Chapter 1 The Evolution of Psychology

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Chapter 1 The Evolution of Psychology
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History

• What is Psychology?
• The science of behavior and mental processes
• Behaviorobservable actions of a person or animal
• Mindthoughts, feelings, sensations, perceptions,
  memories, dreams, motives and other subjective
  experiences
• Science--an objective way to answer questions
  based on observable facts/data and well-described
  methods
• Separated from philosophy in 19th century
• influences from physiology remain

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Philosophical Developments

• A Question How are mind and body
  related?
• René Descartes (15961650)Interactive dualism
• The mind and body interact to produce conscious
  experience

BIG
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Philosophical Developments
BIG

• Another Question Nature vs. Nurture
• Are abilities determined by our genes or our
  experiences?
• What are the interactions between genetics and
  environment?
• What effect does it have on behavior?

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Psychology Birth of a New Science

• Prior to 1879
• Physiology Philosophy Psychology
• Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) University of Leipzig,
  Germany
• Established the first laboratory for the study of
  psychology in 1879
• Psychology was born

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Wilhelm Wundt (18321920)

• Leipzig, Germany
• The father of psychology
• Founder of modern psychology
• Opened the first psychology lab in 1879
• wrote the first psychology textbook
• applied laboratory techniques to study of the
  mind

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Psychology Goes International

• Leipzig, the place to study psychology
• Graduates of Wundts program set up new labs
  across Europe and North America
• G.Stanley Hall (1846-1924) Johns Hopkins
  University
• Established the first psychology laboratory in
  the U.S. in 1883
• Between 1883 and 1893, 24 new laboratories in
  North America

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The Battle of the Schools in the U.S.
Titchener vs. James

• Two intellectual schools of thought regarding the
  science of psychology
• Structrualism led by Edward Titchener
• Functionalism led by William James
• Structuralists focused on analyzing consciousness
  into basic elements
• Introspection careful, systematic observations
  of ones own conscious experience
• Functionalists focused on investigating the
  function or purpose of consciousness

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E.B. Titchener (18671927)

• Wundts student, professor at Cornell University
• Analyzed the intensity, clarity and quality of
  the parts of consciousness
• Founder of structuralism

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Structuralism

• Studied the basic elements (structure) of
  thoughts and sensations.
• identify atoms of the mind
• focused on basic sensory and perceptual processes
  
• measured reaction times

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William James (18421910)

• First American psychologist
• Started psychology at Harvard in 1870s
• Opposed Wundt and Titcheners approach
• Author of the first psychology textbook
• Founder of Functionalism
• functionalism influenced by Darwin to focus on
  how behaviors help us adapt to the environment

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Functionalism

• Emphasized studying the function of consciousness
  and how consciousness helped people adapt to
  their environment

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Who Won the Battle?

• Most historians give the edge to James and the
  functionalists
• Today, psychologists are not really categorized
  as structuralists or functionalists
• Applied psychology and Behaviorism - descendants
  of functionalism
• Behaviorism - early 1900s
• The next major school of thought to influence the
  development of psychology

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Behaviorism Goodbye to Consciousness

• John B. Watson (1878-1958) United States of
  America
• Founder of Behaviorism
• Psychology scientific study of behavior
• Behavior overt or observable responses or
  activities
• Radical reorientation of psychology as a science
  of observable behavior

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Doctor, Lawyer, Beggar-man, Thief Watson and the
Nature-Nurture Debate

• Watsons famous quote
• Nurture, not nature
• Behaviorist school of thought emphasized the
  environment (nurture)
• Focus on stimulus-response relationships
• S-R psychology

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John B. Watson (1878-1958)
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Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

• Behaviorist
• Russian Physiologist
• Studied learning through associations in animals
• Emphasized the study of observable behaviors

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Behaviorism B.F. Skinner

• B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) United States of
  America
• Environmental factors determine behavior
• Responses that lead to positive outcomes are
  repeated
• Responses that lead to negative outcomes are not
  repeated
• Beyond Freedom and Dignity
• More controversy regarding free will

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B.F. Skinner (19041990)

• Behaviorist
• American psychologist at Harvard
• Focused on learning through rewards and
  observation
• studied learning and effect of reinforcement

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Freud the Unconscious Mind

• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austria
• Founded Psychoanalytic school of thought
• Emphasis on unconscious processes influencing
  behavior
• Unconscious outside awareness

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Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

• Austrian physician that focused on illness
• Founder of the psychoanalytic perspective
• Believed that abnormal behavior originated from
  unconscious drives and conflicts

