Princeton AP Psych 22nd: Foundations: History

psychology

the study of behavior and the mind

behavior

a natural process subject to natural laws, refers to the observable actions of a person or an animal

mind

the sensations, memories, motives, emotions, thoughts, and other subjective phenomena particular to an individual or animal that are not readily observed

dualism

divides the world and all things in it into two parts: body and spirit

brain

the command center of the central nervous system

Rene Descartes

(1596-1650) an early modern philosopher, continued the dualist view of the human being.

• Believed that the physical world and all of the creatures in it are like machines in that they behave in observable, predictable ways

• Humans were the exception to this rule because they possess minds that are not observable or subjectable to natural laws

• Hypothesized that the mind and body interact, and the mind controls the body while the body provides the mind with sensory input for it to decipher

John Locke

(1632-1704) a philosopher who believed that even the mind is under the control of such laws

• empiricism

• wrote Essay Concerning Human Understanding and proposed that humans are born knowing nothing

• Emphasized nurture over nature as the greater influence on development

empiricism

the acquisition of truth through observations and experiences

tabula rasa

Latin for “blank slate”, Locke used it to describe the mind of an infant

Thomas Hobbes

(1588-1679)

• Believed that the idea of a soul or spirit, or even of a mind, is meaningless

• Materialism

• Believed that what we experienced as consciousness is simply a by-product of the machinery of the brain

• Greatly influenced behaviorism

materialism

the belief that the only things that exist are matter and energy

Charles Darwin

(1809-1882) Proposed a theory of natural selection in On the Origin of Life (1859)

natural selection

the individuals that are best adapted to the environment are more likely to survive and then reproduce—and are likely to produce more successful offspring

evolutionary theory

all creatures have evolved into their present states over long periods of time. Provided a way to explain differences between species and justifying the use of animals as a means to study the roots of human behavior

Wilhelm Wundt

(1832-1920) mainly credited as the founder of the science of psychology

• Opened a lab to study consciousness

• Trained in physiology and hoped to apply the methods that he used to study the body to the study of the mind

Edward Titchener

(1867-1927) a student in Wundt’s lab and was one of the first to bring the science of psychology to the United States

• Sought to identify the smallest possible elements of the mind (structuralism)

structuralism

understanding all of the parts of the mind would lead to the understanding of the greater structures of the mind, looking for patterns in thought through introspection

introspection

interviews with a subject describing their conscious experience

William James

(1842-1910) an American psychologist who opposed the structuralist approach

• Argued that what is important is the function of the mind, such as how it solves a complex problem

• Heavily influenced by Darwin to believe in functionalism

functionalism

the belief that the important thing to understand is how the mind fulfills its purpose

Dorothea Dix

• Advocated for the rights of mentally ill poor people

• Founded the first public mental hospital in the United States

Mary Whiton Calkins

the first female graduate student in psychology

Margaret Floy Washburn

• the first female PhD in psychology

• served as the second female president of the American Psychological Association (APA)

G. Stanley Hall

the first president of APA

biological psychology

the field of psychology that seeks to understand the interactions between anatomy and physiology (nervous system) and behavior

• Practiced by directly applying biological experimentation to psychological problems

• Researchers might use CAT scans, MRIs, EEGs, or PET scans

behavioral genetics

the field of psychology that explores how particular behaviors may be attributed to specific, genetically based psychological characteristics

• biological predispositions

• the extent of influence that the environment had on the manifestation of that trait

behaviorism

the belief that psychology is the study of observable behavior

classical conditioning

(first identified by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)) a basic form of learning in which a behavior comes to be elicited by a formerly neutral stimulus

John Watson

(1878-1958) applied classical conditioning to humans in the famed Little Albert experiment

B.F. Skinner

(1904-1990) described operant conditioning through the Skinner Box

operant conditioning

a subject learns to associate a behavior with an environmental outcome

behavior modification

a set of techniques in which psychological problems are considered to be the product of learned habits, which can be unlearned by the application of behavioral methods

cognitive psychology

an approach rooted in the idea that to understand people’s behavior, we must first understand how they construe their environment

• learning, memory, problem solving, decision-making, language, and intelligence

• combines both the structuralist approach and functionalist approach

humanistic approach

rooted in the philosophical tradition of studying the roles of consciousness, free will, and awareness of the human condition

• Developed in response to a general dissatisfaction with behaviorism’s inattention to the mind

• Emphasize personal values and goals and how they influence behavior

Abraham Maslow

(1908-1970) proposed the idea of self-actualization, the need for individuals to reach their full potential in a creative way

self-actualization

accepting yourself and your nature while knowing your limits and strengths

Carl Rogers

(1902-1987) stressed the role of unconditional positive regard in interactions and the need for a positive self-concept as critical factors in attaining self-actualization

unconditional positive regard

an attitude of caring, acceptance, and prizing that others express toward an individual irrespective of their behavior and without regard to the others’ personal standards

Sigmund Freud

(1856-1939) developed a theory of human behavior known as psychoanalytic theory

psychoanalytic theory

• Stresses the importance of early childhood experiences and a child’s relationship with their parents to the development of personality

• Focuses on the resolution of unconscious conflicts through uncovering information that has been repressed

conscious mind

a mental state of awareness that we have ready access to

unconscious mind

those mental processes that we do not normally have access to but that still influence our behaviors, thoughts, and feelings

repressed

buried in the unconscious

sociocultural approach

the belief that the environment a person lives in has a great deal to do with how the person behaves and how others perceive that behavior

evolutionary approach

behavior can best be explained in terms of how adaptive that behavior is to our survival

biopsychosocial approach

emphasizes the need to investigate the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors as contributing to a behavior or a mental process

biological domain

concerns the effect of drugs on behavior

social domain

deals with relationships between drugs users and their families

clinical domain

considers treatment options for someone addicted to drugs

cognitive domain

what thoughts might someone entertain to justify their drug use

counseling domain

how might a school counselor talk to a student about drugs

developmental domain

at what ages might someone be more susceptible to peer pressure

educational domain

how effective are school-based programs

experimental domain

dealing with experiments

industrial-organizational domain

dealing with workplaces

personality domain

dealing with personality

psychometric domain

dealing with how to measure things in psychology

positive domain

focuses on positive aspects and strengths of human behavior