experience and behavior and described his views in The Principles of Psychology, published in 1890

9. Functionalism • Functionalism – concerned with how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment • Functionalists stressed the application of their findings to everyday situations • Functionalism included behavioral observation in the laboratory as well as introspection • Functionalists proposed that adaptive behavior patterns are learned and maintained because they are successful • Less adaptive behavior patterns are dropped or discontinued • Adaptive behaviors are repeated and eventually become habits

10. John B. Watson • John B. Watson agreed with functional importance of learning, but he also believed that it was unscientific to study a construct like consciousness • Behaviorism – the school of psychology founded by Watson, that defines psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior

11. B. F. Skinner • Harvard University psychologist, B. F. Skinner added to the behaviorist tradition by introducing the concept of reinforcement • Skinner showed that when an animal is reinforced, or rewarded, for performing an action, it is more likely to perform that action again in the future • Skinner proved that, like animals, people learn to behavior in certain ways because they have been reinforced for doing so

12. The Gestalt School • German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler were fascinated by the ways in which context influences people’s interpretation of information • In the 1920s, they founded the Gestalt School of Psychology, which means “shape” or “form” in German • Gestalt Psychology is based on the idea that perceptions are more than the sums of their parts, but rather are the wholes that give shape or meaning to the parts • Gestalt psychologists rejects the structuralist idea that experience can be broken down into individual parts and the behaviorist idea that psychologists should concentrate only on observable behavior • Gestalt psychologists demonstrated that much learning, particularly problem solving, is accomplished by insight (the sudden appearance of the “gestalt” that allows the individual to see the solution), not by mechanical repetition

13. Sigmund Freud • Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, who is one of the most famous psychologists • Psychoanalysis – school of thought that emphasizes the importance of subconscious motives and internal conflicts in determining human behavior • Freud’s theory has become a part of popular culture • Freud gained his understanding human behavior through consultations with patients • He came to believe that the unconscious processes, particularly sexual and aggressive experience in governing people’s behavior and feelings

14. Sigmund Freud • Pscyhodynamic thinking – theory that assumes that most of what exists in an individual’s mind in unconscious and consists of conflicting impulses, urges, and wishes • Freud believed that human behavior is aimed at satisfying these desires, even though some of them seem socially inappropriate or even unacceptable

15. Contemporary Perspectives • Biological • Mental processes are made possible by the nervous system. • Seeks connections between events in the brain and behavior. • CAT scans and PET scans • Influences of hormones and genes • Hormones: chemicals released into the body to set a bodily functions in motion • Genes: units of heredity • Evolutionary • Evolution of behavior and metal processes (Darwin) • Behavior is inherited

16. Cognitive • Thoughts determine behaviors • Information processing: people perceive information and make mental images of the world, solve problems, and dream. • Working memories and long-term memories • Behavior is influenced by values, perceptions and choices • Humanistic • Human capacity for self-fulfillment and the importance of consciousness, self-awareness, and the capacity to make choices. • Personal experiences • Free to choose our own behaviors

17. Psychoanalytic • Unconscious forces on human behavior • Learning • Effects of experience on behavior • Learning is essential in the observation, describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling of behavior. • Learning is intrinsic and extrinsic • Sociocultural • Influences of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socio-economic status on behavior and metal processes