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Freuds Influence

• Influence on pop culture
• Freudian slips
• Anal-retentive
• Influence on psychology
• Psychodynamic theory
• Unconscious thoughts
• Significance of childhood experiences

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Freuds Ideas Controversy and Influence

• Behavior is influenced by the unconscious
• Unconscious conflict related to sexuality plays a
  central role in behavior
• Controversial notions caused debate/resistance
• Significant influence on the field of psychology

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The 1950s Opposition to Psychoanalytic Theory
and Behaviorism Develops

• Charges that both were dehumanizing
• Diverse opposition groups got together to form a
  loose alliance
• Humanism was born
• Led by Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) and Carl Rogers
  (1902-1987)
• Emphasis on the unique qualities of humans
  freedom and personal growth

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Carl Rogers Abraham Maslow(1902-1987)
(1908-1970)

• Helped to create Humanistic Psychology
• Stressed the study of conscious experience and an
  individuals free will
• Healthy individuals strive to reach their
  potential.

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Putting the Psyche Back in Psychology The Return
of Cognition

• Cognition mental processes involved in
  acquiring knowledge
• 1950s and 60s Piaget, Chomsky, and Simon
• Application of scientific methods to studying
  internal mental events
• Cognitive psychology the new dominant
  perspective?

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Biological Psychology The Biological Basis of
Behavior

• James Olds (1956)
• Electrical stimulation of the brain evokes
  emotional responses in animals
• Roger Sperry (1981)
• Left and right brain specialization
• Biological Perspective behavior explained in
  terms of physiological processes

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Evolutionary Psychology Functionalism Revisited

• Central premise natural selection occurs for
  behavioral, as well as physical, characteristics
• Buss, Daly Wilson, Cosmides Tooby 80s and
  90s
• Studied natural selection of mating preferences,
  jealousy, aggression, sexual behavior, language,
  decision making, personality, and development
• Thought provoking perspective gaining in
  influence, but not without criticism

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Contemporary Psychology Cultural Diversity

• Ethnocentrism viewing ones own group as
  superior and as the standard for judging
• Historically middle and upper class white males
  studying middle and upper class white males
• 1980s increased interest in how cultural
  factors influence behavior
• growing global interdependence
• increased cultural diversity

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Psychology Today A Multifaceted Field

• Psychology - the science that studies behavior
  and the physiological and cognitive processes
  that underlie it, and it is the profession that
  applies the accumulated knowledge of this science
  to practical problems.
• Research Seven major areas
• Applied Psychology Four major areas

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Studying Psychology Seven Organizing Themes

• Themes related to psychology as a field of study
• Psychology is empirical (Theme 1), theoretically
  diverse (Theme 2), and it evolves in a
  sociohistorical context (Theme 3).
• Themes related to psychologys subject matter
• Behavior is determined by multiple causes (Theme
  4), shaped by cultural heritage (Theme 5), and
  influenced jointly by heredity and environment
  (Theme 6).
• Finally, peoples experience of the world is
  highly subjective (Theme 7).

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Figure 1.6 Leading college majors. This list
shows the ten most popular undergraduate majors
in the United States, based on the number of
bachelors degrees awarded in 19921993. As you
can see, psychology ranked second only to
business administration and management in the
number of degrees awarded. (Data from U.S.
Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics, 1995)
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The Future

• 1. Business Administration and Management/Commerce
  
• 2. Psychology
• 3. Nursing
• 4. Biology/Biological Sciences
• 5. Education
• 6. English Language and Literature
• 7. Economics
• 8. Communications Studies/Speech Communication
  and Rhetoric
• 9. Political Science and Government
• 10. Computer and Information Sciences 
• Source Princeton Review Jan. 2011

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Figure 1.7 Employment of psychologists by
setting. The work settings in which psychologists
are employed have become quite diverse. Survey
data on the primary employment setting of APA
members indicate that one-third are in private
practice (compared to 12 in 1976) and only 27
work in colleges and universities (compared to
47 in 1976). These data may slightly
underestimate the percentage of psychologists in
academia, given the new competition between APA
and APS to represent research psychologists.
(Data based on 1997 APA)
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Figure 1.8 Major research areas in contemporary
psychology. Most research psychologists
specialize in one of the seven broad areas
described here. The figures in the pie chart
reflect the percentage of academic and research
psychologists belonging to APA who identify each
area as their primary interest. (Data based on
1997 APA Directory Survey)
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Figure 1.9 Principal professional specialties in
contemporary psychology. Most psychologists who
deliver professional services to the public
specialize in one of the four areas described
here. The figures in the pie chart reflect the
percentage APA members delivering professional
services who identify each area as their chief
specialty. (Data based on 1997 APA Directory
Survey)