Where does Psychology Come From?

A Brief History

Psychology is as old as history and as modern as

todayAristotle: Greek philosopher

Peri Psyches (About the Psyche)-nature of mind behavior

People are basically motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain (modern view)

Psychology is as old as Psychology is as old as history and as modern as history and as modern as

todaytoday

Democritus: behavior as body and a mindBehavior influenced by external stimulation

First to raise issue of free will or choice

Psychology is as old as history and as modern as

todayIf we are influenced by external forces, can we be said to control our own behavior?

Question: where do the influences of others end and our “real selves” begin?

StructuralismWillhelm Wundt: debut of modern psych

1897: established first psychological laboratory in Leipzig,GermanyClaimed that the mind was a natural event and could be studied scientifically (light, heat, flow of blood)

Structuralism Define makeup of conscious experience, breaking it down into objective sensations (light and taste) and subjective feelings (emotional responses, will, mental images)Believe that mind functions by creatively combining the elements of experience

FunctionalismEmphasizes the uses or functions of the MIND rather than the elements of experience

Deals with overt behavior as well as consciousness

Functionalism William James (1842-1910): Wrote first modern psychology textbook, The Principles of Psychology

Functionalism Influenced by Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory

The “fittest” behavior patterns survive

Adaptive actions tend to be repeated and become habits

Behaviorism John Watson (1878-1958): Founder of behaviorism

Psychology must limit itself to observable, measurable events-to behavior

BehaviorismExamples:

Pressing a lever, turning left or right, eating and mating, heart rate, dilation of the pupils

Behaviorism Psychology address the learning of measurable responses to environmental stimuli

Pavlov’s salivating dogs (conditioning not mental processes)

Behaviorism B.F Skinner (1904-1990):

Reinforcement: organisms learn to behave in certain ways because they have been reinforced for doing so

GestaltFocused on

perception and on how perception

influences thinking and

problem solving

Gestalt

Perceptions more than the sum of its parts

Wholes that give meaning to parts

Gestalt Learning to solve problems, is accomplished by insight, not by mechanical repetition

“Aha moment” flash of insight

Psychoanalysis

Emphasizes the importance of

unconscious motives and conflicts as

determinants of human behavior

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Believed that unconscious thought , especially sexual and aggressive impulses, were more influential than conscious thought in determining human behavior.

Psychoanalysis

Thought mind was unconscious, consisting of conflicting impulses, urges, and wishes.

People motivated to gratify these impulses and urges

Psychoanalysis Freud: gained his understanding of people through clinical interviews with patients

Gain insight into deep-seated conflicts and find socially acceptable ways of expressing wishes and gratifying needs

How Today’s Psychologists View Behavior

Perspectives Biological Cognitive

Humanistic-Existential Psychodynamic

Learning Socialcultural