Psychology’s Perspectives

1. Psychology’s Perspectives Advanced Placement Psychology Mrs. K. Hennen

2. Schools of Psychology: • Structuralism • Functionalism • Gestalt Psychology • Psychoanalysis • Behaviorism • Cognitive Psychology • Humanistic Psychology • *others will be discussed within this chapter and throughout the course.

3. Structuralism • Wundt (Germany, 1979) • Other psychologist: Wundt’s student, Edward Titchener • Goal: To specify the structure of conscious experience • Method: used Introspection… looking into self/ inward/ self reflection • Tried to explore the elemental structure of the human mind. • Step by step account of an experience, like our candy demo. • Proved to be unreliable. • Application: “Pure Scientific Research”: spurred development of psychological laboratories.

4. Functionalism • William James (United States, 1890’s) • Other psychologists: E.L. Thorndike, John Dewey • Goal: To study how the mind works to allow an organism to adapt to its environment • Focused on how mental and behavioral processes function….(an organism is able to adapt, survive, and flourish in its environment.) • Method: Naturalistic Observation of animal and human behavior • Application: Child Psychology, educational and industrial psychology, study of individual differences.

5. Gestalt Psychology • Max Wertheimer (Germany, 1910’s) and Wolfgang Kohler • Founded in a revolt against Wundt in a simple explanation of apparent movement that structuralists could not explain… simple sensations. • Defined psychology as the study of immediate experiences of the whole organism… the whole is different from the sum of the parts. • They focused on perception and initiated the study of insight and problem solving in animals and humans, which had been ignored. • Many trace contemporary psychology to the Gestalt movement. • Goal: To describe organization of mental processes • Method: Phenomenology (e.g.: phi phenomenon) • Application: Perception - ground work for cognitive psych.

6. Psychoanalysis • Unlike the other early schools, psychoanalysis developed outside a university setting, led by Sigmund Freud, a physician. (Germany, early 1900’s) • Other psychologists: Carl Jung, Alfred Adler • Goal: To explain personality and behavior and develop techniques for treating mental illnesses. (It focused on development and treatment of abnormal behavior.) • From working with troubled patients, Freud concluded that unconscious mental forces direct our everyday behavior. Psychoanalysis maladjustment results from unresolved conflicts of which a person is unaware. • Methods: Free association and dream analysis were among the techniques he used in exploring the unconscious. • Freud maintained that awareness enables patients to lead more rational lives. • Application: Development of psychotherapy, emphasis on childhood as important in later personality.

7. Behaviorism • In the 1910’s, in the U.S., John Watson led the revolt that produced the most influential school of psychology. Trained as a functionalist, Watson shifted attention from the functioning of the mind to behavior. • He argued that psychology should only study only what could be observed and measured objectively. • Watson’s ideas were so influential, that two years after starting the revolt, he was elected president of the American Psychological Assoc. (1915) • Goal: To study only observable behavior and explain it via learning. Behaviorists focused on how behaviors are learned and modified, and thus most of their influence has come through their theories of learning. • Baby Albert Experiment.

8. Behaviorism continued… • Other Psychologist: B.F. Skinner has been modern behaviorism’s MOST important and controversial figure. • Operant conditioning, which will be discussed in Chapter 8, was the focus of much of Skinner’s work. • Skinner insisted that external influences shaped behavior. • Method Behaviorists Use: Observation of the relationship between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses. • Application: Learning theory, environmental emphasis, development of language to make psychological information more explicit and communicable.

9. Humanistic Psychology • Abraham Maslow (U.S., 1960’s) • Other psychologist: Carl Rogers • Goal: To ensure mental healthiness of individuals and develop therapeutic techniques. • Application: Clinical Psychology.

10. Important Pioneers**we will learn about them in more detail during the course Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) - Austrian physician that focused on illness. -psychoanalytic theory of mental disorders Alfred Binet (1857 - 1911) - French intelligence researcher - developed first intelligence test Freud

11. Important Pioneers continued… Ivan Pavlov (1849 - 1936) -Russian physiologist -discovered conditioned reflexes (experiment with dog and bell!) B.F. Skinner (1904 - 1990) -American psychologist at Harvard -studied learning and the effect of reinforcement -behaviorism

12. Important Pioneers continued… Jean Piaget - Swiss biologist/ developmental psychologist -focused on children’s minds -stages of cognitive development

13. Contemporary Psychology - • Today psychologists debate issues and concerns regarding stability and change, rationality and irrationality, and nature versus nurture. A lot depends on your viewpoint!

14. Contemporary Psychology -stability versus change • The issue of stability versus change addresses the question of whether our individual traits persist or whether we become different people as we age. • Another way to look at it is: to what extent does our past reach into our future?

15. Contemporary Psychology -human rationality and irrationality. • In some ways, human capabilities outstrip the smartest computer with recognizing patterns, handling language, and processing abstract concepts. • At the same time, we are prone to predictable error and bias. We squeeze reality into our preconceptions. We overestimate our judgments.

16. Contemporary Psychology -nature versus nurture debate • The biggest and most persistent issue. • It concerns the relative contributions of biology and experience. • Darwin’s concept of natural selection, the organizing principle of biology, has become very important in psychology as well. • Today’s psychologists recognize that both biological and social factors direct our life courses and that their effects intertwine. • Example: Depression can be both a thought disorder and a brain disorder.

17. Perspectives: • Perspective is a way of viewing phenomena • Psychology has multiple perspectives • ethological • Biological / neuroscience • psychoanalytic • cognitive • cross- cultural • Social • **we will go more in depth with these in the weeks to come.

18. Ethology: • The study of animal behavior in the natural environment rather than in a lab setting • Influenced by Darwin and the emphasis on innate, adaptive behavior patterns • European approach to studying behavior founded by animal researchers, Lorenz and Tinbergen

19. Psychology’s Perspectives • Neuroscience perspective: studies how the body and brain work to create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences. Ex: how messages are transmitted within the body… NEURO! =) • Evolutionary perspective: considers how evolution influences behavior tendencies. • Behavior genetics: considers how genetics and our environment influence our behavior tendencies. Ex: to what extent does our personality come from our genes or our environment. • Psychodynamic perspective: views behavior as springing from unconscious drives and conflicts. • Behavioral perspective: examines how observable responses are acquired and changed. Ex: how do we learn to fear something. • Cognitive perspective: studies how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information. Ex: how we use information to solve problems. • Social-cultural perspective: examines how behavior and thinking vary with the situation and culture.

20. Psychology’s Subfields • Basic Research: • Basic research is pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base (we heard that!) such as: • Biological psychologists explore the links between brain and mind • Developmental psychologists study changing abilities from womb to tomb • Cognitive psychologists study how we perceive, think, and solve problems

21. Psychology’s Subfields • Applied Research: • Applied research is the scientific study that aims to solve practical problems such as: • Industrial/organizational psychologists study and advise on behavior in the workplace • Clinical psychologists study, assess, and treat people with psychological disorders

22. Psychology’s Subfields • Psychiatry • A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders • Practiced by physicians who sometimes use medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychotherapy

23. APA • The American Psychological Association • First President of APA in 1892 was: • Granville Stanley Hall. (also in 1924) • Other notables: • (1894) (1904) William James • (1905) Mary Calkins • (1915) John B. Watson • (1958) H.F. Harlow • (1968) A.H. Maslow Current President: ??? Look on your technology handout! =)