Unit 1 - History, Evolution, Perspectives of Psychology

Historical Foundations of Psychology - Evolution of Scientific Psychology and Pseudoscience - Major Psychological Perspectives - Key Pioneers in Modern Psychology

Pre-psychology in Ancient Egypt (1550 BCE)

Physical + Mental health viewed as person’s relationship with universe

• Medicine rely on empiricism and treat illnesses on somatic basis

Trepenation

Drilling or scraping hole into skull to release “evil spirits”

• Used in modern medicine to relieve intracranial pressure

Ancient Greece (400 BCE)

Hippocrates introduce Naturalism and Hippocratic Oath (reject supernatural)

• Four humors: blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm

Etymology of Psyche

Greek = “soul, mind, spirit, life”

• Represented by butterfly and personified as beloved of Eros

Medieval Decline and Stigmatization (500-1000 CE)

Enter “Dark Ages” with superstition, social exclusion, prejudice

Historical Consequences of Mental Health Stigma

Mass Hysteria: St. Vitus’ dance and European Witch Trials

Asylums: Bethlem Royal Hospital infamous for unsanitary conditions and harsh practices

Institutionalization Syndrome: Life-skill deficits and psychological dependencies as result of long-term deprivation of independence because in institutions

Public Humiliation: Devieant social behaviors publicly punished

Establishment of Experimental Psychology

19th Century: Integrate scientific method

William Wundt

1973: Establish first dedicated psychological research laboratory in Germany

18th-19th Century Pseudosciences

Phrenology: (Franz Joseph Gall) Shape of the human skull (bumps and contours) determine personality traits and intellectual capacities

• Disproven by empirical evidence and criticized for promoting stereotypes

Eugenics: Controlled selective breeding to alter human gene pool

Cognitive Perspective (Pointer Finger)

Internal mental processes (how info is acquired, stored, processed, retrieved)

• Memory, perception, attention, reasoning, language

Stroop Effect

Cognitive interference caused when processing conflicting information

• Support Cognitive Perspective

Behavioral Perspective (Middle Finger)

External, observable, measurable behavior shaped by environmental factors

• Focus on interactions, conditioning, and consequences

• Disregards internal thoughts

Anchoring Bias

Rely on first piece of information received

• Left-digit bias: $2.99 feels cheaper than $3.00

• 2014 KFC Study: Increase fry sales by 56% based off of anchoring headlines “A deal so good you can only buy four”

• Support Behavioral Perspective

Psychodynamic Perspective (Thumb)

Unconscious drives, inner motives, early childhood experiences shape behavior and personality

Freud’s Unconscious

Unconscious process govern behavior

• Modern science confirm active memory suppression (prefrontal cortex suppress hippocampus via Think/No-Think paradigm)

• Support Psychodynamic Perspective

Humanistic Perspective (Ring Finger)

Free will, personal growth, subjective experience, self-concept, drive toward self-actualization

• Focus on inherent human goodness and human potential

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

(Top) Self-Actualization Needs: Realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth, and peak experiences (becoming everything one is capable of becoming)

Esteem Needs: Respect for oneself (achievement, mastery, independence) and the desire for reputation or respect from others (status, prestige).

Love and Belonging Needs: Social connections, feelings of belonging, friendship, intimacy, trust, acceptance, receiving and giving affection, and love.

Safety Needs: Protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, and freedom from fear.

(Bottom) Physiological Needs: Basic physical requirements for human survival

• Support Humanistic Perspective

Biological Perspective (Pinky Finger)

Physical and physiological mechanisms underlying behavior and mental processes

• Focus on brain, nervous system, hormones, neurotransmitters, genetics

Neurogenesis/Synaptic Plasticity

“Neurons that fire together wire together” (pathways strengthen during learning)

• Support Biological Perspective

Sociocultural Perspective (Palm)

Social interactions, cultural environments, and cultural tools (ex. language) shape cognitive development (Formulated by Lev Vygotsky)

Jenness’ Bean Jar Study

How individual estimates shift toward group consensus

• Support Sociocultural Perspective

Sigmund Freud

Austrian Neurologist who founded psychoanalysis

Developed therapeutic techniques (talk therapy, free association, dream interpretation, analysis of transference)

Introduce structural mind theororetical model (Id, Ego, Superego), Oedipus complex, defense mechanisms, and psychosexual developmental stages

Oedipus Complex and Analysis of Transference

Both: Sigmund Freud

Oedipus Complex: Children have immoral drives towards parents

Analysis of Transference: Psychoanalysis through processing and analyzing underlying thoughts behind behaviors and uncover repressed memories

• Unconsciously direct feelings toward therapist

Ivan Pavlov

Russian experimental psychologist discover principles of classical conditioning

• Measure salivation responses in dogs

• 1904 Nobel Peace Prize for research on digestion

B.F. Skinner

American behaviorist developed radical behaviorism and experimental behavior analysis

• Pioneered operant conditioning using operant conditioning chamber and cumulative recorder

Jean Piaget

Swiss psychologist known for theory of cognitive child development

• Establish Interantional Center for Genetic Epistemology in Geneva